Proud owner of a $54.21 Xbox 360 Off ebay.

[+Warwagon MVC]

So I wanted to buy an Xbox 360. But I didn't want to spend a lot of Money doing it. So I thought, why don't I just buy an Xbox 360 off eBay for cheap that has problems reading Discs. So I searched for a day or so and finally found someone selling the Xbox 360 with the HD cable and power cable. I already had an Xbox 360 controller for my computer so the fact it didn't come with one didn't matter to me. He had it listed as a "Buy it now" price of $39.44. After shipping the total came to $54.21. Because it won't read discs. Perfect!!

So a few days go by and I finally received the 360. The first thing I did was plug the 360 into the TV to see what exactly the problem was. I know the seller said it wouldn't read any discs, but it never hurts to check. The day before I went to Wal-Mart to buy an Xbox magazine so I could use the Demo disc included with the magazine to test the Xbox. The Xbox would not read the disc (shocker). It was now time to get down and dirty. I had never taken one apart before, but I had taken a part a bunch of 1st Gen Xbox's a few years ago. After researching the process online for dismantling a 360, it turned out to be a fairly straight forward process. Most of it is just plastic clips and only about 4 - 5 longs screws. So I got the 360 all a part and then proceeded to take the DVD drive apart. Once I had access to the laser I took a little rubbing alcohol along with some que tips to the lens. I put the drive back together and plugged it into the TV. The 360 played games like new.

While I had it a part I preformed some "One other" modification to it. In the end I had a New (to me) 360 for only $54.21.

So now I had the new system but no way to save any games. So now I needed to look for a hard drive. After looking online I was shocked to see how outrageously priced the hard drives are. I was even more shocked that the idiots at Microsoft won't let you save your game (where you are at in a game) to a usb stick, given the 360 has 3 usb ports. Talk about Milking the cow. So I went on eBay again and got a 60 gig drive for $54.95. Hope that ends up being as good of deal as the 360 itself.

Anyway that's my story. Just goes to show sometimes it pays to buy broken stuff off eBay for cheap that you think you have a pretty good chance of fixing. In this case I figured if worst came to worse I would just buy a new 360 drive off eBay. :)

[ViperAFK]

Nice deal :)

I got a decent deal on mine, I got the arcade off of dell.com a couple of weeks ago for around $170 and my friend had a spare hard drive and hdmi cable for me to use with it.

[cabron]

The problem with that cheap Xbox360 is that you fixed something that was damaged but you never know it after couple weeks your cheap Xbox die completely. That will be $54 dollars wasted with not warranty from Microsoft.

[+Warwagon MVC]

The problem with that cheap Xbox360 is that you fixed something that was damaged but you never know it after couple weeks your cheap Xbox die completely. That will be $54 dollars wasted with not warranty from Microsoft.

Which is why I only spent $54 :yes:

[lnmnky]

Good shout on the broken box :yes:

I didn't have the patience or equipment to fix my "freezy" xbox. So I sold it cheap knowing that someone else would put it to better use. Kind of like donor-hardware. It just needed the cooling sorted out.

[dragon2611]

Good shout on the broken box :yes:

I didn't have the patience or equipment to fix my "freezy" xbox. So I sold it cheap knowing that someone else would put it to better use. Kind of like donor-hardware. It just needed the cooling sorted out.

Mine has the same problem, it just locks up.

It's now sitting there half in bits whilst I wait for the parts I bought on ebay to arrive then i'll be trying the X-clamp fix on it.

Not a major biggie if it doesn't fix it as my housemate has a 360 anyway so can always play on theirs.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

I was even more shocked that the idiots at Microsoft won't let you save your game (where you are at in a game) to a usb stick, given the 360 has 3 usb ports. Talk about Milking the cow.

This isn't Windows, they aren't going to support a huge market of usb drivers for a system they try to keep closed against modification at the best of times.

And the lense cleaner is a short term solution, the drive will eventually die. Common problem with the older 360 drives. You'll need to replace the lens and they are a little pricey.

