Help us find the most reliable games console and win £200 of gadgets!

By Jason Jenkins on 5 October 2009, 3:29pm

Xboxes go wrong, while Wiis and PlayStations are virtually indestructible -- that's the myth. We're hoping to find out whether there's any truth to it -- and we need your help.

We're running a short survey on the site to try to find out what the most reliable games console is, and to see how many of you have experienced the dreaded red ring of death.

So if you have a PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii, please fill out our games console survey and tell us if it's ever gone wrong. We've kept the questions to the bare minimum, so it will only take a few minutes. We'll share the results with the world here in a few weeks, so be sure to check back soon.

You can also enter a competition to win £200 worth of gadgets at the same time if you want. We've got a wireless retro Wii games controller, a Bluetooth stereo speaker system, a SanDisk Sansa Clip MP3 player, a Bluetooth music receiver that plugs into existing hi-fis, an in-car wireless music sender/charger for iPods, a Bluetooth headset, and component video cables for the PS3 and Wii, all of which will go to one lucky person who fills out our survey. A note on age limits -- if you are under the age of 15, you need to seek the permission of a parent or guardian to complete the survey. Providing this has been sought and approved, you may also enter the competition.

Please click this link to enter or type http://survey.cnet.co.uk/wix/p1527418.aspx into your browser.

Comments 21

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anonymous 5 October, 2009 15:41

From the experience of myself and friends, PS3s have faired the worst (0 of 3 are still active). 360s have been 50/50 (though all of the ones that died were original models). Never had a problem with my Wii, or heard of anyone else's dying.

Jason Jenkins 5 October, 2009 16:05

Great! Make sure you fill out the survey here http://survey.cnet.co.uk/wix/p1527418.aspx and put all that info in there to be in with a chance to win the prize.

anonymous 5 October, 2009 16:08

Is there any age limit with the competition?

pete2106 5 October, 2009 16:08

All I can say is that I bought all 3 at launch.

I still have my Launch PS3 60GB
I still have my Launch Wii
I have had to replace my xbox 360, 5 TIMES!!!

anonymous 5 October, 2009 16:12

How can you compare the consoles for reliability when you have no knowledge of use.You wouldn't say a 10 year old car that has done 100,000 miles and is broken is less reliable than a 10 year old car that has done 20,000 miles and is still working.

Nate Lanxon 5 October, 2009 16:15

The consoles all came out with about 12 months of each other though.

pete2106 5 October, 2009 16:20

These arent cars. Games consoles dont have the kind of wear and tear through usage that should make longevity an issue.

besides that, these are issues that are affecting the consoles within the first year or two, not ten years down the line. It is fair enough to assume that after 5 or 6 years of use, there may be issues, but these consoles should not be breaking down after a year.

Jason Jenkins 5 October, 2009 16:32

@Anonymous2 - sorry, we always forget to mention age limits. Legally, we are not allowed to survey anyone under the age of 15 without prior consent from a parent. So providing that has been sought and approved, you can enter the competition and stand as much chance of winning as everyone else.

anonymous 5 October, 2009 20:37

pete2106 so you think its fair to compare the reliability of a console used every day for 8hrs or more, with a console used maybe once or twice a month for an hour.

anonymous 6 October, 2009 09:58

Its much more likely parts are going to burn out if consoles are used continuously or for extended periods as opposed to using them once in a while for short periods. This should definitely be factored in.

anonymous 6 October, 2009 10:43

I am having a PS3 for abouth a month now, and had to restart it via the button (cut the power) at least four times in this short period! while my psp have gone missing! so I'm thinking Sony is not a reliable brand.

anonymous 6 October, 2009 11:37

My xbox 360 started going wrong after about 18 months - one red ring. I could get it to work and it continued to function for another year until I got the dreaded RROD. It should be noted that I play most of my games on the pc, so it's not as if my xbox was working flat out for 2.5 years.

