XBox+Kinect troubles - Help needed

[himeshj]

Hi guys,

I got a friend to buy an XBox 360 250 GB+ Kinect bundle from US and and seriously regretting the decision Firstly, he had to pay customs duty (7K) which brought the cost close to what it would've be in in India. But that's ok. The bigger problem is the power supply which is 110v. I've been googling a lot and believe that MS will exchange the US power supply to Indian (220v) without charge! That made me very happy. However, my email to them brought a response which did not address my question on exchange but made me more anxious (full text of response given below). Some questions for the forum. I do understand that answers to these are available on the net but there is a lot of confusion so I'm requesting help:

1. Anybody had a similar experience with XBox?
2. Does Microsoft indeed exchange PS bricks without charge?
3. Do you recommend that I buy a new XBOX Power supply in case MS does not oblige? There are some available on ebay for Rs. 2.5-3K.
4. How abaout converters? MS email seriously discourages using the same.
5. Is region locking a serious problem? Does this mean I can not buy any games in India?

Text of the response from XBox support centre:

Thank you for contacting online support for XBOX. I am Travis and I will be helping you today with this issue.
As I understand, you want to convert the console for use in a different region. I will be providing the needed information for this query.

Xbox 360 consoles are designed for use in specific countries or regions. This sometimes called "region locked." If you use your Xbox 360 console in a region other than where it was intended (for example, if you move to a different country or region), the console may not work as expected, or you may damage your Xbox 360 console. We recommend that you only use your Xbox 360 console in the region that the console was designed for.

We cannot convert an Xbox 360 console for use in another region.

If you use your Xbox 360 console in a region that it was not manufactured for, any of the following problems may occur:

. Games or movies may not work correctly.
. Power voltage differences may damage the Xbox 360 console. Power voltages can be different in different countries or regions. Some conversion devices adapt foreign power supplies to work with local voltages, but these devices may not work as expected. Additionally, these devices often do not work with high-power devices such as desktop computers and Xbox 360 consoles. In some cases, these devices can damage the Xbox 360 console.

Note :

If you use a power converter and the console is damaged, the console will not be covered under warranty.

. A television may not work correctly. Because television standards can be different in different countries or regions, local televisions may not function correctly with an Xbox 360 console from a different region.

Depending on the power requirements of your Xbox 360 console, the console package might have included a 203-watt power supply, a 175-watt power supply, or a 150-watt power supply. The power supplies used by the original Xbox 360 console are not compatible with the Xbox 360 S console. The Xbox 360 S console uses only a 135-watt power supply.

We do not recommend that you use any power source other than a standard alternating current (AC) power source for an Xbox 360 console. We cannot recommend any alternative power source. If you use a non-standard power supply, you can damage your console and void your warranty. You can use a non-standard power supply at your own risk.

If the steps provided did not resolve the issue, we recommend you to contact us directly through XBOX Customer Support at 1-800-4MYXBOX (1-800-469-9269) for further assistance.

If you are not from the United States please visit : Set Your Default Country or Region - Xbox.com and select your region or country. Once selected, you can scroll down and on the lower left on the web browser, click ' Contact Us ' and click on ' Call Us' to display the appropriate support contact number for your region.

If you need to reply to this e-mail, please reply 'with history' (include any previous e-mail) or reference to Service Request Number 1161584466 so we can expedite our service to you.
Thank you for visiting Xbox.com. If you should have future questions on Xbox products or services,please be sure to revisit our Web site as we are continually adding information to enhance our service.
Best Regards,
Travis
XBOX Support Services
Microsoft Xbox Support | Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, Kinect, and Games for Windows - Xbox.com

 

[aradhakr84]

1. Anybody had a similar experience with XBox?
No.

2. Does Microsoft indeed exchange PS bricks without charge?
Unless there is problem with it. Usually I have never heard of Microsoft doing an exchange. Because you are using the console in region that it was not intended for use in the first place.
Microsoft says buy xbox 360 only from India

3. Do you recommend that I buy a new XBOX Power supply in case MS does not oblige? There are some available on ebay for Rs. 2.5-3K.
and
4. How abaout converters? MS email seriously discourages using the same.
Yes. Also be careful because you might fry your Xbox 360 due to heavy voltage load (in this case 220v to a 110v XBOX console) Dont ever convert power supply just go and buy a transformer with 110v plug in. It would be smart to buy a voltage transformer with a built in stabilizer. You can look for one at playasia.com.

5. Is region locking a serious problem? Does this mean I can not buy any games in India?
You can buy NTSC games from Buy Video Games for Consoles and PC - From Japan, Korea and other Regions - Play-Asia.com Atleast that is what I think. Maybe others can shed light on this website.

Trying to bring light into the darkness, we have compiled this Xbox360â„¢ Regional Compatibility Guide. This list will tell you whether a specific game is suitable to play on your Xbox360â„¢ system or not. It also contains information on each title's language settings as well as Play-Asia's current price and availability status.

Please note that this list has been put together based on either our own test results or information supplied by the publisher and may be incomplete. Play-Asia takes no responsibility for the accuracy of this information and in general always recommends only to purchase game software that has been designed for the system you own.

