XBox 360 vs. PS3

[YoungOnce]

My Xbox 360 has succumbed to the red ring of death and is no longer under any warranty.

Everyone that I know that has a 360 has had the "red ring". I am seriously thinking of replacing it with a PS3, even though I would have to re-buy a lot of games and peripherals (chargers, wireless controller)

Would it be worth it? Someone told me that the current batch of 360s have been fixed regarding the red ring.

If I just replaced it, I would want to get the same white casing model (not the new slim) so my old harddrive would work and I could keep my saved games.

But I'm really up in the air about giving Microsoft more of my money for a faulty product to begin with.

[fallensaviour]

I don't know what to tell you,I just picked up a 360 about a month ago...I was up in the air myself but not being able to play my old ps 1 and 2 games on the new format of the ps3 drove me towards the xbox 360.

I have heard that you don't have to have a gold card(monthly fee) for ps3 like you do for x-box though.Maybe somebody can tell you forsure.

[toys2cool]

yeah the ps3 live thing is free and it does have the blu ray player, but xbox is way better, cheaper to replace and way more gamers online, here's an example -modern warfare has about 6 million players to xbox's 14 million plus on that game alone

[LadyZod]

Seems like a few enterprising folks online have come up with solutions to the RRoD.

Here's a few of the free online guides:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fix-the-Red-Ring-of-Deathwithout-towels/

http://www.squidoo.com/xbox_360_red_ring_of_death_fix-how_to_guide123

It seems like you don't need to be a techie to at least try a few of these.

I'd say, what do you have to lose? You can't play it now ANYWAY. Worse thing that will happen is... you'll still not be able to play with it.

[megowgsh]

we have PS3 and love it.

[toys2cool]

Seems like a few enterprising folks online have come up with solutions to the RRoD.

Here's a few of the free online guides:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fix-the-Red-Ring-of-Deathwithout-towels/

http://www.squidoo.com/xbox_360_red_ring_of_death_fix-how_to_guide123

It seems like you don't need to be a techie to at least try a few of these.

I'd say, what do you have to lose? You can't play it now ANYWAY. Worse thing that will happen is... you'll still not be able to play with it.

and if you try all those and it still doesn't work you could always sell it for parts on ebay, alot of people buy them to repair them

[Werewolf]

There is no real fix for the red ring. The online quick fixes are only temporary fixes. My launch 360 red ringed on me a while back and I upgraded to a Elite and haven't had any troubles with it so far. The new slim 360 is supposed to be red ring proof so if you have a large library of games and accessories you'll probably will just want to get a new one. You can get a transfer kit and transfer the content from your old hard drive to the new slim model. If you are going to get a new 360 I really would recommend the slim model.

The PS3 had a rough launch with too high of price, very few good games and a limited online service. That's really not the case anymore. Lots of great exclusive games and the multi-console releases are on par with the 360. The PS3 has benefit from free online gaming. Playstation Network does offer an additional premium subscription service that includes some extra perks but it is not needed to play online. The PS3 also plays Blu-Ray movies which is a nice extra and it's been recently patched to play 3-D blu-ray movies and 3-d video games if you have a 3-D enabled TV.

[YoungOnce]

Thanks for all the input folks.

The online play doesn't really matter that much to me, I most likely wouldn't play online on either system. Likewise with the blue-ray... I won't be re-buying all my movies in a new format. And I like games on both systems. Really, I guess the question is, which system is the most reliable?

Looking around the net... is the 360s failrate still over 50% !!? (PS3 around 10%)

[Wise4671]

I have a PS3 and love it. I have had no issues with my system and when you have any questions the PS customer service is top notch.

[mitchedwards]

Go with the PS3. I am hearing rumors Microsoft is about to dump the Xbox 360. Its been a money pit. Here is a link to a story about it

http://techrights.org/2010/08/23/nin...pes-microsoft/

[Werewolf]

Really, I guess the question is, which system is the most reliable?

The PS3 is definitely the more reliable of the two.

