Buy used Xbox 360?

[mrgreen4242]

OK, I'm gonna buy a 360.

I have a regular Xbox, but I want to move my gaming from the upstairs media room to the downstairs office so I can be near my wife while I game so I don't feel as guilty if I spend a couple hours playing. I could get a VGA adaptor for the Xbox, but I figure it's silly to put another $30-40 into that system, since all the games I have are backward compatible.

I definitely want to get Gears of War and Oblivion along with the games I have now. So, I can get a used 360 Premium (I'd like a wireless controller and HDD, so the Premium will save some money) with Oblivion for about $330 shipped (no tax) on eBay with a 90 day warranty.

I can get a new Premium with GoW for $425 shipped (inc. tax) from Dell. The other game (GoW or Oblivion, depending which package I get) will run me the same $50 or so regardless. So the question is whether the factory warranty is worth ~$90-100.

The 360 has a reputation for unreliability, and a used/"refurbished" system has a decent chance that it was returned/sold due to this unreliability. A new unit would more likely be a newer build as well, which seem to have less trouble. A used unit could be an early/launch model which might have a higher failure rate.

What to do? For the record, I can afford the extra $100, but it would mean not getting the another game right away (which is OK, I'm still working through Fable and Halo 2, so I have games in either genre - shooter/RPG - to play for awhile) and I am also famously cheap, so I don't WANT to spend the extra money unless I have to. Thanks for any advice.

 

[eenu]

if you have doubts about the reliability then get the new one and lump the fact that you need to wait for a game

 

[ToddW]

i say get the 360 regardless halo 3 will be worth it. i have been thinking of getting a used 360. going to wait till around x mas or so though.

 

[xfiftyfour]

When is the elite or whatever it is supposed to be shipping? Is that a guaranteed thing at this point?

I only ask because if it's shipping soon, then you might want to wait until it does, as I imagine that that might drive the price of the used premiums down a bit (if only because there will be an influx of them on eBay). Just a thought.

 

[mrgreen4242]

When is the elite or whatever it is supposed to be shipping? Is that a guaranteed thing at this point?

I only ask because if it's shipping soon, then you might want to wait until it does, as I imagine that that might drive the price of the used premiums down a bit (if only because there will be an influx of them on eBay). Just a thought.

It's shipping in a month or so. I don't want it, personally, and I have considered any effects it might have on the used 360 market. Since the other units are staying the same price (and that's probably going to be the case for awhile with the PS3 dropping the $500 model) I don't expect a huge drop in prices for used systems. Probably less than 10% (so about $20-30 or so).

And that's going to be another month or two at least, as the Elite is released, then for enough people to decide if they want it, and then to get their system on eBay, etc. To months is a bit longer than I want to wait, which is more in the tomorrow through next week time frame.

I'm leaning towards getting a new one, just because my whole purpose is to get some trouble free gaming and dealing with 3rd party warranty (through the eBay seller) or a broken unit with no warranty in 6 months seems pretty stupid. $400 with GoW is pretty decent, and I'm trying to find a Dell coupon that will knock a little more off that - there was some, but they all expired on the 11th and I wasn't quite ready to buy yet.

 

[insomniac321123]

I bought a used 360 from gamestop. It was the complete premium package and i got it for $325. They complete refurb it and guarantee it to be good. I have had no problems with it. You should check out gamestop, they have some really good deals.

 

[Turborob]

I've had a 360 since May of last year and I wouldn't even consider buying a used one unless it came with a great warranty. I like the machine, but reliability is definitely an issue.

I bought mine new, got it home and within 3 days gave me the ring of light death sequence...three red lights on it. Microsoft instructed me to just exchange it at place of purchase.

New one worked great for about 10 months, now is giving me the red ring of light, so it has to go back to Microsoft for repair.

A high percentage of my friends have had their 360's break down, so it's not as uncommon as Microsoft would like everyone to believe. My Dad's 360 came with a defective controller, I got a defective wireless headset, and another friend's box came with a defective controller, so it's not just the machine, it's the accessories that are suspect also.

Microsoft has recently improved their repair service so that now they provide a prepaid box for shipping, promise turnaround time of about 2 weeks and actually repair your Xbox rather than shipping a refurb.

My wife loves Oblivion, but I am more of a FPS person. For some reason I don't really like Gears of War, but almost everyone else does. Call of Duty 3 is pretty good also.

Definitely go new...

 

[Mpulsive81]

My opinion is to wait until the Xbox 360 Elite comes out Aprile 29th. There are bound to be those yuppies who wanna sell their Premium (AND core!) to get the Elite. You're getting a 120g HDD (which is awesome) but besides that, the only upgrade is a different color and an HDMI port. Not too impressive to me. But wait til there market gets flooded with those, and the prices are bound to come down. Also, check out your local craigslist.org website. Then you save on shipping too.

edit: don't forget about EXTENDED WARRANTIES!

 

[steamboat26]

I would be very cautious about buying a used 360, especially if it is one of the earlier models. I am told that they had a much higher failure rate (not sure of the exact amount, but several members of MR say that Microsoft is replacing broken 360s with launch models, which tend to break)

 

[zap2]

I wouldn't...the Xbox 360 has had some hardware problems, and its would be worth buy a new one, or waiting for a price drop, to make sure you get a full funtional unit

 

[Lord Flashheart]

I wouldn't get the used 360. Either buy it new or wait for the Elite if you can. I have a launch 360 premium and have not had any problems (knock on wood) but I think I am the only launch 360, from the store I bought it from, to not have any problems. Almost everyone I have talked to with an early 360, which the used one probably is, has had to send it in. Wait or buy it new.

 

[james10011]

"Used" is too broad a term. I purchased my "used" premium 360 for only $300.00, It was brand new. Why? I took time to browse sites like kijiji.com and buysell.com, I found a person who intended to give it to someone as a present, the thing fell through and voila, new 360. Only warning I give is to ask for the receipt, If you have the receipt then the warranty is as much yours as it was theirs.

Also, Microsoft is changing strategy, it cost so much money to keep fixing faulty 360's that they just started replacing them. Many of the feared 1st gen 360's aren't even in circulation anymore. Plus, if you followed earlier advise and acquire a receipt the Microsoft 3 year red ring warranty applies to you.

Conclusion: 360's are either broken or their not, they don't suddenly decide to stop working, they have either critical errors or they don't. If it's never had issues an older 360 is nothing more then battle tested.

 

[Mundy]

My brother-in-law bought his new from Best Buy at the beginning of the summer. The weekend before Halo 3 came out, the Xbox 360 was suddenly afflicted with the "red ring of death." Fortunately we were able to get our hands on a friend's 360 (gift from girlfriend, he'd never even played it, didn't care about Halo 3, etc.), but it wasn't the first instance I've seen of a 360 being fine for a few months and then suddenly dying. I simply don't believe that these consoles are reliable.

I've decided to wait for a die (nanometer) shrink before purchasing my own 360. Hopefully that will reduce heat, and therefore increase reliability.

Would I buy a used Xbox 360? Maybe when hades freezes over.