Thanks a ton guys. I've decided to get one (probably this weekend). If there's anything else I should know you can post it, but all my specific questions have been answered.

I'm not sure if this topic goes in the Console forum or here. If it should be moved tell me and I'll move it.


So I'm interested in buying an Xbox 360, but I've got a few questions about them (numbered the questions).

[s]I'm not sure if I should get the Arcade System or the Premium System. The only difference I'm aware of is the Arcade system has no hard drive, while the Premium System has a 20GB hard drive. (1) Is that the only difference between the two? I can apparently buy a hard drive for $55 or something at Toys R Us, and since the price difference between the two systems is $70 I'd be saving a bit of money. (2) If I'd only be needing hard drive space for about 3 games worth of game saves as well as room to save Halo 3 maps, how much space would I need? Would just getting a USB memory stick be enough?
Nevermind, I'd be getting the Premium System.

(3) Is it likely that the price will drop soon after Christmas? The price dropped in August to what it is now, but I'm not sure if this is easily guessed or not.

(4) Anything else I should know before buying one? I'd be planning on getting the system, another controller (most likely wired because I've heard that wireless use up loads of batteries), a few games (specifically Halo 3 ), and Xbox Live. Any accessories that are really necessary for it? I've heard that a fan is good to get, but I'd be playing in my basement which is usually pretty cool.. if that matters.

(5) I had Xbox Live on the original Xbox (canceled it 11 months ago). It used to be that you couldn't get the same gamertag back, but I've heard that its now possible. I searched Google and Xbox.com and found nothing about this on either.


Kind of vague, but since my parents suck and won't get me one for Christmas I'm paying for it myself, and I'd like to make sure I know exactly what I'm getting before I get it. I'm also not 100% sure that I'm going to get one, so if you think I shouldn't then tell me that. But don't tell me to get a Wii or a PS3. [/s]

COD 4 > Halo. I think Premium comes with games and some other equipment.

Premium seems to come with Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. The only difference in equipment that I can see if the Arcade System doesn't come with HDTV cables, but since I'd rarely be playing on an HD TV that wouldn't be much of an issue.

I think somewhere you can get the same gamertag. I dunno how though.

I bought the premium for X-mas for myself


But whats this arcade thing?

Buy the premium. You'll need the hard drive if you ever want to download any maps or stuff like that. And buying a hard drive later isn't exactly cheap either.

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-20GB-Hard-Drive/dp/B000B6ML32

I think he means the Core System.

wait
I bought the Premium

Can i still play games like Halo 3 and assains creed and still play live?

20GB HDs were $55 at Toys R Us yesterday, but I just went to the same link as yesterday and the item doesn't seem to exist anymore. Searching their site, it appears that they aren't selling them anymore.


I'm not sure if they make the core system anymore. As far as I can tell, the Arcade System is the same the Premium System, but it doesn't come with any games, it doesn't come with the HDTV cables, and it has no hard drive. Unlike the core system, it supports wireless controllers (the controller that it comes with is wireless).

I'm quite experienced in the video gaming market as well as a my friend and this is his suggestion which is to me which i'm now giving to you.

Get Xbox 360 elite!

The extra ~100$ has been worth it to his family. They have dos Xbox 360s. One original and one elite.

He has not heard of any Xbox 360 elite complaints or of it having any problems. It has an extra fan and 100 gigs more of memory. Less braking chances and 100 more gigs of memory for 100 dollars. Muy bueno (very good)!

Its also what i'm planning on going with when I eventually get one.

I dont understand how that means a less breaking chance? If you are referring to overheating, I don't think thats a problem any more especially since the 360's started using the falcon chips.

Did I mention the 100 gigs extra memory and the black casing/controler?

Don't get the elite. The elite still uses the old 65 nanometer chip, which over heats much faster than the new premiums, which have a smaller, cooler, 45 nanometer chip.

And we always get those people complaining that their xbox is being used as a slow cooker...

