Comments on: Hands-on with Xbox 360 Elite

The newest incarnation of the Xbox 360 hits stores this weekend. But is it a must-have upgrade, or just a PS3 wannabe?

[Yeshua2]

XB 360 Elite

I own the version that came with the 20gig drive. My advise for those planning on getting a new system is to spend the extra $80 and get the Elite. The 20gig drive doesn't actually have 20gig of free space. More like 13. You will run out of space. It will cost me $179.99 to upgrade to the new drive. You're actually getting a better deal than what I got.

[sydney_boy]

**Slap Across The Face**

This is regarding to the guy that bought the 20gig X-Box 360>>> Well duh, of coarse the product that was released half a year after your product is a better deal, Microsofties has noticed how much its product sucks compared to the competition, so they release a enhanced version of the x-box 360, which doesn't do much anyway, ooo ahh,6 times more hdd space and hdmi output (not even the most recent hdmi although). OH AND LETS NOT FORGET ITS BLACK, GOTTA GET IT NOW(!) Nothanks, i think ill pass, just like ill pass on vista for now (thanks for nothing microsoft, you've just made life abit more difficult with another DEAD product)

[sydney_boy]

++++++++++ Added from the responce below

Also, serves you right for buying an x-box 360 as soon as it got released. LAWL

[Kokoro-Kun]

When will xbox Ultimate come out???

Sure, they added HDMI port and bigger harddrive (I wouldn't even consider black colour as a 'feature). but they missed some of the very important MUST-HAVE

*65nm process: quieter, less likely to die from ring of fire
*BenQ DVD player: again, quieter, won't kill your disc
*Built-in Wireless: Why do I have to put out another 100 bucks for something that is so standard nowaday??

of course, after Halo comes out, we will likely see a Halo branded Ultimate package with those issues addressed. and prabably another 75 dollars price increase. I mean, people are suckers for Halo brands.

[PrdAmrican]

Hands-on with the XBOX 360 Elite

I now have all three --- XBOX 360 Premium (stood in line for 28 hours for this --- that was fun, but won't ever do that again), XBOX Elite, and a PS/3 60G. Actually, I have a fourth 360 Premium that I got my son so we could play together. They have all worked flawless thus far.

A few observations:

Online Service:
XBOX Live is light years ahead of Sony's on-line. I am really dissapointed with the PS/3 here. It is true that MS has had Live for a lot longer, but even when it debuted on the 360, it was better that the PS/3's online. There just isn't any real reason to get online with the PS/3 other than to play online and this is inconsistent throughout the various games. True, Live cost $50/year for "GOLD" package, but, at least in this case, you gets whats you pays for.

Noise:
The new Elite is no louder than the PS/3 (I have them setting next to each other). I have not compared it to the last 360 I got, but it is quieter than my original one.

Heat:
I sure am getting tired of hearing complaints about the heat that comes out of the 360 "because it is using a 90nm core". Has anyone ever felt the heat on the PS/3? It is not slouch in this department. It is nice that the P/S is built in, but then look at the size of the thing (and weight). I remember all the complaints about XBOX1 and its size... and the PS/3 dwarfs it. Funny how this is a boon for one and a bane for another.

HiDef Movies:
Well, the cool thing is when you have both, you can just go get a movie --- doesn't matter which format you choose. So far, the quality has been excellent on both. Normal DVD's look great also. While I do no have a huge selection of HD or BR disks yet, so far the HD's seem to have more features than the BR's (probably due to the code not being finalized yet on BR). As far as movies go, can't go wrong either way.

HDMI vs. Component:
Yep, they (now) both have them. And nope, cannot tell either way. Now, I admit my game room only has a 32" LCD flatpanel but even on the larger 52" in the other room, I can see no difference. Maybe on a true 1020p 60"... but for us mere mortals, no biggie here. Since my set only has one HDMI port, I have the PS/3 using that and the 360 using component. Quality is the same. And the cheapest HDMI cable I could find for the PS/3 cost another $80. What a racket.

Horsepower:
Well, this is a really hard one to judge. I have yet to see anything (other than Folding@Home) that show's that the cell processor is really a good choice for video games (see below). The Folding@Home application for the PS/3 definitely shows that the cell is good at these types of calculations... and boy does it rock at that. Too bad it doesn't seem to fair so well at...

Games:
OK, here is where the rubber hits the pavement, the real meat and potato's of why any of us bought any of these machines. If you are buying a console to play games, there is no reason (yet anyway) to buy a PS/3. What a disappointment. Maybe Sony should of delayed the introduction another 6-12 months... First --- I have Resistance--- and I love this game. My favorite genre is FPS. A good looking game (though not spectacular) and very fun to play. Motorstorm --- awesome looking game, fun to play. Ridge Racer --- looks good, but basically nothing different than the XBOX version. F.E.A.R. --- playable... looks ok, but what the frack is up with the slow frame rates & stuttering? Terrible, should not have been released in this form. Of course, the 360 has a lot of games available --- and some of the best anywhere... Gears is absolutely beautiful to look at. F.E.A.R runs great, both Call of Duty's... come on Sony... get with it...

Game controllers:
This is probably more preference than anything, but having somewhat large hands, I like the 360 controllers size better than the PS/3. I like the rumble. The motion sensing "6-axis" thing is cool, and it is nice to be able to "shake" the controller when an alien gets his hands on you, but it still needs the rumble IMHO. The biggest annoyance, and this may just be a quirk with my controller, but occasionally (usually right in the middle of something important) the PS/3 joystick sort of starts doing its own thing.... Like throwing ALL of your grenades or running uncontrollably in some direction. Mashing buttons multiple times or pushing the PS/3 button usually resets it fairly quickly.

Conclusion:

Don't get me wrong... I love games, and I love both of the consoles I have. [I also have a PS/1, Dreamcast, Saturn, and several others (Channel F or Vectrex anyone?)]. I want both Sony and MS to succeed... competition is good for all of us. But, while I love the impressive hardware, I am not impressed with Sony's efforts thus far to give us a good gaming experience. Their online system is dis-jointed to say the least. Other than a web-browser (which can be incredibly hard to read at times), and an on-line store...it just feels a little lacking. I cannot track my points or see my friends come online. Probably not as bad as it seems, just a little spoiled with the 360. Heck, my 360 has its own blog (pretty funny actually).

The games released to date at best only match the 360's presentation and generally fall short in most areas. Hard to take after shelling out so much money only to get mediocre performance.

I guess the biggest reason to rag on Sony at this point is due to all the hype and lip-service they gave initially... "the next-gen starts when they (Sony) says it does"... "the 360 is 1.5 gen"... well... I imagine that crow has been pretty hard to swallow, and Microsoft must be smiling ear-to-ear.

Rightfully so.

[Xbox 360 Elite]

The Xbox 360 Elite is great but...

has it lost part of its value? Now that the Blu-Ray Disc has won this puts the Xbox at a slight disadvantage. People might see the dual utility gained from getting a PS3. Of course, I'm a believer that you shouldn't get a console just for movies that you can watch. So, for now the games that the xbox 360 offers now as well as Xbox Live will keep me satisfied.

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Free Xbox 360 Elite http://www.free-xbox-360-elite-free.blogspot.com