I've had two 360s die on me. My launch console and the refurbed one Microsoft sent to replace it. The refurbed one only lasted a few months. The Elite I got to replace that is still going, so far.

I'm still on my launch 60 gig PS3. Haven't had any problems with it.

[Werewolf]

Go with the PS3. I am hearing rumors Microsoft is about to dump the Xbox 360. Its been a money pit. Here is a link to a story about it

http://techrights.org/2010/08/23/nin...pes-microsoft/

That's just an opinion piece on a blog. MS had more than its share of problems with the early 360 hardware but it's not going anywhere. The newer models don't red ring and they make a fortune off of XBOX Live and game sales. The XBOX division has been profitable for some time now.

The PS3 has been a "money pit" for Sony but it is also not going anywhere. Things have really turned around for the PS3 and it's finally edging towards profitability.

[MegoSteve]

Go with the PS3. I am hearing rumors Microsoft is about to dump the Xbox 360. Its been a money pit. Here is a link to a story about it

http://techrights.org/2010/08/23/nin...pes-microsoft/

You know, that article is just plain old b.s. The entire article is based on "I heard a rumor"... One guy writes it, then the next guy, and soon it's an internet echo chamber of baseless crap. Just terrible, useless speculation with no basis in fact or reality.

That said, I do prefer my PS3 these days. Early on in this generation's console wars, I was a pretty big 360 supporter, but now that both consoles are priced the same, the PS3 wins. What sealed the deal this gen was when HD-DVD failed and Microsoft failed to license Blu-ray for their system. The PS3 is a top-notch Blu-ray player, and even if you don't want one now, you might want one if you get a high def set. That and the PS3 does a great job of upscaling standard DVDs... (so does the 360, though).

[Jerry68]

I loved the original Xbox. I watched very carefully and I am glad I bought the PS3. In my opinion the graphics are better. Very reliable. Constant updates. Batman Arkhan Asylum is fantastic on it. DC Universe online is coming out for it in a few months. The blueray player is the best out there. I could not be happier with it.

[jimbutsu]

There is no real fix for the red ring. The online quick fixes are only temporary fixes.

Not technically true- but more or less accurate. There are ways to fix it, if it isn't too far gone, but you have to address the underlying problems with the physical design of the case in order to do that. It's 100% reparable (again, provided that the thing isn't totally nuked, which it shouldn't be if you don't mess with it after it starts going goofy), but not for the layperson. Here's what is actually happening, and what it actually takes (skip this if you're not interested, but it's really fascinating if you like this kind of stuff):

The processor (CPU) and graphics chip (GPU) are in the middle of the system board, and the case is actually designed so that the standoffs (where the board is mounted to the case with screws) are NOT all an even height. This is the most boneheaded design imaginable, and it basically causes the board to be installed into the system with a bend to it, because the stnadoffs in the middle are 1mm or so taller than the ones on the edges. The CPU and GPU are pretty much in the middle of the board, so they are actually being pulled away from the board due to this bend. Second problem, the 360 doesn't disperse heat well. When the system is turned on and off, the board heats and cools, worsening the flex of the board and loosening the solder joints that hold the CPU and GPU to the board. Eventually, a pin will pop up or become bridged (contact another pin because the joints get messy) and that's how you ring. This can happen in a few places on the 360, but the vast majority are the CPU and GPU.

To *actually* fix it:
1) Fieldstrip the whole thing down to base components and clean everything.

2) Bake the montherboard for 6-8 hours at low temp to completely unflex the board (yeah, don't do this if you don't know what you're doing)

3) File/sand the standoffs down inside the case so that they are all a uniform height

4) Reflow the solder joints on the mainboard (again, not really for average joe/jane)

5) Reassemble the unit with better thermal compound and some extra parts (washers, bolts) to a) hold the board flat and level b) replace the pressure-fittings on the heatsinks with something that actually bolts them in and c) secure the sinks through the metal shell so that heat dissipation is less isolated.

Wow, I'm a dork.