Buying an XBOX 360

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kenjimeadu

CAGiversary!
So my roommate for four years finally left. After throwing down countless PS Points on his system, it's time for me to go out and buy my own.... only which model?

I don't have a clue where to start. Like, for starters - who the hell is Jasper? :p

I know the Arcade isn't my best bet, even with the RAM upgrade. I've heard some of the bundle packs are just re-shelled versions of the older, fail-prone models. Price really isn't the issue; I just don't want to buy something that'll crap out in eight months.

What should I be looking for?
 
[quote name='Bmac1775']Go for the elite...never done me wrong[/QUOTE]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just had to send in my Elite because of the General Hardware Failure E74 code.

I was also under the impression that most of the new Arcade models had the new Jasper chip but I'm not 100% sure. You'd have to do a little digging....
 
Buy a new arcade unit they all have the jasper motherboard on em then buy a used 20 gig hardrive from someone here on the cag trading forums

and your all set
 
[quote name='kenjimeadu']Nice. Does it matter if it's a White/Black Elite? Because I'm insanely racist.[/QUOTE]


Really

well the elite only comes in black that I know of
 
Arcade and buying a 120GB HD seperately (why 120 GB? read below) is your best bet if you want to save money. [$200 for the arcade/$130 for HD (MSRP) so probably less if you shop around). But if you don't want the hassle of shopping around just get the Elite and it even comes with Halo 3 + Fable 2 now so it might be your best bet.

The Elite is black and it does come with HDMI Cables / Network Cables / Headset / etc. but those can easily be bought seperately for way cheaper. HDMI cables are all the same as well as the network cables. Headsets are sold for $20 MSRP but you can get em NEW from traders here and other places for alot cheaper as they come for free in alot of stuff (I've seen traders offering them for $5 shipped but YMMV).

As for the model if you are buying online its kinda a crapshoot because you can't pick and choose but if you do buy it in person buy the newest model of course as the layout of the motherboard is a little better than before.

Now some tips to keep your 360 alive longer.

Keep it in a well ventilated space and on a flat space. Don't put it on a rug or inside some home entertainment center as heating issues are the number one problem with the 360.

Install any games to the HD that you intend on playing ALOT. Even though some games load a little slower (Halo 3) when playing from the HD the longevity of your 360 is worth it. The spinning of the disc drive not only causes problems with heat, its also very loud and some people eventually have problems with their disc drives.

Keep the AC Brick in a well ventilated space too. Same reasons as above.
 
Jasper ONLY ftw...they are even starting to come with 512MB internal memory cards now, pisses me off :bomb:

Not sure if the Pro and Elites have been converted to Jasper yet or not...

You are pretty much guaranteed to get a Jasper Arcade unit now, although YMMV on getting one with 512MB of flash memory.

I wouldn't pay more than about $160 + tax after coupon for the unit (I got mine from dell).
 
[quote name='TomoyoN']Arcade and buying a 120GB HD seperately (why 120 GB? read below) is your best bet if you want to save money. [$200 for the arcade/$130 for HD (MSRP) so probably less if you shop around). But if you don't want the hassle of shopping around just get the Elite and it even comes with Halo 3 + Fable 2 now so it might be your best bet.

The Elite is black and it does come with HDMI Cables / Network Cables / Headset / etc. but those can easily be bought seperately for way cheaper. HDMI cables are all the same as well as the network cables. Headsets are sold for $20 MSRP but you can get em NEW from traders here and other places for alot cheaper as they come for free in alot of stuff (I've seen traders offering them for $5 shipped but YMMV).

As for the model if you are buying online its kinda a crapshoot because you can't pick and choose but if you do buy it in person buy the newest model of course as the layout of the motherboard is a little better than before.

Now some tips to keep your 360 alive longer.

Keep it in a well ventilated space and on a flat space. Don't put it on a rug or inside some home entertainment center as heating issues are the number one problem with the 360.

Install any games to the HD that you intend on playing ALOT. Even though some games load a little slower (Halo 3) when playing from the HD the longevity of your 360 is worth it. The spinning of the disc drive not only causes problems with heat, its also very loud and some people eventually have problems with their disc drives.

Keep the AC Brick in a well ventilated space too. Same reasons as above.[/QUOTE]

Why would some games run slower from the hard drive? Shouldn't they run faster?
 
[quote name='keithp']Why would some games run slower from the hard drive? Shouldn't they run faster?[/QUOTE]

Well some games were DESIGNED to run off the disc.

For Example:
Halo 3 came out before the NXE update of game installation and because of this they designed the game with the only option they had playable on a 360 disc. So the way the game works is that it caches a big part (you'll notice the long load times if you play the game) of the game on the HD. Now if you install the game on the HD you will be reading TWO different parts of the HD just to play the game versus reading one part of the HD while reading the Disc. Because of this the game runs/loads slightly slower when installed on the HD.
 
[quote name='Bmac1775']Really

well the elite only comes in black that I know of[/QUOTE]

they also come in green for the halo edition and red for the res evil edition i believe
 
[quote name='AceSXE']they also come in green for the halo edition and red for the res evil edition i believe[/QUOTE]

The Green was actually a PRO (20 GB HD)
The Red is an elite + some other goodies (120 GB HD)
 
actually just did this myself, bought an arcade with the jasper chipset from a store and a 120 gig from ebay, it ended up being just about $300

if you need hdmi or component cables, then go on monoprice and you'll still save over $100 from the elite
 
I am also considering buying an arcade unit soon with the Amazon trade in credit. I was wondering if anyone has bought the 120gb hd's from Amazon Marketplace. Some of the vendors have good ratings and they are shipped from the US. I just want to make sure I get the right product and with the least hassle possible. I checked sears for it on clearance, but they were sold out.
 
[quote name='kenjimeadu']
I know the Arcade isn't my best bet, even with the RAM upgrade. [/QUOTE]

just fyi, the 512MB flash isn't RAM, it's for internal storage for the NXE and game saves (at least I think you can use it for a limited amount of game saves).
 
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