Just call me Coretard

[Xeem]

The impending release of Halo 3, coupled with a couple sessions of Gears of War on my friend's new 360, finally drove me over the edge. I ordered an Xbox 360 Core system (under warranty) off eBay for $230 shipped. I got the Core for several reasons:
• I can't afford the Xbox 360 Elite.
• I have good headsets already.
• I'm fine with a wired remote; I'm going to buy more remotes later anyway.
• I needed to buy the VGA cable for the either version anyway.
• I'm not going to be using the 360 for media use or backwards compatibility, so I don't think I'll need the hard drive.

Because I couldn't afford the Elite, I won't be able to use my 20" Apple Cinema Display as my screen. My largest non-SD TV is a 15" Samsung EDTV, so I'm probably going to use either a 17" Apple Studio Display CRT or a 19" Mitsubishi Diamondtron CRT monitor as my gaming screen.

We should really start thinking about a Halo 3 clan here at MR. I know the Halo 2 clan didn't work out very well (I never saw ANYONE else on), but with a little planning I think it could work.

 

[0098386]

...Coretard

Actually you provided some pretty good reasons for getting the Core over the others. If I had to buy my own 360 at this stage I'd get a Core for virtually the same reasons - VGA, no media centre, already have a slew of wired controllers. But I'd probably get a HDD for the Live Arcade (Worms grew on me today, it's taken time but we're getting there).

 

[BoyBach]

Worms grew on me today, it's taken time but we're getting there.

Go see the doctor! ( )


If I wasn't in hardcore saving mode, I'd be buying a used basic Xbox 360 in time for Halo 3. It's got to be better than Halo 2, right?

 

[applekid]

Any reason you didn't go premium and get the hard drive?

EDIT: Totally missed the part about the HD. My bad.

EDIT: The reason I was wondering why you didn't get a hard drive is because of the Gears of War extra content. I remember it taking up a good chunk of memory.

 

[pcypert]

He said the reasons...

I had save files for 20 games and a bunch of other stuff and never used more than a gig when I still had my 360. Really wasn't that useful a feature for me all in all. If there were an easier way of getting things on and off and being able to share downloaded content with your computer...I would have definately used the hard drive and live service more. But as it is now it just encouraged me to keep using iTunes and apple TV over the Xbox service....

Paul

 

[0098386]

I'd definitely consider picking up a HDD, as soon as the 120gb drive is out in stores the 20gb model should get cheaper.
Get a cheap memory card unit until you need the space.

 

[GFLPraxis]

You can be almost certain they will release maps for Halo 3 over XBox Live. Perhaps even required patches for multiplayer.

You can also be certain that those maps won't fit on a 64 MB memory card.

But $230 is not a bad deal at all. Congrats, Coretard

 

[Xeem]

I'd definitely consider picking up a HDD, as soon as the 120gb drive is out in stores the 20gb model should get cheaper.
Get a cheap memory card unit until you need the space.

You can be almost certain they will release maps for Halo 3 over XBox Live. Perhaps even required patches for multiplayer.

You can also be certain that those maps won't fit on a 64 MB memory card.

I haven't ruled out a hard drive; in addition to what I already stated, I also didn't want to get one off of eBay because as a rule I do not buy used hard drives. I just hate paying the idea of paying $100 for a 20 GB hard drive. It bothers me much more than spending $20 on a 64 MB memory card, or even $40 on a 512 MB memory card. Still, I might do it out of fear that I'll overload even the 512 MB with downloads. I'm definitely getting some Rainbow 6 games, there should be plenty of Halo 3 content released, and I always swore I'd finally play through Symphony of the Night some day.....

 

[Haoshiro]

Does the 360 allow XBLA games on memory cards? I don't think it does... it may not even allow map downloads! Would be rather dumb, but I'm pretty sure that is how it is.

The extra $100 isn't just for the HDD, it includes some of those additional items you quoted not needing:
- Headset ($19.99 MSRP)
- Wireless Controller (+$10)
- Component Cable ($39.99 MSRP)
- Hexic HD ($5)
- Xbox Compatibility (Halo 2, etc)

Total: $74.96

So if you were to figure retail price, you're only paying about $25-30 for the HDD add on and getting Xbox compatibility as a bonus.

