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kain_kusanagi on 11 January 2013
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richardhutnik said:
kain_kusanagi said:
Metallicube said:
Microsoft has shown they were never really competent with hardware with the unacceptable rate of RROD. Sure that was mostly rectified with the newer model, but it should have never been an issue in the first place. This has caused me to lose much trust in MS, at least in the hardware department.


The RROD was caused by the EPA's new lead solder laws. MS had designed the Xbox 360 to handle the heat it generated, but the EPA changed the law and no longer allowed lead solder. MS had no choice but replace the solder with lead free solder that can't handle the heat as well. They ran tests under normal gaming conditions and found that the lead free solder worked so they shipped the Xbox 360. But the lead free solder turned out to degrade over time as it was heated up and cooled over and over. It would develope tiny cracks that MS had no way to know it would happen. Those tiny cracks are what caused the RROD. MS solved the situation by extending the standard warrenty for three years and releasing revisions untill they completely fixed the issue with the Xbox 360 Slim.

MS got screwed over by new laws yet handled it very well. If anything it should give you reason to trust MS. When the PS3 fats got the yellow light of death for the exact same solder reason, Sony didn't extented their warrenty and replace busted PS3 fats for free.

So, did Microsoft lobby to enable the use of lead solder, or are their 360s overheating still and we don't know about it?

It is always nice to blame corporate incompetency on government regulations.  People can try that to, blaming their being late to work on traffic lights.  Nice to know you believe that lead in solder should be mandatory, and that business demands REQUIRE Microsoft and Sony put out game consoles.  Funny how Nintendo didn't run into the same problems, and they ended up selling the most.

Hold on there buddy. You completely missinterpreted what I said.

Rather than explain it all again I'll just reply to your commends.

"So, did Microsoft lobby to enable the use of lead solde." - No, MS used new tech to reduce heat that would not harm lead solder.

"are their 360s overheating still and we don't know about it?" - Maybe, but not in the numbers that the original that was designed for lead solder over heated.

"It is always nice to blame corporate incompetency on government regulations." - Not blame, just giving the full story. MS designed using lead. The Government changed the law and MS had to either go with lead free or completely rebuild from the the ground up. They tested the lead free solder and it worked. They didn't know it would degrade over time from heating and cooling over and over.

"Nice to know you believe that lead in solder should be mandatory" -  No I don't and I didn't say that.

"that business demands REQUIRE Microsoft and Sony put out game consoles." MS and Sony did need to put out consoles. They didn't have time to redesign the entire mainboard and they didn't believe they needed to. But they did need to compete with eachother. Neither could afford to fall behind. They thought the had the lead free solder under control. But both  the original 360 and PS3 solder degraded over time. They could not have known that. Both redesigned and released "Slim" models that solved the issue thanks to new tech and methods.

"Funny how Nintendo didn't run into the same problems, and they ended up selling the most." Nintendo built the Wii on old tech that didn't generate the heat that the HD consoles did. Yes, Wii sold a ton, but it couldn't play Mass Effect 1,2,3, Gears of Ware 1,2,3, Halo 3,4, Uncharted 1,2,3, and all the other big HD games.