Im going to have to buy a new XBox soon, but Im waiting for the price to (hopefully) drop.
Ill just cut and paste my little story from Rebelscum:
This may sound contrived, but I assure you, these events are true, and have transpired over the past hours.
Ok, so I'm playing my Xbox this evening, in a very cool room, with the console sitting in a very open ventilated area. When, out of the blue, the unit turns off. No other electronics shut off, no brown out or black out, no blown fuses, etc...
So, I try to turn it on. Power button doesnt work. Ok, so I press the eject button. Unit comes on, tray opens halfway, closes and turns off. Almost as if the XBox were saying "HAH! Screw you, you're not getting Soul Calibur II back!". Ok, so I give it a couple minutes. Just in case it overheated. Power button. Nothing. Eject button. This time the tray comes out and I snag the disc. About two seconds later as I put the disc in the case, whap! Tray closes, unit turns off. I give it a half hour, and come back. Power button doesnt work. Press the eject button. It turns on, and stays on! Bless the video game gods! So, I press the eject button again, to close the tray. Hmmmmm. Why did it turn off? Damnit.... Press the power button. Nothing. Eject button. Turns on. This time, I press the power button. It turns off, but tries to come back on. Powers up, shuts off, powers up, shuts off. Is this thing possessed?!?! It finally turns off. I try the same thing, new surge protector. No luck. Same thing, new outlet. No luck. Another outlet. No luck.
I leave the XBox plugged in, press the power button. Nothing. So, I walk away. Minutes later? It turns on, by itself! Of course, as soon as I step near it, it turns off. It's teasing me now.
I give in, I call XBox Support. Tell them all the details. They are blown away. What the hell happened? The techs go to their supervisors, the supervisors go to their supervisors. They cant even think of anything to do, I've already done everything they would have had me do (wait a few minutes, try other plugs, check all the cables, see if everything is plugged in tightly, told them its in a clean well ventilated and cool area, etc).
So, my warranty has expired (no big surprise there), and they offer to let me send it to XBox to be repaired. I told them I'd consider it, and in the meantime, they are sending a new power cord, just to try (hell, its free, and anything is worth a try).
Thus, my conundrum. If said power cord does not work, do I send it to XBox? The repairs (assuming they are successful) would cost $100. I also have to pay shipping. With insurance and delivery confirmation, probably $25. So, we have $125 bucks, plus however long it takes for the XBox to POSSIBLY be repaired. I assume they wont charge me if it cant be fixed, but they wont replace it for free since the warranty is expired. Choice 2? $179ish for a new XBox with Clone Wars and another game (and free XBox live for a few months). Dont know if I want to risk eBay, but I might be able to snag a new one online for less.
So, is it worth another $50 to not have to deal with the woes of packing, shipping and waiting, for a repair that may not ultimately be successful? What if I can snag a new XBox for less than $179 (any links to legitimate e-tailers would be appreciated)? The fact of the matter is, old Boxy has passed away, and Im not about to attempt repairs myself, or send it to someone else (if I question sending it to XBox, nobody will convince me to send it to someone else). Another option would be to buy a refurb from Gamestop, $160 with free 2 Day shipping, or $150 for a preowned. I could also stop at Gamestop after classes.
So, what would you do?