To microsoft's credit, I was able to have my xbox replaced without cost or hassle. However, when my refurbished xbox turned up, I discovered ANOTHER problem - this time an E68 error that said my hard drive was faulty. I managed to fix it at first by doing an update, but it's returned after a month.

Bloody rubbish. I will never, EVER buy an xbox again.

anonymous 6 October, 2009 13:01

I Agree, there should have been a question about how much it is used as my PS3 is used daily/every other day and has gone wrong after 2.5 years. The Wii is used once or twice a month and has not failed.

anonymous 6 October, 2009 15:01

I would like to comment that I actuarly have had the reverse, I have a xbox 360 with a manufacturing date of 2006 and it works perfectly, My wii also works perfectly however i have had 3 ps3 consoles as the bluray laser kept breaking, Ive had the 40gb 60gb and just had to buy myself a new 80gb console. I think that the survey should also ask how many times you have had to replace the console

anonymous 6 October, 2009 15:41

Xbox 360 definitely as being unreliable. Mine is suffering from Red Ring.

anonymous 6 October, 2009 16:37

Had a 360 fail after over 3 years of prolonged use with gaming or DVD watching. 10 mins on the internet and a Â£4 repair kit later I was stripping it and repairing it. Now, 6 months later, it's used more than ever, without a problem. If M$ had just spent a little more money on the airflow and heatsink clamp design reliability would be up there with other consoles. Such a shame for such a great console.

anonymous 13 October, 2009 13:16

Iâ€™ve had 4 360's all failed, I know someone who has gone through ten of the Bleeding things. I have now got a PS3 Slim which I am not sure was the best solution as it gets HOT! But can see that the PS3 has a lot more features that you DONT have too pay for. Unlike one or two game company's out thereâ€¦..

Moving away from the initial question posed. When components get hot there tendency to fail increase's by roughly + 25-50% if they start to go out of there NORMAL operating range they will start to fail FACT!!

BUT lets remember that Company's purposely engineer faults into there products BUT so they would fail Just outside of the warranty period, (Um... sounds familiar)

Did you know that there is software out there (I'm not telling you which mind!!) that can work out the life of a circuit board when all of the components values are entered into it therefore calculating the longevity of the product!!

Fact is we have been scammed for years like this and we will continue to be as it's YOUR job to try and prove theses companies are pulling these sort's of tricks. And they will always WIN!!

Just for reference, I have an Xbox 1 (Chipped now. Donâ€™t care if itâ€™s illegal!) : ) and have been using it at least three times a week for the last 8 Years!!!!!! And it's still going strong!!! (Thanks in large part to the new cooling system I engineered) : )

So it proves that something can be built correctly, it's just whether or not the companies in question choose to do so!!!

Take a bit of advise if you can slap a couple of quiet cooling fans on your electrical products then do it as it will certainly mean that they will last longer!!

Sorry to be a bore. I do get where this Survey is heading but unless there are strict lab test performed then take the results with a pinch of salt and like anything USE YOUR COMMON SENSE when using a product. Especially if itâ€™s getting HOT!!!

furrybloke 3 November, 2009 07:12

Had Wii since launch despite it being hit with the odd flying controller!

laghreid 3 November, 2009 21:03

We have all the consoles there are on the market..
My hubby fixes them... all !!!! and is very very good at it!
The most reliable is the Wii... As they only tend to go down with kids force the disc in or put coins in the slot.

anonymous 18 November, 2009 16:53

I've never had a problem with my wii console despite the control being thrown around the room a number of times!!

anonymous 24 February, 2010 05:51

my ex-box360 got the red ring after about 9-10 months. it was generally used for about 2-3 hours a day, 4 days a week. never more.
microsoft replaced it with a refurb. funny thing though, i get the feeling the 'new' xbox360 has been 'tuned down' because games like gta 4 and call of duty world at war, that never lagged on my old xbox360, lag on the new one. gta 4 is especially bad, where the game never really feels smooth and if a cop car is following me, there is some serious stuttering (which i never experienced with my old xbox360).

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