360 vs PS3 reliability

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HottSauce

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 26, 2005
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From what I've seen on the forums it seems like the defect rate for the 360 is pretty high and for the PS3 is very low. Is this true? Are there any official statistics available on this?

Also I'm curious to know what the repair or replacement cost is for a 360 if it dies and it's not under warranty. I'm thinking about buying a used 360.
 
HottSauce said:
From what I've seen on the forums it seems like the defect rate for the 360 is pretty high and for the PS3 is very low. Is this true? Are there any official statistics available on this?

Also I'm curious to know what the repair or replacement cost is for a 360 if it dies and it's not under warranty. I'm thinking about buying a used 360.
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Looking at the forums, the perceived failure rate of the Xbox 360 is higher than the PS3. A few things to consider, though:

1. There is a large gap between Xbox 360 owners (10+ Million) and PS3 owners (2 Million). So you'll hear of more failures from the larger pool; however, that does not mean that the failure rate (i.e. percentage of failures across all owners) is unusually high.

2. The Xbox 360 has been out for about a year-and-a-half, so that's something to consider, too. (EDIT: Basically means that we have more time with the 360 to identify common problems).

3. At the end of the day, Microsoft's core competency is in software, not hardware. On the other hand, Sony has long been known for their solid electronics (notebooks and TV's come to mind). For this reason alone I would believe that Sony's console has greater manufacturing integrity.

4. To replace a console that is out of warranty the cost is ~ $140.

The points to take away from this are (a) the Xbox failure rates I believe are a bit exaggerated but (b) Sony's machine should be better built given that it's coming from a manufacturing firm and not outsourced ala 360. Furthermore, if you really want an Xbox 360 I would encourage that you look into an extended warranty with MS.

deception``
 
Believe me, there are PS3 failures. When you see a thread about it, its very low key and civil, unlike a 360 failure thread. then of course, some people just wont post that their Ps3 failed... not after bashing the hell out of the 360 for the same reason.
 
JSC450 said:
Believe me, there are PS3 failures. When you see a thread about it, its very low key and civil, unlike a 360 failure thread. then of course, some people just wont post that their Ps3 failed... not after bashing the hell out of the 360 for the same reason.
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While i dont disagree there are PS3 failures, even when u even the ratios of units out in the wild, the PS3 just has much less in the way of failures, plain and simple.

Check the official PS3 boards and you can find the particular PS3 failure threads, but in general it is regarded as a much higher quality built system and failures are not nearly as likely as they are with a 360.

All of this folding@home should really bring out failures if there are going to be any. Im going on 7 days straight of folding with no failure, and believe me after going on my 3rd 360 replacement, i wouldnt dream of trying that on a 360.
 
Funny enough, I've had my 360 since launch day with no issues. I got a PS3 on January 2nd and had to RMA it 2 weeks later. Granted they were SUPER fast (I had another in 5 days), but it's another take on things.
I've had no issues with my Wii at all, but it's also the system I've played the least.
 
4saken said:
While i dont disagree there are PS3 failures, even when u even the ratios of units out in the wild, the PS3 just has much less in the way of failures, plain and simple.

Check the official PS3 boards and you can find the particular PS3 failure threads, but in general it is regarded as a much higher quality built system and failures are not nearly as likely as they are with a 360.

All of this folding@home should really bring out failures if there are going to be any. Im going on 7 days straight of folding with no failure, and believe me after going on my 3rd 360 replacement, i wouldnt dream of trying that on a 360.
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word

Say anything bad about PS3 about marketing and games or whatever. The system is pretty solidly built. My 360 has to have cooling or it gets system locks and "disc unreadable" errors due to it.
 
4saken said:
While i dont disagree there are PS3 failures, even when u even the ratios of units out in the wild, the PS3 just has much less in the way of failures, plain and simple.
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That's pretty much the bottom line. Ps3's solid.
 
BladeVenom said:
They are both outsourced to China. PS3 is outsourced to Asustek who makes them in China.
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Correct, and thank you for this oversight. Even so, I think it is important to note that Sony's presence as a electronics giant is being felt when it comes to the quality of the PS3 (even when it comes to quality control). For Microsoft, they are placing their hand in a whole new jar of cookies.

deception``
 
I'm a 360 fan, but PS3 seems like a much better built / thought out machine. Runs cooler, quieter, no power brick to worry about, and thus far no major manufacturing errors.

