Xbox and possible PS2 price drop this April

[Joust Williams]

I could have sworn I saw an article about this being denied by MS. Of course, the same thing happened before when they were 300 bucks, but still.

[dhowerter]

Matt - Ok then how DO you service the laser on a PS2/Xbox?

You'd have to do it yourself (or have someone else besides Sony/MS do it) to make it worth it cause if you jsut send a PS2/Xbox to Sony/Microsoft to fix thyll charge you an arm and a leg to fix it The amounts they charge is almost enough to buy a NEW PS2/Xbox O_O


Oh yeah and keep in mind Im not good when it comesot electronics (for example soldering and what not

[Melf]

(which they fixed with the toploading NES :-)

..at the expense of RCA out, no?

Oh yeah and NES frontloaders (properly cleaned of course) from like 1988 (SIXTEEN years ago) will still work. Will PS2/Xboxes work in SIXTEEN years from now?? No way in HECK

My Turbo Duo runs fine (thanks Matt!) and my Sega CD still hums along like new. Why wouldn't they still run sixteen years from now?

[Dyne]

Matt - Ok then how DO you service the laser on a PS2/Xbox?

you buy a new one and put it in........

[dhowerter]

Melf - Actually, my original post said nothing about OLDER cd based systems, just the PS2 and XBox. I mean when PS1 and Saturn came out I nEVER saw this many posts/stories of things going wrong with them (BTW the fact that PS2 and Xbox are frontloading /motorized tray systems as opposed to top loading CD tray (Like Saturn/Turbo Duo) may have helped PS2/Xbox be LESS reliable. Not sure about that tho

Oh yeahm and yes the toploding NES lost the RCA out ,but keep mind its still MUCH easier to replace the contacts on a Frontloading NES system (which cost like $10also to make it work like New again, as opposed ot replacing and/or fixing a PS2/Xbox CD/DVD mechanism

Dragonmaster Dyne - Isnt there soldering involved?(for the PS2/Xbox CD mehcanism?)

Is it really that easy or are we exaggerating? (remember my not so great with electronics/soldering comment above )

[Melf]

I don't think my sexy little PSOne will kick out anytime soon, but I do worry sometimes about my PS2 and Thompson Xbox. You're probably right about them not lasting as long as older systems but who knows?

As for the NES, I spent a whopping $7 on a new pin connector for my NES and now she's good as new. I bought it off a friend in 1995 and he bought in about 1988. The ol' girl keeps on ticking!

[Eightbitbreaks]

My Gamecube stopped working 2 weeks after I bought it. That sucked.

[dhowerter]

SXA- was it a used GC or something? Gamecube in general is a HECK of a lot more reliable than PS2/Xbox. (Again maybe having somethnig to do with the fact that GC uses a toploaidng cd tray and a cd hub NOT a motorized tray Hmm..

Then again Nintendo always makes high quality/very durable systems

[MVS]

*yawn*

Sales won't jump too much.

Wake me when these companies grow some balls and get more aggressive.

Does that translate into "Wake me when they start dumping the console for next to nothing, even though that would be a completely retarded move" in normal, logical English?

[Matt]

Dragonmaster Dyne - Isnt there soldering involved?(for the PS2/Xbox CD mehcanism?)

Is it really that easy or are we exaggerating? (remember my not so great with electronics/soldering comment above )

No, there is no soldering. In fact, it is much easier than replacing (or cleaning) the NES' connector. It's also possible to clean and adjust the laser to squeeze more life out of it.

I mean when PS1 and Saturn came out I nEVER saw this many posts/stories of things going wrong with them

First-gen Playstations were total crap (all plastic laser mechs) and were lucky to last more than a year or two. The failure rate was easily as bad as the PS2. Later Playstations improved on the design a little, but still are guaranteed to stop reading after a few years. Once again, it's caused by the exact same flaw as the NES - if you keep replacing/tuning up the laser they'll last forever.

Saturns are great, though. They're built like rocks and have no weak points to speak of.