Which Xbox to buy?

[Hugh]

Bigger hard drives?

Really dumb question here. Can you just get a new HD if the one you currently running doesn't have enough room,... Can't I just get a bigger hard drive?

 

[mtnDewFTW]

Thing about the Arcade is, you can never upgrade it. It's built in there. So, if you ever do need more space, you'll need a new XBox.
I would go with the Elite. You may not use up all those 100GB right away, but if you're planning on having this XBox for a while, you'll need them to install games, download movies, etc.

And the Elites don't get RROD as much.

 

[SevenInchScrew]

Thing about the Arcade is, you can never upgrade it.

This is false. Any of the 360 hard drives will attach right to an Arcade unit. Aside from the fact that the Arcade doesn't have the chrome disc tray, the rest of the box is exactly the same. So, if you need more space, just buy either the 20, 120 or a 250GB drive, and you'll be fine.

It's built in there. So, if you ever do need more space, you'll need a new XBox.

This is sort of half right. For about the last year or so, all new Arcade units being sold have a built-in 512MB of memory. This is built right into the motherboard, but when you go to the memory section in the settings, it appears in the list as an available storage location. So yes, it has some memory built in. But...

As I mentioned before, the Arcade unit, as with all 360s, can have a hard drive attached to it. Also, just like all 360s, it can use any of the standard memory units. So, if you don't need 20GB of space, but want a little more storage, the standard 360 memory unit works just fine as well.

And the Elites don't get RROD as much.

This is also false. Aside from the color of the case, and the extra memory internally on the Arcade, there is nothing different between them. The newer "Jasper" revision is much less prone to the RROD, but not immune. I've had an Elite since launch in early 2007, and it has died twice. There is no version that is better than the others. Just look for the Jasper, which should theoretically last longer, and then hope for the best.

 

[7on]

I got the Arcade a year ago and love it. Picked up a used 20GB for about $40 shipped and still isn't full, though I don't download a whole lot - still have 4GB free.

I imagine once 250GB harddrives come out one would expect 160GB prices to drop.