questions about 360

[psx95]

I have a 360 that I bought new in 2008 that, believe it or not, I just played for the first time the other day. It is a 20gb Pro that was manufactured in 3/08. I believe this would make it a Falcon unit? With all the problems that 360s have had in reliabillity, I want to take any measures to keep the system working for a long time. I have a few questions.

1. I want to make sure I keep it from overheating. When I played it the other day, I had the system on for about two hours. I only played a game part of that time. When I shut it off, I noticed that it was pretty warm underneath. Is this normal for the length of time that the system was on?

2. I had the system in the horizontal position. Does the system have more ventilation in the horizontal or vertical position? Does it matter that when it is placed horizontally, the two vents on each side of the bottom are covered?

3. I have heard that it is bad to place systems on the floor. I usually place mine on a hardback book that is on the floor. What is the best place to put the console while playing? There are two shelves on my TV stand that are open on all sides except for the top and bottom. Would this be safe or would dust build-up on the shelves? Where would the least amount of dust be?

4. What is the longest length of time that is safe for continuous play without overheating? I usually play at the longest for an hour and a half or two hours at one time.

5. I noticed that the disc tray closes fast and hard and slams shut. Is this normal for a 360?

6. What room temperature is safe while playing? It is about 73 to 75 degress in the room where my games are.(this is during the summer)

7. I played Project Gotham Racing 3 the other day and I noticed a strange effect. When I hit the rear view button and then went back to forward view, the details on the surroundings, like the buildings, were slow to appear. They would start out blurry and then I could see each layer of detail slowly popup until it looked normal. Does anyone know if this is a normal graphical glitch for this game?

8. I am thinking about getting a second 360 for a spare. Which model/revision is the most reliable? Should I get a Jasper/Elite or the new slim model?

9. How reliable are the Falcon units like the one I currently have?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance for any help!

[G-Boobie]

1) Yessir, the 360 being fairly warm is normal for a couple hours of play. No worries.

2) HORIZONTAL 4 LYFE. Using the 360 vertically is a very bad decision: as you noted already, it covers up ventilation. Why they designed the stupid thing that way can only be chalked up to marketing outranking the engineers.

3)It's only bad to use the 360 on carpet: this is why you'll hear it's bad to have your 360 on the floor. As long as you're on your book, you should be fine.

4) I have an early 2009 model arcade unit that I bring to tournaments: it's on and in use for ten hours at a time and exhibits no problems. On the other hand, the brand new redesigned model I bought last week started smoking and died after twenty minutes. The 360 is a real piece of shit, my friend: it's a crap shoot.

5) Yeah, that's normal. See above.

6) That temp is probably fine, especially if your box isn't enclosed in an entertainment center or under your PS3.

7) I have no clue on this one.

8) Get an arcade model produced in early 2010/late 2009. I'm on slim 360 number two and it's only been out for a month.

9) It's a crap shoot. All 360s break eventually: and by that I mean far sooner than a three hundred dollar console should. Make sure you register your serial number on Xbox.com, keep a coffin ready, and hey: you might be one of the lucky ones who never have a problem.

Hope that helps!

[Icarus Moonsight]

8) Get an arcade model produced in early 2010/late 2009. I'm on slim 360 number two and it's only been out for a month.

So, the slims suck hard too huh? I was hoping that wasn't the case. Oh well.

[DonMarco]

So, the slims suck hard too huh? I was hoping that wasn't the case. Oh well.
In general, the first generation of anything will have the most problems. Consoles, cars, cell phones, etc.

Do the Slims still have three-year warranties like the old 360s? Even if it's one year, any problem will pop up pretty quick and it uses a fraction of the power and old 360 does. Also, they have wireless-N, which is pretty nice.

Then again, the old 360s are getting pushed out of retailers cheap now. That FF13 bundle's been on sale for $250 a few times, and once the old Arcades for $150.

[psx95]

1. How long is it safe to play the 360 at one time without getting too hot?

2. How warm should the system get after playing for two hours in the hoizontal position, particularly on the bottom?

3. Is it okay to play DVDs on the 360 without any technical problems?

4. How reliable overall are the Falcon units? Is it safe to use one as your main 360 system?

5. I've heard about installing games to the hard drive. How do you do this and is it recommended to prolong the life of the 360? How much space does one game take?

6. If I cover my 360 with a towel when it is not being used, will this keep the dust off sufficiently? How far off the floor should the 360 be placed to prevent dust build up?

7. Would it be wise to wait on getting the new "slim" model or are they okay to buy now?

8. How reliable are the controllers? I have a new controller that I used for the first time, and the digital directional pad does not want to register when I press "up"?

