Getting used 360 need help inspecting.

[pinoy3000]

Hey guys, I am getting a used 360 today and it was bought last summer of 2008. I was wondering, what kind of crucial inspections should I do before purchasing it? I am purchasing this used one because it will come with 4 controllers and games.

Also, is it safe to format the hard drive on the 360 and not loose any crucial information?

 

[NightSurge]

Make sure it still works and was not registered on Xbox.com (otherwise if it RRoD's and was already registered, the previous owner's information would be used, and the 3 year warranty would not transfer to your new name and address). Yes it is safe to format the hard drive, and should be done because if it is not done, then the actual previous owner's information may still be stored on it and could be harmful to either you or the seller.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Make 100% sure you're getting a FALCON or JASPER unit. Since it was Summer 08, you won't get Jasper, but make sure you get Falcon at least. The first two boards (Xenon and Zephyr) use the old chips and overheat, causing frequent and common Red Ring of Death (RRoD) errors. These systems have a 203W power brick and on the back say they use 16.5A on the 12V line. DO NOT BUY THESE SYSTEMS, they're almost 100% prone to fail eventually.

The Falcons (third motherboard revision, with HDMI) have a 175W power brick and say they use 14.1A on the 12V line. They use a better CPU that uses less power and makes less heat, reducing RRoD risk, but since they still use the 90nm GPU that uses the same amount of power/makes the same amount of heat as on older ones, they still have the potential to die. The Jaspers replace both the CPU and GPU with less power consuming/less heat producing chips and produce very little heat while running (just got one on Sunday). If you can buy new, definitely try to get yourself a Jasper (November 2008 or newer MFR date), otherwise make sure you get a Falcon.

 

[akasixcon]

how can u tell a falcon from a jasper?


Dell : Microsoft Corporation Xbox 360 Arcade Holiday Bundle : XBOX 360 : Home & Home Office

i just bought this today from dell

 

[pinoy3000]

Make 100% sure you're getting a FALCON or JASPER unit. Since it was Summer 08, you won't get Jasper, but make sure you get Falcon at least. The first two boards (Xenon and Zephyr) use the old chips and overheat, causing frequent and common Red Ring of Death (RRoD) errors. These systems have a 203W power brick and on the back say they use 16.5A on the 12V line. DO NOT BUY THESE SYSTEMS, they're almost 100% prone to fail eventually.

The Falcons (third motherboard revision, with HDMI) have a 175W power brick and say they use 14.1A on the 12V line. They use a better CPU that uses less power and makes less heat, reducing RRoD risk, but since they still use the 90nm GPU that uses the same amount of power/makes the same amount of heat as on older ones, they still have the potential to die. The Jaspers replace both the CPU and GPU with less power consuming/less heat producing chips and produce very little heat while running (just got one on Sunday). If you can buy new, definitely try to get yourself a Jasper (November 2008 or newer MFR date), otherwise make sure you get a Falcon.

Yea I got the Falcon cuz it says 12V=14.4 Amps

It did come with 4 controllers which I thought was a plus

 

[braz]

my friend bought a refurbished 360 off ebay for $160 shipped with a 20gb HDD, about 1 week later it go RRoD. Stick with jasper or falcon like calc said.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

The falcons aren't perfect, my friend got one a year ago (almost exactly) when his first one died and he just said that it died a week ago and he had to send it in.

 

[Matt101905]

The falcons aren't perfect, my friend got one a year ago (almost exactly) when his first one died and he just said that it died a week ago and he had to send it in.

Screw sending it in. Microsoft done screwed me over doing that before. This is why I buy from Walmart and get the 2 year extended warrenty ($19.99) so if mine dies, I just return it for a new one and get to keep whatever time is left on the warrenty instead of getting a refurbished 360 from microsoft that has a 90 day warrenty. Plus you get to choose what xbox you get, so you can pick a Jasper for sure. Walmart actually did something right for once...wow.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Well, he gave his first broken one to me (that's how I got into the 360 in the first place...got a free broken one and fixed it, though I had to keep fixing it so I just got a Jasper). He couldn't buy a third one so sending it in was his only option.