Red Ring Of Death: Was the Xbox 360 The World's Most Unreliable Console?

This article looks over possibly one of the world's most unreliable consoles, the Xbox 360.

[dragongod64]

That should be given to Nintendo Switch. Sad System

[SegaGamer]

Either you're too young to remember the red ring of death or you haven't done your research. The red ring of death affected pretty much every Xbox 360 owner at one point, in some cases multiple times. It was a mistake that cost Microsoft over $1 billion to fix.

Saying the Switch is more unreliable at this point is a stupid thing to say.

[MVGeneral]

RROD was one issue. Only one. That Microsoft promptly fixed. They lost a lot of money but they stayed true and fixed the consoles even out of warranty.
On the other hand nintendo switch has about 10 major issue. No word or statement from nintendo. And Nintendo updates their Web page saying deadpixels are not covered and are normal. That's why.

[fenome]

@MVGeneral

Microsoft didn't stay true or promptly fix it, they tried to play it off like it wasn't that big of a deal until they had a class action lawsuit filed against them, they didn't have a choice in the matter.

[FPSFox]

@ MVGeneral

"That Microsoft promptly fixed"

LOL! It took them YEARS to release a revision of the console that didn't suffer from these issues. BTW, I don't count them shipping me a cardboard box, sending in my shit, waiting weeks, and then getting a refurbished piece of garbage that eventually broke down again as them taking care of me. At all. It's sad that if you see an original 360 for sale at a Gamestop or ESPECIALLY somewhere like a flea market, it's not a question of if it'll break, but when. It's the saddest launch in history and anyone who says different is delusional

[UltraNova]

Biggest console blunder in history, hands down.

If Sony had priced the ps3 at 400 dollars combined with The RROD fiasco they would have decimated the xbox last gen, possibly forcing MS out of the game all together.

[bouzebbal]

i have the 360 Elite model (120GB) and it is still working well today.
the very first models were the worst, without hdmi, wifi and with RROD..

[DARKKENT]

It shouldn't be given to switch

360 had the highest failure rate of an electronic device in HISTORY

It was that bad... Wonder how much 360 would have sold if people didn't have to repurchase The console after warranties had run out.

[naruga]

x360 was by far the most faulty consoel without comparison ...the RROD even doubled the sales of the system overall

[RedPill86]

It was a massive amount, but not "almost every single owner". Failure rate was around 50/50 with prolonged use and improper storage, dropped significantly after they made the changes. Lets not forget it happen but let's be realistic about what did happen. I've had it once myself. A couple friends also did. Most went without issue. As much as Microsoft crapped the bed it was hilarious how many people had the issues when they left the machine on the carpet, filled with dust, and wondered why things went wrong. I simply had mine on too much.

[Why o why]

Someone forgot about the disc scratching

[CorndogBurglar]

MVGeneral

I got my first 360 on launch day. One month later I got the RROD. After that, over the next few years I got it 2 more times. It wasn't until the Elite came out that I stopped getting the RROD. It certainly wasn't "promptly" fixed.

The only thing I can say is that Microsoft replaced all 3 of my consoles for free.

[CorndogBurglar]

@ RedPill86

That isn't true at all.

I kept my 360 on a glass surface, not on its side (because if you stood it up on its side it blocked vents that blow out hot air), and kept it clean. I STILL had 3 of the white consoles get the RROD. The first one happened a month after I got my launch console.

As soon as I got my Elite the problem stopped. I did nothing different with it than my other consoles. So I find it hard to believe that the RROD was 50/50 whether you got it or not. Not when 100% of my white consoles all got it within a year of each other. I find it even harder to believe that there are people out there who didn't get it AT LEAST once with the white consoles.

At least MS replac3d them all for free though.

[dmchugh2021]

Promptly fixed???
Over 3 years I had 6 replacement 360s go red on me meaning 7 systems total. I mean I suppose in the grand scheme of the universe that 3 years is prompt. However on this little rock we call home. 3 years is an embarrassingly long time to fix a major system killing issue that shouldn't have made it to the market.

The best part is that instead of actually fixing the console they just shipped a refurbished one. With a different serial number. Invalidating any extended warranty that was purchased.

