Which Xbox 360 for Prime?

[Prime]

So, with some money for my birthday (thanks Nanny!) I've decided to take the plunge into the XBox 360 world. I haven't started looking at the different versions yet, but I am hoping to get some opinions from you knowledgeable Alto gamers. First off, I'm only really concerned about playing games, and it is unlikely that I will get XBox Live.

 

I don't think I have a need for a 120Gb harddrive, so I'd prefer to stick with the 20Gb one. However, I have a HDTV, so I would like to take advantage of that. Is there not a newer version that has the HD connection with the 20Gb harddrive?

 

My other question is about backwards compatibility. How does this work exactly? For some games but not all? I think you need an emulator? This is downloaded from somewhere? Does that require XBox Live?

 

Opinions welcome!

[starmark2k]

If you’re looking for the HD TV cable and a 20MB hard drive your best/cheapest option would be to go fro the premium pack. The Core system although cheaper only contains a basic cable and does not have any kind of memory storage.

 

Backward compatibility is easier with X-Box Live but you can download the software to a disk if you have a CD/DVD rewriter on your PC, Mac or notebook.

[True_Avery]

Well, you really have 4 choices: Classic or Elite. There is the new Arcade version, but it is not back wards compatible. Or I believe Premium.

 

You could go for the normal, white version thats the classic 360. It has the 120G hard drive coming with it, which isn't all that bad considering you can fit a lot onto it. I'd say stay with the 20G, but unless the store you buy it from says otherwise I believe only the 120G 360s are back wards compatible. The classic 360s on the market atm have some up to date parts, so you are less likely to Red Ring of Death. I have one of these personally, and it is HDMI 1080p compatible, but I had to go buy a HDMI Digital AV Cable myself at radioshack. As well as back wards compatible, I am not so sure on the 120g having HDMI 1080i quality. This goes for about $350 - $400 nowadays and mine came with a month free of Gold Membership.

 

The Elite system is a somewhat newer version they released. It is all black, and has all updated guts inside. From what I hear, this one Red Rings least of all and runs the best. It has the 120G hard drive, HDMI 1080p including an AV cable, a somewhat quieter fan, and, again, overall new parts. It is back wards compatible and comes with a month free of Gold. It goes around $450, but if you are going to go ahead and buy a 120G 360 then you might as well put the extra money into it to get better life.

 

Halo 360 next. May sound silly, but this is basically an Elite crossed with a Classic. It looks cool too. It is a classic with new, updated parts so it will Red Ring less. It comes with the AV cable for 1080p HD, a month of Gold, and so on. It goes for $400 at the moment, but if you are going to buy a classic you may as well get the most updated. This is a 120G as well.

 

When I bought mine, they did have a few without the 120G hard drive in it. They probably still have them around, so I'd ask the store or somebody else at the forums. I believe it is called the Premium pack, but I am not sure.

 

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/compare101.htm?WT.svl=nav

 

Edit: Premium pack.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4103879

 

Edit2:

Oh, and lastly, Xbox Live. You do not, I repeat, do NOT need Gold for updates and such. All 360s come with Silver Membership, which allows use of the online store and update system.

[Boba Rhett]

Whichever build you end up going with, above all else, make sure it has the new falcon GPU. This build removes the problem components that were the cause of the red ring-o-death and also has a significantly decreased amount of heat generated by the gpu, which was the other half of the problem. They just started hitting the street a few weeks ago in the Halo 3 360 builds and should be making their way into all the other various ones any minute if they haven't already. I'm sure there's some online guides showing which serial numbers have the falcon.

[HerbieZ]

Rhett you just shattered my faith in my X-Box. But seriously mate go for the premium and not the Elite, im happy with my Premium.

[Commander Obi-Wan]

I would advise you to wait or ask around about the new "Falcon" 360 w/ the 65nm CPU. (I bought the elite, but I'm thinking if trading it in for on if this newer models). I also have an HDTV, so it works beautifully.

 

Regarding backwards compatibility, you can play most Xbox games, as long us you update your Xbox 360 on Xbox Live. And here are a list of the games that you can play on your Xbox.

[swphreak]

What the hell are you people talking about? Since when are 360s not being BC? It's software emulation downloaded off XBox Live. :/

 

To answer your question: Don't get rid of your XBox, or buy xbox games thinking it'll work perfectly fine on the 360. I tried playing Kotor 2 on the 360, and every once in a while I get this lovely scratching sound effect out of nowhere. Plus, not everything is BC. There's a list on Xbox.com.

