Yeah I'm not sure exactly what causes it, and it's not too hard to fix but probably 80% of the Xbox systems I encounter are like that.
(try again)
all depends really.
it's a question that gets consistently asked, and tbh, just gets extremely old.
the cast isn't the only machine, nor do i see the same asked for most other things.
it's like sega are the only ambassadors in twon.
nahh!
a good commodore machine will get some real value for money, and the party/demo scene still rocks there to this day.
(on the other hand, can make dc costs look like nothing if you want hw acceleration cards and the like)
the limiting fact about sega's optical machines, is that itself.
utterly dependent on it, that's not counting a gdi-ode, or gd-ide hw modification.
one plugs in as a drive assembly replacement, and the other goes in place of the modem socket. (custom bios/bootdisk required here for gd-ide)
thing is, unlike KRIKZZ just picking up the tabs as he goes along, the NG-ASS (sega and neogeo fanboys/cockswingers) crew cashing in on the sega hype and limiting production runs for an exclusive clique.
in fact, i see one user here who hasn't had the ROCKS to post because of that, he's looking to GOUGE users for the best offer...bringing absolute shame to the game.
...
good machine all-round, but don't expect a miracle it lasting forever, unless you can load up gdi's as rom files, from a harddisk. (usb card or other)
if kirkzz was in that game, keep eyes open, and since a certain saturn OLD NEWS subject gets passed around, no doubt he'll be folding keyboards working out a way to bring us more spoofer cards.
...
screw off fanboys, players only.