Might Be Buying a Xbox 360, Have Questions

[Tempest]

Ok so I've decided to take the plunge and buy a 360. I have some questions though:

 

1. How big a deal is HD space? I know they're discounting the 20GB models right now, but I'm not sure if I should wait for the 60GB models or even buy the 120GB Elite. On the PS3 the HD is used for just about everything, is this true for the 360? Is 20GB more than enough for me if I'm not going to be downloading movies and music?

 

2. Is the Elite worth it? As far as I can tell all you get for the extra $100 is 60GB more space and a black coating. Am I missing something? Personally I'm not too thrilled with the black anyway, it just doesn't look right for some reason.

 

3. Is the Wi-Fi adapter proprietary? I have an adapter that I used with my PS2, but I assume I can't use it with the 360. Do I have to buy the MS branded one or are there better 3rd party alternatives?

 

4. Anything else I should know or buy with it?

 

Tempest

[PressureCooker2600]

ive got a 20gb hd because I only care to download XBLA games and that kinda stuff.

 

if you're wanting all the new demos of actual 360 games and videos and stuff.....120 gb is the way to go.

 

price wise.....if you have it.....go elite

 

my MS wi-fi adaptor was 79.99 and it is excellent.

[Atari5200]

20gb version here, but that's basically because it was the only one available when I got mine. But in almost 2 years of owning the 360 I'm down to 9gb free space, and this is with a bunch of arcade games and a bunch of tv shows. For me, I have no plans of upgrading if ever.

 

I also have the MS wireless adapter and have had no problems with it, it works real good. I'm not aware of a 3rd party adapter.

 

I have problems with the wireless controllers, I've had two so far just stop working. I'm now using a wired controller and may go back if the price drops on wireless ones.

 

The Elite has HDMI output I believe.

 

I think it's really going to depend on your tastes. With the Wireless adapter you can stream music, video, pictures from your PC, so for me there's no point for me to put them on my hard drive, which really leaves free space. So it's really up to you. Is HDMI important? Can you not stream media from your PC? The 20GB version might be good enough for you.

Edited July 17, 2008 by Atari5200

[Tempest]

The 20GB has had HDMI since late last year.

 

I think I'll probably just get the 60GB when it comes out next month. Like I said, I think the Elite's 120GB is overkill and I don't like the black color for some reason. I guess it reminds me of those old Dell Optiplex's we have here in my test lab...

 

Tempest

[Freakin' Duck]

I have a 20GB. I don't use Live, though, so it doesn't really hit me. BTW, I want to get Live, but I can't with my current set up. 20GB is definitely more than enough, if you're not downloading anything. I've ripped like 70 CDs and I'm only down to 7GB. There is a 60GB version coming out, as well.

 

Anyway, I'm not sure what the norm is with the consoles now, but they only started dealing with the heat issue recently. The Elite and the Halo 3 edition, my current 360, were the first, I believe, to implement cooler, safer chipsets/fans or whatever. I don't know whether they took the time to upgrade the Arcade units.

 

Typing of the heat issue, it's always a good idea to place your console horizontally, propped up on a book or something to air out the vents on the bottom, and to give it plenty of all around space. Don't shove it into some cramped entertainment center, you will see the RRoD if you do.

 

Have fun!

[HammR25]

Anyone down to 9GB on the 20 GB drive has only used 4GB. You start off with 13Gb available.

 

I've got the 20GB model. I download demos quite a bit but I also delete them when I'm done. I don't download movies and haven't ripped any cds to the hard drive. I've got 12 Live Arcade games. I've got about 12gb still open on the console.

 

You could always pay for a bigger addon drive later for the extra price it would have cost you to begin with.

[Lord Helmet]

If you aren't going to do any game installs (since this is going to be allowed with the new dashboard in the fall), and you don't want to use it as a media player, then I can't see you ever needing more than the 20gb version. I have a bunch of XBLA games and a bunch of game saves and still have plenty of room. The only time I ever get close to the limit is when I have several demos downloaded.

 

I did use my 360 as a media center for quite a while, but I stored all of the movies on an external drive (I ripped my own movies rather than rent them from MS)

 

 

However, rumor has it that in the future the 360 will be able to be used as a DVR like device, which might be why they are doing away with the 20gb sku.

Edited July 17, 2008 by Lord Helmet

[Red 5]

I'm a firm believer that Blu-Ray is not the 'next gen' movie format.

I beleive the next gen format will simply be data.

 

You can download 1080 HD movies and TV shows on your Xbox right now.

 

Soon, your DRV's will be enourmous and house your movie collection.

Hit the menu, hit your favorite movie and watch in in HD glory.