Microsoft kind of dropped the ball on the 360 as far as build quality is concerned, just opening the thing up and looking at the placement of the components makes you kind of scratch your head, ie. why does the hottest component on the system (the GPU) not only have the smallest heatsink, but is also jammed between all the other major heat generating parts of the system, which makes it no surprise that the GPU is the source for most dead 360s, with the DVD drive (which sits right above the hot-ass GPU) coming in a close second.
 
It's way to soon to compare the reliability of the PS3 vs the 360...many of the people I see reporting problems have had their 360 for nearly a year or more. No question that MS made some poor design choices obviously, but if EVERY 360 was defective then we would have a massive recall and class action suits by now. I've had my 360 since November 06 with no issues..
 
joemama said:
It's way to soon to compare the reliability of the PS3 vs the 360...many of the people I see reporting problems have had their 360 for nearly a year or more. No question that MS made some poor design choices obviously, but if EVERY 360 was defective then we would have a massive recall and class action suits by now. I've had my 360 since November 06 with no issues..
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True but look how many ppl had issues right off the bat with the 360, there were some unsuccessful class action lawsuits against MS. All the PSU/overheating/other issues that were at launch.
 
Everything I have read around message boards points the PS3 to being a more reliable console.

Long term no one knows yet, but so far it seems to be a lot better designed then the 360.

I’m hoping Microsoft fixes some of the problems they have had with the 360 elite.
 
id have to say my launch ps3 is more stable than my xbox360. I dont buy into the whole more consoles = more problems. I know my xbox had to go back twice, while my ps3 only had a bluetooth controller issue. My friends have xbox nightmares as well.

Most of the xbox problems are heat related due to a poor build of the console (ie putting the DVDrom on top of the gpu.
 
I don't know anyone with a ps3, but I have 8 friends with 360s, so I'm guessing a lot of results are skewed, as others have said, by the amounts of people owning the consoles.
 
Domingo said:
Funny enough, I've had my 360 since launch day with no issues. I got a PS3 on January 2nd and had to RMA it 2 weeks later. Granted they were SUPER fast (I had another in 5 days), but it's another take on things.
I've had no issues with my Wii at all, but it's also the system I've played the least.
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Based upon independently conducted research (with a sample size of one) it looks like the 360 is 100% reliable with the PS3 trailing behind at 0%. There was not enough data available to conclusively determine the reliability of the Wii. ;)
 
I don't own a PS3 because I disagree with trying to turn gaming into some uber-expensive elitist hobby, but I had basically 10 months with my 360, during 6 of which it was dead and out for repair. Whatever else one can say about PS3's shoddy thinking, you can't say it doesn't appear to be built well, and it's WAY quieter than the 360, it's not even *close* in that race.

I just sold my 360 a couple of days ago, and I'm glad to see it go. The unit I finally got that worked seemed to be problem free, but by the time I'd been through 6 months worth of send/receive/wait/send again/listen to bullshit excuses/etc I was just too disgusted by it to even want to play it anymore.

360-better software, services and games
PS3-better hardware quality
 
I dont think the PS3 has been out long enough to make anything more than speculation about its reliability. Given that the 360 is pretty awful however, its likely that the PS3 will prove to be less prone to failing.
 
Furystrike said:
I dont think the PS3 has been out long enough to make anything more than speculation about its reliability. Given that the 360 is pretty awful however, its likely that the PS3 will prove to be less prone to failing.
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yeah, it's too soon (and the sales too poor, LOL) to really have a clear idea, but it's fair to say that at least the early glance does seem to indicate higher build quality. Of course, for a $600 system it goddamn well better be :)
 
Had my PS3 since Christmas, running smooth like a baby, and I take care of it, I don't sandwich it between a receiver and a dvd player, I have it by itself, it's noise free.
My friend had several 360s gone bad on him. If MS manages to improve reliability I might consider getting also the 360 elite edition, the HD and HDMI make a difference. If you guys look at the cooling system on the PS3 it's a bit nicer than the 360's, I have yet to hear of PS3's going bad by the lot, maybe one or tow cases but not as much as the 360.
 
