I don't understand how hard it is to make a quality product, or maybe it's that they don't care.

I got tired of my elite not reading discs, my 2 year warranty was still good for a couple months. Yesterday I take it into best buy, the transaction takes forever. They guy says they don't do exchanges anymore, they send them out but when I bought the service it still covered it. So I go pick a new box off the shelf, and I take it home. Plug it in and the onboard network card seems to be faulty. Wont connect to my network, the link/act light on my switch was doing weird things. I tried everything I knew how to do, called Xbox, the chick didn't even trouble shoot with me, she asked what I did and then said, "Okay". She tells me the xbox is under factory warranty (no **** it's brand new) and offers to send me the replacement box.. but I told her to hold off I'm taking it back to best buy and ripping heads.

My 360 lasted about 2 years before it RROD'd. I got it replaced with no hassle within 2 weeks.

I haven't seemed to have any real problems with Microsoft.

havent had any problems with my xbox, but i had a similar situation with my Ipod. im on my 3rd one right now. the 1st one stopped turning off and it would freeze. i only had it for a month. i took it in and they told me it was defective. they gave me a new one but they tried saying i had to buy a new service plan for $60. uh no. i had it for a little less than a month i was covered for 5 years. i read the thing to them and they didnt charge it. then after 1 year the replacement stopped working and doing the same as the old. so they gave me the 3rd one. and ive had it for 2 years now.

I'm just tired of cheaply, mass produced equipment that is prone to failure all to make a buck.

yeah its not just electronics. you dont even know how many shirts ive bought with hems that arent even sewn all the way and i didnt notice until i got home.

i've got a 360 someone gave me with an e74 error, trying to make it work

The state of consumer electronics is piss poor.

I prefer to build things myself if at all possible these days, because I know what components I'm using. Especially automotive and motorcycle stuff. Those little turn signal relays are such ****. I prefer to build little electronic ones, it's way easier. Especially in a DC circuit.

I'm working on building my own rectifier for a Kawasaki I own. The ****ing stock ones like to heat up and melt.

Well, a lot of technology of today are designed with planned obsolescence in mind. I mean, what's the proposed lifespan of an average cell phone of today? Two years at best?

Does anyone carry an early generation Ipod? I don't, damn thing stopped charging. My early Ipod nano I received as a gift is breaking down fast (wheel hardly works after normal use). I assume Apple just wants me to go out and buy a new one.

But my Game Boy last 10+ years despite the bumps and drops. While it's a simple machine built with redundancies, can you get that length with electronics today?

Yeah the gameboy was pretty solid, I bet my game boy color works pretty well too.

My old original gameboy (read: thick grey brick) is still going strong, got it in the early 90s.

My friend went through the BestBuy warranty deal with his 360, they shot him down. He was understandably livid. Ended up just getting it exchanged via Microsoft. Consider yourself lucky that they gave you a new unit, zan.

What was wrong with his?

My original nintendo still works and its been through hell: moving houses, thrown at me during a breakup, drinks spilled on it, stepped on etc... . Look at a new console funnny and it breaks down

My Game Gear still works.

I lost 4 PS2s in as many years, however this one has lasted 5 years so far.
Also, pic of a Gameboy that survived a bomb in the first gulf war.

RROD.

Also, awesome GameBoy pic. Here's a link to the blog post if anyone else is interested. There's a video too.