Maintenance Tips for the Xbox 360

By Larry Moon

Of course, as you more than likely already know, the Xbox 360 is an expensive bit of kit, and that's even before you take all the games and accessories into account. Having said that; the vast majority of people seem to forget all about the cost of their Xbox, particularly once they start becoming involved with their favorite games. At least this is the case until such time that their Xbox packs up. Of course, providing your system is still under warranty, most breakdowns can be resolved, although the time it takes for repairs to be carried out may well cost you a considerable amount of quality gaming time. As you can imagine this problem becomes even worse when you're forced to hand over money for the repairs, or even for a new system.

Xbox 360 systems are different than standard gaming desktops because they do not have as much cooling features as the gaming systems. Heat is your major enemy here and heat can produce really quickly after several hours of gaming. But you can prolong the life of your Xbox 360 if you follow these basic Xbox 360 maintenance tips.

First and foremost, you should make it a habit to regulate your gaming hours. If you are fond of playing Xbox Live Arcade games you probably don't need to worry about heating issues because those games do not take full advantage of the Xbox 360's power. But those intense 3-D high definition games can really heat up your system so it is important to take breaks. Even a 30 minute break is okay so you can still enjoy lots of gaming hours per day.

If taking breaks is too difficult for you, at least play in a cooler environment so your Xbox 360 doesn't heat up as much. Full air-conditioning is the way to go, but if you can't install one, at least keep an electric fan point towards your system to ensure that the sensitive components don't get much heat exposure.

Even if your system is turned off and resting, you should make sure that your Xbox 360 is stored safely away from direct sunlight and dusty areas so that the next time you play, you are less likely to be nagged with red ring errors and decreased gaming performance. It is no good to turn on an Xbox 360 that is already warm due to the heat around the room.

There are a few 3rd party accessories that claim to fix the heating problems by cooling the components in a more direct fashion. While these "cooling accessories" appear to fix the problem, they also obtain their power source directly from the Xbox 360 so if you overuse these accessories, problems may arise including red ring issues. Avoid using these accessories unless you find one that is licensed by Microsoft or uses an external power source.

If you wish to travel with your trusty gaming system, you can do just that as long as you are very careful in carrying the system. Try not to carry the Xbox 360 in an upright position to avoid any damage collisions unless you are using Xbox 360 carrying bags which are safer. Always make sure that casing is secure before and after travel so you can enjoy your gaming experience anywhere.

While the latest Xbox 360 gaming consoles are far less likely to experience red ring errors thanks to the use of upgraded motherboards, it's still imperative that gamers take adequate care of their consoles if they want their gaming sessions to be free of red ring errors. - 18418

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