XBox 360 differences

VincentAC · October 2008

A mate's getting an XBox 360 from his wife as a surprise, but she doesn't know the differences between all the different versions so she asked me.

Thing is, I'm not a fan of the XBox so I couldn't tell her anything.

So, I'm asking you guys instead :-P

What are the different models on sale in the UK, what advantages/disadvantages do they have, how easy is it to upgrade/mod etc?

I can find out about the games myself as we're both into the same kinds of things and I have heard about some of the games anyways.

Ta.

mile · October 2008

i think there are two versions? a pricey one and a cheaper one.

i noticed one had been slashed to 130 quid, does anyone know which model that is?

WhizzBang · October 2008

The XBox 360 comes in 3 varieties - Arcade, Premium and Elite.

Arcade does not have a hard drive, so if she gets that one for your mate he will have to go out and buy a hard drive since the XBox 360 is crippled without one.

The Premium one has a 20GB hard drive and I would presume is cheaper than buying the Arcade version and then buying a hard drive separately.

The Elite one costs the most and has a 120GB hard drive. Any other differences between the Elite and the Premium one are cosmetic, I think.

At the moment there is little need to have a hard drive bigger than 20 GB, but in November there is going to be a huge update to the console and this will allow you to install your games to the hard drive, which should make them play smoother and quieter.

GreenCard · October 2008

All I know is that when I bought mine, it was called the "XBox Professional", it cost ?190 and came with 2 games (Mass Effect & Gears Of War), wireless pad, and a 20 Gb hard drive. I got that deal from my local HMV around June this year.

Matt_B · October 2008

There's also a 60GB version of the "Premium" now which would appear to be the best buy. It's got the same list price as the 20GB one, although the street prices might be a few quid more.

The "Arcade" one isn't totally crippled either as it does have a 256MB (note not GB!) memory unit that should be good enough for keeping a few save games on. However, it's not that much cheaper and it's missing a few other bits and pieces too.

ZnorXman · October 2008

WhizzBang wrote: »

Arcade does not have a hard drive, so if she gets that one for your mate he will have to go out and buy a hard drive since the XBox 360 is crippled without one.

Quick question:
Can one just plop any modern HD in the 360? (what plugs does it use? SATA/ATA/E-IDE/ETC/ETC?)

The Starglider · October 2008

ZnorXman wrote: »

Quick question:
Can one just plop any modern HD in the 360? (what plugs does it use? SATA/ATA/E-IDE/ETC/ETC?)

No, it's a drive that clips onto the top/side of the xbox with a special connector.

ewgf · October 2008

ZnorXman wrote: »

Quick question:
Can one just plop any modern HD in the 360? (what plugs does it use? SATA/ATA/E-IDE/ETC/ETC?)

No. Don't quote me on this (I'm just going by what I read), but you can't use a normal hard drive, which is why M$ get away with flogging low capacity HDs for unrealistically high prices.

For more information, look at the FAQs and forums at xbox-scene.com (everything to do with the XBox 1 and 360 is there).

ZnorXman · October 2008

Yikes! Them there's a-holes which expect people to shove money up that there black abyss called M$.

*Sticks to ZX Spin ... [at least that supports all of my hard drives (from an old 20MB up to the 215GB one)]* :grin:

VincentAC · October 2008

Cheers guys. I thought there'd be more differences than just the drive. Ah well, that's something new I've learned today.

Pity about the HD not being upgradable like the PS3. Bloody money grabbing bastards.

ZnorXman wrote: »

Yikes! Them there's a-holes which expect people to shove money up that there black abyss called M$.

*Sticks to ZX Spin ... [at least that supports all of my hard drives (from an old 20MB up to the 215GB one)]* :grin:

Yeah, well, at least I'll be able to play some of the new gen games without having to give m$ the money :-D (I don't really count the Wii as new gen as it's basically the 'Cube with a sensor controller.)

