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View Full Version : A little worried about buying an Xbox...



darkfusion
11-30-2003, 03:20 AM
I've recently heard from my friend that there are three types of drives in Xbox's. Thomson, Philips and Samsung. However the Thomson is said to be quite poor and has an extremely high failure rate and also has trouble playing some games, however the Samsung seems to be the best with the Philips in the middle. I want to get the new pack in the UK that includes Halo, Midtown Madness 3, Controller S and 2 Month Live Trial. Does anyone know which Drive the Xbox in this bundle will have, and if I just buy the console on it's own (now with Controller S as standard) will it have more chance of coming with a Samsung drive?

Also, if I do get a Thomson drive, what should I do? :huh:

BananaMan
11-30-2003, 03:24 AM
First of all, I am pretty sure they don't even come with thomson drives anymore. And second i have a thomson launch xbox and i am still yet to have a problem with it. I really suggest you buy an xbox though. Best console on the market IMO.:cheers:

BTW welcome to XBA!:D

thrAsher
11-30-2003, 03:28 AM
Get the bundle. I got my Xbox just over a year ago, and it was w/ the JSRF/Sega GT bundle. I've come to find out only recently that I have the 'dreaded' Thompson drive. I've had 0 problems w/ my Xbox (except for Morrowind, which is notorious for glitches on the Xbox, anyhow). So, yeah, go get that bad boy and relish in the power of X.

Oh, and welcome to the Asylum. :cheers:

darkfusion
11-30-2003, 03:38 AM
Thanks for your help guys :cheers:

I'd just rather get one with a Samsung drive ya know..
So if I do get one with a Thomson in, shall I just live with it? And I too have heard all these Morrowind stories, and I heard they also have trouble playing GTA :( which is one of the reasons I'm selling my PS2 and buying an Xbox, I feel I have no reason to keep the PS2 now that the GTA series has arrived on the 'box. In fact, my PS2 is on eBay now :) so you can understand why I want it to have the Samsung drive.

Anyway thanks for the help! :)

Anymore input would be greatly appreciated too..

BananaMan
11-30-2003, 03:45 AM
I just checked in to it and within the past few months there are no thomson drives being put in the new xboxs. i too sold my ps2 since i only bought it for GTA:VC. I still haven't had any problems playing GTA on my xbox. and as for morrowind, i havent played it.:cheers:

darkfusion
11-30-2003, 03:53 AM
Originally posted by BananaMan
I just checked in to it and within the past few months there are no thomson drives being put in the new xboxs. i too sold my ps2 since i only bought it for GTA:VC. I still haven't had any problems playing GTA on my xbox. and as for morrowind, i havent played it.:cheers:

Thanks, so there should be more chance of getting a Samsung in the new "Limited Edition" bundle than if I just buy the console on it's own?

Woo! I'm getting excited now, I'll be playing Halo and PGR2 in a few days :D

BananaMan
11-30-2003, 05:20 AM
yeah man i would def. pick one up. i just checked into and the only drives they're making now are the samsung

2003-10-06 Samsung Seagate 10 GB
2003-10-07 Samsung


that's what i got from this xbox website.

darkfusion
11-30-2003, 05:40 AM
OK thanks BananaMan :)

I'll order my Xbox now and just hope I get a Samsung drive...if not then I guess I'll just have to hope it'll be ok :watchout:

Cheers!

MikeMan91389
11-30-2003, 07:26 AM
how do u find out which drive you have... i wanna no which one i have

darkfusion
11-30-2003, 07:52 AM
Originally posted by MikeMan91389
how do u find out which drive you have... i wanna no which one i have

Here: http://www.gr8r-x.com/techinfo.htm

Anthony4sho
11-30-2003, 09:06 AM
My thomson drive was a piece of ****. It scratched up all my games and wouldn't even play GTA for 5 minutes. I'm glad I got the new samsung. Another bonus is that the samsung plays burned cds.

