Thinking of buying a "refurbished" XBOX 360
 

Hey everybody, I'm not a huge gamer but I do own GH3 and Rock Band. Anyway my roommate is moving out at the end of this month and taking his 360 with him. So I need to get a system of my own - problem is I can't afford a new one right now.

Is it a bad idea to buy a used/refurbished one, from a site like ebay? They have tons of used XBOX 360s that have been repaired and tested but I don't want to get a lemon.

Anyone have experience buying used systems? What should I look for?

Plummie! :D

Anyway, I bought a used PS2 on ebay a few years ago and it has worked fine for me. Mainly, I just made sure the person had very good feedback and I asked questions before bidding on it.

Wish I could offer more advice :/

The best thing you can do is what secretmethod70 said. You really just don't know if it's going to die in a week after you buy it.

If possible, check if they've previously sold refurbished xbox360s. I'd feel more secure knowing that the seller has done this before (with no complaint).

Yeah I mean, I think these sellers on ebay make a living selling refurbished systems. There is a picture of their warehouse and there are loads and loads of 360's on the shelf, and the feedback is good. I'll probably just go ahead and get one. Thanks, guys!

Witht he 360 you're taking a chance no matter what due to the three red lights issue. So even if you gt a brnd new one there's still a chance that it will fuck up on you and you will be forced to ship it out to microsoft to get fixed.

Personally i would go with used over refurbished bacause refurbished means that something WAS wrong with it and it was fixed. Often this problem is something cosmetic like a ripped off front of a disk tray but it could have been something worse - there's no way to know. BUt i mean, as long as they've been tested and are assured to work then go for it.

If i were you tho i would try from a place like eb/gamestop/funcoland instead of ebay for ease of return/exchange for a month. They no longer let you buy a year replacement plan due to microsoft giving you 3 years for free, but for a month you have a quick and easy way to exchange it out if something does go wrong.

I never knew Gamestop sold used 360's... good call on that, I will definitely check them out first. Thanks for the tip, Obie!

Microsoft's warranty will not cover a used or refurbished GameStop system. You are better off buying new so you get the warranty. If you do opt to buy used see if they have one that was manufactured after they put in the HDMI port as they are supposed to be more reliable.

Okay I'm still shopping and checking Craigslit now and then for used ones, but I saw this Xbox 360 Arcade Console they have at Walmart. It's $280, cheaper than the other 360's. What is the difference? HD size? Can I play Rock Band and such with the Arcade Console? It looks like it has HDMI port.

The 360 arcade doesn't have a HD, which means no XBOX Live and no backwards compatability.

If you're just about playing games without the online play and don't have any old xbox games to play, then this one should work fine.

Can I still go through the Marketplace and buy new songs for Rock Band, since it doesn't have a HD?

Nope. You need an HD to store the songs, and you need LIVE to DL them. TBH, the 360 Arcade is a stupid decision on M$'s part. Why would they make a 360 with no HD? Seems pretty silly. You're better off trying to get a Premium.

I like factory refurbs a lot. Price is right, and a tech person has had personal time with it to make sure it works--which you can't say about a unit fresh off the production line.

That's what I was kind of leaning towards....

Well you know me too im trying to buy the Xbox 360 (going to buy it) right now the xbox 360 used in gamestop is $99.99 so im totally gonna buy it n i know microsoft doesn't give u warranty if you buy a used or refurbished item but you can go to craigslist and look for somebody that fixes xbox 360s and they can fix it for 20-50 bucks it depends on what the problem is ;) i recommend you to buy it

Will Gamestop sell you a warranty/service plan on a used 360?

Why in the world would you buy one used when you can get one from Walmart for $125?