ellover009 said:
Had my PS3 since Christmas, running smooth like a baby, and I take care of it, I don't sandwich it between a receiver and a dvd player, I have it by itself, it's noise free.
My friend had several 360s gone bad on him. If MS manages to improve reliability I might consider getting also the 360 elite edition, the HD and HDMI make a difference. If you guys look at the cooling system on the PS3 it's a bit nicer than the 360's, I have yet to hear of PS3's going bad by the lot, maybe one or tow cases but not as much as the 360.
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I took a look at my Ps3 just reading this forum, and there are holes everywhere on it. The system seems to be really well ventilated. Then, the 360 has some too, but I read somewhere it's how the internals are placed that is restricts airflow and cooling to some heat intensive areas.
 
I think the fact that 30,000 people have had their PS3s folding for a week straight pretty much speaks to their reliability and build quality. I wouldn't think of running my 360 at full throttle for hours straight, much less days.
 
thrashfan said:
If there are any PS3 problems...what are they?
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Any electronic can have an issue with millions of things that can go wrong. The common PS3 problems that I have seen or experianced are Bluetooth controller freezing for about 3 seconds happens once or twice a day or sometimes not at all (could be cordless phone related as some forums have stated)

Also blu-ray play back issues seem to be the most pronounced with firmware issues making play back jerky sometimes or freezing. I have not experienced that nor anyone I know.

The ps3 has a giant heat sink across the case and is built well enough that hardware failure does not seem to be a huge issue. But time will tell as it is still early.
 
Aerobahn said:
Any electronic can have an issue with millions of things that can go wrong. The common PS3 problems that I have seen or experianced are Bluetooth controller freezing for about 3 seconds happens once or twice a day or sometimes not at all (could be cordless phone related as some forums have stated)

Also blu-ray play back issues seem to be the most pronounced with firmware issues making play back jerky sometimes or freezing. I have not experienced that nor anyone I know.

The ps3 has a giant heat sink across the case and is built well enough that hardware failure does not seem to be a huge issue. But time will tell as it is still early.
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I think the true test will come summer time when those without AC will be running their PS3 full-bore folding away.

But as it stands now, it's pretty apparent that the PS3 is much more well-constructed than the 360. Not surprising, considering their companies' respective backgrounds. It also explains why the 360's dashboard is more intuitive than the PS3s interface (I'm not very fond of it).
 
3rd xbox 360

If I could go back in time I would have a PS3 right now, it sucks playing on a machine that you have so much fear in it just completely going to crap on you at any moment. I just know im going to put it in the car to bring it to a friends house and BAM 3 rings for the fourth time.
 
independantvariable said:
3rd xbox 360

If I could go back in time I would have a PS3 right now, it sucks playing on a machine that you have so much fear in it just completely going to crap on you at any moment. I just know im going to put it in the car to bring it to a friends house and BAM 3 rings for the fourth time.
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That's basically where I am. I look at the 360 and all I feel is resentment for the fucked up thing breaking so many times and the shoddy service I got. If not for the help of JethroXP and Major Nelson I'd probably STILL be going through it. Those two guys were da shiz, but the rest of the support department sucked.

it's really unfortunate, because I was super excited for 360 when it was announced, even when it hit, and I tell you, I just really feel raped as a consumer because I paid out so much money and so much time for the system and games only to get to play them for less than half the time I actually owned the thing. I still wouldn't buy a PS3 in place of 360, because I'm disgusted by the idea of trying to turn gaming into an Elitist hobby, but right now I wouldn't buy another 360 either.
 
I saw someone mention this on GAF and thought it needed to be outlined here.

As most of you know, 3~5% is the accepted standard. If the Xbox 360 is at the 5%, that means that there are 500K systems that are faulty.

The problem is that those 500K systems are still circulating as refurbishments, which isn't good. If you get a faulty system, you're going to be given more systems from a pool of defective units that are prone to failure (Let's face it; refurbishments in consumer electronics are, by and large, shit).

