[quote name='schultzed']Was your box messed up from poor packing. I shudder to think of mine not working after it gets delivered to Texas. Then again, the new owner could do what you are doing.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it was pretty dinged up, don't think there was a square corner left on the box. But after I got the call into M$, I noticed that the light on the power supply was yellow - thought maybe that was the issue (it wasn't - the light is yellow when the 360 is off apparently), but when I reconnected the power supply to the 360 (giving it a good push this time), the box fired up.
The agent on the phone never bothered to suggest trying this or anything (I guess the 3 flashing reds is a sign of total death) - but the unit seems to be working fine now.
EDIT: Of course, the first thing I did this morning is send in the 2 year warranty extension. $59.90 to add two years to the 90 day warranty seems like a real good idea now.