Xbox 360 purchase help!

Kelly7589

Hi! I'll be purchasing an XBox 360 soon as a birthday present and I just wondered if anyone had seen any good deals?

ALSO I'm unsure of which to buy..as I'm not really up on consoles. Am I right in thinking there are 3 different ones. The Arcade (more marketed towards kids, that right?) a 'normal' Xbox 360 and a 'PRO' one? Am I better off getting the Arcade and upgrading the hard drive? Will that work out cheaper? I only have a small budget so what do you think?

Sorry for the naive questions I really am not Xbox savvy and would appreciate any advise!

THANK YOU!!!

smooch71

Can I ask who you're buying it for and how into gaming are they?

Gunmonkey

I think its more along the lines of Arcade (no hard-drive, cheapest), Normal (60gig HD) and Elite (120gig HD, costly) nowadays, cant be sure.

Heres a handy comparison list of the 3 types. I would go with the normal or Elite bundle, the hard-drive is VERY handy as many good games on the Xbox Live Arcade, and the HD's are ridiculously overpriced seperately.

cobrastarship

get a xbox elite because it has 120gb hard drive hdmi cable its the one you want if you have a hd tv

Kelly7589

smooch71 wrote: »

Can I ask who you're buying it for and how into gaming are they?

It's for my boyfriend. He would be MUCH more into gaming than he is if money permitted..lol Currently he has the old Xbox which he got chipped when living in England so he has a STACK of old games on there that he plays regularly. Just recently we had friends visiting from England who are very keen to play online with him..hence my purchasing the 360.

Kelly7589

cobrastarship wrote: »

get a xbox elite because it has 120gb hard drive hdmi cable its the one you want if you have a hd tv

Thanks for that, we do have a hd tv, I guess I'll have to weigh up the prices.

cobrastarship

i still say a elite if he plays online because of downloadle content for games you nead the 120gb i have one and its about 1/2 full after a 1 and 1/2 years

mise

There's a deal in HMV for a 360 with 60 gig hardrive and Burnout Paradise/Trivia Pursuit and 2 controllers for €200. Im pretty sure its still running, and its by far the best deal Ive seen

claiva

Kelly7589 wrote: »

It's for my boyfriend. He would be MUCH more into gaming than he is if money permitted..lol Currently he has the old Xbox which he got chipped when living in England so he has a STACK of old games on there that he plays regularly. Just recently we had friends visiting from England who are very keen to play online with him..hence my purchasing the 360.

awww...thats so sweet.
Definitely get him some sort of HDD with it because with games like Call of Duty etc there are constantly new maps being created and you have to have a hard drive to be able to download them.

If I was you, I'd go to Gamestop and one of the guys will go through all of the bundles with you. I recently bought an arcade from them as I had a HDD.
Buy an arcade bundle becasue they are the newest Xboxes and ask about a second hand HDD.

Kelly7589

[quote=

Gunmonkey

;61500491]I think its more along the lines of Arcade (no hard-drive, cheapest), Normal (60gig HD) and Elite (120gig HD, costly) nowadays, cant be sure.

Heres

a handy comparison list of the 3 types. I would go with the normal or Elite bundle, the hard-drive is VERY handy as many good games on the

Xbox

Live Arcade, and the

HD's

are ridiculously overpriced seperately.[/quote]


So if he wanted to play online (or 'live' is it?) then the Arcade would be no good, that right?

Honestly, I don't even understand the HARD DRIVE aspect of them, is the

hard

drive there purely for the ability to play 'live' or do you save games to the hard drive? These are silly questions I know but humour me I need all the info I can get!

I'll check that link out now, thank you very much!

cobrastarship

ya you cent play some games with out a harddisk and you cent go online with out them

Kelly7589

claiva wrote: »

awww...thats so sweet.
Definitely get him some sort of HDD with it because with games like Call of Duty etc there are constantly new maps being created and you have to have a hard drive to be able to download them.

If I was you, I'd go to Gamestop and one of the guys will go through all of the bundles with you. I recently bought an arcade from them as I had a HDD.
Buy an arcade bundle becasue they are the newest Xboxes and ask about a second hand HDD.

