960°

Microsoft recommends not to use a surge protector on Xbox One X

Microsoft

“Did you know that your Xbox One is designed to be plugged directly into a wall outlet?

Malice-Flare2347d ago

what about a UPS? i have my consoles & monitor on an APC unit...

2347d ago Replies(12)
Bigpappy2347d ago (Edited 2347d ago )

Many manufactures do this. HP does it for their printers.
Deadfrag is wrong. You don't measure power unless you have a special conditioner that most people do not have access to. What you would be measuring is voltage. Voltage X Current = power. So even though your surge protector give the right voltage reading, It could restrict current draw to try and protect your device. what happens is, the machine can't draw enough power to run some of it's functions and could freeze or give errors. Some surge protectors will work. Some will not. They are rated differently. UPS are good at letting you know their wattage limitations.

nitus102346d ago

Yes if you are just using Ohm's laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wi... which only apply to direct current, however, we are talking about alternating current from your standard electricity supply so Kirchhoff's Laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wi... would be much more appropriate (basic electronics 101).

Still, a lightning strike makes all the above null and void since a million plus volts hitting your mains directly can really ruin your day. Best to have contents insurance and make sure you don't have an "act of god" clause in the contract since that is a real "get out of jail" weasel statement. 😎

Cobra9512346d ago

Voltage * Current = VA. For direct current, Power = VA. For AC, it works out to about 0.6 * VA. (Don't ask me for the maths on that. Don't know them.)

Bigpappy2346d ago (Edited 2346d ago )

The principle is the same. Not trying to do an engineering class here. Yes there is impedance and phases to be considered. Do you guy expect the average gamer here understands that level of calculating power?

By the way. My X is not plugged into the wall, I do have a surge protect for the purpose of using more low wattage device in that location.

threefootwang2347d ago

Think it's best to follow what they say and plug directly in.

Even though my One X wasn't a Scorpio model, I'm on my second One X.

The first one completely died Friday night while plugged into my power bar (I've got a higher end MONSTER power bar), right after installing Halo 5. 3 seconds into the first level and it shut down. Wouldn't turn back on. Tried different plugins and everything.

What's interesting is that when I played Halo MCC from start to finish it didn't give me any problems. It crashed when I started Halo 5, which makes me think because Halo 5 enhanced needed more power to run, that's why my console died.

Anyways, I swapped it for a new one back at Best Buy yesterday, plugged it directly into an outlet, and have not had any problems since.

Bigpappy2347d ago

yep. Best to plug into the wall if they tell you to do so. So far so goo on mine.

DaGR8JIBRALTAR2346d ago (Edited 2346d ago )

Second one also. I had an agent tell me to do this when I called in to troubleshoot my 1st xbox.

itsmebryan2346d ago

Can someone please explain why he got a down vote?

DarXyde2346d ago

This sounds like a pretty remarkable oversight. You should definitely let people know that it needs to be plugged into a wall before buying.

Does the manual make any references to using a wall outlet? I'd be very surprised if it didn't.

nitus102346d ago

If you have a surge protector board for your other electronics and one or more spare outlets on it just plug your XB1x into it since thereby keeping all your plugs in one place. If you wish to plug it into a spare general purpose outlet (GPO) on your wall then this is fine as well. Basically "It does not matter".

Normally a surge protector board has particular specifications although good luck finding them, but what are the specifications for the surge protector for the XB1x? Still, a one million volts plus lightning strike on your mains will ruin your day no matter what surge protection you have.

When designing power systems your electricity supplier should take into account the possibility of lightning strikes and other possibilities such as cars hitting power poles and transformers blowing up (this has happened where I live). Also, I have surge and short protection built into the mains input to my house but I still take no chances and have a surge protector board for my expensive electronics. Contents insurance helps as well.

BTW. I have seen what happens when a massive lightning strike (the day was mainly sunny) hit a main suburban power distribution center and the display was quite spectacular (exploding transformers and electrical shorts) even from two kilometers away. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The site was designed with lightning strikes in mind but a nothing is perfect.

Taero2346d ago

How does drawing too little power destroy your machine?

Kribwalker2346d ago

@taero
it can happen. If i use an undersized extension cord on some of my heavy duty tools it can burn out the motor on it as well.

