Xbox 360 Game Console Repairs
The Xbox 360 was one of the highlights of 2005 in terms of the growing innovations that were being taken by game consoles and developers alike. As of the start of 2011′s summer, the Xbox 360 has sold over 53 million consoles world wide, bringing together a small part of what Bill Gates had imagined as the home entertainment system. And while the 360 still remains popular, especially with the invent of the Kinect, in order to drive Nintendo Wii consumers to them, owners have often experienced issues with their consoles, usually resulting in the dreaded Red Ring of Death (based on the popular Windows Blue Screen of Death).
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Which Is The Best Option For You
What options do owners have for their Xbox 360 game console repairs? Here, we’ll look at five options that owner can and should consider in the case their console becomes unusable.
Most 360 owners will say that repairing the unit yourself is the best way to go. Again, the positives in this case will outweigh the cons – there is always a lower cost in repairing the unit as you either already have the tools needed or quick purchases from local stores usually result in paying less than shipping it or having it looked at by a professional.
This Is How The Manufacturers Clean Up With Repairs
There’s also no cost in having to pay yourself for the work. Often times, when shipping and handling are free, it’s because there is a high price for the work that professionals will put in for looking at the unit. This can be controversial as sometimes, no matter how long a pro looks at the unit or even if there’s a simple fix (like a screw was loose or came loose in the system), they may still charge the full repair price for having the device looked at.
Worse, sometimes they may not see a problem at all and charge an owner or there is additional damage that could have been caused by shipping that the repairer may not provide. A worse scenario is having the unit repaired, only for damage to occur on the way back to the owner.
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The sense of pride that you feel when you’ve accomplished something that you probably didn’t think you could do is an amazing confidence booster and a bonafide bragging right to friends and family. An additional side effect is that you may feel they would like to tackle another one on your own, or, build or repair a computer. You may find you have a growing interest in technology,and learning how components work together to bring a final product. This feeling may even lead into new employment or career opportunities or even a different focus for education benefits.
Who Takes The Best Care Of your Stuff ?
There’s also a bit more care taken to a unit when done by the person who owns it. In some cases, professionals may erase the contents of the hard drive while in their work, which leads to all the saved content, such as saved scores, game locations, items, etc being gone forever. This is of course a very distressing downside as hours of work can easily be erased in minutes.
By repairing the unit yourself, you can take the extra precautions of backing everything up or making sure that your repair will not effect your saved data. In most cases, it doesn’t.
An important reminder is that 360 owners who don’t feel comfortable in repairing their device still have the options of outside help, including that of family and friends should they wish to forgo the first four options. Xbox 360 game console repairs should be attempted by those who feel comfortable in working with the technology of their gaming system and that of repairing electronics. Just remember that the repairs, parts and tools used are not rocket science.
Before You Fix Your Own Xbox 360
Do your own repairs after purchasing a guide that gives you support post sale. That means you should be able to have access to at least email support. I would look for a guide that has videos to show you what to do and a forum and even phone support. If you buy a guide to repair your Xbox find one written by an author who is a “Techie” that really fixes or has fixed Xbox’s.
“Self Diagnostic Repair Hero Saves XBOX From Certain Death”
This option is also a favorite with many owners as it can save time and money if they consider fixing the issue themselves. Many experts, however, will warn against this method as owners can actually cause further damage by repairing the unit themselves because they don’t have the knowledge on some components or will get inferior parts, not knowing that they could be detrimental to the unit.
The pros of this are sometimes very little time and money spent in fixing the issue. Again, the Internet holds a vast knowledge of differing guides and how tos from experts and owners who have successfully fixed their 360s. In most cases, the simple relative tools that most of us have within our household is all that is needed to fix the problem; devoting a block of time in which to set aside without distraction, in an area that won’t damage the console (flat surface, away from direct sunlight, being grounded, etc).
In the case where parts may need to be replaced or repaired, these can sometimes be found in either local computer shops or even hardware shops and usually shouldn’t cost more than $25, maybe $50 and can be purchased on the same day that an owner begins their project.
There is also the sense of pride that repairing something by one’s self that can be accomplished, especially if they manage to get the unit up and running in a better condition. This is especially true for those owners who aren’t exactly techies or have a lot of technical knowledge. While most owners ARE either interested in technology or are very heavily invested in it (ie, it’s their job, passion, hobby, etc), getting a 360 back to working condition with just a bit of patience and the required tools can be very liberating.
Replacing Your Game Console
For most cases in technology based hardware and software, the recommendation is for users to replace faulty equipment with new ones or upgrade to better models. This is to ensure that all updates and requirements are met by the official guidelines that are set by the manufacturer.
