Unknown Xbox 360 Core with Red Ring of Death (3 Red Lights). What is the Best Solution?

I am a college student with little to no money to spend on anything but school and food. I acquired an xbox 360 core (matte white) from a roommate who is moving out. He bought it from another friend, but it eventually got the 3 red lights signaling the "Red Ring of Death." The MRF is 9/14/2007. So it's technically 3 years old. I don't know any of those important sort of details like where it was bought, what kind of warranty, etc. All I know is that I would like to make it work with the cheapest possible means, or go office space on it with a baseball bat. Preferably making it work would be optimal.
So from what I heard, is it still possible to send it to microsoft to get a free repair? Is there any place that I could possibly take it to get a cheap (Under $50) repair? If not, I have no qualms about opening it up to try and fix it. Is there any awesome online tutorial to make it work again? Any suggestions or recommendations as to what to do?

Suggestion:

1) if you just got the red rings today let it rest for about a day it might be overheated only. if it had red rings already then see 2.
2) send to microsoft your warranty will not cover it. warranty only lasts a year. im not sure if it's free still yet but if you want to check i think they have a toll free number because i called them before to ask about xbox LIVE years ago.
3) if they say you have to pay then idk what else you can do doubt theirs any legit, real ways to fix it via internet they all must be fake and untrustworthy. if last means try calling gamestop see what they can do they might tell you same thing i told u in number 2.
4) even though you if you send it to microsoft and it's still free your still gunna have to pay for shipping idk how much it costs either. and it will take a while to come back because a friend of mine did this and took about a month or more to get his one back. i know because he told me every single day " i can't fking wait for my xbox to come back"

Tagged as: unknown xbox