A Chicago man has launched a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming the Xbox 360 has a design flaw.Robert Byers has claimed that the company was so intent on releasing the console ahead of the PS3 and Nintendo Revolution that they effectively shoved a "defectively designed" product out the door.
He specifically points to the power supply and CPU of the console, which he says overheat and causes the machine to freeze up.
Reports hit the Web of the console crashing and freezing up right after the U.S. launch, but it's unclear how widespread the defects are. At the time Microsoft acknowledged faulty consoles were sold, but said they only represented a "very small fraction" of the units shipped:
While Microsoft may be underreporting problems, all signs point to this being a minor problem to the extent that a majority of units are not affected. Of the 25 people I know with an Xbox 360, not a single one has problems. While that is not a significant sample size, it is large enough to put claims that "nearly all" units have problems, or that it is extremely commonplace. Furthermore, of those who have had problems, most have found the problems to lie not with the console per se, but with the power brick. It appears to overheat, and as we previously reported, improving airflow seems to do the trick.
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