Back in the Game

As you already know by now, when my replacement Xbox 360 Pro console went belly up two weeks ago today, I went out and purchased a brand new Xbox 360 Arcade console so I could keep playing through BioShock 2 and not miss out on any fun over Xbox LIVE while I sent it out for service, which I did last Saturday. This past Thursday, my replacement console arrived.

My original game plan was to set it up at my parent's place as a spare, and for me to keep my new Xbox 360 Arcade. The Xbox 360 Arcade was quieter and generates less heat than a 2006 Xbox 360 console, and colours did look a bit more vibrant via an HDMI cable. One thing I began noticing however was the occasional audio pop and/or static. I thought it was just related to BioShock 2, but this past Friday I noticed it happening at the Xbox 360 dashboard and in Inside Xbox videos. So on Friday night I swapped out HDMI cables to see if the problem would still persist, and it did. Not only that, but it was getting worse. I tried swapping the HDMI ports on my TV with no luck. In fact, on one test while I was just standing there in BioShock 2, it was popping and making static noises constantly, though it was only this severe once.

Yesterday, I decided to go out an purchase the official Xbox 360 HDMI cable at its greatly overinflated price. My reasoning? The past two HDMI cables I tried were by the same no-name manufacturer, so if the audio issues persisted with the official first party cable, then the problem is either the Xbox 360 Arcade itself or my TV. The problem persisted with the first party cable. I then decided to reconnect the Xbox 360 Arcade console with the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cables, and the audio popping was still there. This was good news, because even though this still meant the issue could have been the console or the TV, I now had another means of testing: the replacement console Xbox Support had sent me two days ago, which was sitting in its return box by my desk.

I unpacked the replacement console, an Xbox 360 Pro console that was serviced in November 2009, and hooked it up. Clean, crisp audio. I left it on for three hours and then played BioShock 2 for about an hour and perfect audio. My options then became clear, and I tested the replacement console's USB ports and Memory Unit ports, and all is in perfect working order. I didn't even need to change my wireless routers encryption back to WPA this time around, for some odd reason it detected it with WPA2 encryption just fine.

I then drove back to Best Buy and returned the defective Xbox 360 Arcade console and the overpriced Xbox 360 HDMI Cable. The moral of the story: stick with the warranty and don't spend extra cash if you don't need to. If my replacement Xbox 360 Pro console dies on me past its warranty period, which is good until sometime this September, then I'll look into buying a new console again.

The repair process was near flawless this time around, with 9 business days passing for me to get my replacement console, and 5 of those were because I needed to acquire a box and ship it out. Had it not been for that delay on my own end (and I've kept the return box they sent me this time), I would have had a replacement console in 4 business days from the time of hardware failure. Spectacular!

The replacement console is quiet, but it is an older model without an HDMI port (older than my last replacement console if the serial number is any indication. The manufactured date is covered by the service date sticker, so I can't verify) and it generates a lot of heat, so thankfully I keep it well ventilated as always. In other words, I have the exact same set-up I did two weeks ago.

The only real snag is that Xbox Support has not yet transferred my content licenses, so I can't use any of my DLC offline. I spent a good 45 minutes on the phone with Xbox Support last night (their call centre appears to be in the Philippines now) and had a friendly conversation with a general rep and then an Xbox LIVE Support rep there. My licenses will be transferred in the next 5 to 10 business days, so all's well.

I also spoke with a Hardware rep to get that Xbox 360 Arcade console de-registered from my name.

All-in-all, a great experience with Xbox Support! Thank you for the fast, friendly service, and for the additional 1 month Xbox LIVE Gold membership!