ArmrdChaos2346d ago (Edited 2346d ago )

@Taero

Without getting overly complicated....Electrical components are designed to operate in a certain window. Most of the time they either have power or they don't. When you short the amount of power you get a "brown out" situation. It is not enough to be considered operational, but at the same time not completely in the Off state. When this occurs it causes the components to operate outside of the window they were designed for which in turn over time could damage them. Most of the time brown outs are far worse then just pulling power from the equipment. This is not a design flaw of the console....just a issue with what some surge suppressors can do. The warning is in the manual.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 2346d ago
Cobra9512346d ago

"what about a UPS?"

Modern units are fine. You want some approximation of a sine wave. Pure sine wave is best, but I've yet to run into any issues with simulated sine wave (stair-step--think big jaggies). I used APC for years. Now I'm on a CyberPower 1500VA unit.

Pantz2346d ago

Bunch of Armchair Electricians up in here.

Cobra9512346d ago

Heheh! Yes. We know enough to get ourselves in trouble, not out of it.

Sayai jin2346d ago

I would suggest that people invest in a power conditioner. They protect your electronics, regulate voltage, help produce better sound and picture, etc. They are leaps and bounds better than surge protector. Look into Panamax ppwer conditioners or any equivalent....you will be amazed.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 2345d ago
Godmars2902347d ago

Sounds like over-design. Something people need to be notified of first thing.

Also reason why fan camp was eager to blame "users".

Servbot412346d ago

"Don't plug it into a surge protector, so when you do have a surge you're forced to buy a new one!"

RommyReigns2346d ago (Edited 2346d ago )

MS hoping for a type of 'RRoD 2.0' sales boosting situation with the surge?

Kribwalker2346d ago

or you know, there’s a surge protector built in to the xbox power source.......

badz1492346d ago

Over-design? If it can't handle basic connections most people today are using, that's crappy design!

Malacath2346d ago

MS have been telling you not to plug them into surge protectors since at least the xbox 360's launch.
They have their own built in surge protectors. How is this crappy design?
I wish all devices had their own surge protectors

Godmars2902346d ago

@Malacath:
But since most people use surge protectors, especially PC users, its something that really isn't needed.

And if they've been doing this since the 360, why is it only become a thing now?

Malacath2346d ago

@godmars290

It's always been an issue. Xbox.com has told you not to use them since the 360 days. And Xbox support always ask if you use surge protectors if you call them

Malacath2346d ago

@Godmars290

I also doubt most people use surge protectors too.

I would say most people are just too ignorant of power surges to think you even need a surge protector. And not all PC owners would use one either. Considering the vast majority of PCs will be used by people who barely know how to switch them on.

I've seen many PC's and games consoles in peoples houses plugged straight into the wall. Most just don't care until a surge happens.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2346d ago
deadfrag2347d ago (Edited 2347d ago )

This was also recommended for the standard Xbox One and even the Xbox 360 all this systems have power surge tech included in the hardware its not a feature of the Xbox one X only.The power surge its used against spikes and electric fluctuations does not increase or retains any power coming from your wall socket,so if you are using a power surge you are still having the same electric power available to your game system than having it directly plug to your wall socket!Either way still grants the system the optimal power required to operate has it shoud.

Nodoze2346d ago

Yeah just let your Xbox be the hub through which any power surge will travel. Also it will allow the surge to follow ALL cables including that nice HDMI to your receiver, and then your TV and maybe as a bonus any other consoles you have connected. Yeah this advice is ridiculous. If you have a quality surge protector this is NOT an issue. As somone who has lost VERY expensive gear to surges and lighting strikes I can tell you that the surge follows ALL connected cables. NOT FUN.

Check out Panamax.

2pacalypsenow2346d ago

Currently using a M5400-PM, not about to unplug anything from it.

nucky642346d ago

so true. and after that surge has has ruined multiple pieces of electronics - good luck on getting restitution from MS.

Kribwalker2346d ago

you do understand there is a power surge protector built in to the xbox power supply, rendering your theory mute

Show all comments (89)
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Bethesda Needs to Reduce the Gaps Between New Fallout and Elder Scrolls Releases

Waiting a decade for new instalments in franchises as massive as Fallout and Elder Scrolls feels like a waste.

Read Full Story >>
gamingbolt.com
-Foxtrot11h ago

Microsoft have Obsidian but I feel it's Bethesda who just don't want to play ball as they've always said they want to do it themselves.

Once MS bought Zenimax in 2020 they should have put the Outer Worlds 2 on the back burner, allow Bethesda to finish off its own Space RPG with Starfield (despite totally different tone why have two in your first party portfolio with two developers who's gameplay is a tad similar) and got Obsidian for one of their projects to make a spiritual successor to New Vegas.