Don't buy extended warranties, folks.

[GorillaTact]

Yeah the red ring was bad. Its too early to call the Switch worse, look at it again in a few months.

[Utalkin2me]

@MVGeneral

RROD was just one issue, but the biggest issue you could have. MS didn't promptly fix crap. The let it go, then the government stepped in and made them do something about it.

Not only was the RROD the biggest failure in console history. It the biggest failure of any electronics in history too.

[choujij]

Small GPU heatsink + inadequate airflow+ lead free solder + X-Clamp mount... What could possibly go wrong?

My launch day 360 died 11 months after purchase. I reflowed the GPU, divided the airflow, removed the x-clamps and bolted the heatsinks down. Still works to this day.

[UnHoly_One]

I'm sure I'm in the very extreme minority, but I still have a functioning launch day Xbox 360.

To be fair, it's been boxed up for a few years, as I replaced it with a slim when those came out, but it was working up until then.

[Unspoken]

The 360 I had lasted well into the RROD era and when it finally did start to act up, I immediately received a box to ship and in less than a week had a new Jasper series. I've had nothing but some of the best customer service from Microsoft, especially their enterprise support. They have absolutely been top notchj

Sony on the other hand sent me back a three broken laptops, two broken phones, CSR agents giving conflicting information or non existent support, glitchy firmware updates and lack luster driver support. No I believe these divisions have improved over the years. The PS3 had it's own yellow (red) light of death and mny other issues.

[2pacalypsenow]

"That Microsoft promptly fixed"

lol it took them years to admit the problem because they got sued.

[threefootwang]

Guess I should consider myself lucky with my 360 before I sold it. Bought my first one in 2007, literally a month before my 3 year warranty expired I had the E74 error (which I believe was a fried graphics card). It's a shame that I probably could've prevented it had I properly cleaned out the back vents (they were clogged with dust), I just didn't realize it at the time.

Anyways the refurb that MS sent me was pretty good, didn't have any problems with it right up until I sold it so overall, about 6-7 years with a 360, only one problem. I'll take it. I remember at the same time my cousin's original PS3 that he bought in 2006 ended up getting the Yellow light of dead after about 2 years of use.

[Trash_Report]

@dragongod64
Haha what a sad Xbot

[rainslacker]

Is the switch actually unreliable? As far as I've seen, the reports indicate design flaws which lessen the value and appeal of the system, but don't necessarily render it inoperable. There's a difference between RROD, and whatever it is Nintendo has going on with the Switch.

[dumahim]

Have you seen the 12+ minute montage video of Switch problems? Plenty of them had troubles starting up or reading the game cart.

[3-4-5]

Switch works fine....been playing it since launch with no issues.

I had two Xbox 360's have the RROD though and that was a hassle no having your 360 for like 1-3 weeks at a time.

I still enjoyed the heck out of my 360 though after that.....it was never an issue again after the fix and was a solid system.

[rainslacker]

I've seen videos showing the design flaws, and I would assume that there would be some problems with some units. But those some problems I haven't seen enough reports to think that they're commonplace, thus other than the design flaws, it seemed reliable enough.

[RedPill86]

We literally have no numbers on failure rates for the Switch. While it was initially high for the 360 (one of if not the worst failure rates for a console), it was later fixed significantly. Not to mention, customer service improved greatly at Microsoft.

[Altovoltage]

It's way more than just failure rates it's bad designs and hardware quality that makes every single system look bad. It's almost like Nintendo didn't test it before releasing it. That docking station it's so cheap that it's scratching the screens and that's just one thing.

[Utalkin2me]

And the sole reason for that, is the government stepped in and forced MS to do something.

[S2Killinit]

What? Not even. Whats with the Nintendo bashing? Isnt it a little too early??

[CorndogBurglar]

I went through 4 Xbox 360's. It wasn't until the 360 Elite came out that I never got the RROD again.

So until Switch has that kind of a problem, the title easily goes to the 360.

[wheresmymonkey]

Oh child. The RROD affected every last 360. It was not a case of if it happened but when. It was so bad that MS extended the warranty on every last console and i think were fined for selling dodgy hardware.