Of course, if you don't have any need for those (especially the HD cable) then the actual "savings" won't be as high. But it isn't as if it's $100 for the HDD unless you buy it separately.

The biggest downsides to not having an HDD is:
- No Xbox Live Arcade (which honestly is excellent)
- No Backward Compatibility with Xbox games
- No expansion support for getting additional content such as maps (unsure on this one)

 

[Xeem]

Does the 360 allow XBLA games on memory cards? I don't think it does... it may not even allow map downloads! Would be rather dumb, but I'm pretty sure that is how it is.

The extra $100 isn't just for the HDD, it includes some of those additional items you quoted not needing:
- Headset ($19.99 MSRP)
- Wireless Controller (+$10)
- Component Cable ($39.99 MSRP)
- Hexic HD ($5)
- Xbox Compatibility (Halo 2, etc)

Total: $74.96

So if you were to figure retail price, you're only paying about $25-30 for the HDD add on and getting Xbox compatibility as a bonus.

Of course, if you don't have any need for those (especially the HD cable) then the actual "savings" won't be as high. But it isn't as if it's $100 for the HDD unless you buy it separately.

The biggest downsides to not having an HDD is:
- No Xbox Live Arcade (which honestly is excellent)
- No Backward Compatibility with Xbox games
- No expansion support for getting additional content such as maps (unsure on this one)

- Actually, you CAN download Xbox Live Arcade games onto memory cards.
- I have an original Xbox, so backwards compatibility isn't a big issue.
- Yes, you can download maps and additional content onto memory units.

I'm not by any means saying that that the Premium isn't the better deal; it most definitely is. But because I already have an Xbox (and a Jabra headset), I wanted the USB gamepad for use on my iBook, and the component cables are basically worthless to me, it just wasn't worth it for me to get the Premium version. The biggest thing I'd be missing would be downloadable demos for 360 games, as I'd think they'd be too big for the memory unit (I might be wrong, though). I'm probably going to do as raggedjimmi suggests, and buy a memory unit (they even come preloaded with Geometry Wars now) to use until the 20 GB HD drops in price.

 

[wwooden]

I would also suggest getting a hard drive at some point in the future. Not only to be able to download additional content for games you play and to play any arcade games you want, but also to download game demos. Most demos are 500mb or more and won't fit onto any memory card. The demos are great and caused me to buy games I wouldn't have before and also stopped me from buying ones.

 

[ReanimationLP]

If you go to http://www.xbox-scene.com and visit their forums' marketplace, you can normally find a 20GB drive going for around 50 or so, shipped, as a lot of members there buy broken ones and part em out.

 

[Xeem]

Well, my 360 arrived this morning. I plugged in the power supply and hooked it up to my TV... everything was good, it booted up just fine... but when I unwrapped the controller cord, I noticed immediately that the breakaway cable was missing. I was... disappointed, to say the least. I'm waiting for the seller to contact me about the missing cable, but until then I have a beautiful Xbox capable of doing nothing but standing next to my stereo. Damn.

 

[SamIchi]

Did you consider the Premium? It doesn't have to go from Core to Elite. I think the HDD alone is worth the price. You got a good buy though.

Yes we should start a Halo 3 thingy. Should be fun, I played the Beta a lot. I look forward to it.

 

[zero2dash]

You'll miss being able to download game demos for $0.

One of the best/my favorite things about the 360 and Live.

 

[doctor newb]

for some reason I remember 20 gb 360 drives being somewhere around 50 on ebay since the elite came out and your still under the price of a new core and you have a hard drive. This isnt actually a bad idea but most consumers wouldnt care enough to go through all this they would just buy whatever has everything.

 

[mrgreen4242]

You'll miss being able to download game demos for $0.

One of the best/my favorite things about the 360 and Live.

Ya, that's one of my favorite features as well. I don't have a ton of time for gaming, so honestly a lot of those demos are enough for me to enjoy a game and NOT buy it. Like MLB2k7... fun game, but I know that I would play it about once a month or less, so the demo is absolutely adequate. On the other, the FEAR demo made me understand that I HAVE to buy that game... ah well, win some lose some.

