jenfly00 0 #1 September 5, 2007 OK, so I'm considering buying one for my nephew for his birthday. I go online and I'm reading about hardware failures (some sources say 25-30%) and disc scratching. I don't want to buy a present that will go tits up and have to be returned. Additionally, since he will be hooking it up to an HD TV with an HDMI connection, is there enough of a difference between 1080i and 1080p to go for the HDMI?----------------------- "O brave new world that has such people in it". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sv3n 0 #2 September 5, 2007 When they first came out they were turning people's entertainment centers into fireplaces. Several friends have gotten the red wheel of death followed by smoke.....and that's still going on. I've also had some friends who've had no problems whatsoever....and you're in violation of your face! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Casurf1978 0 #3 September 5, 2007 Have you looked at other consules? One of my friends works for Electronic Arts and he has the Wii and PS2. Loves them both. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kris 0 #4 September 5, 2007 I've had mine for over a year and have had zero problems with it. As for the HDMI, I'm running mine via component cables @ 1080i and it's gorgeous as is. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jenfly00 0 #5 September 5, 2007 Quote Have you looked at other consules? One of my friends works for Electronic Arts and he has the Wii and PS2. Loves them both. He's been dropping hints about the XBox for weeks now. Apparently his 'bestest' friend has one (no problems with his) and they want to play ...online? (apparently you can do this with xbox). His parents are cool with him having the xbox but aren't going to spring for the bucks (that's what indulgent Aunts are for ----------------------- "O brave new world that has such people in it". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #6 September 5, 2007 If you really want to be the cool aunt, get him the Xbox Elite "It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jenfly00 0 #7 September 5, 2007 Quote I've had mine for over a year and have had zero problems with it. As for the HDMI, I'm running mine via component cables @ 1080i and it's gorgeous as is. Thanks for the feedback. I just read a review that pretty much convinced me the difference between the two is appreciated only by a discerning few. If I can bother you for another question, which xbox do you have? Core, console (20 GB HD) or Elite (120 GB). Is the core sufficient for good game play, including online, or do I need to get one of the others? Man, I thought I would just go out and buy one. I had no idea so many options were to be considered.----------------------- "O brave new world that has such people in it". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,424 #8 September 5, 2007 Quote I had no idea so many options were to be considered. Two words - Gift Card!!!! Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Morrison79 0 #9 September 6, 2007 i got the core one, because I had bought mine long before the elite came out. If I had the choice though I would have spent the extra 80 dollars. I have had to return mine twice though. A week after I bought it, it stopped working. They send you a box and you ship it to them. One week later you get a new one at your door. The second time was caused by excesive alcohol and a stupid friend. The good thing now is that you get a free 3 year warranty ( i think ). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ACMESkydiver 0 #10 September 6, 2007 Quote He's been dropping hints about the XBox for weeks now. Apparently his 'bestest' friend has one (no problems with his) and they want to play ...online? (apparently you can do this with xbox). Xbox online costs approx $10/month extra and requires a monthly subscription, just so you know. -At least it did when we had it about 3 years ago with our Xbox (not 360). My husband just mentioned one other thing you might need to consider (depending on your nephew's age) -ANYONE can jump in your game online...and some gamers are pretty raunchy. You can fix that by shutting off the sound, but then your nephew can't hear his friend smack-talking through the game, which is half the point of Xbox live...They may have 'fixed' that issue with the new 360 if they now allow private gaming...anyone know?~Jaye Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
-Scatter- 0 #11 September 6, 2007 Don't get the core: without a hard drive he's extremely limited in what he can do. Releasing a harddriveless version was stupid on microsoft's part. Game patches, demos, map packs, that sort of thing all require the hard drive. There's not much point in getting the Elite anymore. Initially it was the only version with HDMI, but recently the premium system has also started sporting HDMI. If you wanted to hold off a couple months, they should be making the transistion to a cooler running revision. No one is quite sure when, though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
