Ring of Light of Death

I succumbed to the temptation of those around me. I bought an Xbox 360. Some would consider it an impulse buy. There was some buyer's remorse. But when I plugged it in and turned it on and saw the welcome splash screen, that all went away. I navigated around the menus of my newfound toy.

I went to the system tab. It's the first tab to check out when you're a nerd. First option, set system time. Set the month, set the day, set the year, set the hour. Set the minute and the Xbox froze. Turn off the Xbox, turn it back on. Three flashing red lights.
After talking to India, they told me what I could expect on the repair process. It would take 3-4 weeks. This is what is annoying to me. With most other defective things that you buy, you can return them to the store to get a new one. Not with video game consoles (at least with most stores). And they won't just send me a new one. The console is treated as any other console under warranty. They first attempt to repair it before giving you a new one.

In the meantime, my buyer's remorse is back, and I have nothing to soothe my open wound. I've spent $xxx just so I could wait a month to use the product. Something needs to change with their policies so that a person doesn't have to buy a console and wait a month to use it.

And what recompense do I get for my inconvenience? A month's subscription to Xbox LIVE. Approximate retail value? $5. They have a funny way of measuring my inconvenience.