Xbox 360 console doesnt read the disc all the time, sometimes it does read it but more often it doesnt, online is working (ie marketplace and such), is it something i need to send in or can i clean it, i did blow the console out with compressed air, lots of dust

Just look up instructions on how to adjust the laser.. they rarely burn out, but always go out-of-spec. You will need an ohm meter and a very small philips to adjust. I assume you can open the Xbox360 and the DVD drive (both are easy).. just look up instructions like I did and save money.. you will not need to buy anything if your one of the people with bad drives, as this is what causes it about 80% of the time.

This is going to be a bit long -- but very detailed, so please read it carefully. There are several reasons that an xbox 360 system will have problem reading discs. The error messages also vary from unreadable disk, no message at all but the game skips, "please insert disc in a 360 console" to "open tray." There are a few reasons this mayhappen:

1.Bad disc. Check the back of your disc for scratches. If it looks good (or plays fine in another console), then the disc is probably fine. Also-- try more than 1 game to be sure.

2. Bad laser. The XBox 360 has a DVD drive very similar to a PC's DVD drive inside. The drive contains a bunch of parts including a few motors and gears and a laser.The laser is the part that actually reads the disc. The reality is...with all the hours and hours of game play, lasers do eventually wear out. The laser isn't very easy to replace, but it is replaceable. You can find any and all XBox 360 lasers at the following website:

http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html

3.Bad DVD Drive. Sometimes other components inside of the DVD drive can become bad such as the motor that spins the disk, the motors that open the tray, etc, etc. You can get a new DVD drive to just replace everything,including the laser, in one shot but there is a catch. The XBOX 360's DVD drive is tied to the motherboard using a software lock.The easiest way to overcome this lock is to buy the exact same manufacture DVD drive that is in your system now, remove the circuit board from the old DVD drive (which contains the software key) and transfer the circuit board into the new DVD drive that you purchase. If you do this simple procedure, there is no flashing involved. The following website carries DVD drives and also provides instructions on swapping the circuit board from the old drive into the new one.

XBox 360 parts: http://store.richspsxparts.com/xb360ac.html

DVD Drive Swap Info: http://store.richspsxparts.com/imnooninxb36.html