This is the blog for Joe Siegler, the Apogee / 3D Realms website administrator.
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My Xbox 360 Died Part IIb
Posted 03-28-2008 at 01:23 PM by Joe Siegler
Well, my replacement 360 just showed up at 3DR via UPS. It still bugs me that the repair facility was 8.2 miles from 3DR HQ, and I couldn't take it there myself. Still, from the time out the door to back in my hands was 7 days, that's really not that bad, all things considering.
Anyway, the first thing I did was open it up to see if I got my same unit back. I DID NOT want my old unit back, as it's manufacture date was 2006-08-23. This was the original hardware footprint of the Xbox 360, and I certainly didn't want that back, as both my first and second units were from that "batch", and both crapped out. My original 360 had a pre-launch manufacture date from some time in the fall of 2005.
So I open the box, and there's a letter on the top that starts with the text "So that you can get back to playing and enjoying your Xbox quicker, we have replaced your Xbox console with a replacement unit".
It's not my same box! Huzzah! So I then check the serial number on the back, and it's not the same. The manufacture date is 2008-03-08.
It's less than three weeks old as I get it in my hands. This probably means it's one of the newer 65ns units (hopefully). These are supposed to have quieter DVD drives, too.
The problem is, I don't know how to tell. I found a post online a few weeks back telling you how to tell if you're in a retail store, and can see the box labels. But this is a repair job, so I don't have the nice fancy retail box.
One other thing is that I thought all 360's now came with HDMI ports. This one does not. That's not a huge deal to me, as I don't have an HDTV, but I thought all the models now came with an HDMI port. Guess I'm wrong.
Whatever, I'm glad to have my 360 back. Hopefully I don't have any future problems going forward.
Anyway, the first thing I did was open it up to see if I got my same unit back. I DID NOT want my old unit back, as it's manufacture date was 2006-08-23. This was the original hardware footprint of the Xbox 360, and I certainly didn't want that back, as both my first and second units were from that "batch", and both crapped out. My original 360 had a pre-launch manufacture date from some time in the fall of 2005.
So I open the box, and there's a letter on the top that starts with the text "So that you can get back to playing and enjoying your Xbox quicker, we have replaced your Xbox console with a replacement unit".
It's not my same box! Huzzah! So I then check the serial number on the back, and it's not the same. The manufacture date is 2008-03-08.
It's less than three weeks old as I get it in my hands. This probably means it's one of the newer 65ns units (hopefully). These are supposed to have quieter DVD drives, too.
The problem is, I don't know how to tell. I found a post online a few weeks back telling you how to tell if you're in a retail store, and can see the box labels. But this is a repair job, so I don't have the nice fancy retail box.
One other thing is that I thought all 360's now came with HDMI ports. This one does not. That's not a huge deal to me, as I don't have an HDTV, but I thought all the models now came with an HDMI port. Guess I'm wrong.
Whatever, I'm glad to have my 360 back. Hopefully I don't have any future problems going forward.
Total Comments 7
Comments
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OK, the Xbox 360 Arcade units (the replacement for the Core) also have HDMI ports. So I don't have an arcade box, since mine has a manufacture date of this month, yet no HDMI port, it would appear they're still making them without the HDMI port, if at least for no other reason than to fulfill these red ring repairs.
The Pro/Regular and the Elite both have HDMI ports too, so all three new hardware sku's have HDMI ports when you buy them new. This one does not, yet has a manufacture date of three weeks ago. So that's kind of odd. Makes me think even more so that what I received was something manufactured just for repair replacements.Posted 03-28-2008 at 01:46 PM by Joe Siegler 
Updated 03-28-2008 at 01:48 PM by Joe Siegler -
Thought of something else. Technically my original and second 360's were Core units. They had the white drive cover (which I liked better than the silver one on the Pro).
Anyway, the one I got back is also white like that. If you go to the Xbox hardware comparison page, the Arcade has a white cover, and the Elite & Pro units have the silver one.
So what I got sent fits none of the descriptions of the three available hardware sku's that Microsoft sells now. This has to be something for repair only. It would appear this is what they used to sell as the "Core". When they dropped that and went with the "Arcade" nomenclature for their low end unit, they added an HDMI port which I don't have.Posted 03-28-2008 at 01:50 PM by Joe Siegler
Updated 03-28-2008 at 01:59 PM by Joe Siegler -
http://forums.xbox.com/15804553/ShowPost.aspx
A post with pictures, but good Lord, they're blurry. Not sure how I'm supposed to tell anything with that.Posted 03-28-2008 at 03:26 PM by Joe Siegler
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I decided to Google for the part number, which is B4K-00001.
This shows up on Google as a core system. So OK, it's officially a core, which explains why there's no HDMI port (which is OK with me, don't need it now).
But the question remains - what's inside. I cannot fathom why they'd still be putting out the original footprint from 2005 & 2006 with a manufacture date of March 2008.
The search continues.Posted 03-28-2008 at 03:33 PM by Joe Siegler
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SHIT! Mother PUSS BUCKET!
The is the old tech. I figured out a way to tell after hearing from someone at Microsoft. I see copper tubing inside, which is the dead giveaway. The newer footprints don't have that.
So the countdown begins as to when this one will have to go back for repair. Sigh.
There is the possibility that it's been upgraded somewhat - I know some of the latter original footprints had more heat sinks in there, and other things in an attempt to keep things cool. So hopefully it's not a "true" original.Posted 03-28-2008 at 03:43 PM by Joe Siegler
Updated 03-28-2008 at 03:52 PM by Joe Siegler -
you really have no luck Joe.
I can feel what you must feel. Tech that doens't work as it is supposed to be is just horrible.
hopefully my ps3 still works in 4 years. the recent rumor that the 40 GB PS3's have a failure rate of 40% shocked me. But I guess thats a lie. 40% is incredible high.
So good luck this time with your repaired 360. :)Posted 03-28-2008 at 04:27 PM by JobivanHiob
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here joe take a look @ theese up and coming xbox 360s :D [url]http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/promotions/2008/spring/[/url]Posted 04-01-2008 at 06:17 PM by bazboyz