A few angry idiots who can't put a strap on properly, and a couple of defective units doesn't even come close. Compared to the original 360 the Switch is a... NES, or a SNES or a Gameboy, or a GBA, or GC or any of the other Nintendo consoles for that matter because ninty's build quality is usually far better than the competition.

[scofios]

BTW rrod was only 1 of 360 problems , disc scratch , error E01 , error E63 , error E65,..........,

[RosweeSon]

Never in a million years, did I mention million, ironic as Xbox 360 probably had 5-10 million!! Faulty systems. Switch has had a handful.
Promptly fixed RROD, over 3-4 years? Went on for ages they had to remake the system so was more reliable. Elites etc.

[Eterna1Ice]

Come on, give it a year at least, you can consider yourself right once there'll be a fatal flaw even close to levels of RROD.

[TheGamingArt]

Promptly fixed, lol. It was by far the longest lasting worse problem I've ever seen in any electronic device.

[nicsaysdie]

@mvgeneral
You come off as completely ignorant. 360s had over 50% failure rate off the line. Which means over half of them were guaranteed to break right out of the gate. That is head and shoulders above the currents switch issues. That's like buying a car the dealer knows has a 50/50 chance of having the engine fall out of it within a year, and not saying anything about it until after you've had the car for 10 months. And for the record. They did not fix any of my three 360s when they got the rrod. All three out of warranty. The benevolent king Microsoft also proclaimed it not to be an issue for a very long time. Which Nintendo is also doing with the dead pixels. I don't think Nintendo is in the right at all. But I do firmly believe that you are in the wrong for defending Microsoft's actions, or lack there of, regarding the dreaded rrod. My experience with the 360 is one of the major reasons I did not buy an Xone.

[babadivad]

Nah, I'd say the PS2. I went through TONS of those. 2 xbox 360s[3 failures, 2 xboxes]. and 3 PS3's[2 fat, one first model slim].

[LexHazard79]

The original Xbox 360 was.

[outreachmama]

+1

[ApocalypseShadow]

Definitely was. Beyond blowing into Nintendo cartridges, beyond flipping PS1 upside down later on or PS2 disc read error. The original 360 was the most broken, unreliable system ever built that the manufacturer knew about before release of it but tried to blame gamers for an endemic problem.

If it wasn't for the impending lawsuits and the turn to an unheard of at the time 3 year warranty, Microsoft would have had the biggest recall the console world would have ever seen.

[PhoenixUp]

All that just to get a 1 year head start on Sony, and funny thing is in the end PS3 still ended up outselling 360

[Phill-Spencer]

Well it also helped them inflate x360 numbers which made xbox look more important than it actually was.

[Bathyj]

Yes but it allowed them to hold the lead for most of the generation and to strong arm publishers with that leverage.

Its sad to say but getting out early gave MS the generation on silver platter and even with RRoD they still came out ahead. So it was knowingly pass the problems onto the consumer, but it was still a win for the company, lose for the gamers.

Long term but, Microsofts trust levels dropped forever and they are still paying for it now. All the crap they try to pull, but gamers call them on it because they dont have that trust they had at the start of the X360 gen. I sceptical now that the soon to be released most powerful console in the world is going to have anything going for it other than Terflops per second. We need to see some games dammit.

[ZaWarudo]

My first 360 RROD on me, the second was eating my discs. I swore never to buy another Xbox after those failures.

[Utalkin2me]

Amen on that

[Strange_Evil]

My first 360 got RROD. I sold the replacement and got the Xbox Slim and the disc tray would malfunction half the time by ejecting it out. It was such a pain. I had to manually shove it in and half the time it would work and the other half it wouldn't register the game.

Although 360 was the best Xbox MS produced and I've had countless great times with it, it was the most unreliable console I've owned

[PhoenixUp]

I never could understand why people would continue buying Xbox 360 consoles multiple times when they broke down a lot in addition to scratching discs

[TankCrossing]

I had 4 Xbox 360s, thanks to 3 lots of RRoD. I only ever bought 1 though.

