Xbox 360s investigated by Watchdog

BBC consumer affairs show looks into a number of complaints about hardware faults on Microsoft's console.

The show's presenters say that they have received 248 complaints about faulty Xbox 360s, and they believe they will receive more as further items come out of the warranty period.

Watchdog highlighted two cases in which consoles that had just come out of the one-year warranty period had shown the dreaded 'ring of death'--referring to the three red lights which appear on the console to indicate a fatal hardware fault. The two owners had to spend around £80 ($156) each to fix the fault--something they considered to be unreasonable not much more than a year after purchasing the systems.

The popular UK TV series, first aired in 1980, investigates consumer problems including faulty or dangerous goods.

A Microsoft representative did not appear on the show, although presenter Nicky Campbell read out the following statement that the company had sent to them: "Most people who have an Xbox 360 have an outstanding experience and there's no common fault. Each incident is unique, and looked at on a case by case basis."