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Upgrading ye olde Xbox.
riz
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Well, it finally happened. I was in the kitchen retrieving my coffee mug after hitting the power button on my ancient 360, when I heard this ungodly noise like an alien was shooting a laser through the window at my cat. Noticed no signal was being sent from the Xbox to my TV. My first RROD!
Some friends told me I could possibly try ripping it open and adding pennies, or wrapping it in a towel, maybe performing some kind of hilarious ritual involving a goat and some hard liquor. But I'm thinking, it's been years, I'm just going to get a pretty new black Xbox and call it a day.
My question now is this: Due to online pricing voodoo, it seems I could get a 4GB matte black model plus a sold-separately 250GB hdd for the same price as a 250GB shiny black model itself, and the 4GB comes with a $50 gift credit. The only difference I can tell between the two models is the matte vs. shiny finish, and the 250GB comes with a headset.
Is there any technical difference I'm not catching in the product descriptions? Same case, just different finish? Or is there a size difference? Fans? Is there any internal specs reason to prefer one over the other? I don't care about the headset, and aesthetically I'd prefer the matte finish, and of course $50 cheaper is great too.
Some friends told me I could possibly try ripping it open and adding pennies, or wrapping it in a towel, maybe performing some kind of hilarious ritual involving a goat and some hard liquor. But I'm thinking, it's been years, I'm just going to get a pretty new black Xbox and call it a day.
My question now is this: Due to online pricing voodoo, it seems I could get a 4GB matte black model plus a sold-separately 250GB hdd for the same price as a 250GB shiny black model itself, and the 4GB comes with a $50 gift credit. The only difference I can tell between the two models is the matte vs. shiny finish, and the 250GB comes with a headset.
Is there any technical difference I'm not catching in the product descriptions? Same case, just different finish? Or is there a size difference? Fans? Is there any internal specs reason to prefer one over the other? I don't care about the headset, and aesthetically I'd prefer the matte finish, and of course $50 cheaper is great too.
riz on
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As regards the hardware, there's no difference. However, there are two different 250GB hard drives - one for the new Xbox, and one for the old one. They aren't compatible (although you can kinda kludge the old one into the new one, I don't recommend it). Make sure you're looking at the right drive.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
From the sound it made, the thing is kaput. That and [strike]he[/strike] she said [strike]he[/strike] she wanted to buy a new one anyway. And [strike]he[/strike] she was looking at the right drive. It's $85 on Amazon. Just make sure you don't purchase this cheap Chinese offbrand HD for it.
Buy a new one, but try to fix your old one anyway.
Worst case scenario is you still have a non-functional 360, but the best case scenario is you have two functional 360s, which means LAN party time.
There are a bunch of electronics shops in my area that repair RRoD's for around $30, so you might want to check those out. Even if you don't want or need two 360s I'm sure you could find a friend or some kid somewhere who doesn't have a 360 that would love to take it off of your hands.
Or, you could always throw it up on craigslist as-is. Plenty of people will buy non-functional 360s to fix themselves, as long as you are clear and honest in the ad.
Anyway, thanks. That hdd on Amazon is even cheaper than where I was looking (Best Buy, $99 right now) so maybe I'll just do that.
Actually, that's something else I should ask you guys... what kind of HDMI cable should I get? I never got one for the old console. I have a nice TV but no separate sound system (I know, I know). Let's assume from Amazon as well, so I can just order it all at once...
Correct. There's no special Xbox 360 HDMI cable you need or anything. There may have been one back in the day before the 360 didn't have a built in HDMI port, but obviously that's not the case anymore.
You mean [URL="hhttp://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-High-Speed-Cable-Meters/dp/B003L1ZYYM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1301869039&sr=1-2"]this link[/URL]. Yours is malformed.
It also costs ten bucks and is more than six feet long, which is preposterous, whereas this one is less than two bucks and 1.5 feet, which is much more reasonable and has exactly the same video quality.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Yes, [strike]he[/strike] she could order from there but [strike]he[/strike] she said [strike]he[/strike] she wanted to get everything straight from Amazon in one package.
I did. Thanks for not being ridiculously condescending and stand-offish, though.
I still think that Monoprice is the best option. At worst you wait a couple more days and save money, as well as not having a loop of cable behind your TV.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
And yeah I've seen people mention Monoprice around here, quite recently in fact, but that is largely why I mentioned the Amazon thing. Possible headache of separate shipping is worth the cost of a latte, in my little world.
Whoops, sorry.
EDIT: All fixed!