They've only ever had money from me for XP and that's possibly the last time they'll get money from me unless there is a new version of Windows that's as good as XP. But I highly doubt that :lol:

Matt_B · October 2008

VincentAC wrote: »

Cheers guys. I thought there'd be more differences than just the drive. Ah well, that's something new I've learned today.

Pity about the HD not being upgradable like the PS3. Bloody money grabbing bastards.

Given that a 360 with a hard drive is still about ?140 less than a PS3, I'd think that's something of a moot point.

Vampyre · October 2008

I haven't checked myself but computerandvideogames.com were reporting that Sainsbury's online (only, not in-store) are flogging the Arcade version for ?99 until the 12th October, and the Premium for ?149 - ?30 off basically.

I'm tempted to get an Arcade myself for that price.

Vampyre · October 2008

Matt_B wrote: »

Given that a 360 with a hard drive is still about ?140 less than a PS3, I'd think that's something of a moot point.

Although not a necessity you may have to factor in another ?60 quid onto the 360 price for the Wireless adapter - PS3 is built in. Also the RROD is a massive factor, but with the ?129 price point it's becoming less of an issue.

ADJB · October 2008

Rumour has it the Blue Ray issue may soon be moot as well.

Vampyre · October 2008

ADJB wrote: »

Rumour has it the Blue Ray issue may soon be moot as well.

I read about that earlier today too. I can't see it being anything more than a token gesture from M$ really to get a few sales out of the 360 being a HD movie player though, much like its HD-DVD player. The Xbox 720 or whatever it's going to be called will almost certainly have one and will definitely utilise the capacity for games.

Even the PS3 has struggled to produce games that benefit from the massive capacity. MGS4 certainly, but if you've watched any of the cut scenes then it's obvious why. Stuff like Burnout Paradise, GTA IV, etc have been released on the 360 equally as well on DVD.

Blu-ray movies look and sound bloody brilliant though - 2001, Blade Runner really benefit from the picture quality (on a HDTV obviously) and uncompressed sound.

lv426 · October 2008

Wikipedia has a list of the different versions (no idea how upto date it is)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBox360 (scroll down to Comparison of features)

Vampyre · October 2008

If she's looking at the more expensive versions (Premium and Elite) then tell her to bear in mind that basically the only difference is the larger HD on the Elite, which is NOT worth the extra cash unless he's a serious user. Up until last year the Elite was the only way to get a 360 with a HDMI port (the best way to display HD at the mo), but most Premiums should come with it now too. You have to check the box for a HDMI "label" otherwise it will come with a component cable.

Of course the TV it's going to be played on must have either component or HDMI input to play in HD (although you can get cheap VGA cable to connect a 360 to a VGA monitor for peanuts on eBay - I paid about ?12 a couple of years ago).

VincentAC · October 2008

Vampyre wrote: »

Blu-ray movies look and sound bloody brilliant though - 2001, Blade Runner really benefit from the picture quality (on a HDTV obviously) and uncompressed sound.

Blade Runner's latest release on DVD and a normal widescreen telly looked seriously sweet compared to the older releases :-D

VincentAC · October 2008

... deleted - it's the same as the one below. Fuck knows what happened, I clicked preview, fixed a quote then hit submit.

Ah well...

VincentAC · October 2008

Vampyre wrote: »

If she's looking at the more expensive versions (Premium and Elite) then tell her to bear in mind that basically the only difference is the larger HD on the Elite, which is NOT worth the extra cash unless he's a serious user.

He'll play it a lot, but I wouldn't call him a serious gamer.

Up until last year the Elite was the only way to get a 360 with a HDMI port (the best way to display HD at the mo), but most Premiums should come with it now too. You have to check the box for a HDMI "label" otherwise it will come with a component cable.

According to the wiki link it looks like they all have the port, but not the connector (which I gathered from the shops saying that the Premium didn't have the cable).

Of course the TV it's going to be played on must have either component or HDMI input to play in HD (although you can get cheap VGA cable to connect a 360 to a VGA monitor for peanuts on eBay - I paid about ?12 a couple of years ago).

