Watchdog, a British consumer programme last night examined the fact that a large number of consumers consoles had died, just after the warranty had run out. It"s a well known fact that some of the early 360"s have had problems, even Microsoft have admitted that they have had a higher number of problems than they expected. In the US, Microsoft agreed to offer complimentary repairs to owners of faulty consoles manufactured before January 1, 2006 - even if their warranties had expired.
This offer doesn"t seem to apply to UK gamers though, and consumers are asked to fork out £80-90 for a repair, even if the console has lasted only 14 months. The "ring of death" as it has been dubbed by annoyed gamers. Alex, who features in the episode paid £85 for a replacement, just two months after the warranty had expired. His replacement console lasted just 3 days before dieing again.
Microsoft have since given Alex a new Xbox and a free game, but with hundreds just writing into Watchdog alone, this problem seems to be a larger problem than Microsoft are willing to admit.