 

Xbox 360's E3 announcement made me believe in this theory of mine even more by

announcing that they have now joined with NetFlix.

 

Hop on 360.

Download new release movie.

Watch it in 1080 HD (just like Blu Ray)

 

Basically, your 360 just became a video store where every movie is always in stock and is just a download away.

 

So a bigger hard drive may be a wise idea.

[moycon]

If you don't care about downloading movies and TV shows, keeping retail game demo's on the hard drive, keeping ripped CDs on the drive etc.....you probably don't even need the 60 Gig. If all you want to use the 360 is gaming, and you aren't going to go crazy buying up stuff off live, 20 Gig is more than enough in my opinion.

 

In the few years I've had the 360 I've amassed 72 of the Arcade titles, bought multiple add ons for games including the Oblivion expansion Nights of the Nine and Shivering Isles (Which takes up a Gig by itself) and have loaded up on themes, gamer pics and gamesaves for over 100 games. The end result after 2 and a half years, I still have about 7 Gig left. Keeping in mind that out of the box you don't get the full 20 Gig...You get about 15 Gig I think (This is after deleting all the songs and video's that come pre installed) and that if you do want to download game demo's and Live video's you can still do it, but you just wont want to keep them sitting on the drive. Any video you download once, even ones you paid for, can be downloaded again in the future for free. So there's no real reason to keep them sitting there anyways.

 

All that said, I personally still prefer the Elite, just because I like to browse and download TV shows from Live. I don't have cable or even antennas hooked up to my TVs so for me it's perfect if I want to check out a TV show or download an old favorite. (Twilight Zone anyone?)

 

In any case, I wouldn't base your decision on the color of the 360 either. Remember you can change the appearance of your 360 with a quick snap of a face plate!

Edited July 17, 2008 by moycon

[PressureCooker2600]

I hope they make a Fallout 3-themed faceplate.

[Cobra Kai]

I would at least get the 60gb, just because you never know what you'll do with the 360 in a year. Someone might not utilize all the stuff available on Live Marketplace at first, but then might fall in love with downloading demos and watching movies. Hard Drive space is always undervalued, especially with computers.

 

@moycon, FYI: http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_z...video/video.php

 

Twilight Zone and Star Trek TOS are available to watch for free at cbs.com

Edited July 17, 2008 by Gunstarhero

[moycon]

@moycon, FYI: http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_z...video/video.php

 

Twilight Zone and Star Trek TOS are available to watch for free at cbs.com

 

Sweet.

I have a bunch of TZ on DVD and VHS though. I purchased Night of the Meek from Live because it's a tradition that we watch that show every Christmas while we do Xmas puzzles and drink hot toddies, In the past I've always broken out the VHS tape but now I just go to my dashboard videos, click on it and have at it.

[yuppicide]

Do yourself a favor and read up on how to spot yourself a Falcon. You'll be happier later. These systems are newer and will reduce the change you ever get the RROD.

 

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/02/05/ho...60-in-the-wild/

 

Falcon's run cooler, 65nm process, and have extra heat sinks.

Edited July 18, 2008 by yuppicide

[JamesD]

If it's new and from a major retailer it's going to be a Falcon by now. The new 60GB will definitely be one.

[A2600]

hey tempest im selling my 360 it has 20GB and 9 good games but no HDMI though

[FastRobPlus]

I'm back!!!!!

 

Anyway:

You can download 1080 HD movies and TV shows on your Xbox right now.

 

Soon, your DRV's will be enourmous and house your movie collection.

Hit the menu, hit your favorite movie and watch in in HD glory.

 

Actually, I think it's 720 from the video marketplace. 1080p would be nice but the downloads would be murder even with today's high speed transfers.

 

Xbox 360's E3 announcement made me believe in this theory of mine even more by

announcing that they have now joined with NetFlix.

 

I think netflix is it's own resolution, somewhere between SD and HD. At least, that's what I gathered from thier website. Still, it's streaming!

 

 

So a bigger hard drive may be a wise idea.

 

The new dash will have full game caching to the HDD for playing games near-silently. This will also take some serious HD space.

[+remowilliams]

The new dash will have full game caching to the HDD for playing games near-silently. This will also take some serious HD space.

Really, any game? That would be kick ass!

[moycon]

The new dash will have full game caching to the HDD for playing games near-silently.

 

I'm going to doubt that.

My 360 is just sitting here with no game in it at all and it drowns out every other noise in the house including the window air conditioning unit.

I use it as a white noise machine.

If I leave the unit running and go somewhere, I can tell when we're getting close to the house without even looking because I can hear the thing from down the road.