Oh the tv's not a problem. It's a fucking huge HD ready flat screen LCD thingumy. It's probably a good 50-odd inches :-D

ewgf · October 2008

Our two computer/console gaming shops are full of second hand 360s for sale, but the 360 is so notoriously prone to packing in that I'd imagine no one wants to risk it. A pity, as the 360 is a great machine in many ways.

VincentAC wrote: »

Cheers guys. I thought there'd be more differences than just the drive. Ah well, that's something new I've learned today.

Pity about the HD not being upgradable like the PS3. Bloody money grabbing bastards."

Welcome to the world's view of Micro$oft. I don't know what they'd claim is their business motto, but if they were honest (Microsoft? No chance!) then they'd admit it was "f*ck the customer".

Yeah, well, at least I'll be able to play some of the new gen games without having to give m$ the money :-D (I don't really count the Wii as new gen as it's basically the 'Cube with a sensor controller.)

They've only ever had money from me for XP and that's possibly the last time they'll get money from me unless there is a new version of Windows that's as good as XP. But I highly doubt that :lol:

You could buy a used XBox (the XBox ones were very reliable). As long as it has a mod chip (or you add one) then you can add a standard IDE hard drive (I put a 300GB in mine, I'm thinking of changing to a 500GB) and play all of the XBox games from hard drive, play any region DVDs (even from the hard drive), all video or music files (mpg/avi/mov/rm/mpr4/wam/mp3), a stack of great emulators, and ports of old, opensource PC game (Doom 1 and 2, Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake 1 and 2, Descent 1 and 2, etc, and a port of Alien vs Predator is due out soon), even run native Linux on the XBox. And everything, absolutely everything, can be stored and run from the hard drive. Just connect your PC to the XBox, and you can transfer data and programs in either direction.

Personally I'm happy with the last generation consoles for the moment. When the 360 is redesigned to negate the overheating flaws (Micro$oft keep promising this, but it's yet to appear) then I'll get a 360, and the used games will be cheap then too (bonus!!!), but until then I'll wait.

WhizzBang · October 2008

ewgf wrote: »

As long as it has a mod chip (or you add one) then you can add a standard IDE hard drive (I put a 300GB in mine, I'm thinking of changing to a 500GB) and play all of the XBox games from hard drive, play any region DVDs (even from the hard drive), all video or music files (mpg/avi/mov/rm/mpr4/wam/mp3), a stack of great emulators, and ports of old, opensource PC game (Doom 1 and 2, Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake 1 and 2, Descent 1 and 2, etc, and a port of Alien vs Predator is due out soon), even run native Linux on the XBox. And everything, absolutely everything, can be stored and run from the hard drive.

That sounds amazing - much better than a 360. Having all the games on hard drive is something that really appeals to me but I wouldn't have a clue how to chip a console.

I have a 360 which I don't use much because of the dreadful noise it makes, but I think I have had most fun with it on XBox games (Rogue Trooper, Halo 1, Out Run, Star Wars KOTOR, Jet Set Radio and Half Life 2 were all good). On the 360, I have only got into Oblivion for any significant amount of time. The rest of the games I have bought have been disappointing (Halo 3, PGR 3, Kameo, Amped 3).

ewgf · October 2008

WhizzBang wrote: »

That sounds amazing - much better than a 360. Having all the games on hard drive is something that really appeals to me but I wouldn't have a clue how to chip a console.

I bought mine (new, about five years ago) and the shop fitted the chip whilst I waited. Last year I took my brother's kids' XBox to get it chipped and fitted with a hard drive, and they charged me ?80 including fitting for the chip and 300GB hard drive. Over the years I've dealt with the shop maybe half a dozen times, and they've always been great. The shop is in Bolton, and the address is given in my post in:

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20223

You could always buy a non-chipped one, and get it chipped for you (either by a shop, or by someone who's handy with a soldering iron (all details on xbox-scene.com), or buy a modded xbox. Computer/console game shops seel them very cheaply (usually unmodded, but not always), as would computer market stalls. Or Loot, or ebay, or your local paper.