And I'm pretty sure that you can buy the 100gb HDD seperate. Although it is a hefty sum, you'll be wishing you bought instead of erasing all of your demos...

I don't care about the system or controllers being black or white, and I would have no use for the extra 100GB of hard drive space. I probably wouldn't get more than about 3 games, if that, so I'd only need room for game saves for those games as well as any Halo 3 maps that I download. 20GB should be more than enough for my purposes.

If I needed a fan (which I don't think I do, from Moloro's post), I'm pretty sure I can buy them separately, and I'm sure they're less than $100.

EDIT: Monke, I don't plan on getting that much stuff. I'd be using the system mostly for playing Halo 3 on Xbox Live with a bunch of friends who have it as well. I doubt that the map pack for Halo 3 is even close to 20GB. It probably isn't even 1GB. I doubt that I'll be getting lots of game demos, either.

20GB is definitely going to be enough for my purposes.

For three games and maps, just get the arcade + HDD. Make sure that you stand your xbox upright. I used to have it on its side, and it would over heat all the time. The only reason you'll need to buy a fan is if you don't have it upright in a very airy place (up on a table with nothing around it).

If you really need a fan, you won't have to do surgery on it. You can just buy the Nyko cooling fan that hooks up to the back.

I'd recommend buying wireless controllers, because you can only hook up 3 wired ones (two in the front and one in the rear usb port [which the Nyko fan runs on]). Forking up the extra $20 for the rechargable batteries saves HUGE money in the long run, and mine last fairly long.

I forgot to ask about that...
How are the rechargeable battery packs? One friend of mine who has 3 wireless controllers says that they run through AA batteries extremely quickly, and it seems like every time I'm over there one of them is running out of power. Other friends who have battery packs never seem to be running out of power.

I was wrong about the HD (or, the offer isn't available anymore), so if I get a system it'll be the Premium one. I'll edit all of that out of the post.

Actually the old chips are 90nm and the new ones are 65nm.

And Steve, I would just go for the Premium. You never know, you might find a use for the Hard drive in the future. (Besides the fact you need it for backwards compatibility.) IDK about the price drop or gamertag question.
One more thing: Call of Duty 4>>>> Halo 3

An XBox360 is to be recommended. The Premium package is all you should get. Anyways--rechargable batteries (either packs designed for the XBox controller or even generic rechargable AAs) should save you quite a bit of time and money. Just remember to keep a few sets charged and ready for use.

I have the one that uses 2 AA batteries. I've been using it for about 20 days. Seems pretty fine to me. I've played quite a bit in that time-frame too.

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT GET HE NYKO INTERCOOLER!!

Well, I don't want to quote all of that, but what about the other cooling things? I'm pretty sure there is a new cooling stand out


Best advice: keep in an open place, upright

Response in quote

Hope you enjoy your Xbox 360 and nowadays Xbox live is almost a must if you really want to have fun with it.

EDIT: I highly highly strongly recommend asking the store you get it at for some kind of warranty to see if you can trade your system if it brakes for a brand new one right then and there, my store offers it for 20 bucks extra (around there) WAY WORTH IT!, sadly almost a guarantee your xbox will get the red ring..

The warranty that Microsoft provides wouldn't cover getting a red light out of the box? I also thought that getting the red light isn't as much of an issue anymore.

I would like to play it safe, though, and not risk losing $350 because I get a faulty system.

The warranty does work and they extended it but expect a solid week before they ship you a box and a good 3-4 more till you get one back, if you had something like that youd be back to playing within the time it takes to get to the store, ya know?

And sadly no matter what (insert animal name) chip they come out with, no matter what (color) xbox they get or no matter what (x amount) of gigs the hard-drive has the red ring will always be there :\ xbox's are VERY faulty i myself know a guy whose gone through 8 so he claims and he was at the store when i got my new a few weeks back when i had a red ring

EDIT: First box means the box to ship your system in, and get one back being a new xbox. In case you were sure

The 3 year warranty is for the three red rings. For everything else (like the hard drive and stuff) there is a one year warranty.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemus...warrantyfaq.htm

Oh.

