2 year old Elite, no RROD no E-74 no problems, always kept vertical raised slightly with home made stand so the bottom vent has plenty of room, no table fan aimed at it cause i think this actually hurts the 360.
2nd Elite bought last December, no RROD no E-74 no problems, always kept Vertical raised slightly with home made stand, no external fans.
as for the movies and streaming audio and other stuff i don't think it has anything to do with it. the gig was up not to long right out of the gate, confirmed by Microsoft, private reviewers and so on.the 360 just ran to hot and every correction they have made from adding and dropping DVD drives, chip sets and so on is all geared to reduce heat.
vertical or horizontal, if it makes a person feel better having it one way or another then fine but other than the IMO thread, I've seen no real valid studies showing one way is better than the other and i don't think Microsoft would have spent over a billion just because they didn't feel like saying sorry guys but maybe you should place it horizontal.
i don't use mine over 3 hours without giving it a break. i think popping a DVD back into its case without letting it cool off a little is what's causing disk cracking around the inner circle, i always let the 360 run for about 10 min after playing so the fans can cool the chips off some. i don't move the 360 when i turn it off while its still hot so not to jar the already over heated parts.
i don't use any table fans for cooling do to the fact i believe your only cooling outside plastic anyway, which in turn might (theoretically) insulate the outside case which in turn is like using a invisible barrier of cold air to hold the warm air in place which is just the opposite of what I'm trying to do.
Yep, i'm a girl