Thanks very much!! That's really helpful! now I understand how the HDD works I'll look into that!

Damo 2k9

Kelly7589 wrote: »

So if he wanted to play online (or 'live' is it?) then the Arcade would be no good, that right?

Honestly, I don't even understand the HARD DRIVE aspect of them, is the

hard

drive there purely for the ability to play 'live' or do you save games to the hard drive? These are silly questions I know but humour me I need all the info I can get!

I'll check that link out now, thank you very much!

Well yeh you will need a hard drive to play online as you need a hard drive to save the profile to. And yes you can download games off 'live' and save it too your hard drive, and if you want nowadays you can save games from the disc onto the hard drive but i dont wanna confuse you lol. Please someone correct me if im wrong.

Kelly7589

cobrastarship wrote: »

ya you cent play some games with out a harddisk and you cent go online with out them

Thanks! They're pretty essential then by the sounds of it.

cobrastarship

just to let you no do not go for a 2nd hand one because must will have rrod on them

theteal

you can play online without the HDD (i have an arcade in my gf's house) it's just not ideal as most games have updates (maps etc) that he'll probably need. this stuff would be saved to the HDD. games can now be installed to the HDD making the machine run a lot quieter (mine has never been so bad but some people have voiced complaints). also a really good feature of this generation of games machines is that you can download demos of most games before you actually buy them, these too would find a home on the HDD.

personally i think the HMV deal mentioned above is one to consider, i dont think much of the mentioned games but the machine and 2 pads for €200 seems like a good deal to me. you could then pick up Call of Duty 4 for under €50. . .sorted

you may regret buying him COD4 though. . .relationship-wise:D

Kelly7589

cobrastarship wrote: »

just to let you no do not go for a 2nd hand one because must will have rrod on them

Really!? Because I was going to look into a 2nd hand Elite one..what is 'rrod' ?

theteal

Kelly7589 wrote: »

Really!? Because I was going to look into a 2nd hand Elite one..what is 'rrod' ?

somebody post the link to the sticky

i got it . . . RRoD

just to echo, do not buy a 2nd hand one! all old one's are expected to die at some stage

cobrastarship

rrod is red ring of death must sell there xbox with this on it

claiva

Kelly7589 wrote: »

Really!? Because I was going to look into a 2nd hand Elite one..what is 'rrod' ?

lol......
I promise you....you don't want to know !!!!
Its just about the early consoles and how they fail.


Suffice to say, go to Gamestop, ask for an Arcade bundle. Ask them if the Xbox console is a "Jasper" model - (It will be).
Then ask about a second hand HDD...
You will get all of this for less than 200, and your bf will be very very appreciative !!!!

Riesen_Meal

Hi Kelly,

Why the lads were telling you not to buy a second hand one is that the older xbox models were manufactured with a big problem that generally can cause 25% of them to stop working, then they have to be sent to microsoft to be fixed if this is the case, the newer models in shops at the moment are apparently RROD - Free (RROD is the term given to them breaking down)

Microsof guarantee the console from RROD for 3 years from where you purchase it once you keep the receipt, if god forbid something goes wrong they will courier you out the console and back in 10 working days...

Ive no idea of what the xboxes go for these days, so I cant comment, but for basic online play with maps and stuff you do need at least a 60gb model......

I have an xbox elite, and unfortunately think mine is not far from the dreaded RROD at the moment....

Kelly7589

theteal wrote: »

you can play online without the HDD (i have an arcade in my gf's house) it's just not ideal as most games have updates (maps etc) that he'll probably need. this stuff would be saved to the HDD. games can now be installed to the HDD making the machine run a lot quieter (mine has never been so bad but some people have voiced complaints). also a really good feature of this generation of games machines is that you can download demos of most games before you actually buy them, these too would find a home on the HDD.

personally i think the HMV deal mentioned above is one to consider, i dont think much of the mentioned games but the machine and 2 pads for €200 seems like a good deal to me. you could then pick up Call of Duty 4 for under €50. . .sorted

you may regret buying him COD4 though. . .relationship-wise:D

Thank you for all the info! I'm thinking the 200 for console and 2 pads IS very good, esp compared to some of the online deals offered! The wireless pads themselves can be pricey! I presume COD4 is a popular game? He's mostly into games like Grand Theft Auto, driving/racing games and shoot em ups!

