You speak the truth.  Notwithstanding, even the newer models seem to overheat without proper air flow. However, at home, this shouldn't be an issue (I hope).

Terribly designed hardware. No excuses.

@ JMan )

ofcourse the 360 has those sensors ... the problem is ,that the threshold value seems to be setted too high and permanent hardware damage may occur prior to reaching it

 and that about sums up Best Buy's/Future Shop's business model.

1. Tell customer how great X product is, different features, etc

2.  Tell customer how unfortunate it would be if said product broke out of warranty, new consumer products only have a 1 year warranty, the service plan is a great value, blah blah blah

3.  If customer denies the addition of the service plan, make sure you try to make them feel as stupid as possible for not taking it, reiterate all the great "features". 

4. Repeat

It is disappointing that ANY 360 might RROD.

However, it's pretty well established that the Falcon boards didn't hit the street until 8/24 or so.  Lot 730 or greater?  

As far as I know (and I'm in the market, so I've been trying to read up on this...), no one has seen an Elite that is confirmed to be a Falcon.  The production line after 8/24 was purely for the Halo's, and then they started to package the Holiday bundles.  That is why Pro's are out of stock, and any Elites still in stock are likely prior to Lot 730/ 8/24.

So, if your looking for a Falcon, and a better chance of avoiding RRoD, stick to a Halo, or wait for the Holiday bundles to hit the street.

Pat E 

I was under the impression that the Elites didn't carry the new chips, but they instead quietly went to circulation with new Premiums. Am I entirely mistaken?

It also displays the red rings if the video cables arent plugged in properly...

Actually sieanr, when the cables are not plugged in correctly you get the 4 blinking lights....this pic as its displayed shows that 3 red lights are blinking and that the 360 was in a bad ventilated area. Which resulted in a RRoD....

A normal overheat is just 2 flashing lights, a catastrophic component failure is 3 flashing lights.

If the problem was just overheating, we'd see 2 lights and not 3. The board has warped meaning the CPU/GPU/GPU RAM are no longer connected properly to the motherboard. Its still the same fault we've seen since inception and should be resolved by now. Its mainly due to the x-clamps putting pressure on the board when it is mailable, its easily resolved by removing the clamps and using the case itself to fasten the heatsinks to the chips... this has to be done before the board becomes to warped to recover. =(

Good info.....I read that somewhere, that is exactly what the problem is...