Thanks again for any advice!

[psx95]

1)

2) HORIZONTAL 4 LYFE. Using the 360 vertically is a very bad decision: as you noted already, it covers up ventilation. Why they designed the stupid thing that way can only be chalked up to marketing outranking the engineers.


I am very confused on this, because some people say it is better vertically while others say it is better horizontally? When it is horizontal it covers up the two vents on each side of the bottom, and when it is vertical it covers up the big vent on the end. Which of the vents is more important to have open?

[Darko]

I am very confused on this, because some people say it is better vertically while others say it is better horizontally? When it is horizontal it covers up the two vents on each side of the bottom, and when it is vertical it covers up the big vent on the end. Which of the vents is more important to have open?

I've had my 360 vertical for 2 consecutive years. I've never had a problem with it. As long as you're not putting it on carpet I wouldn't worry about it too much.

If you're going to put it in an entertainment center, I would only do so if the entertainment center doesn't have a back. Also, don't stack anything on top of it or put it on top of any other console, etc. I have a glass/metal TV stand that has a plasma TV, PS3, 360, receiver, cable box, and center channel speaker in it, but it's not up against the wall and it's not blocked in the back. I've never fried anything. The 360 isn't really very different from any other electronic device that has fans. Just don't suffocate the thing and you'll be fine.

[Rev. Link]

You should know that you're gonna get people around here pretty riled up making all these seperate threads for questions that could have all been asked in one. Not me, really, but folks around here are pretty persnickety about that kind of thing.

And don't worry about your 360 so much. They're not as fragile as people make out to be. Just keep it horizontal and put it on a shelf where it's exposed to the air and well ventilated, you should be just fine.

[PapaStu]

You should know that you're gonna get people around here pretty riled up making all these seperate threads for questions that could have all been asked in one. Not me, really, but folks around here are pretty persnickety about that kind of thing.

And don't worry about your 360 so much. They're not as fragile as people make out to be. Just keep it horizontal and put it on a shelf where it's exposed to the air and well ventilated, you should be just fine.


Quote for truth. On both paragraphs above.

I've merged the two 'questions' threads. Please don't make more.

[stonecutter]

My son bought himself a slim and it gets some real good workouts, easily 6 hours at a time and sometimes more. So far so good, I hope for his sake its not going to be as bad as original models, of which I have had 4 RROD.

[c0ldb33r]

Quote for truth. On both paragraphs above.

I've merged the two 'questions' threads. Please don't make more.
Holy shit there's like four of them right now. This isn't gamefaqs.

I don't know why this bugs me so much. :mad:

edit: scratch that, there's five of them on the exact same subject:
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147750
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147767
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147766
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147775
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147764

[G-Boobie]

I am very confused on this, because some people say it is better vertically while others say it is better horizontally? When it is horizontal it covers up the two vents on each side of the bottom, and when it is vertical it covers up the big vent on the end. Which of the vents is more important to have open?

When it's horizontal, the vents on the underside are a little obscured, but the giant airflow vent on the end isn't. That's the important one. The issue with the 360 being vertical isn't really about heat, although that's an issue too. It's about knocking it around when there's a disc in there. If your 360 is on a book on the floor, you want as much real estate hugging the ground as possible.

Also: crikey with the number of posts, duder. Don't worry about yer Xbox so much. The darkest days are done, with the hardware revisions. And anyway, you have three years from the time of registration in which your Xbox is replaced for free. You don't get that with a PS2, PS3, Wii, or anything else.

[Rev. Link]

My first 360 was an original model, I think. I got it in '07. It red ringed on me after about a year, year and a half. I replaced it with an elite model and I've had that ever since. The disk drive died on me, but that was a simple fix my local game store was able to take care of for me. I've never had any indication another red ring was on the way, and I use the thing a lot! Netflix really puts some wear on my 360.

So as long as your system isn't from three or four years ago and you don't keep it enclosed, all should be well.

[Icarus Moonsight]

In general, the first generation of anything will have the most problems. Consoles, cars, cell phones, etc.

Yeah, exactly. I was hoping that the general assumption would apply to the IDK what rev of 360 the slim is... It's not the first, by far. They've had years to design it on top of the accumulated experience from past revs. So the "quickly design it and get it to market to beat PS3" 360 design turd theory looks a little sketchy now. If it wasn't for their success with LIVE, they'd be a floater by now.

Speaking of which, I'll wait until they start giving the system out for free with X years of LIVE sub or something. I can see that happening. Consoles are now treated like cable/sat boxes... Welcome to the Next Level!