[CorndogBurglar]

The only reason is because MS replaced my consoles for free. After I sent it in I had a console back in a week. They at least handled it well on a customer service level. They would even replace it for free outside the warranty date. That is literally the only reason I kept my 360. Then when the Elite came out it fixed the problem.

[S2Killinit]

Isnt it obvious? my buddy went through 3 consoles.

[Relientk77]

My friend is on his 4th 360

[CorndogBurglar]

Well then your friend IS an idiot. I had my first 360 on launch day and they fixed it for free a month later.

[S2Killinit]

Haha perhaps. I'll call him that when i see him. See what he says.

[babadivad]

I guess everyone is forgetting unreliable the PS2 was.

[Daybish99]

Never had red ring of death had about three Open disc trey errors that was the real curse for the old 360 for me at least. Went through 3 consoles and the one console I gave to a girl as a present lasted about eight years and a trip to Baghdad what the f LOL

[Fishy Fingers]

Gamerbolt? Do we have an aspiring gamingbolt in our midst?

Bad times back in the day. I assume that's why the XB1 was quite large to accommodate more cooling.

[InMyOpinion]

Certainly, although the Nintendo Switch may have a good chance of becoming just as awful.

[Artemidorus]

Are we in a time machine??

[PizzaSteve]

My 1st 360 scratch my discs and RROD in under 1 year. Every console I've owned lasted more than a year except 360. I regret buying it plus I didn't like the controller and the games wasn't that interesting to me. Soon as I saved enough money I got a PS3 and MGS4. Never will I get a XB console again. Learned my lesson.

360 had a very high failure rate like 40% or more last I heard but that was years ago. Switch has flaws but I don't believe it will have a failure rate like 360 did.

[nitus10]

I still have my original day one PS1 but to play a game I do need to turn it upside down otherwise, the CD won't read properly. That said it is no big deal since the PS2 and all PS3's can read PS1 discs. Of course, if you still have a working original FAT PS3 (I do) you can read and play PS1, PS2 and PS3 games.

[TankCrossing]

Should have just got it replaced. The 360 was a great console for the first 3 years or so, when it was smashing out games like Gears, Bioshock, Halo 3, Lost Odyssey, and Mass Effect. Nosedived after that imo, but those were some good times.

[MasterCornholio]

"Nosedived after that imo"

Kinect was a big problem. That was when I got rid of my 360.

Incase anyone is wondering I owned two 360s but never had the RROD. The reason why I owned two was because I upgraded my first one to the HDMI model. That is all.

[Why o why]

Its true.. there were some great games and deals made by ms in the early years.....complacency, lack of foresight or plain old arrogance meant they ended badly relying on 3rd party and minimal output to coast. That carried over to this gen. Guess you really cant flick a switch...

[bellome]

In my experience yes. 3 xbox360 died on me, never gonna buy another MS hardware again.

[Vandamme21]

I had my xbox 360 for 6 years now...it never gave me any problems.

[franwex]

Well, then you have a fixed model. The original model came out in 2005, which is 11 years and some months. So that's 5 years of revisions.

[TankCrossing]

I still have a working 360 with no HDMI! I wonder if it's worth anything? lol

[Vandamme21]

I have the original model

[FallenAngel1984]

I for one am glad that Sony delayed the PS3's original Spring 2006 launch to Fall 2006 cuz it ensured that my original backwards compatible, card reading PS3 was not more likely to break like the rushed Xbox 360 constantly did. Not that original 360s are special like original PS3s, but still that's a lot of hassle to get resolved.

RROD wasn't even the only technical issue on for Xbox 360. In fact this console's hardware problems are so notorious that it even accumulated an entire page on Wikipedia dedicated to listing them all in detail.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/...

[sadsatan]

rrod made me switch to playstation. best choice ever imo

[The7Reaper]

I went through 3 360s by the time Xbox One came out and 1 Ps3 that I bought in '09 that still runs like a champ

[AKR]

This is what I've been wondering amidst all the Switch complaints: did everyone just forget that the 360 had this whole RROD fiasco? EVERY system has a few defective units at launch, but the 360 was a complete disaster for its first few years. Nobody should have to be replacing their system two or three times over because of a hardware failure.

PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii U...they all had their issues at launch too. We don't have the percentage for the Switch's failure rate, but chances are it's not nearly as high as the 360 was.

[tepariwu]

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[MagicBeanz]

Everybody I knew that had one had a red ring happen at least once, one guy I worked with had it happen, foolishly spent money on another one cause he couldn't be bothered to send it for repairs and got a red ring on the second system, you talk about the worst luck ever.

[Utalkin2me]

Ms wasn't fixing them after the warranty was out in the beginning though.

[iceman06]

Not openly. There were replacements and fixes, but it wasn't policy. It was the eventual threat of class action that made the warranty extension a policy and fixes hassle free.

[Relientk77]

Yes it was, also like how the RROD inflated sales

[didafa]

My best friend's ex-wife makes Bucks 75/hr on the laptop. She has been unemployed for eight months but last month her income with big fat bonus was over Bucks 9000 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more on this site.....
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[Angerfist]

I had my 360 replaced twice by this. And only a Console revision and the ability to install Games on HDD made the 360 Slim a reliable System.

[Malacath]

Yep It was the most unreliable console ever. I've gone through about 6 of them.

But it was still one of the best cosoles ever. Games just worked after inserting a disc. Apart from a small amount of games there was none of these compulsory installs you have now with current gen consoles.

[mochachino]

I will never forget how horrible my experience was with 360. 5 broken consoles, 3 RROD, 1 bad DVD drive, and one refurb came back and was dead on arrival. The ladies at Purolator even complained that every week they get so many people returning these things.

MS gave me nothing for all the hassle, I had to spend money and time travelling to and from and go through the inconvenience of having no games to play and deal with their shite support. Should have had a lemon policy after three broken consoles and given away some games.

Now I remember why my friends and I hated xbox so much in 2013 and all got PS4s. MS shat all over us last gen.

Never forget RROD!

[PiperMCFierceson]

Lol at all the people who bought a 360 saying "I went through3,5,6,and and an elite model" why didn't y'all just get a ps....

[Nodoze]

This issue is the ONLY reason teh 360 sales numbers were as high as they were. While it was initially more popular due to the online features, once they started going belly up 2,3,4 even 5 times...to the SAME buyer (before they reluctantly agreed to replace them under warranty due to legal pressures). The sell through did NOT represent reality.

[TeamIcoFan]

Atari Jaguar CD says "Bitch, you ain't got nothin' on me, i'm the most unreliable POS ever conceived in the 20th century!"

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

YES!

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Probably for early models, it was certainly a disaster. I bought mine when they introduced the Jasper revision so I never ran into the RRoD except once when the power wasn't in correctly which was my fault.

[Fearmonkey]

I still have my launch 3DO, Saturn, PS1, Dreamcast, but do I have my launch Xbox or Xbox 360?.. sort of but mostly no....
My Xbox had the Thompson drive issue and had to be sent in for replacement, unknown if it was the same xbox i sent in. I owned 4 Xbox 360's, I bought one and received another as a gift at launch, both of those eventually had RROD and was sent in. I bought an Elite 120GB and it eventually RROD and had to be sent in, my Xbox 360 that was sent in previously for RROD, RROD again, and I replaced it. I never did get a remodel 360 as by that time I started getting back into PC gaming. My original Xbox still works but some of those had foxcon power supply issues as well so that might eventually happen.

[syphon32]

2 360's, regular and slim, played extensively,, no right of death ever... still playing to this day.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

I can at least say MS repaired my RROD. Still waiting for Sony to take care of my PS2 disk read problem...glad I did not hold my breath on that one.

Don't worry people. I'll see myself out.

[Bathyj]

Uh, easily. Its worth than a Note 7, and that actually catches fire.

[Bathyj]

I went through 4. The first one was launch night. Was broken out of the box. It was a midnight launch so I went straight back and swapped it at 1 in the morning. That was a very bad sign.

[Smokingunz]

The most unreliable console wooped sony and ps3 ass that whole generation and it shall forever be remembered.

The xbox 360 was such a great system people wentry out and bought another one. Also the red ring fiasco was addressed years after.

[PSG4MER]

How ironic that the heat for this is 360 :)