Near silently may be exagerating.

Edited July 18, 2008 by moycon

[Mendon]

I have the Pro and a 20gb hard drive is good enough for me as I don't keep demo's after playing, don't download movies or TV shows, and don't store music on it. I have 37 Arcade games, plenty of game add-on's, lots of themes and gamerpic's (all free as I won't pay for them), and lots of game saves and still have 9+ gb left.

 

As for the Elite, I think you also get the wireless charge cord when you purchase the system but I might be wrong.

 

I have the 360 wireless adapter and have had no problems at all with it. Works very, very well. A bit pricey at $100 but that would be my only complaint.

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned: the price of the 20gb Pro is lowered to $300 to phase it out. There are still a lot of 20gb hard drives laying around on store shelves and I wonder if MS is going to lower the price on them also to get rid of them. If they do, then buying a 20gb Pro now and maybe picking up an extra HD for additional storage of movies and TV shows might be an option that could be cost effective for you.

 

 

Mendon

[Tempest]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned: the price of the 20gb Pro is lowered to $300 to phase it out. There are still a lot of 20gb hard drives laying around on store shelves and I wonder if MS is going to lower the price on them also to get rid of them. If they do, then buying a 20gb Pro now and maybe picking up an extra HD for additional storage of movies and TV shows might be an option that could be cost effective for you.

Can you chain HD's like that? I thought it was one HD at a time.

 

Tempest

[godslabrat]

Typing of the heat issue, it's always a good idea to place your console horizontally, propped up on a book or something to air out the vents on the bottom, and to give it plenty of all around space. Don't shove it into some cramped entertainment center, you will see the RRoD if you do.

 

My ent. center has an open back. If I elevate the 360, use it horizontally, and position it toward the back, do you think that will be enough.

 

 

I'm a firm believer that Blu-Ray is not the 'next gen' movie format.

I beleive the next gen format will simply be data.

 

I respectfully disagree with this opinion.

[NE146]

I've bought maybe 5 or 7 Xbox 360's (I actually can't remember the exact number) as gifts, or for myself, etc. Every single one has been the regular white 20 gig model (and one Halo Edition). I'm a heavy Xbox Live user, I download arcade games up the wazoo and it's been absolutely fine.. pretty much as Moycon says above. You'll be fine with the 20 gig.

 

I really can't see a use for a large hard drive unless you're the type who will want to download many large movies and tv shows, but come on..who the heck is stupid enough to buy that bullshit Same for the whole blu-ray vs. hd-dvd. No one gives a shit about that unless you're the kind of person who buys movies. I don't, so it's transparent to me.

[yuppicide]

My Xbox is near silent. I can't even hear it.

 

The new dash will have full game caching to the HDD for playing games near-silently.

 

I'm going to doubt that.

My 360 is just sitting here with no game in it at all and it drowns out every other noise in the house including the window air conditioning unit.

[yuppicide]

It is kind of a crappy deal.. you can download TV shows for instance and can ONLY use them on the 360.

 

I'm one of the stupid ones who wanted to watch Paranormal State so bad one day. I downloaded 20 episodes for 160 points each, that's $40. I could have just bought the DVD for $19.99 in stores.

 

I have the Elite 120GB model and have over 20GB downloaded already.

 

... but I would definitely go for any model that has HDMI to get the best picture possible. My friends doesn't have HDMI and mine does. I run a 42" TV in 1080p. Just make sure to set the resolution when you first setup your system.

 

I really can't see a use for a large hard drive unless you're the type who will want to download many large movies and tv shows, but come on..who the heck is stupid enough to buy that bullshit Same for the whole blu-ray vs. hd-dvd. No one gives a shit about that unless you're the kind of person who buys movies. I don't, so it's transparent to me.

Edited July 18, 2008 by yuppicide

[NE146]

My Xbox is near silent. I can't even hear it.

 

The new dash will have full game caching to the HDD for playing games near-silently.

 

I'm going to doubt that.

My 360 is just sitting here with no game in it at all and it drowns out every other noise in the house including the window air conditioning unit.

 

Again as someone who's gone through a number of 360's.. this thing is all over the map, and I believe it has something to do with the DVD Drive (Samsung, Hitachi, BenQ, etc) you get. I've had 360's with the spinning sound was so loud it was like a jet hum, and others have been quiet. One 360 I could NOT play it in a darkened bedroom because it would wake up the wife and she'd be all "wtf is that?!"

 

That being said, if you're the modding type and flashed your 360 drive, you get the option to set the read speed to 8x or 12x. I hear 8x makes a HUGE HUGE difference as far as DVD drive loudness vs 12x on the 360.