I was thinking this exact thing, since the place I used to work at was constantly running out of shipping boxes for laptops.

my 360 has been fine since I got it, so has my two friends. I don't know anyone yet with problems personally. However my one friend has the cooling fan. And I play in my basement that's way colder then the rest of the house. I really wonder if it's a over heating issue. Otherwise the only system I know of that broke down alot is the ps2, all of my friends and me and a ps2 break on them.

360 Gamer reported a 62% failure rate amongst its readers after doing a survey with people having to provide their Gametag as reference.

According to another report EA had broken almost half of their XBox 360s, an EA insider told failure rates for them are 10 times higher than the figures provided by Microsoft at the time. Currently Microsoft doesn't want to provide data on failure rates as they are "a moving target".

It seems especially repeat failures of "refurbished" units are very common.

Isn't there a consumer protection agency which could pressure Microsoft to release accurate data? Here in the Netherlands there were many reports of XBox 360s scratching DVDs, Microsoft blamed consumers instead, but after a consumer interests TV program got involved Microsoft eventually admitted to these problems and promised to address the issue.

I was looking into hardware modding for the XBox 360 a little while ago and it was speculated that the red ring of death was caused by several overheating issues; there were claims that by adding passive heat sinks, thermal compound to the processors and improving circulation that you could completely prevent the red rings of death. The unfortunate thing about most suggested mods (beyond the expense and risk) was that it made the XBox 360 much louder.

It is plausable that when the 360 moves to a 65nm process many of these problems will go away, and when they eventually move to a 45nm process (late 2008/early 2009) these should be eliminated.

I suspect an awful lot of failures are due to people putting them in tight spaces that have poor ventilation. Air needs to be moving not just inside, but around the box freely to keep it cool inside. Case in point: I have a Dell desktop that has a "variable" cooling fan speed that changes due to heat. The computer was in a closable "cubby hole" with a door on the front. If I closed that door, the fan, even with the computer just idling with a screen saver running, would sound like a Jet. I'd open the door and within 30 seconds, the fan would start to slow and within a minute it would get quiet. I've removed the back and door of the cubby hole and regardless of the strain I put on the computer, the fans never speed up.

Point is this: put your electronics (not just your xbox 360) in a well ventilated area.

Very true, It could be the fact that, there were not that many returns at that particular time, so no one expected to order more boxes etc. I am in no means sticking up for 360. Although this gentleman claims to be on a 4th return does raise concerns, especially because I want one, and If 360 games increase on ports to the PS3 I may not make the plunge into the realm of 360, at least not for a while. I might end up being content with the PS3 and wii only..........At least until the new 65nm comes out.....but thn again that might be another 6+ months til some of the defective systems are sold off the shelves.....

You know what.....to hell with the shelves.MS needs to recall the whole lot sitting on shelves and replace them with the new ones, This would assure a purchuse from me, and I am sure other people waiting for a sytem to not conk out!

Well I figure even if someone forgot to order another shipment of boxes, there is no reason to be running low especially since they probably order 5 times the amount needed each order anyways.

 Oh come on you gotta admit the failure rates are absurd with people getting 3-5 360s that fail that is insane. No matter how much I like my 360, if that happens to me I will get rid of it for good and miss out on the games :(

 Same reason eveyone jumped at the "Nintendo Gamecube Advance" Wii shipping box. It is just funnier.

Or, Microsoft really does suffer from catastrophic reliability issues. I think their "we can't release hardware failure rates because it's a moving target" and their "it's the end user's fault the DVDs are being scratched" comments reek of horrible hardware reliability and a corporation's attempt to cover up the fact.

The European consumer commision had to prove that it was in fact the console which was responsible for the scratches, forcing Microsoft to 'fess up and actually do something about it. That kind of attitude does not instill any degree of confidence for consumers. I do hope that the commision also forces Microsoft to reveal their hardware failure rate, and if they do, I bet it will be ludicrously high, but if they are actually forced to address the reliability issue in this way, at least consumers can finally look forward to worry-free, reliable console gaming on the 360.