Microsoft's problem isn't an usually high defect rate. Their problem is that they're not replacing failed units with new ones.
 
I would never accept a refurb if i sent my 360 in for repairs. Theres just no effin way. I would have to keep sending it back until they realized its costing them more to keep shipping me refurbs rather than a brand new system.
 
K600 said:
Microsoft's problem isn't an usually high defect rate. Their problem is that they're not replacing failed units with new ones.
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:eek:

I think we might agree on something... although MS is definitely over the 5% failure rate (I realize you were using that number for the sake of calculating a number of faulty units in circulation). So the defect rate is above the acceptable standard, it's just not as bad as it seems.

While looking at my poll I realized that the number of people who had had to replace the console multiple times did not fit in with the rest of the poll #'s. I was thinking that putting refurbished units back in circulation had to be the cause. That's definitely not a good way to build a customer relationship.
 
VoodooChi|d said:
:eek:

I think we might agree on something... although MS is definitely over the 5% failure rate (I realize you were using that number for the sake of calculating a number of faulty units in circulation). So the defect rate is above the acceptable standard, it's just not as bad as it seems.

While looking at my poll I realized that the number of people who had had to replace the console multiple times did not fit in with the rest of the poll #'s. I was thinking that putting refurbished units back in circulation had to be the cause. That's definitely not a good way to build a customer relationship.
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My first replacement was a refurb and it died 2 weeks later, my 3rd replacement was a brand new unit and its still kicking after 3-4 months. But refurb or not it speaks about the 360s lack of quality control and design.
 
VoodooChi|d said:
:eek:

I think we might agree on something... although MS is definitely over the 5% failure rate (I realize you were using that number for the sake of calculating a number of faulty units in circulation). So the defect rate is above the acceptable standard, it's just not as bad as it seems.

While looking at my poll I realized that the number of people who had had to replace the console multiple times did not fit in with the rest of the poll #'s. I was thinking that putting refurbished units back in circulation had to be the cause. That's definitely not a good way to build a customer relationship.
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I knew it was possible, and for what it's worth, I apologize for the arguing over the past couple days. I just woke up and realized how bad of a mood I've been in because of Finals (Somehow, my professors have managed to get them all placed to be taken on the same day...which is shit).
 
BladeVenom said:
Good point, all those demo PS3's had overheating problems.
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thats a really good point actually. 80% of the time I see a PS3 demo unit in the stores, its playing that racing game and is locked up. Just my experiences? maybe, but something was definitely happening.
 
The store demo units are supposed to lock up, if that didn't happen then someone could stand in front of the unit playing demo indefinitely while other's don't get a chance. I have not heard of consumer models locking up. I tried Maiden 2007 on the 360 demo unit and it crashed too after 4mins.
 
ellover009 said:
The store demo units are supposed to lock up, if that didn't happen then someone could stand in front of the unit playing demo indefinitely while other's don't get a chance. I have not heard of consumer models locking up. I tried Maiden 2007 on the 360 demo unit and it crashed too after 4mins.
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I remember hearing how a Sony rep said they were meant to lock up, so people just didn't keep playing them. Personally I think that's complete B.S. They've never done that with previous consoles, and store/electronics workers don't want to have to keep going over to the units, opening up kiosk displays, to reset the machines. I don't think the lock-ups were the cause of PS3 hardware, but probably the Motorstorm demo running on it, which was THE game that always seemed to be locked up when I went by.
 
VoodooChi|d said:
:eek:

I think we might agree on something... although MS is definitely over the 5% failure rate (I realize you were using that number for the sake of calculating a number of faulty units in circulation). So the defect rate is above the acceptable standard, it's just not as bad as it seems.

While looking at my poll I realized that the number of people who had had to replace the console multiple times did not fit in with the rest of the poll #'s. I was thinking that putting refurbished units back in circulation had to be the cause. That's definitely not a good way to build a customer relationship.
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Better question, would a 5% rate be an acceptable number on any given consumer product? IE refrigerators, Tv's, etc...I really have no idea. Granted things are going to fail, but are gamers more lenient in taking that risk just to play the games they paid good money for?
 
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