View Full Version : Please help me!
XxFuRy2Xx
08-09-2004, 06:28 PM
Well I received an xbox as a graduation gift from my brother only to have gotten one of those with the crappy thompson drives (making ncaa football so choppy I couldn't even play it) and the system link capapability to crap out on me after a little more than a month. Well, I finally got my replacement voucher from best buy so I can go get a new one. Is there any way of telling as to wether this will be one of the newer xboxs without the thompson drive through like a serial number or something? I went about a month without having an xbox along with wasting a month of xbox live and I just want to make sure this doesn't happen again. All help would be greatly appreciated.
bignick
08-09-2004, 06:35 PM
Just because there is a thompson drive in it doesnt mean its bad.
Renzokuken
08-09-2004, 06:45 PM
My Thompson hasnt crappeed out on me yet.
fireball343
08-09-2004, 06:55 PM
just cuz it's a thompson drive doesn't mean anything.
mine is fine, maybe the system was damaged when you bought it or you just don't know how to take care of a system
I'm not sure if my Xbox is a thompon drive or not. I bought mine about a year and 11 months ago but never tried to figure out what drive it has.
thegamer4787
08-09-2004, 07:09 PM
1) It is not very difficult to figure out what drive you have, they all look different.
2) Yes it does matter that it is a thompson drive, as thompsons do not have the capability to read certain cd-r's and rw's and such and are more prone to crap out.
Graystone
08-09-2004, 07:11 PM
My friend has a thompson drive and leaves his box on all the time and has no problems at all so what bignick says is very true.
jer0009
08-09-2004, 07:11 PM
Well I have had mine since launch and have not had one problem what so ever
XxFuRy2Xx
08-09-2004, 07:14 PM
Sorry to tell you guys but having a thompson drive DOES matter. I've seen it all over the net. I think thegamer4787 explained it the best. As for fireball, I do indeed know how to take care of my systems. My playstation from 1998 still works perfectly and my gamecube hasn't given me any problems either. Anywho, I was just hoping there would be a way to tell wether the xbox has a thompson drive or one of the newer drives.
Scorch
08-09-2004, 07:18 PM
The Thompson drive DOES matter, actually. It depends. I had an early, early version of the XBox and I couldn't run Raw 2 without it crashing. KOTOR crashed frequently. Some people can't play the GTA games with the Thompson drive. Newer games often won't work. As a matter of fact, Driv3r crashes frequently with the Thompson drive, especially when you go on live, go to replays, choose friends, then try to move off of friends.
Any XBox that's currently new in the store will NOT have the Thompson drive. Only the earlier models have them.
Sartori
08-09-2004, 07:19 PM
So... if I have a launch X Box, I have a thompson drive?
Duo_Maxwell
08-09-2004, 07:20 PM
The Thompsons have been rumored to have trouble with CD-Rs, yes seemed to. But the Thompson DVD drive should not have any of the choppy play and espiecally poor system link connections which has little to nothing to due with the DVD drive. Sounds like you just had a lemon of an xbox unfortunately.
Edit: To answer your actual question, the only way i know how to tell is that each dvd tray will have a distinct look.
jer0009
08-09-2004, 07:23 PM
Scorch...thats not true... They still put the drives in the new xboxes. A friend of mine bought a Halo pack and it had one in there
XxFuRy2Xx
08-09-2004, 07:28 PM
Yeah it's kind of a grab bag of sorts with the drives. You'll either get a thompson or one of the new ones. At least that's what I've been told. All I know is that I don't want a thompson drive after all of the stuff I've heard about it.
Edit: Hey duo, how exactly are they different? Could you possibly give a deeper explanation?
Duo_Maxwell
08-09-2004, 07:39 PM
Well I'm really not so good at decriptions but I'll try. A Thompson drive kind of has the typical U-shape as you probably know. A Phillips one will actually look very similar to a Thompson but the U-shape widens out to almost a circle underneath where you place the DVD. A Samsung drive is pretty unique in that it has about 4 holes. 2 would be under the DVD and two more odd shaped one at the very front of the tray. Hope that helps.
ketwyld
08-09-2004, 07:46 PM
Here is a link to the Xbox-Scene.com forum post (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?s=9b7d6cbfa1a0e6bf51ba97bf7aff3001&showt opic=17216) that has pictures of what each drive tray looks like, so you can identify which drive you have.
Here is a link to the Xbox-Scene.com forum post (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?s=9b7d6cbfa1a0e6bf51ba97bf7aff3001&showt opic=17216) that has pictures of what each drive tray looks like, so you can identify which drive you have.That means I have a Phillips drive then. The Samsung looks very strange.
Storamin
08-09-2004, 07:56 PM
I bought mine on launch christmas, and I have nothing wrong with mine. I assume it's a Thompson.
XxFuRy2Xx
08-09-2004, 07:59 PM
Seems like the samsung is the best of the bunch. I'll be crossing my fingers and hope I get that one with my new xbox.
Oh yeah, thanks for the great link ketwyld!
Trakan
08-09-2004, 07:59 PM
The thompson looks like an oval, the phillips a light bulb, and the samsung has holes.
FrankySox
08-10-2004, 11:48 PM
Here is a link to the Xbox-Scene.com forum post (http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?s=9b7d6cbfa1a0e6bf51ba97bf7aff3001&showt opic=17216) that has pictures of what each drive tray looks like, so you can identify which drive you have.
Thanks man got a Phillips