Can someone tell me exactly what the "Three Red Lights" are?

I want to get a 360 now but people are telling me to wait until the new 65nm 360 is out so that the hardware issues will be fixed with a possible price drop. But that's said to come outlate novemberand that's WAY too late imo to pick up a 360. Too much to catch up on! By the end of november there will be Gears, Oblivion, Crackdown, Naruto Rise of a Ninja, Assassin's Creed, MAss Effect, BioshockLego StarWars the Complete Saga, and I'll have to prepare for stuff like Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssy Fable 2 and more.

So my question is what exactly is the 3 rings of death and how does it happen? Is it 100% random or is there a way to prevent or what?

Is it silly to get a 360 now when the hardware faults will be fixed in a few months? Do ihave to wait? What should i do?

Any answers or help would be great.

EDIT:: Does the 3 year warranty that MS announced cover ANY defect by means of misaps (dropping the 360 or something) or does it have to be the dreaded 3 red lights of death lol.

f*** if it wasn't for the 360 blowing up across the nation i could be playing gears right now lol. Ok 2 more questions::

The 3 yr warrenty should be free; is it free? OR do you actually have to pay extra. Ontop of the 400+tax for the 360, an extra lump of cash for 3 years of ensured replacement?

Will they replace my 360 for any defect? Or is replacement strictly based on total hardware failure. What if some random guy like stepped on my 360 and messed it up externally, will the 3 yr warranty replace it? Or do i have to PAY for repairs?

f*** if it wasn't for the 360 blowing up across the nation i could be playing gears right now lol. Ok 2 more questions::

The 3 yr warrenty should be free; is it free? OR do you actually have to pay extra. Ontop of the 400+tax for the 360, an extra lump of cash for 3 years of ensured replacement?

Will they replace my 360 for any defect? Or is replacement strictly based on total hardware failure. What if some random guy like stepped on my 360 and messed it up externally, will the 3 yr warranty replace it? Or do i have to PAY for repairs?

GanonBuRAP

the warrenty is free but you can still buy a 2 year warrenty from microsoft and they will replace the 360 if it breaks and you dont break it oh and dont ever open it up because that voids the warrenty

I have the problem as well, there's quite a few reasons that cause it but for me it happenned when my house got blacked out. Found out after the power was back on. The main meaning of the three flashing red lights is that your console is almost dead. Best way to fix it is NOT to fold it with a towel or like the guy said above, cooling it which doesn't make a difference, well much of a difference. Just send it to microsoft, long wait but they'll eventually fix it, I guess...Alpha172

f*** if it wasn't for the 360 blowing up across the nation i could be playing gears right now lol. Ok 2 more questions::

The 3 yr warrenty should be free; is it free? OR do you actually have to pay extra. Ontop of the 400+tax for the 360, an extra lump of cash for 3 years of ensured replacement?

Will they replace my 360 for any defect? Or is replacement strictly based on total hardware failure. What if some random guy like stepped on my 360 and messed it up externally, will the 3 yr warranty replace it? Or do i have to PAY for repairs?

GanonBuRAP

The 3 year warrany ONLY covers the 3 light general hardware failure. Any other defects are covered under the regular warranty. It seems many people don't realize this and are suprised when they call Microsoft and it's $100 to get the console repaired.