! RRoD !
Or in other words, an Xbox 360 “Red Ring of Death” (hence, RRoD) . This particular 360 is very close to a launch model, with the production date in December 2005, so I guess I should have been expecting a problem, but it’s worked great so far!
Just yesterday, I was playing Halo 3 and finishing up a blog post about the game and it was working fine. The console was shut down after playing Halo for a couple hours, then I turned it back on to watch a DVD – and got the RRoD. Microsoft has been kind enough to extend the warranty for RRoD’s to three years, so hopefully I’ll be able to use that to get a working Xbox. I’ll log everything I do to get a replacement, and you can track it all through this blog.
UPDATE 5PM: Talked to “Mark” on the phone, I should receive the return mailer within the week, and then it will take weeks (!!) to get a replacement/repaired Xbox. Mark claims “it usually takes less time than that” – which I hope is true because 4+ weeks is a long time for a replacement!