I want a 360, but when do I buy it?

[kaedesdisciple]

I feel like I'm stuck here. I know I'll eventually wind up with all 3 systems, but I'll wait for Nintendo to put out Wii ver.2 and for the PS3 to actually get something I want to play before I grab those. That leaves me with the 360, which has a bunch of games I really do want to play. The problem lies in the fact that we haven't seen a real price drop yet and now with all these rumors flying around about the new model with the 120GB HDD, 65nm CPU and HDMI support, I don't want to buy a premium version just to get hosed in a few months when the new one comes out. What to do, what to do...

[itobandito]

Yeah man I would wait a few months. http://kotaku.com/gaming/360/rumour-australia-gets-black-120gb-360-in-march-234868.php has to be some truth to it

[Slate]

Yeah, Wait awhile, Or you could buy a premium from someone that wants to trade theirs in.

[SaturnFan]

wait.

[Rev. Link]

Okay, I understand the bigger HD and the inclusion of HDMI, but what's the deal with the new CPU?

[PapaStu]

Okay, I understand the bigger HD and the inclusion of HDMI, but what's the deal with the new CPU?

Its made using 65nm technology and not the 90nm that the current chips are made with. The smaller nm's means less heat and a smoother running chip to boot.

[Rev. Link]

Any chance this newer model 360 would be less likely to break down than the original?

[hezeuschrist]

As time goes on, all manufacturing "issues" will continue to be ironed out, but with a new processs it'll be hard to tell if that will help or hinder the quality issues.

On the one hand, it'll generate less heat but thats JUST the CPU, the GPU will continue to create as much heat as it has.

On the other hand, it's a new process using spaking new technology which could produce shitty yields, thus lax QA standards.

I'd say no, it won't really improve the quality of the machine.

[Rev. Link]

Then, in your opinion, if I'm interested in getting a 360 but don't care about the bigger HD or HDMI, should I just go for one in stores now? Should I get a replacement plan or some kind of extended warranty?

[petewhitley]

Buy it now; you're going to miss potentially many months of quality gaming if you wait for an update that isn't even official yet. The newer 360's have new DVD drives that are quieter/faster. Buy it at WalMart and you can take it back if anything happens to it.

[Anthony1]

If I were you, I would try my best to wait till March 1st to buy one, and then buy one from Target. Why Target? Well they have a 90 day return policy. Now, I'm not sure if you could use it for a full 90 days and then get a complete refund. but if you buy it at target, and on the 89th day they drop the price $100, then Target would have to refund you the difference if you take your receipt back to them and demand the difference.


Anytime you think a system has a price drop coming in the immediate future, you should buy it from Target because of their 90 day policy.

[kaedesdisciple]

Buy it now; you're going to miss potentially many months of quality gaming if you wait for an update that isn't even official yet. The newer 360's have new DVD drives that are quieter/faster. Buy it at WalMart and you can take it back if anything happens to it.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I would obviously want to be on Live, so I don't want to miss out on the Live goodness if it is there to be had.

[johno590]

I just bought one a few weeks ago, I say go ahead and buy one, if they release a new version of the console, oh well... You can always buy the upgraded hard drive seperately...

[Oobgarm]

Or, get one at Best Buy and go for the 2-year extended warranty. It's strictly replacement, and they're not going to test the unit when you bring it back. Just tell them that it keeps locking up randomly. You might be out $40-$50 additional dollars for the plan, but in reality, that's not a bad way to pretty much guarantee an upgrade in the future.

When you return it, just tell them you want to keep your hard drive since it's got all your stuff on it, and you'll replace that with the new system's unused drive. They should be cool with that.

[SaturnFan]

Go to Costco. The guy from Tanzania, who just got off the boat 24hrs prior, will not even question your return :) You could possibly even return it without a reciept and you would still get store credit.

[skaar]

Jump in.

[Technosis]

Or, get one at Best Buy and go for the 2-year extended warranty. It's strictly replacement, and they're not going to test the unit when you bring it back. Just tell them that it keeps locking up randomly. You might be out $40-$50 additional dollars for the plan, but in reality, that's not a bad way to pretty much guarantee an upgrade in the future.


Yeah I got the extended warranty and I generally NEVER go for these extended warranty options. But I use my 360 as a music/DVD player, so it sees alot of continuous use.



Go to Costco. The guy from Tanzania, who just got off the boat 24hrs prior, will not even question your return You could possibly even return it without a reciept and you would still get store credit.


Costco's generous return policy is the stuff of legends!

[kaedesdisciple]

I think I'm just gonna go for it, I'm about to get my bonus and I've got gift certs to burn at best buy anyways. Is there a suggested period I should wait to make sure I get one of the ones with a quieter dvd drive?

[Anthony1]

I think I'm just gonna go for it, I'm about to get my bonus and I've got gift certs to burn at best buy anyways. Is there a suggested period I should wait to make sure I get one of the ones with a quieter dvd drive?



Dude, buy from Target. How can you beat that 90 day policy? With a 90 day policy, if the price is lowered in the next 90 days, then you don't have to worry about it. I would still try to hold out till March 1st if I were you, and get it at Target.