I really really recommend a modded XBox, as it does so much that you'd otherwise need a PC for, and it's much more convenient than a PC. And on top of all that, it plays XBox games (which are very cheap now) ;)

I have a 360 which I don't use much because of the dreadful noise it makes, but I think I have had most fun with it on XBox games (Rogue Trooper, Halo 1, Out Run, Star Wars KOTOR, Jet Set Radio and Half Life 2 were all good). On the 360, I have only got into Oblivion for any significant amount of time. The rest of the games I have bought have been disappointing (Halo 3, PGR 3, Kameo, Amped 3).

There are some great first person shooters on the 360, but I've not seen much else that I liked. But on the Xbox (or via 360 backwards compatability, if it supports these games) there are some great first person shooters too, such as Project Snowblind, Unreal Championship 2, XIII, Chronicles of Riddick (absolutely first class, despite being based (loosely) on a film), Timesplitters 3, Operation Flashpoint, Halo 2, Black, Darkwatch, Far Cry Instincts, Far Cry Instincts Evolution, and quite a few more.

And on the XBox you have Morrowind (get the Game of the Year edition, it has the two expansion paks and some bug fixes) and if you run the game from the hard drive then you can use some of the user made mods from the PC version.

GreenCard · October 2008

ewgf wrote: »

There are some great first person shooters on the 360, but I've not seen much else that I liked...

Don't forget Deus Ex: Invisible War, definately a must-have game for the XBox.

sparkes · October 2008

I use my modded xbox as a media player almost every day. One of the best purchases ever. The 360 is currently being repaired again.

beanz · November 2010

Anyone answer this?

Is it safe to play ORIGINAL games on xbox live in a firmware modded xbox 360? I know you might get blacklisted for backups but what about originals?

Also do the 'system updates' affect the modded firmware or just the dashboard etc.

BiNMaN · November 2010

beanz wrote: »

Anyone answer this?

Is it safe to play ORIGINAL games on xbox live in a firmware modded xbox 360? I know you might get blacklisted for backups but what about originals?

Also do the 'system updates' affect the modded firmware or just the dashboard etc.

dunno, but if you have a nme360 on your drive the chip apparently doesn't turn on if you insert an original

the other way is to have the firmware on onother chip and switch between the two, from what I've read anyway

WhizzBang · November 2010

beanz wrote: »

Is it safe to play ORIGINAL games on xbox live in a firmware modded xbox 360? I know you might get blacklisted for backups but what about originals?

XBox live no longer supports XBox originals so they won't work even if it is an original disc on a machine that has not been modded.

beanz · November 2010

WhizzBang wrote: »

XBox live no longer supports XBox originals so they won't work even if it is an original disc on a machine that has not been modded.

Clarification

I have a Xbox 360
I have a bunch of Xbox 360 original games some of which I'd like to play online
My Xbox 360 drive is currently 'sent away' getting the firmware fix so I can play 'backups' (no hardware changes)
I understand that playing backups on live would get me banned
My question is would playing ORIGINAL 360 games in a firmware hacked 360 get me a ban...do they look at the firmware or the game etc?

deadpan666 · November 2010

WhizzBang wrote: »

XBox live no longer supports XBox originals so they won't work even if it is an original disc on a machine that has not been modded.

More clarification....

Some Xbox (not 360, but the big black behemoth) originals will still work on the 360, it's just the Xbox LIVE features that will be disabled....

Which is what I think you were saying Whizzbang, it's just it maybe sounded like you meant they wouldn't work at all... :)

MinerWilly · November 2010

beanz wrote: »

Clarification

I have a Xbox 360
I have a bunch of Xbox 360 original games some of which I'd like to play online
My Xbox 360 drive is currently 'sent away' getting the firmware fix so I can play 'backups' (no hardware changes)
I understand that playing backups on live would get me banned
My question is would playing ORIGINAL 360 games in a firmware hacked 360 get me a ban...do they look at the firmware or the game etc?

I think it's been safe to play original games even tough the DVD drive is hacked but i'm not sure now with the new dashboard release.

XBox 360 differences

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