Well, my 360 arrived this morning. I plugged in the power supply and hooked it up to my TV... everything was good, it booted up just fine... but when I unwrapped the controller cord, I noticed immediately that the breakaway cable was missing. I was... disappointed, to say the least. I'm waiting for the seller to contact me about the missing cable, but until then I have a beautiful Xbox capable of doing nothing but standing next to my stereo. Damn.

Well, you could get an extra breakaway cable for like $3 at a used game shop... message the seller and ask for the $3 to be PayPaled to you - it's probably cheaper than shipping the old one to you. Alternatively, you could buy a used, 3rd party wireless controller for not very much at GameStop or whatever. You'll want one eventually anyways.

for some reason I remember 20 gb 360 drives being somewhere around 50 on ebay since the elite came out and your still under the price of a new core and you have a hard drive. This isnt actually a bad idea but most consumers wouldnt care enough to go through all this they would just buy whatever has everything.

Not sure what the HDDs are nowadays, but I was very patient on eBay and waited and waited until I got a "refurbed" (it WAS opened and so I assume repaired) Premium w/ all the accessories normally included, the box, and a copy of Elder Scrolls for $275 shipped. The HDD, wireless controller, headset, component cable, and of course 'free' game were well worth the extra $45. I bought a VGA cable as well, but I'm glad I had the component ones as I moved what TV it was connected to and I'm setting it up as a media center now that it can play h264/MPEG4 files.

Anyways, the 360 is a really nice system (as long as your's doesn't break). It's a bit loud but that's mostly the optical drive so makes a decent media streaming box. I wish they'd offer a way to copy one game at a time to the HDD... would improve load times, cut noise, power consumption, be really convenient, etc etc. One game per system wouldn't lead to rampant piracy, and I'd be OK if they made you put the original disc back in every month or something to prove you still owned it. Ah well, that's another rant...

Enjoy your 360, and I recommend BTW that you get Gears of War, Elder Scrolls, FEAR, Settlers of Catan (off of Live Marketplace), and not get (crap forgot the name of the game...) that FPS where you are on an ice world and wear giant powered armor/mech suits... Extreme Planet maybe? It was lame, regardless what it was called.

 

[Mackilroy]

It was called Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, and I disagree with your advice he not get it. I have it and I quite enjoy it.

To the OP: I will not offer his advice – instead, I'd suggest renting it first if you want, and then buying (or not) depending on your reaction.

 

[Xeem]

Anyways, the 360 is a really nice system (as long as your's doesn't break).

UPDATE: the 360 I bought from eBay is broken. Being a fairly patient person, I waited for the breakaway cable to arrive from the original seller, and then went out and rented Forza 2. I came home, turned it on, and after about 2 minutes the system froze with little blue marks all over the screen. After restarting, it played for about a half hour before the same problem occurred. This time, however, when I restarted it gave me 3 red lights. I checked online and found I was getting a 0102 code (unknown hardware failure). Time to ship it back and get a refund, I guess. I'll probably get a new Xbox 360 this time around because I was already a little nervous getting a refurbished system anyway.

 

[mrgreen4242]

UPDATE: the 360 I bought from eBay is broken. Being a fairly patient person, I waited for the breakaway cable to arrive from the original seller, and then went out and rented Forza 2. I came home, turned it on, and after about 2 minutes the system froze with little blue marks all over the screen. After restarting, it played for about a half hour before the same problem occurred. This time, however, when I restarted it gave me 3 red lights. I checked online and found I was getting a 0102 code (unknown hardware failure). Time to ship it back and get a refund, I guess. I'll probably get a new Xbox 360 this time around because I was already a little nervous getting a refurbished system anyway.

That sucks... sorry to hear it. I've had zero issues with my refurbed 360, but there are people out there who have had no trouble with new ones and people who have had half a dozen or more die on them.

I'd really recommend going up to the Premium system, though, since you're going to get another one. The extra features ARE worth the money, imo. Also, Lost Planet sucked.