medic0079 0 #12 September 6, 2007 for what its worth I had 2 friends that bought them, both crapped out and both were sent back, both had new xboxes at the door within 2 weeks, warrenty dont last forever though Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FreeflyChile 0 #13 September 6, 2007 i think Microsoft recently extended the warranty on the xbox360 to three years ... look online im sure you'll be able to find the details. i have had a 360, a ps3 and a wii... love all of them, but the xbox has the best and most available games for the moment. i've not had a single problem with mine. i dont use it online because i don't play enough online to pay for xbox live. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jenfly00 0 #14 September 6, 2007 Quote Quote He's been dropping hints about the XBox for weeks now. Apparently his 'bestest' friend has one (no problems with his) and they want to play ...online? (apparently you can do this with xbox). Xbox online costs approx $10/month extra and requires a monthly subscription, just so you know. -At least it did when we had it about 3 years ago with our Xbox (not 360). My husband just mentioned one other thing you might need to consider (depending on your nephew's age) -ANYONE can jump in your game online...and some gamers are pretty raunchy. You can fix that by shutting off the sound, but then your nephew can't hear his friend smack-talking through the game, which is half the point of Xbox live...They may have 'fixed' that issue with the new 360 if they now allow private gaming...anyone know? I didn't even know you could talk to other gamers during the game, I thought you just ...played. I'll let his parental units handle that part, but I'm glad you brought up the monthly online fees. I guess I'll include a years subscription. Since he wants the 360, I guess that's what I'm going to get him. Scatter, thanks for the advice. I see the premium now comes with HDMI, but without the $50 HDMI cable, which makes it pretty much a tossup between the premium and the elite????? I guess I'll just see which one 'grabs' me when I'm in the store. I appreciate the feedback from everyone and will go shopping this weekend.----------------------- "O brave new world that has such people in it". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cashmanimal 0 #15 September 6, 2007 I have owned two XBOX 360's totalling about... eh, maybe 50 hours of actually owning them. THey worked great. I just returned both of them because I couldn't justify spending $500 for a game console to play 1-2 games. Granted, HALO 3 will help in their favor, but i still won't buy another one. You need too much to play! If you wanna save your games, you need the hard drive, if you ever plan on playing with a friend you need another $40 controller, batteries for the controllers, games are way overpriced, online play subscriptions... bought my first one from Costco for the bunbdle price (including a lot of shit i didn't need, turned out) and my second one from CompUSA on sale, returned that as well. I was told I was playing the wrong games. Gears of War was fun... but I am NOT going to pay $500 to play one game a few times a week.It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slowfaller 0 #16 September 6, 2007 I don't own a 360 but my brother is on his 3rd, a coworker is on his 3rd and two other coworkers are on their 2nd. None of them are Elites but that's a lot of broken xboxes IMO. Edit: Order an HDMI cable online and pay around $12 shipped. Buying them in a store is a complete rip. Check monoprice.com or newegg.com Chris. --"Someday you will die and somehow somethings going to steal your carbon" -MM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agent_lead 0 #17 September 6, 2007 I camped out on line overnight a tthe local bestbuy and got a 360 on launch day.. never had a problem with it...and i use it constantly... its actually prolly on right now... highly recommended over a ps3...i also have a wii...which pretty much just collects dust..-------------------------------------------- www.facebook.com/agentlead Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agent_lead 0 #18 September 6, 2007 also...xbox live is not 10 bucks a month...its $50 a year..its pretty much nessasary if you want to play online with your friends..and its 110% worth it..the system they have set up is so streamlined and flawless in my opinion...nothing has topped it or even come close to their online system... HDMI cables..not really nessasry..component cables work just fine...but..if your gonna go with the HDMI..you need to buy the elite 360 version..its black and it may be a few bucks more expensive im not sure.. im a gamer at heart..and the 360 is a gamers system..it just...works..flawlessly...for me at least.. of course there are some defective systems..but that happenes with every system...they had a problem at one point with discs getting scratched up..this really only happens if you set up the console vertically...keep it horazontal and it will never happen... if you have anyother questions about the 360...im the guy to ask..-------------------------------------------- www.facebook.com/agentlead Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agent_lead 0 #19 September 6, 2007 and i was not aware that the premium now includes the hdmi hookup... learn something new everyday..