I don't know what length warranties are available, but if the 360 doesn't fail after a few months is it not likely to break anymore, so I would be able to get a short warranty instead of the $80 that it appears a 2 year warranty would be? Or is there just as much of a chance of it breaking out of the box as there is it breaking after 6 months of use?

Sorry for so many questions, I'm just great about worrying about things like this right as I buy something expensive like this.

Things to know when getting an Xbox 360 (coming from someone with 2 360's in the family)

1. Get one with a hard-drive, the 20 gb one will be fine unless you plan to download everything under the sun and keep it. I have an elite and still have only used up maybe 12 gb of space. The map pack for halo 3 requires a hard-drive as it is too big to fit on a memory card.

2. Odds are your 360 will fail eventually, but with the 3 year warranty on it breaking, this isn't a big deal. My recommendation is to not buy a warranty for it from the store. 95% of the time, they take your money and then tell you to go through Microsoft if something goes wrong. Happened to my brother at Future Shop.

3. Obviously don't move it when discs are in it, doing so will destroy the disc. It is best if it is on a smooth surface (ie: wood or glass rather than carpet)

4. Get halo 3. Win.

5. You get a 3 year warranty with your xbox 360 when you buy it. So if it gets the ring of fire within 3 years, then you are covered by Microsoft for exactly $0

Cant blame ya on the questions its tough they are expensive...

But yea the issues can happen anytime but unless you play catch with your xbox it shouldnt happen AS often and the warranty came with it i thought...

Also dont move you xbox around like unplugging it and moving it upstairs or to a friends house that can cause some wear and tear and eventually hardware failure

If you can make sure the xbox lays horizontally wherever you play it that always helps instead of vertical

all just little tips to make sure it doesn't happen.

Taken from the news;

"Under the new warranty, Microsoft will pay for shipping and repairs for three years, worldwide, for consoles afflicted with what gamers call "the red ring of death." Previously, the warranty expired after a year for U.S. customers and two years for Europeans."

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-0...ox-charge_N.htm

Also really your xbox isn't likely to fail if you take care of it. Bashing it around, moving it while a disc etc is not going to leave it happy. Having said that we have 2 360s (one elite and one premium) and only the premium failed once - that was a launch premium too. The new systems don't have near the issues of the earlier systems so your chance of something going wrong is pretty tiny.

I meant a warranty from the store. GameStop doesn't seem to give warranties, and Circuit City doesn't give them in Massachusetts, I think because we have some crazy laws about insurance (all car insurance is socialized so everyone gets the same thing for the same price, for example).

Since a bunch of other friends also have 360's, I probably wouldn't be bringing it places very often. And my parents wouldn't ever let me use the HD TV that's in the living room (because my dad is always watching football or some black and white movie ), so it should be staying put in my basement.

Which reminds me, my basement is relatively humid. Is that an issue? We've had an Xbox in our basement for 3 years now I think, and it has never had any problems. We've also had a gamecube there for about the same time, and no problems. I know 360's are different, but would it possibly be an issue?

Good news for me, then. I've got an iPod video that I bought a while ago, and I'm so careful with it that I rarely use it because I don't want it to break. So I'd probably do a good job of keeping the 360 safe.


Thanks a ton guys. I guess I'll get one next weekend or early next week. Hopefully either WalMart, BestBuy, or CircuitCity will have one in stock (I've heard that they're pretty easy to get, so that shouldn't be an issue).

Don't worry about the humidity, if your 360 is going to fail, it is not going to fail due to humidity, unless you drop it in a swimming pool, then it might just be a weeeee bit humid for it. Yes...they are easy to get. Remember to get a hard-drive - if you don't get one now you will be kicking yourself. Lastly...I once again would not recommend a store-bought warranty. Those are incredible rip-offs. They are just money-makers for the store.