So here?s the deal, I already own a legit Xbox 360 Elite (March 2008), but I managed to pick up another Xbox 360 Pro (no HDD and no controllers) for $50 because the DVD drive is toast, I don?t know if it?s the laser or the laser motor.
Anyways, I picked it up because it was only $50 and if anything I can now use it to stream movies/media to my tv in the living room because I want to keep my ?good? 360 in my room with the better tv instead of always having to move it back and forth. And so far that?s all working without a hitch.
So now I?m torn on what to do next with this thing, the ?warranty? sticker doesn?t appear to be broken. The unit was built Sept 2006 so the hardware warranty is expired (this is why the guy sold it). The DVD drive is the Hitachi.
Here?s what I see as my options so far:
1. Order a replacement DVD drive and swap it with the new one, which will void any chance I have of getting MS to repair it because I?d have to break the seal.
2. Contact MS and pay the $94 to fix the drive (hopefully they swap the console completely and I?d have a better chance of not getting the RROD)
After I get it fixed, I?d like to mod it to play backups, should I soft mod it by flashing the DVD firmware, or chip it using the NME-2.0 (soon 3.0)
I?m leaning towards chipping it because it seems like low maintenance after it?s been chipped, where as if I were to soft mod, it?d have to take it apart every time there?s an update.
Anyways, if any of you were in my position, what would you do and why?
I?m new to the whole 360 mod scene so I don?t know the pro?s / con?s of everything. I feel like there are many options that I?ve become indecisive on where to go next.
Just buy a new dvd drive with the exact same brand/firmware. That way you can just swap the drives. Firmware versions don't come out that often and when they do it is a fairly simple process to reflash. Flashing is cheaper and pretty much contains all the same functions of a chip. I would take that money you would have spent on a chip and get a better fan or the xcm core cooler.
Since its past the warranty, shagrath has already pinpointed the easiest fix. However you could also get the key off of the drive (i'm assuming it will still power since you say its seems to be the laser) and replace it w/a different drive by spoofing it. The 1.5 firmware will be out soon and the lite-ons are very cheap. I'm not sure if hitachi to lite-on is a viable solution but its worth looking into.
