sounds like a bad drive. if you are willing to open it up, you can try adjusting the potentiometer, and possibly fix the problem temporarily. I have had some success doing it myself. just google 'xbox 360 potentiometer'. it's delicate work and will require some tools.
if that's too much, I'd say just but a new 4GB, and move your 250GB drive over to it.
Xbox 360 E 4GB Console https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D9EPI38/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_b-V2DbVHDG7SN
Ignore the default price and check the used listings once again. Lowest is 60ish free shipping.
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/xbox-xbox-360-4gb-holiday-value-bundle-l9v-00040/10326939.aspx?path=efcba05b16994d5fe50b692cfe3a4467en02 1 crappy game http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-4GB/dp/B00D9EPI38/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420774697&sr=8-1&keywords=xbox+360 pegle is still more
i will try for $240 on ebay
Sounds expensive as fuck.
Entire Xbox 360 costs this much.
Count me out.
Firtly, the 360 can play any game with no hard drive. It results in inferior performance in a few games, but you can still play them. Secondly, you can only build a better computer for $300 f you're reusing basically your entire build (you could MAYBE get a better CPU, GPU, and mobo) due to how well devs know the 360. GTA V may look like shit compared to GTA 4 with ENBs, but compared to a PC with the same specs as a 360 it's beautiful, and your specs won't be that much better due to how much they've dropped the price and how much of a loss the thing was sold at originally.
edit: $482.73, $417.74 after MIR vs. $178.99 with 4GB flash or $249.99 with 250GB HDD, Tomb Raider, and Halo 4.
head to Walmart and see if they have any white 4GB 360 S Skylander bundles left. They are usually $180. barring that, the 360 E is $179 at amazon.
4GB is fine. if you end up wanting more storage (and you will), you can use up to two USB flash drives, up to 32GB each for a total of 64GB of additional storage. If you need more than that, you can always buy a hard drive later. If you want to play original Xbox games, I would recommend spending the extra money and buying a console that includes a hard drive.
Don't buy used or refurbished. a 4GB Xbox 360 only costs $179 new, and that's not even a sale price. If you can wait for Black Friday, you should look into those deals.
All things being equal, I would buy the 360 S model. It has one extra USB port, and an optical audio output. If you prefer the 360 E for some reason, it's probably no worse or better of a console than the 360 S as far as reliability goes.