Switched mine on yesterday and it's got the three sections of the ring lit up in red. I was expecting this at some point, I rarely use the thing, but do use it now and then.
Is this the fatal ROD? Can I still send it back to Microsoft? I was bought in December 2007.

ive had that went after a switch on and off

Microsoft extended the warranty to 3 years for 3 red lights only ,known as red ring of death, so it would maybe be worthwile getting in touch with microsoft about it.When mine went , it only took about 2 weeks to sort , but once its gone once , they dont last long after that.

I can repair this for £25 if your warrenty doesn't cover it.

hi. had this problem on a few xbox and fixed it (TEMPORARILY) on a few console's from core's to elites. but check if your onsole is still under warrenty before fixing it elsewere. failing that then i would get online on forums or better still youtube and look for 'how to fix RROD on xbox 360' ignore any fix's that don't involve taking the heat sink off and re- thermal compounding it. even if its chinese to ya have a good look and try understand it. (don't try taking the xbox apart and trying this unless you are confident u can have a go of it.) it isnt hard in the slightest. the reason i say this is because u could go and pay AX the £25 he is asking (which is a reasonable price considering he would have to buy the thermal compound (£11 for a decent silver based thermal compound) then say (£2 for roofing bolts and washers) or he may used 1 of the kits put together on ebay for doing it. but in my oppinion they don't give the best thermal compund. so not a bad price for him to fix it but i must point out (as ax probably should have) that this is by no means a PERMENANT fix. the console may be fixed for 1 year it may be fixed for 1 day. there is no sure way of knowing how long it will last. this is y i advise people to learn it themselves as they may need to do it again a week/a month later depending how long it lasts. (sorry for maybe preventing u from getting some work AX but i really feel people shpuld know this is NOT a complete fix and it would be handy for them to learn to do it themselves).

I had one sent back to Microsoft with the R,O.D
That was over 2 years old,

Sent me a brand new 360 back

I agree with the above, It is good to learn yourself.

Just what ever you do, dont take it to starlight mobiles, they charge you £80 to remove the little heat absorbing pads and reapply the thermal compound. Microsoft seem to do the same based on the Xboxes I have seen that have been "repaired" by them.

yea microsoft do exactly the same job but they make their own thermal compound and its alot better than the average stuff u see around. maplin do a REALLY good silver based 1 but like i say. its around £11.

AX - do u re-use the x-clamp or sack it off an use roofing bolts? (well not roofing bolts but its a wierd size bolt like a m6 or somethin took me a while to find them until got told about the roofing bolts. only down side is they have to be hacksawed down to 10mm.) just coz in my oppinion the x-clamp is the cause. it puts to much pressure against the back of the board so when ur xbox does gets tod hot and then cools down the compound re-sets in a slightly different place. over time their becomes a gap between the sink and the board. but have heard of people re-using the x-clamp.

a little useful trick AX mate. (not sure if u know this anyway) even if the warrenty has ran out u can take off the silver microsoft sticker with a hair dryer and tweazers without breaking the silver stuff whatsoever. have even done it and sent 1 to microsoft and they still followed out the work on the console not having a clue. just do it say cm by cm. put the hair dryer on 1 edge for bout 2 minutes. hen lift the edg up slightly and keep re-heating the underside and pulling it um a cm at a time.

yea i got a brand newy early last year and that was about 2 yrs old. ur board had probably cracked coz of the movement and lack of compound still there. so they just replace the console.

Yeah, I buy that silver based compound it seems to be pretty good stuff. I have done half my XBoxes with the original clamp and the other half with the new fittings and have not had either method fail yet. I also apply the penny trick to the bottom of the MB by replacing the pads which seems to relieve some heat from the other components.

Also, clear out all the dust/dirt. Got one the needs a replacement drive atm. Now that is a slightly more difficult job

I got the thing done for free. They said I'd receive an email from UPS with the shipping label. I haven't received anything, so I can't request another repair because this is still active. Now what the flip should I do?

Do they how long since they repaired it?

lol good tip lid, it'll do for other things too that will!

Just buy a new console

quick heads up: the extended warranty ONLY applies to the older Xbox 360's. Newer Slim Models now only have a year Warranty because they "fixed" the RROD (by taking out the Red circular LED's lol) it now goes by the name of the Red Dot Of Death. this also applies to the E74 error (Faulty GPU, Scalier Chip) and Scratched Disk problem (that still exists on the Slim)

I got a 20gb from gamestation after 3 returns got a working 1. Been ok 4 a year and got a preowened elite all good so far.