 

I would just get the Premium 360, but I don't know if that'll make you happy HD-wise. I think the Elite has that fancy HDMI slot, which the premium doesn't have right? Yeah, you don't want HD advice from me.

 

After looking stuff up online, I have no idea what they're calling what now. I think you want the $400 $350 system. I'd just make sure to read what the box says the system has in the store.

 

Also, you'll be getting XBox Live Silver by default (if you bother to sign up). It let's you download stuff off the Marketplace, but if you want to play Multiplayer games online, you gotta upgrade to Gold.

 

According to this guy, the 360s with HDMI ports are just Elites with normal colors. If you must have a 360 now, it not a bad revision to get. If what the guy says is true, it is a step up from my 360. I would still say wait til the Falcon has been spotted in the wild before buying a 360... but that's not fair for me to say with MASS EFFECT coming out mid-November and already owning a 360.

 

Also can't forget to mention the Red Ring of Death warranty, and I think any warranty any store tries to sell you is a scam and ripoff.

[FiEND_138]

Also can't forget to mention the Red Ring of Death warranty, and I think any warranty any store tries to sell you is a scam and ripoff.

A month ago I would have agreed with this statement, but after sending mine back to MS to get a refurb back that lasted roughly 6 hours before another 3 lights of doom, I wish I had gone with an in-store warranty instead.

[Cygnus Q'ol]

I suggest an Elite, assuming the $ is burning a hole in your pocket at the moment. You get everything you need. Excluding the HDTV and games of course.

Otherwise, it may be wise to wait for the Falcon. I, myself am planning to trade up before Mass Effect.

 

Strongly suggest the store warranty. No need to elaborate.

 

I know you mentioned your lack of concern over X-Box Live, but I said the same thing at first too. In case that changes, make sure to have the right router and I suggest the fastest DSL available to you.

 

 

 

It may tap your Mastercard, but...

 

x-tra controller - $30

X-tra battery and charger - $50

X-box live - $40

You and a friend playing games and crushing the spirits of real people all over the globe, PRICELESS !!!

[Prime]

If you’re looking for the HD TV cable and a 20MB hard drive your best/cheapest option would be to go fro the premium pack.

Gotcha.

 

Backward compatibility is easier with X-Box Live but you can download the software to a disk if you have a CD/DVD rewriter on your PC, Mac or notebook.

I have all that, so that is a bit of a relief...

 

Well, you really have 4 choices: Classic or Elite.

So I guess I'm looking at about $100 difference between the classic and elite, and between the HDMI cable and better parts, that may be worth it...

 

Whichever build you end up going with, above all else, make sure it has the new falcon GPU. This build removes the problem components that were the cause of the red ring-o-death and also has a significantly decreased amount of heat generated by the gpu, which was the other half of the problem. They just started hitting the street a few weeks ago in the Halo 3 360 builds and should be making their way into all the other various ones any minute if they haven't already. I'm sure there's some online guides showing which serial numbers have the falcon.

Ah. Very good to know!

 

I would advise you to wait or ask around about the new "Falcon" 360 w/ the 65nm CPU. (I bought the elite, but I'm thinking if trading it in for on if this newer models). I also have an HDTV, so it works beautifully.

But the falcon isn't supposed to come out for a little while yet?

 

To answer your question: Don't get rid of your XBox

Cool.

 

Also, you'll be getting XBox Live Silver by default (if you bother to sign up). It let's you download stuff off the Marketplace, but if you want to play Multiplayer games online, you gotta upgrade to Gold.

Ah ok. Now I think I have that straight.

 

Strongly suggest the store warranty. No need to elaborate.

I'll keep that in mind.

 

Thanks for you help everyone!

[Jeff]

Prime, the falcon GPU began to hit shelves a few weeks ago in the "halo 3 edition" 360s. The boxes aren't marked with whether it uses the new gpu or not though.

 

I would read here and here so you know what to look for when you go out to get it. Sounds like no elite falcons have been reported, but the premium w/ HDMI falcon have been reported.

[swphreak]

I really hope you'll just plug in your 360 and hook it up to Live rather than download and burn a disc for BC :/

 

Plus, there might be updates for games you buy, which you can't get if you don't have XBox Live.

