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So my Xbox finally gave up the ghost a little over a week ago. I got the three flashing red lights and no amount of rebooting or reattaching cables could make it go away. Luckily I was able to borrow an Xbox for the time being so we could still play Rock Band 2 that weekend, but I was dreading the hassle of sending the unit back for repairs as I've heard that it's not a good experience.
Well, either they changed the way they do things or I just heard wrong. I went to the Xbox website, put in my console's serial number, and clicked a few buttons to let them know I was getting the Red Ring of Death. They responded with an invoice for $0.00 and shipped out a box for me to send the unit back to them. This is the way I like to see warranty work handled. EA did it better by actually sending out new equipment to you on faith that yours was actually broken, but that was for Rock Band instruments, I'm sure something like that isn't feasible for actual game consoles.
I suppose the one problem is that you are without your console for a few weeks while the shipping and repairing is taking place. If you don't have a friend who doesn't play theirs and will let you borrow it and you play yours on a daily basis I could see how that would cramp your style, but as far as I'm concerned I couldn't be happier with the process.