[+Warwagon MVC]

This isn't Windows, they aren't going to support a huge market of usb drivers for a system they try to keep closed against modification at the best of times.

And the lense cleaner is a short term solution, the drive will eventually die. Common problem with the older 360 drives. You'll need to replace the lens and they are a little pricey.

I'll just replace the entire drive. When that time comes. I saw the for cheap on ebay.

[Doli]

Years ago I bought a Gamecube for $20 and it took a special $3 screwdriver at Sears to fix the laser's strength.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

I'll just replace the entire drive. When that time comes. I saw the for cheap on ebay.

Then I'm sure you'll know from experience of your "one other" modification, what you'll need to do to accomplish that ;)

[PureHeart]

Good deal :D

[+Warwagon MVC]

Then I'm sure you'll know from experience of your "one other" modification, what you'll need to do to accomplish that ;)

So true, and Yep once you crack the xbox open it takes all of 2 mins to replace the drive.

[Ji@nBing]

Great deal. I have a similar story. I got mine from the local buy and sell for $25 because it had RROD and was out of warranty. It didn't come with a controller, but I still had a spare one that I had held onto from when I had a 360 previously. I figured I would try to fix it, and even if I couldn't, I'd only be out $25. Got it home and looked up a few videos on youtube. About 30 mins later, it was up and running and has worked perfectly ever since.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

So true, and Yep once you crack the xbox open it takes all of 2 mins to replace the drive.

As long as you know it's not as simple as a straight swap of the drive!

[+Warwagon MVC]

As long as you know it's not as simple as a straight swap of the drive!

and if you buy the same drive you had before?

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

It involves more work than that. Can't go into details because of Neowin's rules.

The drive which came with your 360 is signed to that hardware. You need to spoof the replacememnt drive if the original dies. About as much as I can say :p

[+Warwagon MVC]

And the lense cleaner is a short term solution, the drive will eventually die. Common problem with the older 360 drives. You'll need to replace the lens and they are a little pricey.

Why would a lense cleaner be a short term solution? If the lense is dirty its dirty.

[Subject Delta]

Another cautionary lesson: Don't sell something as broken until you have exhausted all possibilities of fixing it :laugh:

[protocol7]

At that price you can't really go wrong. Good job!

And worst case scenario, if something goes wrong down the line, just buy another broken one and frankenbox the two of em.

[Deihmos]

Then I'm sure you'll know from experience of your "one other" modification, what you'll need to do to accomplish that ;)

Exactly. If you think you can simply switch it out you are dead wrong. You can get a new xbox 360 with 3 year warranty for 200. I wouldn't have wasted my money on anything used.

[Popcorned1]

While I had it a part I preformed some "One other" modification to it.

What is this? My xbox360 has the same problem.

[Death Proof]

While I had it a part I preformed some "One other" modification to it.

well don't you feel ashamed of yourself for Modding your Xbox 360 so that you can play downloaded games on it , its like stealing the hard earned money of the developers.

I think whether in sign language or in any other way , talk of piracy should be kept away from well respected forums like Neowin.

I am a game developer myself & i feel the pinch, when you talk about modding your console.

[Subject Delta]

How'd you know he didn't just alter the DVD drive to make it play DVD's from other regions? There are plenty of things you can mod for besides piracy ya know, it may pay to get the facts before slinging accusations around ;)

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Why would a lense cleaner be a short term solution? If the lense is dirty its dirty.

Use as much lens cleaner as you want, but if a lens dies, it dies :p

Just going by what I've read many times and that's people cleaning their lens but the drive dies shortly anyway.

Edited July 5, 2009 by DrunknMunky

[Robbie Khan Reviews]

My workmate gave me his 360 premium package for ?30 as it red ringed and had no display.

I sent it to MS under 3yr warranty and they sent me a new replacement.

I then sold it on ebay for ?100 profit.

Workmate said if I can fix it I can keep it.

Awesom:p:p