You can read up on the 360PX here:
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He's way off on his prices though. There are quite a few on eBay for $35 or less.
It has a thyristor, so leaving the flash to use its non-TTL auto mode will probably work well in most instances. You're gonna miss TTL flash pretty much only when/if you add filtration or a polarizer to the lens.
As for your problem with firing that flash on your X-700, this is something I would want to get to the bottom of. Ideally, it would require another flash with Minolta TTL capabilities to see if the X-700 triggers that flash or if it continues to lock up. If it does, then the problem most likely lies in the camera and not the flash.
If it's a camera problem, well, X-700s are cheap. It would probably be more economical just to buy another camera than try to get that one repaired.