The Death of My XBox 360 (and My Warranty Woes)

E-74 Error... Just as I watched Call of Duty 4 enter my console I received this message on my screen.

This error means that your cables aren't hooked up properly or (in my case) the Video Encoder is fried. Microsoft refers to this as the ANA chip.
After trying their trouble-shooting ideas to no avail, I decided to call Microsoft and get some support. The person on the phone was professional, however, she also let me know that it would cost me over $100 to get this fixed.

I know some of you are thinking "What about the 3 year warranty?"

Well, that only covers the "3-Red Lights" or "Red Ring of Death" (RRoD). In this case, I only had the lower right quadrant light up as Red. This is where you start to wish that you had the 3 red lights.

After ignoring her offer to fix my $400 console for a quarter of the cost I called in my extended warranty with Overstock.com. It was during this phone call that I was told that I would have to pay for shipping my console to be repaired. This is one key point... Repaired, not replaced with a new or refurbished console but repaired. This means that my 360 will be dismantled by a mystery company in Pennsylvania and hopefully returned in one piece and in working condition.

Not only do I have to send my 360 in, but everything I got with it. This includes my Hard Drive and controller. (I have since made small markings with a sharpie marker that only I will know to look for). This is in order to make sure that I am receiving my xbox in the same state I sent it.

I loved my 360. It was a solid machine for over a year and just as I thought I was in the clear...Poof! It breaks and I am without a console for the holiday season.

My advice to anyone that is looking to get a 360 or PS3 is to get it at Best Buy and purchase the $100 replacement plan. This will allow you to simply get a new 360 or PS3 when/if yours breaks. The plan is worth the extra money and avoiding the hassle involved with dealing in online warranties and retailers such as amazon.com or overstock.com. If you find a great deal online you are usually better off avoiding it if the product is an expensive one like a 360 or PS3.

Overstock.com is making me pay $30 shipping (on top of my $35 Protection Plan) so that makes it $75 and I am beginning to wish I had just gotten my 360 at Best Buy.

Fight the online urge... just get it at a physical retailer and buy the replacement plan.