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[Sportsmaniac1322]

Awhile back, my friend got an Xbox 360 from a friend, only to have it get RROD a few days later.  I fixed it temporarily, but it just went back to the RROD state a few weeks later.  This lead me to believe that I'd never be able to fix it permanently, so we sold it on eBay and started saving up for a new Xbox.

3 weeks ago we finally put together enough money, buying him a refurbished Xbox from Gamestop.  He'd been playing it perfectly up until today, when he started getting black vertical lines on his screen.  It later turned into error E74.  Since the Xbox is flashed, it voids the warranty, not allowing me to take it back to Gamestop.  This really makes me angry that a refurbished Xbox from Gamestop would crap out on him that fast, and I really want this fixed.

Now for my question: are there any services in the United States that would permanently fix error E74?  I don't want to do any of these cheap, temporary fixes anymore.  He deserves to have a fully working Xbox, and it's just terrible that he's been screwed over by Microsoft 2 times in a row.  It needs to be some place that's reliable and will get the job done right and make sure that it'll never happen again.

Thanks in advance!

[40_ounce]

I'm sure there is someone that can fix it,but I'm sure that it will give some type of error again. The best thing to do is buy a new console from best buy or some place like that and get the extended warrenty. It may cost more that way but you will save a lot of headache later on. Plus if you factor in that you just bought 2 consoles you could have bought an elite with a warrenty.

[gamestationohio]

Don't buy refurbished Xbox 360's from Gamestop.  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Gamestop buys them from a hack repair company that does the X-Clamp mod and does a very sloppy job of it. I have seen about a dozen of them come in for repair.  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

PS3's also! This company even glued the PS3 slide cover on because they were too lazy to (or didn't know how to!) put the torx screw in! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

PM me and I will hook you up with some people in your area that do good repairs.

This post has been edited by gamestationohio: Jun 18 2009, 05:34 AM

[Sportsmaniac1322]

So far both replies that I've gotten have been what I should have and shouldn't have done.  I understand that buying a refurbished Xbox from Gamestop probably wasn't the best decision, but my friend is literally broke and that was the cheapest option.  Also, getting an extended warranty wouldn't do us any good at all because when we flash it the warranty is void anyways.  Still, I probably should've at least bought him a new Arcade for an extra $50 or so, but what's done is done.

What I want to know is where I should go from here.  My friend has enough money to get a repair job done, but I want to be sure that that repair job lasts him awhile.  I don't want to have it fixed to only get that error 2 weeks later.

And when I said that I wanted a service, I was almost thinking a professional service, not just some random person.  I'm not saying that they're not capable of doing a good job, I would just feel more assured that the Xbox would come out working good if it was a professional service.  I know OZModchips do services, but since they're based in Australia, I don't want to deal with that.  I want a service like theirs that's based in the United States.

[40_ounce]

You can try looking on craigslist or ebay.... Have a look in this thread. http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showforum=29

[phillyfogz]

for a start dude you could have bought a new xbox flashed it and still had warranty! i use a hair dryer to remove the warranty sticker and then place it onto a sticker backing so it dont get stuck, be carefull while opening the box to not make any scratches or breaks in the casing that will void yor warranty! i can get a drive out in around 5mins even if im stoned and you or anyone else wouldt know ive been there!

if you ever get red ring of death you can just put the old firmware back on the drive and replace the sticker job done!

I even know pepes who have brought a refurb  box from gamestop did the previous trick and swapped the board for one that has red ring of death and taken it back to claim there warranty!

secondly dude! like the previous said older models or models that have suffered errors often get them back! ive tried many repairs and some last and some dont but honestly your better off with the latest jasper! when you take a look inside one of these compared to the mark one you can see where the problems have come from!

love my xbox but microsoft are twats

[Sportsmaniac1322]

I'd really like to use the option of buying a new Xbox as a last resort for him, since he's so stuck for money.  Like I said, he has enough money for a repair, but not much else at this point, so a repair is really our only option as of now.

That brings up another question.  Since you guys are all pretty convinced that it would eventually error out again if I got it fixed, how long would it last before that happened?  I'm thinking that if we can keep it working for long enough to save enough money, we could then get a Jaspar when it errors out again.  But it has to last a few months at least in order for that to happen.  Do you think it would last that long?

[norite]

If you're prepared to roll up your sleeves, and take it to pieces, you can fix it yourself for minimal money:

1) Heatgun gpu and ana/hana area on the motherboard

2)Perform Team HYBRID xclamp fix

3)12v the gpu fan and modify the fan shroud - fit a splitter and fit a cover to the gpu heatsink to increase airflow through it.

[gamestationohio]

Calm down... Yes, I said Gamestop sucks... That was to inform you and others of their shady practices. That info was to help you decide weather to go and get another used 360 from Gamestop. So it was relevant.  

Permanent fixes for anything do not exist. Everything breaks again, eventually. But... 360's break all the time... almost all of them.

If you want the most reliable 360 made, then pay the 199.99 for a new one. Why did you cheap out and give Gamestop 150.00 or more for their crappy x clamp modded trash?

What is your criteria for a "professional" repair. Companies come and go all the time. Thousands of "professional" game repair companies have popped up in the last year because of the high failure rate of game systems now.

This post has been edited by gamestationohio: Jun 19 2009, 04:13 AM

[Sportsmaniac1322]

Thanks for your help guys.  I eventually just went with the repair service here: http://XS Filter - 110506 - 1/neryct.  It seems like they know what they're doing and from their reviews it sounds like they're pretty successful, so I'll give them a try.  I'll be sure to let everyone here know how it went when the Xbox comes back.

[phillyfogz]

ever heard the saying "p1ssing money up the wall"

for your sake i hope it works out as you seem pretty desperate! but you could have done this for very cheap like the other guy said!

do they give you any kinda warranty on the repair? hope so coz you'll need it in a few weeks or even days.

[Sportsmaniac1322]

QUOTE(phillyfogz @ Jun 19 2009, 04:05 AM)

ever heard the saying "p1ssing money up the wall"

for your sake i hope it works out as you seem pretty desperate! but you could have done this for very cheap like the other guy said!

do they give you any kinda warranty on the repair? hope so coz you'll need it in a few weeks or even days.

From their description they make it seem like it's pretty permanent.  They don't do the cheap options like I would be doing.  I've repaired Xbox's before only to have them break a few weeks later, so I was really looking for a more permanent solution.

Here's a quote from their description:

QUOTE

We use a $13,000.00 Reflow Machine specifically designed to permanently repair the problems, manufacturer's defects

According to the Manncorp, the machine is the only permanent repair solution for xboxs with RROD and E74

They also give a 90 day warranty, so I think that's long enough to see if it'll last or not.  Believe me, if I could get him a Jasper, I would, but at this point I think this is my best option.

[phillyfogz]

ive heard of that machine! i think its called an oven! ha ha sorry i dont meen to joke!

good look with this one sportsmaniac1322!

as long has you have a warranty i suppose it suits your needs for a while!