What is Wrong with the Xbox?

my sister's boyfriend has an extra xbox and he said he would give it to me but he said it has the red ring that wont let you play. how much would it cost to fix it or should i just buy one?

Suggestion:

You can get your xbox 360 repaired for $40 with lifetime warranty, much cheaper then buying a new one, also you can do it yourself. Do not wrap your xbox 360 in a towel this does not correct the actual problem as NOJUICE4U has already proven and will cause more damage then there already is. Towels are meant for drying things and people not repairing sensitive pieces of electronics.

If you want to repair it yourself buy new thermal paste (good thermal paste arctic silver or OCZ Freeze), a pack of 10-32 X 1/8 or 1/2 machine screws (1/2 you will need to cut to 1/8), Disassemble your xbox 360, remove the xclamps carefully with a screwdriver, Clean all of the old thermal paste off with alcohol and from the heatsinks (make sure there is no residue).

Apply new thermal paste (paper thin), use the 10-32 screws on both the GPU and CPU, Use a 1/4 socket to remove the screw holders from the heatsinks, tighten down the heatsinks so that there is slightly more pressure then the original x clamps on both the gpu and cpu.

Power your xbox 360 if it works right away congrats if not you will need to plug in the fan and place it on top of the CPU heatsink, let it run for about 20- 30 minutes, this will reflow the video card without damaging anything else on the mainboard.

Let it cool for about 10 minutes, your xbox 360 should now work and you save yourself money,

Now you need to stop it from ever doing this again, you need to 12v atleast the GPU fan so that it keeps it cool. Get 12v from the dvd drive.

If you need help contact me and I will help you for FREE.