When the Elder Scrolls VI is finished Bethesda can then onto the main numbered Fallout 5 themselves.

The Outer Worlds 2 started development in 2019 so putting it on the back burner wouldn't have been the end of the world, they'd have always come back to it once Fallout was done and it would have been nicely spaced out from Starfields release once they had most likely stopped supporting it and all the expansions were released.

If they did this back in 2020 when they bought Zenimax and the game had a good, steady 4 - 5 years development, you might have seen it release in 2025.

We are literally going to be waiting until 2030 at the very earliest for Fallout 5 and all they seem bothered about is pushing Fallout 76.

RaidenBlack9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Its not just only Todd not playing ball.
Obsidian have made a name for themselves in delivering stellar RPGs, but most famous once have always been sequels/spin-offs to borrowed IPs like KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Stick of Truth etc.
Obsidian wants to invest more in their own original IPs like Outer Worlds or Pillars of Eternity with Avowed.
Similar to what Bluepoint & inXile wants to do or Kojima is doing (i.e not involving anymore in Konami's IPs).
So yea, even if New Vegas has the most votes from 3D Fallout fans, Obsidian just wants to do their own thing, like any aspiring dev studio and MS is likely currently respecting that.
But a future Fallout game from Obsidian will surely happen. Founder Feargus Urquhart has already stated an year ago that they're eager to make a new Fallout game with Bethesda, New Vegas 2 or otherwise. Urquhart was the director of the very first 1995's Fallout game after all.
And don't forget Brian Fargo and his studio inXile, as Brian Fargo was the director of Fallout's 1988 predecessor: Wasteland

KyRo5h ago(Edited 5h ago)

Obsidian should take over the FO IP. They're do far better with it than Bethesda who hasn't made a great game for almost 15 years

Duke195h ago(Edited 5h ago)

I disagree. Part of these games is the support for the mod community. If they move to releasing a "next game" every 2 or 3 years, the modding support plummets and the franchises turn into just another run of the mill RPG.

Make the games good enough to withstand the test of time, to keep people coming back to them and expanding on them with mod support.

--Onilink--2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

I dont think anyone is saying they need to come out every 2 years (not to mention almost no game is released that quickly anymore)

By the time Fallout 5 comes out, it will be more than 15 years since Fallout 4 came out (same with ES6 coming out 15 years after Skyrim). Even if you want to use F76 as the metric for the most recent release, that one came out in 2018. It will be a miracle if F5 comes out before 2030

The point is that for a studio that doesnt seem to operate with multiple teams doing several projects at once, that their projects normally take 4-5 years as a minimum, and that now they even added Starfield to the rotation, it becomes a 15+ years waiting period between releases for each series, which doesnt make sense. Imagine that Nintendo only released a mainline Mario or Zelda game every 15 years…

They either need to start developing more than 1 project at a time, let someone else take a crack at one of the IPs or significantly reduce their development times

Duke191h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Why should someone else take a crack at one of the IPs? Look at what happened to Final Fantasy as a recent example - there is pretty clear FF fatigue setting in because they are now pumping out titles in the franchise every few years. Pumping out more games faster doesn't always make a series better.

There are plenty of options to make new games, not just create more titles in the same universe at a faster pace.

mandf2h ago

Yeah I’m going to say it, who cares about the modding community when making a game? Half the time developers only tolerate modders because they fix there game for them.

Skuletor4h ago

Yeah, let's all advocate for smaller gaps between series' releases, then we'll probably get headlines about how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven. Let them cook.

SimpleSlave3h ago

"how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven" So every Bethesda game then? Got it.

Listen, I would agree if this was about From Software or something, but Bethesda?

🤣

C'mon now. What timeline are you from?

Skuletor1h ago

Think about it, they're already bug filled messes on their current schedule, can you imagine how much worse it would be if they rushed things?

Duke191h ago

I mean you aren't wrong. People are going to complain about anything

isarai3h ago

Hows about you focus on quality, just a thought 🤷‍♂️

Sciurus_vulgaris2h ago

Bethesda [or Microsoft] would have to reallocate internal and external studios towards fallout and elder scrolls titles. Bethesda has the issue of developing 2 big IPs that are large RPGs on rotation. If you want more Fallout and Elder Scrolls, development will have to be outsourced.

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