XBox Back in Business
I had the three flashing red lights on the ring of light problem yesterday, and in searching around on the 'Net, I found one or two posts that said that hitting the console actually helped.
Since mine was going back to the store anyway, I figured I'd give it a try.
Turns out a sharp knock on the left side of the console (standing up) brought it back to life.
My console worked perfectly at home, but died after a trip to the inlaws place for the holidays; I guess something got jarred loose. I'm still going to return it, but at least I'm not stuck for the holidays.