I assume it's a refurb because it has a 90 day warranty on it - the website says until 12/28/08.

So sigh...no new 360. And I mean, I barely even used it for excessive amounts of time except when I first

got GTA IV. Lasted almost a year and a half though!

Let's hope the refurb works. I'm hoping it's had the problem with the heatsink fixed!

So I had the red ring of death a while ago, and now, it's finally been shipped out and received by xbox. My question:

yesterday, microsoft received it and now, a day later it says: "device shipped to customer". Which indicates that they are sending it repaired (or more likely, a refurbished xbox). So, how long, in your experiences, has it taken to get the xbox 360 after they say it's been "shipped". And also, if it's a one day turnaround does that mean I'm getting a refurbish rather than my beloved xbox 360???

Thanks!

In January 2007 I bought my xbox 360, on the second to last day when I could trade in my old xbox and get a $100 credit towards a 360 at gamestop. I regularly play the 360 on friday and saturday nights for maybe 2 or 3 hours, and during the week I might play 3 nights monday-friday for 15-30 minutes, just a quickie.

Last night I was playing Gears of War when it froze, which it had done the night before, too. I restarted only to see the dreaded red ring of death!

I've contacted Microsoft so that I can send out my system for a free repair BUT the weekend is here and I'm hoping to be able to play it over the weekend by using the towel method to restart the system. What I'm wondering is...does the towel method work? I've read that it can cause damage but if I am only planning on using it to be able to play on my 360 tonight and tomorrow before the package arrives to send my system off to Microsoft, is it worthwhile? Or is it not worth the risk?

The absolute most mind-numbingly great missions I've ever played are:

Operation Overlord - Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Holy crap. Just storming the beach of Normandy was, at the time, the most incredible moment in gaming for me! The bullets bouncing all around, the hordes of soldiers screaming and running for the cliffs! Amazing! It was the first time outside of Half-Life where I truly felt that I was actually there!

The last few parts of Half-Life 2: The parts where Gordon and Alyx came back into City 17 and joined the fight was just amazing! To see the destruction all around, to command the AI characters. It felt like I was in the midst of a real battle with the huge alien crafts attacking from all directions, the squawk of the aliens radios as they were shot and killed, the explosions, the vast vistas of the city. Amazing! Stunning really!

The opening missions of Bioshock: Just because it was so mind-numbingly beautiful and frightening and because the world felt so fully realized!

Finally gaining access to Alderney in GTA IV: Sure the missions could be frustrating, especially the ones were you had to drive to a destination and when you died you would have to start the drive all over, but the absolute depth of creation in GTA IV is astounding. Look around you - the city is so huge, so real. Not a single block is the same! I was stunned by how real and alive a city they had created.

Deus Ex: The game was just so well done, so beautifully rendered. It felt alive and was so deep. It took hours and hours and hours to play and I still felt that the world had so much more to show me.

There are so many other unbelievable games too. Too many. But, I have to say that the scene with the Berserker in Gears of War is so intense that I nearly died! I just remember playing Gears of War first thing when I got my 360 a year or two ago and I couldn't get over how my heart was pounding when I was running away from that thing. And, of course, Half Life. The first time I played Half Life was absolutely stunning.