Are the new XBox 360's on the market surviving?

I’m thinking about buying an Xbox 360, Fable was my favorite game ever and I’m really jealous my friends get to play fable 2! I’m looking into buying a new X-Box 360, where would you recommend I buy it and what model would be a good long-term investment? My boyfriend keeps complaining that the one he has died last week! He keeps talking about the Red Ring of Death. I did some investigation and apparently it’s a problem with soldering (lead-free) on the motherboard, and i’ve heard that the ‘towel trick’ does long term damage to the console.