[Oobgarm]

I think I'm just gonna go for it, I'm about to get my bonus and I've got gift certs to burn at best buy anyways. Is there a suggested period I should wait to make sure I get one of the ones with a quieter dvd drive?

Since you're getting one at Best Buy, and if your local store is anything like mine, they have a few stacks of them on the sales floor. Just lift the flap on the box and look for the MFR date above the serial number. Reports of the new drive have been that they're in units manufactured in November 2006 and later.

Don't bother with any of the Need for Speed or Madden bundles, as they're old(er).

[petewhitley]

I'm pretty sure not ALL 360s manufactured from 11/06 have the BenQ drive. There's a picture online of the visual difference between the disc trays, and my new 360 (manufactured after 11/06 according to date) doesn't have it.

[kaedesdisciple]

I really just said aw screw it yesterday and bought it. I picked it up from best buy as mine just got a new shipment in. Found a nice minty box and sure enough it was manufactured in dec 06. I don't think it has the benq drive though. Fine by me as it's not that loud anyways. Grabbed the 2 year warranty, too.

Picked up burnout revenge (for my fiancee, she looooooves burnout), gears and dead rising. Got a wireless connection working through my laptop just like the old xbox (no way I'm paying $100 for a wireless adapter), migrated my live account and started wading my way through live. So far I'm really impressed.

Oh btw, gt = JOEY BLACKOUTS

See you on live!

[zektor]

Yup, I bought one too....just waiting for it to arrive. I thought about waiting, but for what. I want to enjoy some of these games RIGHT NOW! Everything looks so good on the 360, and I've waited long enough myself :)

[kaedesdisciple]

A few weeks in and I can honestly say I don't regret my decision one bit. A lot of the fun is playing these games online, and if I waited a few months I would have missed out on some online goodness.

[ecresto]

did you check out crackdown or nba street yet . ive been playing both all week . great games in my opinion .

[kaedesdisciple]

did you check out crackdown or nba street yet . ive been playing both all week . great games in my opinion .

Crackdown = awesome. The halo 3 beta seems like a nice throw-in at this point. Sports games aren't really my thing though.

[77punk]

Im waiting to get mine for alittle while. Its in my eyes the best newest system out there, since the PS3 is just grafx and Wii is just for people with two people... or they just destroy your tv..

[Nature Boy]

For what it's worth, I bought my 360 about a month ago without knowing about this potentially new console, and I wish I *had* known so I could've made a more informed decision about the whole thing.

To be honest I'm not sure I could've waited any longer to make a next gen purchase, especially after I decided that MS was getting my money this time around, but I'd've felt better knowing I *chose* the older model, as opposed to being in the dark.

I'm kinda bitter about the whole thing actually. Why should any of us buy launch day anything anymore, if they're just going to re-release the hardware at some point? (The GBA/DS pisses me off the most - as I own 3 GBAs and 2 DSs because of hardware changes... Never again!)

[Steve W]

I wanted to mention that there's something like 126 CompUSA locations closing down across the country, and they've got game consoles marked down along with everything else. The Arlington, TX location had the PS3 around $70 off, and the Xbox 360s cheaper too. I can't remember what the prices were on those, but I'm guessing it's 10% off like the PS3. I didn't see any DS or PSPs at my local store, though. Maybe they've already sold out.

[whoisKeel]

For what it's worth, I bought my 360 about a month ago without knowing about this potentially new console, and I wish I *had* known so I could've made a more informed decision about the whole thing.

To be honest I'm not sure I could've waited any longer to make a next gen purchase, especially after I decided that MS was getting my money this time around, but I'd've felt better knowing I *chose* the older model, as opposed to being in the dark.

I'm kinda bitter about the whole thing actually. Why should any of us buy launch day anything anymore, if they're just going to re-release the hardware at some point? (The GBA/DS pisses me off the most - as I own 3 GBAs and 2 DSs because of hardware changes... Never again!)

Well at least you got the whitey Xbox. Black is soooo last gen dude.

[PallarAndersVisa]

any time is a good time to get a 360. Honestly, I wouldn't be worried about Hard drive space. My 20 gig is not even half full, and I download tons of game demos, rip cds to my hard drive, and have a handful of live arcade titles.

Unless you plan on putting your entire mp3 collection on there or ripping entire DVDs with a hacked 360, 20 gigs is more than enough!

[zektor]

any time is a good time to get a 360. Honestly, I wouldn't be worried about Hard drive space. My 20 gig is not even half full, and I download tons of game demos, rip cds to my hard drive, and have a handful of live arcade titles.

Unless you plan on putting your entire mp3 collection on there or ripping entire DVDs with a hacked 360, 20 gigs is more than enough!

I agree on all counts. I am so glad I did NOT wait. This console kicks ass, and I'm already hooked up with th eunit, the HD DVD addon, and a bunch of great games as well as now over a dozen Live Arcade titles :) I have a few demos and movies on it right now as well, and there is still over 11GB left, so space is not an issue. As for media, I media share over 90GB of music, and now that I have TVersity working correctly I can stream all of my DivX/XviD content to the unit as well. The only reason I would think of actually needing more than 20GB would be to add music/movies, but with the 360's excellent ability to share your PC HD, well, no need.