AmpedRider
11-30-2003, 09:07 AM
I have a thompson...its fine.

CharlieHustle
11-30-2003, 10:34 AM
Originally posted by Monky
I have a thompson...its fine.

Me too. no prob. at all. I had mine since launch.

Wolfboy_888
11-30-2003, 10:54 AM
thanks for the link darkfusion...now i know i have a thomson... it gives me no problem....only with madden games it seems hmmmm ea cough cough ...and sometimes KOTOR was freezing on me...thats about it though..havent tried games like GTA cause theyre for christmas :cuss:

mitch2025
11-30-2003, 11:32 AM
my thomson drive has only givin me DDE's (alot lateley on halo XBC:cuss: ).

Yankeez
11-30-2003, 11:51 AM
i just bought my 2nd xbox my first one has a thompsons drives still works but the drive performance is crappy and my new one has a samsung :cheers:

darkfusion
11-30-2003, 12:02 PM
Originally posted by Wolfboy_888
thanks for the link darkfusion...now i know i have a thomson... it gives me no problem....only with madden games it seems hmmmm ea cough cough ...and sometimes KOTOR was freezing on me...thats about it though..havent tried games like GTA cause theyre for christmas :cuss:

No problem, I hope it plays OK in your 'box! I would be really pissed if I got a bunch of new games for X-Mas only to be greeted with a Dirty Disc Read Error! :cuss:

I'm sure it'll be fine though :cheers:

ARONO129
11-30-2003, 01:41 PM
I bought the Xbox I have now in Oct. of 2002. I checked the link and I have the Thompson drive and my xbox was assembled in Mexico. Not one problem in 13 months. GTA DP plays with no problem at all. All my games play with no problem at all.

1. Buy a good quality (IMO wet) DVD drive cleaner and as a general rule clean your Xbox once per month. MS won't normally tell you to do this because they don't sell DVD drive cleaners so in the rare chance something goes wrong they don't want you blaming them. I clean my lens every few weeks and it works fine.

2. Buy the Xbox or store warranty. The warranty is worth it's weight in gold. It may cost you the price of one game but the peace of mind is worth it. I bought a two year warranty from the store so i'm covered until Oct 2004.

darkfusion
11-30-2003, 03:40 PM
Originally posted by ARONO129
them. I clean my lens every few weeks and it works fine.

2. Buy the Xbox or store warranty. The warranty is worth it's weight in gold. It may cost you the price of one game but the peace of mind is worth it. I bought a two year warranty from the store so i'm covered until Oct 2004.

In the UK, Microsoft give 1 year warrenty's on all their Xbox's :)

How long is the manufacturer's warrenty in the US then? :huh:

BananaMan
11-30-2003, 04:21 PM
i believe the manufactorers warranty is 1 year. But what he is talking about is at some stores here you can buy 'insurance' for your xbox for like 50 dollars for 2 years. if it ever tears up they will replace it. the EB dude i bought it from told me i could go out and shoot my xbox with a shotgun and the store would still replace it.:cheers:

Xbox Owner
11-30-2003, 05:51 PM
I've had the Thompson drive since the day Xbox came out...no probablys, except on Madden 03..it froze a lot.

Like said before, Thompson drives aren't coming out anymore, so dont' worry.

darkfusion
11-30-2003, 05:59 PM
Originally posted by BananaMan
i believe the manufactorers warranty is 1 year. But what he is talking about is at some stores here you can buy 'insurance' for your xbox for like 50 dollars for 2 years. if it ever tears up they will replace it. the EB dude i bought it from told me i could go out and shoot my xbox with a shotgun and the store would still replace it.:cheers:

LOL! Man that's pretty cool :D

Unfortunatly I bought my Xbox online, so I won't know which drive I have until it arrives because I can't check the S/N and Manufacturing Date first :cuss:

Nevermind. I get a 1 year warrenty from Microsoft though :watchout: