News 30 Percent Failure Rate for the 360

why glue on the heatsink ?

why cant they bolt it down, like just about every other high heat cooler does ?

 

It actually has 'clamps'. They add glue to the cpu and gpu to stop them from cracking the solder underneath. The problem seems to be the gpu/cpu getting to hot, melting the solder underneath. That causes them to have loose connections. Most people screw the heatsinks on with m5 nuts&bolts. that way, the gpu/cpu can't come loose.

 

How could MS give out ANY money, especially since they haven't turned a profit on the Xbox since its existence?

Secondly, just like any company that makes a product, they will continue to do the least possible in being able to ensure the 360 works at the time of purchase and through the 1-year warranty, but after that warranty is up...better buy some aftermarket cooling kit....and I mean soon! It's probably the same with the PS3, but at the same time, from what I've heard (and haven't heard): not too many PS3's have been returned due to overheating issues so that shows a lot for Sony and how they manufactured their console.

 

Xbox hasn't gotten Microsoft any money at all? Where are you getting this information?... I see no reason why a company would sell something not at a profit, unless if Microsoft is hellbent on keeping its price (with a HD-DVD drive) around the same as a PS3.

 

the PS3 has a mammoth cooler.

the X360 gpu/cpu gets so hot it melts the solder? that is insane!!!!

[hint]microsoft talk to <insert good cpu/gpu cooler company here> to make an easy replacement for your crappy cooler[/hint]

forgot to add, MS are in fact selling the console at a profit as are Nintendo, the only one that are not profiting is Sony.

 

As far as I can tell from news in Holland;
- PS3 had problems befóre the launch, but fixed nearly all of them. Although the price is higer then the other consoles, most of them actually seem to work quite well. Imho, it's more worth to buy a PS3 then a 360, even if it's just for the Bluray and small amount of actuall hardwareproblems at the moment.
- 360 didn't have a whole lot of problems before launch, but a lot of bugs and malfunctions were discovered after launch. Scratching DVD's, "extremely" loud, running too hot, hackilicious, circle of death are just some of the problems that haunt this console right now. Price is medium/expensive, and in my opinion certainly not worth it if ±30% fails to run like it should.
- Wii's are actually the only ones who hardly had any problems at all. On rare ocassionit a few of them might have a little problem, but all in all, this is by far the most solid console at the moment.

From what I can see, the consoleworld is in a pretty bad shape compared to most of the previous console-releases. Things are either malfunctioning or too expensive, except the Wii (which I happen to have, hehe). I really enjoy my Wii, but I can't believe that the other 2 are so busy breaking eachother's neck that they can't seem to make a solid console

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/05/04/Xbox_will_make_profit_next_year/1

Bear in mind though that I don't think Sony is profiting on the PS2 just yet though either. Console companies make consoles to make money from games, not consoles. It's like selling cars in order to profit from petrol sales.

Brett touched on this in his last column;

http://www.bit-tech.net/columns/2007/06/20/of_spiders_and_flies/1

 

ps3

and most of the time they sell consoles at a loss to get them into peoples houses, it may look like a better deal compared to a PC, but thats because each one can be subsidised by like £100
But then they should (theoretically) make their money back with sales of games (which are usually £10-20 more expensive then the PC counterpart)

Though with a 30% failure rate, it seems hard to believe that the 360 is going to become profitable so soon

 

Well I work retail and can confirm that there is no way in hell that it is close to 30%. In all actuality our highest returned item of the past fiscal year was the Ipod. The 360 was at 17%. Which is not good, but not horrible. I have had my 360 since day one, and never had a single problem. It has been on various trips through airport security and on the road, yet it still works. I attribute this to the fact that I keep it horizontal, and my entertainment cabinet lets it breathe. Also I added a few mm larger rubber feet so air can flow beneath the console as well.

 

I do hope you realize that a Wii is just a Gamecube that has been repackaged with a new controller.

 

I do hope you realise that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will never be as good or multi-functional as a decent PC

 

PS3 is as multifunctional as the PC joe, it supports linux.

 

Yeah, but it's not as good as a paperweight. PCs are much heavier on average.

 

You're missing the point completely. The PS3 and 360 are completely new units, where as the Gamecube/Wii is not. When making new hardware problems are bound to occur. Not to mention how much more complex the 360 and PS3 are in comparison. BTW just let me know where you can get a PC that plays games like Gears of War and the Darkness and will only set you back 400 dollars.

 

That sentence made no sense

 

Ebay. Plus, you can recoup the money you spend in savings from not paying 100 quid for two games and being able to use the PC for a whole load of other things which you can earn money through, like selling things on Ebay.

Kind of circular, innit.

 

£100 for two games?

Dunno where you shop Joe... Most brand new 360 games are sold at £39.99, but if you shop around you can get them for £35 new. I paid £18 for a new copy of GoW

 

eek, meant dollars. Still, 80 quid for two brand new games ins't cheap by anyones standards and, while GOW for 18 is very enticing, I wouldn't say thats a good price by a long way considering it's last years news.

Anyway, the point is that all console games are over expensive. People just seem to be used to it now, which is sad.

 

All PC hardware is very expensive if you want to run the latest games.

I prefer ease of use over cost when I normally wait a couple of weeks and buy the games secondhand or for <£30, PC gaming is preventing that with distribution like Steam and things like Starforce just piss me off.

 

Starforce is barely used anymore to my knowledge. Too much bad press.

Personally, I prefer customability and decent interface over everything else and I find that games designed for PC offer more content and more mature themes and storylines, as well as offering a better experience and more mods etc. You don't get mods for console games, and when you do you have to buy them via XBL.

Don't get me wrong, I love consoles, but I'll choose a PC if I need a single system. Each to their own though.