[Prime]

Prime, the falcon GPU began to hit shelves a few weeks ago in the "halo 3 edition" 360s. The boxes aren't marked with whether it uses the new gpu or not though.

 

I would read here and here so you know what to look for when you go out to get it. Sounds like no elite falcons have been reported, but the premium w/ HDMI falcon have been reported.

Thanks Boss.

 

I really hope you'll just plug in your 360 and hook it up to Live rather than download and burn a disc for BC :/

 

Plus, there might be updates for games you buy, which you can't get if you don't have XBox Live.

Are you talking about the silver or gold version here? Silver (the "free" version?) provides me all this?

[Darth Microsoft]

Prime, the Xbox Live Silver Version does allow you to get everything about of the Xbox Live Marketplace. So, you can download games, play the default games they have set for you, and other things.. yes, for free.

 

The Gold Edition allows you to actually go online and crush the hopes and spirits of real people.. all around the globe. I would suggest to you to purchase one month of Xbox Live for eight dollars, not bad huh. If you really feel you don't like it, don't purchase it anymore.

 

Oh, and regarding which Xbox you should get. I suggest the Premium version coming with 20GB of space, or the Elite with 120GB and an HDMI cable which will port right into your HDTV, and give you the most of the HD-gaming experience. I myself have bought the Elite, which I don't regret.. and considering I download movies onto my Xbox as well, the space is perfect for me. Although, it's all up to preference.

[swphreak]

Are you talking about the silver or gold version here? Silver (the "free" version?) provides me all this?

 

Yes, I'm talking about Silver. I think when everyone says "Xbox Live" they mean "XBox Live Silver." If anyone is talking specifically about Gold, they'll specify.

 

But you should try Gold once (if you're getting any games with good multiplayer (and have friends)). Some games have 48 hour trial codes you can enter. Also, don't 360s ship with 48 hour trials too?

[Commander Obi-Wan]

Answering your question, Prime, by December, I think, is when they are going to start releasing all consoles with the new 65nm CPU.

 

BTW, I just received dreaded red ring of death , but I called just a little while ago, and they are sending me a new console back, though I won't be getting it until December. Though, it won't cost me since the warranty covers it.

[Rabish Bini]

Premium is fine for me. 20 GB hard drive and xbox live connection is all I need. Word of warning: NEVER move your 360 with a disc inside, it could scratch your disc so bad that it won't work anymore.

And if you get the Premium or Elite, when you sign up for Xbox Live silver, you get one monthe of gold FREE! I did, and when it expired my bro signed me up for 12 months!

[True_Avery]

Word of warning: NEVER move your 360 with a disc inside, it could scratch your disc so bad that it won't work anymore.

I do not think that can be stressed enough. I made the deep and grave mistake of picking up my first 360 lightly. Next thing I hear is a horrible grinding sound and I look to see the disk pretty much looking like an emo had used it for a wrist. I also noticed right after that the disk drive wasn't working as well, and within a week the disk drive had died completely. Didn't even spin disks. Luckily, I had the warranty and got a new one in roughly a month.

 

So yeah, three lessons here:

1) Make sure you get the warranty

2) Don't move your 360 at any time when it is on, regardless of CD

3) Make sure you get the damn warranty

[Commander Obi-Wan]

Well, really, you don't need to get any warranty. When you buy your Xbox 360, you'll have a three-year warranty from the date of purchase from Xbox. So, really, everybody with an Xbox 360 should still have a warranty since the Xbox 360 hasn't been out for more than three years.

 

I would just say "**** it" to all other warranties from other stores.

[Jeff]

Yeah, I think store warranties are pretty useless since it comes with one. The only benefit is that you don't have to wait for a new one to ship. But I don't think its worth it. Its the same way with the Wii. I foolishly bought Best Buy's in-store warranty and when my Wii died I almost brought it back to them but then remembered Nintendo will save as much of my data as possible. In this case it was none but I was still able to re-download the VC games I had previously bought.

[REDJOHNNYMIKE]

@Everyone, I'm kinda sick of saying this, but there was an adjustment made a while ago to the warranty situation, so check and make sure system is covered by the newest replacement/repair policies.

If it isn't then use

THIS

or other guides to check the error codes to determine the cause of the malfunction...

Some of these hardware failures (ESPECIALLY OVERHEATING RELATED ISSUES) can be easily fixed if properly researched.

