If you’ve ever owned the Xbox 360, there’s a chance that you’re always on the lookout for that dreaded red ring of death. For those who did not get the Xbox 360 and are unfamiliar with the red ring of death, basically it’s when the ring of lights around the console’s power button turns red. This indicated that there was a faulty connection between the chip and the motherboard and usually resulted in customers having to send in their console for repair.
According to a recent Business Week article, they have revealed that GameStop has actually been repairing these faulty Xbox 360 units and reselling them at near full price as a refurbished unit. Now the resale of refurbished units isn’t anything new, but the issue here is that the fix offered by GameStop is temporary at best.
One of the solutions that gamers have come up with involves wrapping the console in towels and turning it on. This causes the Xbox 360 to heat up which in turn re-melts the solder and reconnects the chip to the motherboard. This is a temporary fix as the problem would resurface again due to the inherent flaws that were there to begin with.
GameStop’s solution is more or less the same, except that they have built their own machine to do that. Basically the top of the console is heated while the bottom is cooled, ultimately recreating the same effect as the towel fix. It’s a bit disturbing to know that GameStop has been reselling consoles that could very well break down again in the coming weeks or months, but have you had any issue with your refurbished GameStop Xbox 360 console?
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