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Buying an XBox
downer
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Registered User regular
I've been a PC gamer for years, but there has been several games over the years that have enticed me towards getting an Xbox 360. Well, there's a game store next to where I work that is going out of business, and they have Arcade systems for $159 and Elite systems for $239. Could I just get the Arcade and buy a hard drive for it and be fine, or should I just get the Elite?
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that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
http://bjdraw.com/2009/07/03/how-to-tell-an-xbox-360-is-a-jasper/
The Elite does not come with an extra controller, but all of the recent bundles have come with a couple of games. Go for the Elite for sure: hard drives are expensive on their own, and the black casing looks way nicer.
If he gets a specific xbox game + elite (i.e. Final Fantasy XIII, Splinter Cell, MW2) then it comes with an extra wireless controller and 250 GB hard drive. Those are normally $400 (great deal).
The $300 elite w/ Lego Batman and Pure or whatever they're packaging them with these days is 1 wireless controller, 120 GB HD and is $300.
No, they do not. They don't even come w/ component. They come w/ an awful VGA cable. You will want to buy an HDMI cable for $2 on monoprice.com. Order it today and get it by the end of the week. Save $25+ from a store price.
edit: there is no advantage to an arcade unit. None. That onboard storage is just a really small hard drive. Also installing games is AWESOME. Do it for every game, silent xbox is great.
I think they discontinued the Pro. It's Elite or Arcade now. If that is the case, go elite. the arcade has less than a gig of hard drive space.
They don't make pros anymore... I don't think if you found an old one (which may be impossible new?) that it would be Jasper chipset. Regardless, he didn't mention it in his OP so it's irrelevant and I'm not going to look it up.
Seriously, guys, I know a lot about XBOXs. I fucking love them.
Good to know though.
I wasn't touting the RAM storage as anything great, it's just in addition to whatever hard drive you tack onto the thing.
I had an Elite when they first came out and I swear it came with an HDMI cable. Am I tripping? Maybe they just stopped including them...
Fable II sounds like a jet engine if it's not installed. A HD is a must.
EDIT: Aha. I knew it. From Wikipedia: "Hybrid video cable[c], HDMI cable and audio dongle[d] were included with the 120GB model prior to September 2009"
Yep! They laughably said they stopped doing that to "give the consumer more choice" ... more choice to buy the xbox peripheral cables...
Anyway, hit up monoprice and they're cheap. Get T2 certified or whatever it is. Costs like an extra 30 cents!
VGA output on the 360 is done at 1080p and actually displays at a lower input lag than hdmi, making it the best way to display a 360 if your tv supports it. Unless by aweful you mean its not the official cables or something.
I think he meant composite cable, because it does not come with a VGA as far as I know.
oh, well than yes composite is complete crap, and a weird choice to package with the console.
It looks HORRIBLE. My roommate got an xbox and my cat chewed through his hdmi cable. Had to wait a few days for a new one. Was beyond awful to look at.
Also the Lego Batman/Pure bundle is discontinued. It's ODST and Forza Motorsport now. Kinda wish I had waited for that one because those are games I'd actually play.
I have a TV from 2000 in storage that has component cables, and it's a piece of shit. It's kinda weird that they still package it with composite.
The Elite comes with an HDMI cable, Ethernet cable, and the hard drive in addition to the combo composite/component cable. The hard drive is something you will want and I would recommend spending the extra amount to get the Elite
http://www.xbox.com/zh-SG/hardware/x/xbox360elitesystem/default.htm
It doesn't come with the HDMI cable anymore. They stopped that.
Still get the Elite, though, and get an HDMI cable from monoprice. I use just component since it runs at 1080p and running the xbox through HDMI creates audio latency
I got my xbox a few years ago and ended up regretting it a few months later because I got a girlfriend. Suddenly I wasn't playing Call of Duty as much as I had thought I would
Now it's mostly just a fun toy to bust out if a friend comes over...I bust out the brews and we play co-op games. I still prefer my PC for almost anything except 3rd person action/adventure games (Assassin's Creed, PoP, Ninja Gaiden) but not everyone feels that way. I've also been incredibly disappointed with Xbox's "exclusives".
Parties. Nothing screams (real world) social gathering than three of your friends attempting to croon in harmony to I Am The Walrus while you spectuacularly fail to drum.
I got an arcade, and the 1 GB of space is felt pointedly. I'll probably pick one up used.
Do you have a cite for this? I'm a game developer and I've never heard of the output method generating input lag. Could it be that your TV does more processing on the hdmi input than on the VGA?
No cite unfortunately, just what I've heard a lot of people say who are into games that are very lag dependant like fighting or band games. Might not be true, but its what ive heard. I could believe its just most tvs doing less processing on vga. My own 360 is too old to have hdmi, or I would do some tests myself.
Kinda this.
I broke down and finally decided to get an xBox, up till then i'd refused to spend money on something waiting to brick. But after a friend harassed me enough I agreed.
Big mistake.
The damn thing went red ring of death, ON ARRIVAL.
I was done by that point, I packed it up, shipped it back, got my refund and bought myself a PS3 Slim. And what does that PS3 slim primarily get used for? Watching video from our PCs on the HD TV.
I'll stick with my awesome sauce PC instead.
But on topic, make sure you keep to the warranty stuff.
Sports games, racing games, third person brawler/adventure/whatevers, any FPS that I expect to ever want to play multiplayer, etc. Anything else I think I might want to play socially. Plus, consoles last longer than PCs for the money invested. I don't have to keep buying new components every couple years to play whatever the hot new game is on my 360.
edit: also my understanding is that RRODs shouldn't be nearly as much of a problem on recently-manufactured 360s, but if you buy a refurb or buy used I would definitely make sure you are covered. I mean, make sure you are covered anyway I guess, but be super careful with older systems.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Though their warranty and shipping is really fast on that.
Don't come in here all blabbin' about the PC. Being able to watch netflix instant queue in my recliner is worth the price of admission alone. So much cheaper than cable.
But the PS3 has cooler exclusives lately, besides Alan Wake or Halo Reach for the XBOX.
I do hdmi to my tv then to headphones from the TV w/ the audio out. No lag. We're living in the 2010's! No lag!
I have never heard of hdmi lagging. Or any video input we use today.
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26773243
You don't need a dongle for this. You can crack off the plastic casing that comes with the included composite cable to allow you to plug both that and the HDMI cable in simultaneously, and use the audio jacks from that while still using HDMI for video.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!