2nd Hand Xbox

brick tamland

Guys

Just looking for a bit of help. I'm not much of a gamer but looking to pick up something cheap for a bit of Fifa and maybe some other games. I was in HMV yesterday and I seen some offers on pre-owned Xboxs. They had a 1 year warrenty but I'm aware of the Red Ring of death issue. Is there much of a risk, I wont be playing it for hours at an end or anything like that. Not overly familiar with the different types of Xboxes either elite/arcade ect
All feedback welcome

( sorry if posted before, I did a search and found nothing )

mcgovern

It would depend on how old the Xbox is, they have a 3 yr warrenty from Microsoft, so if it was only a year old, you'd still have 2 yrs left, and the new ones are much more reliable (I went through 5 replacements in 3 years until I got my new one, which has had no problems).
I'm not sure if there is an easy way to find out how old a console is though...

Healium

Shameless plug http://www.adverts.ie/302541/xbox/xbox-360-premium-20gb-hdmi-version/

thorbarry

mcgovern wrote: »

It would depend on how old the Xbox is, they have a 3 yr warrenty from Microsoft, so if it was only a year old, you'd still have 2 yrs left, and the new ones are much more reliable (I went through 5 replacements in 3 years until I got my new one, which has had no problems).
I'm not sure if there is an easy way to find out how old a console is though...

only a 3 year warranty from Microsoft for RROD and E74, but i'm sure there is a warranty with HMV for a year

mcgovern

thorbarry wrote: »

only a 3 year warranty from Microsoft for RROD and E74, but i'm sure there is a warranty with HMV for a year

Thats true, but its very easy to end up with a RROD if something else goes wrong (not that I've ever done this).

Mr Bloat

My old 360 had a Manufacture Date stamped on the back where the serial number is and it should be quite plain from that when it was made. After that console went RROD and I sent it back, the Manufacture Date had been replaced with a sticker saying Repair Date (or something similar, I can't remember exactly now). I traded that console in for a slim one, as soon as it came back from Germany. The refurbs have a 3 month warranty on them, from the date of repair. If you look at the sticker on the back of the console, it should be easy to tell when it was made and whether it's a refurb or not.

TouchingVirus

Xbox 360 Console Revisions:

First there was the Xenon, manufactured from November 2005 until July 2007. It is an RROD nightmare - avoid at all costs. Even with the 3 year extended warranty for RROD from Microsoft it was only covered until July 2010. All you will get with a console like this is whatever warranty the shop is offering.

Next up was the Zephyr revision. It introduced the HDMI port but still suffered from RROD it used similar architecture to the Xenon. Manufactured from May 2007 - November 2007 (roughly). Another one to avoid if you ask me.

Then there was the Falcon revision. Still had HDMI. Power consumption lowered to 175W. Hit and miss, some RROD and some don't. I'd still avoid. Was the main board revision until November 2008 or so.

The Opus. This revision was the same as the Falcon, but it had no HDMI port. The only way to get this revision was to send in your Xenon for repair for the RROD during which they'd swap it out with an Opus Same caveats apply to the Opus as to the Falcon.

November 2008 - the way forward. The Jasper revision has lower power consumption (150W) and changed the architecture to 65nm for both CPU and GPU. It only comes with HDMI and was the main board revision from August 2008 until production on the old-style consoles ceased this year in favour of the Slim (Vejle Revision). The Jasper is the most reliable revision of the xbox 360's older models - by comparision to the other revisions the heat-related RROD problem was almost eradicated. This is my choice for a second hand console.

Vejle - The Xbox 360 Slim. RROD is a thing of the past. I doubt you'll find a second hand console of this model just yet

Identifying the revision

By checking for the presence of a HDMI port and comparing the Power Socket at the back of the console, you can identify the model you're being offered. Here is the image


Core, Pro, Arcade, Elite

The core xbox 360 was just a console. No storage at all.

The Pro model came with a 20GB hard drive (later a 60GB one).

The Arcade model came with no hard drive for storage, instead relying on internal memory for storing arcade games downloaded from xbox live. The earliest Arcade models didn't have onboard storage but the console came with a memory unit (256MB).

The Elite was a fancy black console with fancy black controllers. It cost more money but came with a bigger hard drive too (120GB, later 250GB).

All the consoles played games. There was nothing you could do on an Elite that you couldn't do on any other console provided they have a hard drive. So a Core with a 20GB hard drive could do everything an elite could. The console is the console.

What to get

I'd recommend a Jasper anyways. I'd recommend a hard drive too, so try get one with a hard drive of at least 60gig. This allows you to install a few games to the hard drive (instead of 2 or 3 with the 20Gig and none with the Arcade) which will reduce noise and wear on your DVD drive. You don't need a memory unit anymore, they don't even sell them separately either because the latest version of the Xbox operating system allows you to use regular USB sticks to transfer savegames/store data.

If you're really tight for cash, you can get a model without a hard drive (try get a Jasper that's an Arcade). Later on you can buy the hard drive, though it will cost you more in the long run (e.g. better to scrimp for another 30 for the hard drive bundled, than buy now and pay 60+ for a new hard drive later).

Calhoun

Healium wrote: »

Shameless plug http://www.adverts.ie/302541/xbox/xbox-360-premium-20gb-hdmi-version/

I picked up this HMV offer the other day, €139 for a 120GB elite with 1 controller, which seems better than €120 for a 20GB console.

TouchingVirus

Calhoun wrote: »

I picked up this HMV offer the other day, €139 for a 120GB elite with 1 controller, which seems better than €120 for a 20GB console.

Yeah, that's a poor price for a console with 20GB hard drive and one that may be a Falcon too.

Healium

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Yeah, that's a poor price for a console with 20GB hard drive and one that may be a Falcon too.

You do realize this is Adverts, right? People will offer you €50 for a new iPhone. Gotta stick the price high, knowing you'll get nowhere near it

steel_spine

Gotta watch for 'bricked' consoles with 2nd hand xboxes now - Microsoft banned loads of xboxes from going on live at all for being modded or flashed in any way. I think t also screws something up with the HDs but I can't quite remember

brick tamland

Cheers Guys

I've been lve being looking about Adverts and they dont seem that much ( if any) chesper than a 2nd hand console form Game or HMV. Think I'll go to the shop as I'd get a 1 year warranty