The Xbox 360 is a powerful video gaming console, there's no doubt about it. What Microsoft has done with it is nothing short of impressive. Think about it, it's Microsoft we're talking about here. When you've got a fully functioning Xbox 360, you've got a gaming console with full high definition capabilities, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, a huge online gaming community and a tremendous library of games to play with that community or offline.

When it's functioning properly, the Xbox 360 is pretty sweet. Unfortunately, when it comes to reliability, the Xbox 360 doesn't exactly rank among the best in its class. It's more what you'd call the underachiever. With failure rates around 16 percent, and thought to still be rising, you might even call it the class dropout.

The most common failure issue with the Xbox 360 is what's popularly known as the Red Ring of Death, signified by three flashing red lights on the console's Ring of Light, in place of the solid green lights indicating which controllers are connected. Microsoft continues to update the console's chipsets with newer, and smaller fabrications – I believe the current Jasper chipset is a 65nm (nanometer) build – in the hopes that the less power hungry and lower heat versions will be less failure prone, but that doesn't mean that the issue has been resolved yet. Since the Jasper chipset was launched in late August, we won't really know the results for a bit anyway.

No matter what your chipset though, if your Xbox 360 gets the Red Ring of Death, it's a downer and just the thought of going through the return process can bring on a bout of anxiety. Not to worry though, as we're here to help. From the calling stage, to packing for shipment, to getting your system back and setting it up again, we've got you covered. So sit back, take a deep breath and remember, there are plenty of people who have had to go through the return process before you.

The Xbox 360 Replacement Guide, parts one through four, can be found below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4