LOL I'm actually getting him this to tie in with (not only his B'Day) but the next X Factor series, which he can't stand, aim is, I watch X Factor downstairs, he plays X box 360 upstairs = everyone's happy!

cobrastarship

you can pick up 2nd hand pads for 30 for 2 in gamestop now
and do not get him gta4 because is such a bad game so so so bad

theteal

Kelly7589 wrote: »

LOL I'm actually getting him this to tie in with (not only his B'Day) but the next X Factor series, which he can't stand, aim is, I watch X Factor downstairs, he plays X box 360 upstairs = everyone's happy!

i like your style, nice :pac:

yeah Call of Duty 4 is still possibly the most played online 360 game - army lads running around, shooting each other. . .strangely addictive. they made a COD5 but it's just not my cup of whiskey

Kelly7589

cobrastarship wrote: »

you can pick up 2nd hand pads for 30 for 2 in gamestop now
and do not get him gta4 because is such a bad game so so so bad

I think a trip to Gamestop is definatley needed before i make a decision.

So hyperthetically if I bought a new 'Aracade' version, fitted it with a cheap 120HDD (if thats possible?) then I wouldn't get the ring of death thing?

GTA4 really that bad? How come? I know he loves playing the others.

Kelly7589

claiva wrote: »

lol......
I promise you....you don't want to know !!!!
Its just about the early consoles and how they fail.


Suffice to say, go to Gamestop, ask for an Arcade bundle. Ask them if the Xbox console is a "Jasper" model - (It will be).
Then ask about a second hand HDD...
You will get all of this for less than 200, and your bf will be very very appreciative !!!!

A trip to Gamestop it is! Thank you!

cobrastarship

a cheap 120hd you got to be jokeing me there about 160 euros

Kelly7589

cobrastarship wrote: »

a cheap 120hd you got to be jokeing me there about 160 euros

Fair enough..I wasn't sure but that IS very expensive..esp when you look at the HMV bundle deal.

cobrastarship

yap but go to gamstop our xtravison beforehand

Kelly7589

Fieldog wrote: »

Hi Kelly,

Why the lads were telling you not to buy a second hand one is that the older xbox models were manufactured with a big problem that generally can cause 25% of them to stop working, then they have to be sent to microsoft to be fixed if this is the case, the newer models in shops at the moment are apparently RROD - Free (RROD is the term given to them breaking down)

Microsof guarantee the console from RROD for 3 years from where you purchase it once you keep the receipt, if god forbid something goes wrong they will courier you out the console and back in 10 working days...

Ive no idea of what the xboxes go for these days, so I cant comment, but for basic online play with maps and stuff you do need at least a 60gb model......

I have an xbox elite, and unfortunately think mine is not far from the dreaded RROD at the moment....

Hope your Xbox holds out! Thanks for clarifying the RROD thing, I would NEVER have known about that if I hadn't come on here.

Everyone has been very helpful, thanks again! What a friendly forum this is!

her-in-doors

I have a similar query- would like to buy a new x box 360 for my boyf as his last one died (presume it was the rrod from above posts). Would it be possible for him to use the hard drive from his old one then or would it be buggered also? that would be cheaper for me then cos could buy an arcade one then???

Gunmonkey

her-in-doors wrote: »

I have a similar query- would like to buy a new x box 360 for my boyf as his last one died (presume it was the rrod from above posts). Would it be possible for him to use the hard drive from his old one then or would it be buggered also? that would be cheaper for me then cos could buy an arcade one then???

Nah, he will be fine with an Arcade version, can just plug his HD in and continue playing. Hard-drive wont be affected by a RROD, only if the HD itself copped out for other reasons.