While this can be a good policy in some cases, it does tend to hit a user where their wallet is. In the case of replacing the Xbox 360 will a newer console, owners would need to spend an additional $299 or $399 (depending on their model of choice); this is especially true for those owners who buy used or refurbished consoles, only to discover their are inherent problems. This Option doesn’t take into account other variables that don’t include monetary cost such as the time involved in moving saved games to a new console. Moving your old console game data is not always possible.
Send Your Console Back To The Factory For Repair.
Another option that is also recommended is sending the console back to the manufacturer, that being Microsoft itself. Again, as with the replacement option, this allows for trained professionals to look at the console in order to diagnose, troubleshoot, and then solve the problem.
There can be pros and cons to this method as far as owners are concerned. The pro side is that their device is being looked at by a professional, who will mostly be able to work on the problem that the console has been having. Unfortunately, there can be more cons in this case than pros. Number one is the time that it could actually take to get the unit to the manufacturer, then looked at by a professional, and then shipped back.
Unless an owner springs for next day shipping, the console could take several days up to weeks depending on the start location and then of course there is no telling if issues could happen on the way to the manufacturer; the item could be further damaged in transit, which could up the cost in repair for the owner and in some cases, the item never reaches its destination.
There’s also the money involved in not only shipping, but having the item repaired. Luckily, if an owner should send their console back and they are under the warranty time line, they may be able to have their unit repaired at no charge. However, for owners who are outside of that timeline, repair prices could easily begin at $99 and up no matter how hard or easy the repair is .
How Much Time Have You Got
Owners also have to consider the amount of time it will take for their unit to be looked at. Because 360s are popular all over the world, there is a very good chance that others are either having the same problems or other issues that warrant sending the console back and depending on the seriousness of the issue, owners may find that the unit they sent in two weeks ago still has not been looked at.
There’s also the time that the owner is without their console. Again, as with shipping, getting the device repaired and shipped back took a very long time; unless the owner has another gaming console, there could be boring days ahead until the unit is returned.
What If You Lose All Your Saved Data ?
Lastly, there’s the ever present danger of having all game data being erased from the system. When repairs are being made, there truly is no consideration for the data that could be within the system and in an effort to bring the system back to its newest state, hard drives are often reformatted, without the precaution of backing up the system first.
Send Your Console To A Specialized Console Repairer
An alternative to sending the console to the manufacturer is sending it to a third party service that is specialized in repairing all types of gaming consoles, not just the Xbox 360. As with the above, there are pros and cons to this method.
These shops may offer free or discount shipping, especially if you are a new customer. Often times, these companies can easily be found online, with instructions on how to troubleshoot your device and how to get it shipped to them; they may also offer rebates if they are unable to repair the unit in a specified time frame. These sites may also have online tech support, which can help to walk through some troubleshooting tips and answer questions.
The downsides to this can be heavy. First, because these sites are usually on the Internet, it may be hard for users to decipher if they are reputable or not. Some of these sites advertise Xbox 360 game console repairs, however once they receive the Xbox, they may stop all communication, basically deceiving the owner out of a console. Worse, these sites may not even do any repairs; they may just be looking to get an owners information, such as their credit card and address and then the owner becomes a victim of online identity theft or fraud.
There’s also the chance that some people might not have Internet access to these places. As strange as it may sound, there are actually many rural places that are unable to receive broadband Internet connections and therefore are unable to get online and to the websites that could be listed. Unless the company also has a local location, these owners will never know about them. Even if they did know about these services it doesn’t mean that they will have access to a quality fast freight service.
As with the manufacturer, there’s the same danger of having data being erased.
Send Your Console To A Local Repairer
This option is usually the first one that owners will consider if running into an issue with their 360 consoles. The big benefit to this is that as a local shop, owners can easily call or go down to inquire the status of their console, as well as dropping it off and picking it up when it’s done, without having to wait for shipping.
The downside is that there may not be any type of local store like in every town. Another issue is that is time for units to be looked at. As with the manufacturer, if this store is the only one of its kind in the city, the employees may have many consoles that need to be looked at, which could push the time they spend on one particular Xbox 360 could be limited.
There’s also the case where parts may need to be ordered from outside of the local store and if those parts are on back order, then the technician will be unable to look at the console without it.
As with the manufacturer and third party repairs, there’s also the danger of having game data erased.
I like helping people to learn and I love playing with electronic stuff. Now I buy and rebuild Video Gaming Consoles. It’s and easy to do and takes me no time to find really cheap repairable Playstations, Xboxes, Wii, DSI’s, there’s plenty around because people love to play them.
Super informative wirting; keep it up.
Ho ho, who wuodla thunk it, right?
This was so helpufl and easy! Do you have any articles on rehab?
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Definetly bookmarking this! Also a little note to the author the link in the post is not working,
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