-------------------------------------------- www.facebook.com/agentlead Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ianmdrennan 2 #20 September 6, 2007 Quoteof course there are some defective systems..but that happenes with every system...they had a problem at one point with discs getting scratched up..this really only happens if you set up the console vertically...keep it horazontal and it will never happen... Love my 360, and I cannot wait for GH3 and Rockband....anyway, regarding the scratched discs, I've only ever had an issue when a friend tilted the console (while in use) which the manual explicitly warns against. Xbox Live is amazing, as already stated. I have zero regrets purchasing the Premium Xbox 360 (the core edition is bordering on useless IMO). Blues, IanPerformance Designs Factory Team Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisL 2 #21 September 6, 2007 Why not kick him out the door into the world instead of encouraging the growing trend of living every free moment in fake worlds blowing shit up and killing each other? Its a LOT cheaper too __ My mighty steed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clownburner 0 #22 September 6, 2007 The first one I bought got the dreaded "ring of death" and had to be returned. The second one has been fine so far. Microsoft has been very good about replacing units and they just extended the warranty to three years, so it's really not a bad bet. It also seems like the last few people I've known who have bought one have had no problems, so they may have finally sorted that out. XBox Live can be had for as little as $2.50 a month if you get a 12-month card on sale with a bonus month (which you can nearly always find). You *will* need a hard drive though, but 20G is actually fine, unless the extra money is burning a hole in your pocket. Anyone who tells you they can see the difference between 1080i on HDMI and 1080i on component cables is on crack. Don't worry about HDMI too much. The point of HDMI was not to improve signal quality, it was to add copy protection. HTH7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darius11 12 #23 September 6, 2007 Had my 1st 360 for 11 months. Then it shit the bed. Called Microsoft they sent a box and a new one with a new warranty within 3 weeks. They have excellent customer service. XBox 360 with the 12 gig hard drive is more then enough for games. Xbox live you can download any thing from new movies in Hidef to your favorite show. Once you down load it and watch it you can delete it and down load it again for free. The first time will cost Microsoft points, which cost money. 80 MSP = $1.00. It is by far the best bang for the buck I have ever had when it comes to entertainment. If you do get him an Xbox get him Halo 3 it is the most popular game for the Xbox 360 so the chances of him wanting that are high. Xbox live is 60 bucks a year and worth every penny. other game that is coming out that you might consider. Call of Duty 4. Warning the games specially war games and shooters are very realistic and often gory. I don’t know his age or his family’s beliefs so just something to consider.I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kris 0 #24 September 6, 2007 Definitely get the Console or Elite versions with the hard drive. And, like ClownBurner said, don't worry about having to have HDMI. You're not going to notice that much of a difference. The main advantages of the Elite is it and the controllers are black (they look dead sexy) and it has the bigger hard drive. And if you do get the elite, forget the $50 HDMI cable. Use either component, or go to www.newegg.com and get an HDMI cable for less than $15. I'm running 4 HDMI cables from there and have had no problems at all with them in my home theatre. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agent_lead 0 #25 September 6, 2007 QuoteQuoteof course there are some defective systems..but that happenes with every system...they had a problem at one point with discs getting scratched up..this really only happens if you set up the console vertically...keep it horazontal and it will never happen... Love my 360, and I cannot wait for GH3 and Rockband....anyway, regarding the scratched discs, I've only ever had an issue when a friend tilted the console (while in use) which the manual explicitly warns against. Xbox Live is amazing, as already stated. I have zero regrets purchasing the Premium Xbox 360 (the core edition is bordering on useless IMO). Blues, Ian yeah man i cant wait for rockband and guitar hero 3... i just got the 1000 note streak on GHII the other day..and 400,000 point in 1 song...along with 5starring every song on medium..with at least 12 songs out of those perfected... im a GH freak!one of he best games ever made..because i still play it and look forward to playing it everyday rockband will take it to the next level check my GH stats here http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/Achievements/ViewAchievementDetails.aspx?tid=%09%5d%3a%60m%2fl4%07%03&compareTo=agent+lead-------------------------------------------- www.facebook.com/agentlead Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
