<p>I need some advice from someone who knows a lot about video game consoles. </p>
<p>My younger son's Xbox died and we want to get a new one. He doesn't like the new 360 but I could only find the regular Xbox at a couple stores online. He already has a bunch of Xbox games so we don't want to start over with another system (playstation or whatever). </p>
<p>Are they trying to totally phase them out? I saw they still are selling games for it, and even some that are newer. </p>
<p>Don't waste your money with a 360. Try ebay;there are many consoles being sold with games for a very low price. I saw one recently on ebay that included the console and ten games for $110.00 Hope this helped.</p>
<p>By dead, do you mean your son's XBox does not start up at all or that it will not recognize a game disc when you insert it in the tray?</p>
<p>If it's the latter, you can buy a cd lens cleaning disc at most stores and see if cleaning the laser lens will fix the problem.</p>
<p>If the unit is truly dead (i.e. it doesn't light up at all), it's most likely the power supply curcuit board. If you're electrically handy, you can order a new board for under $20.00 from Ebay and most XBox web sites. Apparently, the power supply on XBoxes are their weak point.</p>
<p>Most cities have gaming stores (EB/Gamestop stores) that usually sell used game consoles. </p>
<p>Yes, Microsoft is phasing out the original Xbox. There will be no exclusive games for it this year, only ports, and there are several rumors floating about that they're going to stop making the console by the end of the year.</p>
<p>When my son's xbox died (power supply, nach) he arranged to have it refurbished by the manufacturer. First time he took real initiative...it was about $90 and came with a one year warranty.</p>
<p>Well thanks for the input. H went with him today and they got a new one. </p>
<p>michuncle, he has already done that cleaning the lens thing a few months ago. It seemed to work OK for a while but now it won't read discs. But it does turn on. My older son said it's the drive (???). </p>
<p>It still might be nice to get it working again as about once a year the older son has halo parties :eek: which involves several TVs and a bunch of Xboxes. I just stay on the main floor ;)</p>
<p>Your older son is correct. If you're getting a "can't read disc" message, it means the drive is bad. There is a way to adjust the brightness of the laser read head which requires a you to take out your dvd drive from the Xbox console (requires some skill, a Torx head screwdriver and a voltmeter). Not something for the faint of heart...</p>
<p>Xboxes use three different dvd drive manufacturers and the cost of the drives exceed the cost of a new console.</p>