NTSC-U/C implies domestic US & Canadian systems, NTSC-J implies domestic Japanese, Asian or Korean systems and PAL implies domestic European or Australian systems.
Xbox360â„¢ Regional Compatibility Guide

 

[Gannu]

1. Anybody had a similar experience with XBox?

- AFAIK a member on the forums iGo did. PM him if you need more details.

2. Does Microsoft indeed exchange PS bricks without charge?

- Not sure if they are obliged to do so but MS offered Yogi a 220V power brick free of cost.

3. Do you recommend that I buy a new XBOX Power supply in case MS does not oblige? There are some available on ebay for Rs. 2.5-3K.

- That's the only way to go about with it. Try sending a mail to MS first indicating the problem. You may tell them that this was gifted by someone residing in the US and you had no clue about the input voltage of the power brick. (On a related note, the PS3 does not face this problem since it has a universal power adapter inside the console.)

4. How abaout converters? MS email seriously discourages using the same.

- You mean the step-down voltage transformer? There should be absolutely no problems using one as long as you buy one with a proper rated wattage - I know of folks who use one for their speaker system which was purchased from the US. That said, a good step-down transformer costs around 2~3k so you might as well spend for the power brick instead. MS would naturally discourage third-party devices which are not certified by them because they would want you to spend on MS devices.

5. Is region locking a serious problem? Does this mean I can not buy any games in India?

- AFAIK you will have to rely on NTSC games.

 

[himeshj]

Aradhakr84/Gannu,

Thanks for your helpful responses. This tale may have a happy ending yet - I spoke with XBox support (man, don't you just hate their fake US accents) a little while back. They were extremely courteous and willing to help. Offered to exchange my power supply immediately. They will send somebody within the next week to drop the new one and pick up the US one! Isn't it great? I did offer to go to their service centre to do the exchange but the PS has to come from China. I have been given the contact number of the service provider and advised to call them if they do not call me up to set up the exchange in 2 days. Very impressive service so far, almost unbelievable. I have come across quite a few cases on the net where users had similar experience with MS.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this will go thru without a hitch. I hope this post will benefit all those who bought their XBox's in other regions. Guys, pick up the phone and call MS. Their numbers are:

000-800-440-1179
1800-11 11 00
+91 80 40103000
1800-102 1100
Monday to Friday : 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

 

[Gannu]

^Glad to hear that.

On a related note, I find it pretty funny that MS has not been able to squeeze the power supply unit inside the console itself and make it universal. Like how the PS3 does it. Not that they cannot do it but that is how their business model works perhaps. Same goes for the batteries for the wireless controller. I have always felt it would have been better to have the batteries recharged by the USB and built inside the controller rather than spend on a pair of Eneloops, another pair for standby and the recharging unit. A 3 year replacement cycle works well enough and sites like DX, Amazon come up with cheap spare batteries which work well without issues.

 

[aradhakr84]

Aradhakr84/Gannu,

Thanks for your helpful responses. This tale may have a happy ending yet - I spoke with XBox support (man, don't you just hate their fake US accents) a little while back. They were extremely courteous and willing to help. Offered to exchange my power supply immediately. They will send somebody within the next week to drop the new one and pick up the US one! Isn't it great? I did offer to go to their service centre to do the exchange but the PS has to come from China. I have been given the contact number of the service provider and advised to call them if they do not call me up to set up the exchange in 2 days. Very impressive service so far, almost unbelievable. I have come across quite a few cases on the net where users had similar experience with MS.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this will go thru without a hitch. I hope this post will benefit all those who bought their XBox's in other regions. Guys, pick up the phone and call MS. Their numbers are:

000-800-440-1179

1800-11 11 00

+91 80 40103000

1800-102 1100

Monday to Friday : 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Thanks for sharing the info. It is great news for people who bought 360 from US. But I am wondering why do people go through struggle to import consoles from US? I mean, it is a big risk and why not just buy consoles here. Not that I am bashing or opposing, just wondering

 

[eXcesscaLIBER]

Thanks for sharing the info. It is great news for people who bought 360 from US. But I am wondering why do people go through struggle to import consoles from US? I mean, it is a big risk and why not just buy consoles here. Not that I am bashing or opposing, just wondering

The savings on US consoles are quite substantial. For example, I have just ordered for 13k (4gb slim+kinnect) with a 50$ store credit. And for those planning to mod the consoles, it doesn't matter since most of the games are region free and warranty is usually void.

They were extremely courteous and willing to help. Offered to exchange my power supply immediately. They will send somebody within the next week to drop the new one and pick up the US one! Isn't it great? I did offer to go to their service centre to do the exchange but the PS has to come from China.

Can you tell me what details do they require? A friend is getting my xbox 360 from US later this month and I do not want to wait much before I get the replacement power brick. Also, which brand/version of Dvd drive came with it? Hoping its Liteon and not Hitachi..

 

[eXcesscaLIBER]

I had the exact same issue here, called up Xbox USA support but they redirected me to Xbox India support since they do not have Indian adapters. My console was in US that time and I did not want to wait for a day it reaches India, hence tried my luck.

Next, called up India support a week before my Xbox was supposed to reach India. Xbox India support readily offered to replace the power supply with a 230v adapter, saying it is a one-time goodwill gesture from Microsoft. They have given me a ref no and contact number of service center to contact should I not receive a call in next two days. Sweet.