Warranty Report Pegs Xbox 360 Failure Rates at 16 Percent

[Daniel ~]

Written by Daniel
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Majority of all Xbox 360 failures are from Red Ring of Death
Marcus Yam (Blog) - February 18, 2008 3:56 PM
DailyTech

The vulnerability of the Xbox 360 to a hardware failure known as the Red Ring of Death is a well publicized matter.... Front Page

[cloasters]

You'd think that a failure rate of five percent would be reasonable. Anyone know how reliable the PS3 is?

[Gizmo]

The Wii and PS3 both appear to have failure rates of less than 1%, from what I can tell.

Depending on the complexity of the product, you generally shoot for a failure rate of .1% (that's 1/10 of 1%, or 1 failure per 1,000 units) or lower during the projected service life of the unit, and you expect the VAST majority of those to be either very early in the service life ('infant mortality') or very near the end of the service life.

Stuff in the 'high reliabilty' range will want to have a failure rate of .001% or lower over the service life.

[danrok]

Originally Posted by Bill Gates

Our commitment is that it will be the most reliable video game box out there.

This guy is beyond belief. Bit late for this talk now.

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

Depending on the complexity of the product, you generally shoot for a failure rate of .1%

Hmm.........from further research, consumer electronics appears to be rather a different beast from what I'm used to. Apparently 5% failure rate is considered acceptable. That's 1 in 20!

I don't think I've ever designed something that unreliable.......

[danrok]

5% is pretty poor.

[dsio]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

Hmm.........from further research, consumer electronics appears to be rather a different beast from what I'm used to. Apparently 5% failure rate is considered acceptable. That's 1 in 20!

I don't think I've ever designed something that unreliable.......

Files code?

[dsio]

I've definately been worried about my PS3 from time to time, played Devil May Cry 4 last night for about two hours, then an hour of UT3, and the heat from that machine was /significant/. It sits in a cabinet slot about twice the width of the unit and twice the height of the unit, with an open front and back, and the heat of the air inside that slot was such that it was painful having my hand in there. The blue smoke smell is there as well. I've had it crash once, during Cod3 the week I got it a year ago, no problems since then (Possibly just because I was using firmware 1.0 at the time).

Stability wise its been good ever since. I wouldn't feel safe letting it fold all night or day though, and I would very much like to fit it with something like a Zalman Reserator.

By comparison, my 6800GT and 3200+ sits at about 30-35CC under full load in a warm room, and there isn't a single component other than the monitor that gives off any heat noticeable by a human touch.

[danrok]

I'd be a bit paranoid about putting mine in a cabinet slot. I've got mine upright on my vast black desk of vastness, with plenty of space around it, on all sides.

[noob]

We have a guy here at work who has the 360, he is on his 3rd one, and will be wanting a refund if it goes bad again. Another guy at work, his brother is onto his second 360 as well, and thats with the additional cooling package.

I have had a few slowdowns due to heat playing COD3 on the Wii (after an hour or so), but no crashes. I'm getting the cooling basestand, with LEDs for those times we play at parties. http://www.gpstore.co.nz/Games/1542829.html

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by dsio

Files code?

cd /universe
rm -rf dsio

[Daniel ~]

Runing F@H 24/7. It's horizontal in it's 33 WD X 9 inch HT cabnet. Only slightly warm to the touch. But I keep the room at around 60F, Summer may bring a reason to change the set up...

[Daniel ~]

On the MS warrenty...I think this totally un accecptable...HOW...Could...they....not...know?

Imaging being a retailer! "Sure we carry them! Take your pick 5 out of 6 actually work!!"

[cloasters]

Watch me not run down to the store for an XBox. Was toying with the idea of getting one because the PS3 is so costly. Wii for me?

[danrok]

The difference in price, between an Xbox 360 and PS3 is only $50.

The PS3 hardware is more durable, they even test them before they leave the factory.

Also, online gaming is free on PS3, costs $50 a year on the 360.