Hexi
Well-Known Member
No offense taken at all. "Must be the way you use it..." is a common myth about dead electronics. However statistics and data points tell an entirely different story.
XBOX 360 - Red Ring of Death. Prior to the proven and known high failure rates, there was the unproven and unknown. The first RROD victim to claim his XBOX died was blamed as a bad user.
Your new PC vs old Lynsys analogy is a perfect anecdote to use as an example. New electronics, early batches, have the highest % chance of failure if said device is ever refined or revamped or given new batch review etc.. (see the DV Ascent thread)
I have a GE brand boom-box from the 1980s. It was a tank. I started off using it as a tape player for music, but discovered it had dual input mics...aka STEREO RECORDING! Being in a band at the time, we discovered my boom box was actually a fantastic, low cost recording device for cheap high school band demos. Not only that, the box was constructed with high quality, durable materials, mostly metal. It was small, functional, had amazing recording fidelity for such a low cost device, and survived a beating like no other. I'd still have it today if I didn't move across the country and have to make choices about what to bring.
Now look at the PAX , PSP, PS2, PS1, XBOX, XBOX360 NES etc... Totally different beast, totally different concepts. Early gen PS1s failed, known fact, confirmed by CAL. They failed at an accelerated rate.
PS2s had the same problem, also confirmed with a CAL. Somehow microsoft dodged the CALs for the XBOX and 360, both had first gen model super high failure rates.
Every single time someone was the first to notice these failure rates, they were accused of being "bad users". The failures of the early PS3 models was usually met with "You let it get too hot" accusations.
It's not bad luck. It's statistics, and arithmetic without blinders on. I'm not unlucky because an old HDD died on a PC from 2004. It was inevitable. All HDDs will die. Every single one. All batteries will drain etc...
It just so happens that maybe I bought a lot of expensive sounding electronics. But it's pretty easy to think about when electronics started to dominate our purchases, $10s of thousands of dollars is a conservative estimate. I didn't even consider my car alarm that failed, or a garage door opener that died. Or that TV we had when I was 5 years old that went "pink" one year and stayed pink for the next 10.
But a PSP was like $250 back in the day. More than 1 PSP? quickly adds up, even if it took me 3 years to buy 3 PSPs, that is still $750 in "bricks". (full disclosure, I bricked one PSP that was my fault)
But YLOD and RRODs are not user error. But they were initially categorized as such, by everyone from Sony and MS to other users.
My Pax is a "brick" but that term is all inclusive. The electronics in my PAX might still be living, but the device doesn't charge. It's a brick. Was that also user error? Check the pax thread and you will see the most ardent defenders of the PAX do not even remotely claim the device is perfect or will be perfect if you "use it right".
I stopped buying extended warranties in the early 2000s. They are a scam used to generate extra sales. My last warranty was with a Circuit City HDTV I got. That HDTV turns out was defective by design, (early HDMI woes) and since this was before every HDTV had a USB port... it was a lot like early CLOUDS. There was no fix. The HDMI and MOBO etc.. all had flaws that could only be fixed with an upgraded MOBO and HDMI connection. The MFG was not doing that. ERgo there was no fix.
Again, this has nothing to do with luck. Everyone who bought that TV had the same exact problem, whether they noticed it or not. (HDMI issues are notoriously fickle, especially in that early era)
Exactly. Some electronics last longer than others, it varies by brand, model, batch #, location mfg etc...
CLOUDS were all MFG in one plant, and the failures were investigated and discovered to be due to complications with the MFG coupled with some design constraints. They will all fail eventually. Some may not fail for 100 years! Others failed on day 1. What is the failure rate %? I don't know, but it was anomalous enough for VXL to reboot with the EVO.
As I mentioned above I too have immortal electronics, USA Made CRT tvs for example were typically durable as hell. I have a super heavy JVC tv that's been dropped down a flight of stairs and works perfectly, I think I got it in 2001.
That's not good luck, that's the reality of that make/model/batch.
Sorry if this got way off topic, but I believe it applies to the questions regarding CLOUDS and warranties and used clouds.
As my examples above also align with either point of purchase extended warranties, or the much more "honest" warranties supplied by the MFGs like Sony and Microsoft. 90 days, then you're on your own!
I think I've owned like 5 PS2s in my life time. 2-3 of them died, 1 of those deaths was covered by an extended warranty, which I used and was super happy with at the time.
But financially, those extended warranties don't make a lot of sense for the vast majority of the population. $30 spent for a 2 year warranty might sound great if your devices dies right before day 730, but if it dies on day 731... you spent $30 for nothing.
