Well it is now part II of the RROD for me (tl;dr version at the bottom)

Last time I sent in my console and roughly 10 20 days later (due to them screwing up the fan and me having to send it back in) I had my console back.

When I sent it in they told me that the warranty was reset from the date it was repaired and that a new warranty was in place (at least for RROD and 90 new days of a warranty should anything else go wrong). Apparently I'm not the only one who was led to believe that either as I have had a couple of friends that I'm finding out from that M$ told them the same thing and now they have either paid for a new xbox or got repairs. I also have a friend who works for a UPS store and had a couple of customers tell him the same thing.

Apparently that is not the policy for RROD (or so I have been told). Essentially I was told wrong information (or M$ is just screwing with me) but nonetheless I was led to believe I wouldn't have to pay for repairs within the supposed warranty time.

So I got RROD the other night. Not a big deal I thought, I'll just send it in like last time. Turns out it's $100 to repair it (that's the reduced price if I do it online). Surprised I asked what happened to the warranty and the representative told there was no new warranty (despite being guaranteed there was one). So I got a hold of his manager and had a nice long discussion with him (and forgive me for saying so but the guy was a total [censored]) who essentially told me policy is policy.

I can understand that but when you work customer service and your representative tells a customer specific information on a policy, even if it's wrong information, then guess what your new policy is (at least for that particular customer).


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tl;dr version: M$ is not going to repair my Xbox for free despite them saying they would.

So rather than get a new Xbox or send it in for repairs I'm thinking of getting a PS3 but how likely is YLOD? Is it present on all models of the PS3 or did they work out the kinks in their slim model (or other models?) Well the wiki on YLOD says yes it is still present

Oh and obligatory emoticons for this post: :brokencomputer: :flame: :swear: :facepalm: :banghead:

If you pick up one of the latest Slim models then your chances of YLOD are pretty.. slim. The PS3 Phat, which are the models that I usually see getting YLOD, was much more power hungry and ran very hot. Most YLOD on these can be attributed to the thermal paste drying up, causing the system to overheat. After extended use solder points would eventually become weak or break, which is why sticking your PS3 motherboard in an oven at 400F can "fix" the YLOD.

Anyway, even when the thermal paste dries on the Slim I can't imagine it'd get hot enough to cause problems, unless your system is kept in an enclosed space. Worst case you'll have to open the PS3 up and apply fresh thermal paste in a few years, and you'll get hints when to do this by listening to the PS3's fan. Before my old Phat got YLOD its fan would kick into high gear just idling on the XMB (went on for a few months) and I didn't realize what was going on until the system overheated and gave me YLOD upon restart. Taking it apart revealed that there was hardly any thermal paste on the CPU and GPU, and what was there was rock hard.

Long story short, I'd say it's safe to buy a Slim (or Xbox 360 S for that matter). Just make sure the model number on the Slim begins with "CECH-21" as anything earlier (CECH-20 and before) are running 65nm CPUs, rather than 40nm.

Hmm I'll research it

At the very least would keeping it in a freezer help at all?

You'd not only kill your PS3 that way, but probably wreck your freezer's compressor as well. I wouldn't recommend it.

Noooo not the freezer compressor!

How will I ever keep my food cold if that happens?