The overheating being one of the most common, and is generally due to an inadequate amount of thermal paste applied to the processor, which can melt solder and or cause the motherboard to warp and separate from the processor.

[That particular failure is usually the result when seeing the "Three Red Lights of Death]

 

@The Warranty Situation, Last time I checked Microsoft had expanded their original warranties so that you should be able to send your box back now for most current issues/failures. The only catch is that in many cases this process takes a lot of time.

Where using a store specific warranty would be more helpful would be if you didn't want to wait through MS's repair process and they allow you to either get a complete refund or grab a new one off the shelf.

 

@Avery, I've had a second shipment launch system with a 20GB HD and I have played my KotOR, Ninja Gaiden, and Halo games on it without any major issues, unless they recently changed something all you should need for backwards compatability is a hard drive to store the information for the emulation software and the various updates to make it work, AND...

Either a broadband quality connection to connect to live and an XboxLive account (you may need to set it up, but the level of access you get for free will allow you to update your system) to connect to XBL's servers to download the updates...

Or there is a way to use your PC's connection to burn the information onto a disk, but I've never looked into that much because I have Live and can connect my 360 to get it updated.

So unless they just increased the size of the patches/updates/emulator software to more than 20GB then NO you shouldn't need a 120GB HD.

 

@Cygnus, It has been my experience that purchasing a set (or two if you do long LANs) of rechargeable AA batteries for use in wireless controllers is much more cost effective than buying a Play'n'Charge kit or the MS proprietary rechargeable packs.

I have a set of 8 Energizer 2500mAh AA batteries which I absolutely LURVES, and I highly recommend them.

These

I got a charger which came with four batteries and picked up another four from who knows where. I usually keep 4 in the charger and carry 4 with me (or more, depending on how long we're playing).

 

@Rabish, Words to live by. This was a cause of many early problems. Because the light ring changes depending on which way the box is sitting many people were flipping their xboxes to watch the lights change While the system was using the disk drive and ended up ruining either their disks or drives.

Apparently no one let these geniuses play with gyroscopes when they were kids.

 

VVVThe most important partVVV

 

@TK, First of all, if you do want XBLive you've done a lot of great work for one of my favorite online hangouts and you've always been awesome, so I'll get you hooked up with 1 year Gold membership.

Second, if aren't too picky you can find reliable rebuilt systems on sites lile E-bay (a friend of mine buys broken ones, fixes, and resells them, I don't think he has any up right now, but there are people who do thorough fixing and testing and sell these machines at a decent price) so if you want to save a little money that's definitely something to look into.

Think of it like buying a used car, if the original guy who worked on it and resold it knew what he was doing then you are going to be driving a fairly reliable machine that has had "most" of the bugs worked out and costs less than a new car which is can be a reliability mystery.

It would help if you specified which options you want or don't care about.

Either way, PM me when you do get one, and I'll send get a year of Gold and send you the code to access it, it really is worth it when you download demos (just remember to delete them occassionally if you get the 20GB HD ) instead of renting them or buying a game you decide you don't like.

 

 

Personally I'm happy with mine and will wait until the 65nm's and the forty-somethings are old and they start releasing their currently researched chips that are in the 20 range, I dont think they'll be out for a year or two though.

[True_Avery]

Either a broadband quality connection to connect to live and an XboxLive account (you may need to set it up, but the level of access you get for free will allow you to update your system) to connect to XBL's servers to download the updates...

Or there is a way to use your PC's connection to burn the information onto a disk, but I've never looked into that much because I have Live and can connect my 360 to get it updated.

So unless they just increased the size of the patches/updates/emulator software to more than 20GB then NO you shouldn't need a 120GB HD.

Ah, that clears it up then. Thanks for the update.

[REDJOHNNYMIKE]

Anytime sleepy marathon teammate!!!

 

edit: Dang Girl! You are fast on the reply trigger tonight

[milo]

I am hoping to get some opinions from you knowledgeable Alto gamers.

I'm actually a tenor.

 

Anyway, my only advice to you would be to spring for Xbox live if you have a fast connection. It's a blast.

[True_Avery]

I have a question:

 

Is an Xbox 360 cooling/fan system worth spending the 20 or so dollars on to keep it from overheating? I sometimes play for 8 or longer hours at a time and it gets pretty damn hot, so I am curious as to whether that has any effect on the hardware.