Thanks to everyone for all the puzzle games mentioned! I just got back from FutureShop. The guy convinced me to buy a 3 year warranty. I had a lengthy discussion with him regarding the hardware quality... he said he's gone through 7 360s so I ended up purchasing the warranty. It was probably a sales pitch but I didn't want to take a chance.

So here's the run down of the Microsoft warranty. Before 30 days, everything is covered. Between 30-90 days, it's limited so only some parts are covered. The 3 year MS warranty only covers the RROD.

I think I made the right choice, don't want to be stuck screwed.

You bought a 3 year warranty?! Why?!!!

The chief problem with the console is the RRoD, due to faults in design that result in an overheated GPU, which can lead to a terminal hardware failure.

This specific design flaw is COVERED by MS' standard hardware warranty for 3 years from the date of purchase.

The only advantage of a shop warranty is that you can simply swap consoles on the spot rather than having to wait for the shipping and return process, but how much is that really worth?

My advice to any new 360 owner is play the hell out of it for the first month of ownership. Let it run hot over long gaming sessions, let it cool down, then run hot again with another lengthy session. Put as much mileage on the hardware as possible to see if you may have a problematic console.

It's the heating up and cooling down process that does many 360s in due to the lead free soldiering, expansion of the GPU clamp and misapplication of thermal paste on certain units.

I don't want you to feel bad about buying insurance on your console, but I hate to see consumers get hoodwinked by salesmen.

That would have been nice to know prior to purchase.  The sales person lead me to believe that there are other common problems not covered by that warranty.  That's why I purchased it.

Don't listen to greenmedic88. With this warranty you will be able to walk into a futureshop and trade your 360 for a brand new unit any time over the next 3 years. I'm regretting not getting a similar warranty now -- getting the box mailed to MSFT is a hassle and you end up with a refurbished, not a new unit.

Well, he wasn't entirely lying to since there have been other hardware related problems with the platform, but many of those have already been sorted out like the DVD drive mechanism (scratched discs due to the absence of bumper guards in the drive) when MS switched to BenQ drives, which are also much quieter than the original Xenon 360 drives.

There have been issues related to the PSU (power brick) overheating as well, but most were due to consumers keeping the PSU on carpet, or tucked away in a dusty environment where the unit couldn't ventilate. This is important because the power brick has its own internal fan (it needs to keep cool to function properly). Most people are unaware of this because virtually all other console PSUs do not use internal fans. I don't know if the current 175 watt units still have the fan since they use less power than the 203s, but it has been one of the hardware related problems with the 360.

But the main system killer is by far the RRoD, which again, is covered by MS for 3 years.

At the very least, you've bought the convenience of being able to immediately replace your console in the unfortunate event that you become a statistic.

Of course, if you're fortunate, you'll never have to experience the joy of consumer product replacement that many like to joke is a part of the Xbox 360 experience.

Unfortunately, I think greenmedic88 may be right.  I remember the guy telling me that FutureShop will not give you a new system.  They'll send it to Microsoft for repair and I'll have to wait for it to be returned.  I'm going to call FutureShop tomorrow to straiten out these so called "facts" I was told.

Actually last year MS extended the 90 day warranty to 1 year. RROD for 3.

When I bought mine in January, a sales person tried to get me to purchase a 3-year, $150 warranty. I was tempted but figured in a couple years if something other than RROD happened, I could keep my hdd and after price drops buy a new 360 arcade for around $150-$200.

If I had purchased the warranty I wouldn't have regretted it, I just preferred to spend that $150 on games.

If i play Xbox 360 in Thailand(which temperature here a quite high ,around 32-39 C. and i haven't had air-condition).Will it increase a chance for RROD?Should i find some cooler for Xbox 360?

I didn't buy it mainly b/c of this reason ,is anyone can give me some good advice to play Xbox 360 here?

Oh, see now that's not good if their coverage does not entitle you to a replacement console on the spot. The on the spot replacement is what you -should- be receiving when purchased through a brick and mortar retail outlet.

That was the coverage program offered by retailers like EB until they were handling so many bricked consoles that they stopped offering retailer warranties (that allowed you do swap your bricked console for a new replacement one).

I'm going to call tomorrow, I'm sure if I do enough bitching they'll remove the warranty but I'm not sure if I should.

My system is dated 4-15-2008 so is it safe to assume I have the less error prone version?