About the 360 hardware failures..

[BreakABone]

I will say the hardware issues are real.
I had my 360 replaced. My brother has. My cousin has. A few of my friends.
However, I have been hearing the new models are a lot less prone to such things but I couldn't tell you personally.

I will say the system is worth it and maybe you can get a friend in UK so they can return it for you if anything goes wrong.

And if you do get it working don't forget to post gamertag so we can all play together. haha