That's not bad. Does the warranty carry over to the new system, or is it a one and done?

OK, no deal this week.
Next week : Target ad
GAMERS: Get a Free Viva Pinata video game with the purchase of an XBOX 360 game system // Game system price is $399.99 // Viva Pinata game value = $29.99 // Quantities limited // No rain checks (thanks to speedy!)

That's a good deal and the free game is a mini-masterpiece. I'd wait for that. And BTW, if you apply for a Target credit card, you'll save 10%.

Can you buy the HD separately?

I would honestly get the Core. I'm sure a lot of Elite owners are selling their old hard drives... You can get one for $50 or so. That or the Elite. I think Premium is a bad go-between.

Huh?! The Core is the bad deal. The Core has a wired controller, and Composite cable.
But Premium comes with a wireless controller, Component cable, Headset, and harddrive for only $100 more.

Would get the elite, because of the extras you get.
The warranty is not needed. You get a 1 year warranty from Microsoft and if your console needs to be repaired for any reason during that time the warranty will startr over after it has been repaired or replaced.

That's what I'm waiting on...along with a price break.

That doesn't sound right. That would essentially mean a lifetime warranty.

They don't have to advertise it if it is better in terms of not overheating and getting the 3 red rings of death. i.e. the slim PSone and PStwo were much more reliable than the original PS1 and PS2 and I don't think Sony touted that fact.


$400 is just two much for me to play Gears (which I've already played through twice) and the couple other of games on the 360 that really interest me. So no problem waiting for a more reliable system and at least a $100 price drop for me, even if its a year or two down the road. Plenty to play on the DS, PC and PS2 games to catch up on, and hopefully the Wii will pick up eventually.

It must carry over as it's got a no-lemon guarantee (2 repairs = you can get a Target gift card back instead). And it looks like it is 3 years from the website.

Definitely go in on that Viva Pinata deal. One of the best games on the system.

I think Microsoft is racist! Giving the BLACK Xbox the BIGGER hard drive.

I saw on CAG that walmart.com has a pretty good deal going for the premium + Burnout + carrying case + ? all for $399. Might want to check into that as well if you haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Well i picked up the 360 with the 20GB hard drive. The seller was trying to get me to buy an Elite...and i had to give it a few moments to think about it. But thought it best to get the 20gb model and live with it. I asked her to calculate both with the extended warranties and the Elite was just too damn expnsive. It would have been as much as a PS3. And i just kept thinking to myself how pissed off i would be if it breaksdown after i have paid out so much. So i used the extra money to get some nice new speakers and i have been playing Crackdown, Oblivion, Gears or War and Lost Planet. I am enjoying it, but a little spoilt for choice. I still have to check out Mercenaries, Ninja Gaiden Black and the two Halos. I am going to be busy this weekend. I will let you know if and when it fucks up.

That is a hell of a stack of games to play. I say test em all, but pick one and run with it. I find with a lot of the 360 games, it is more fun playing them 'to the max' and moving on that continually switching up.

I think that's true in general. I've forced myself to not build much of a backlog anymore and to pretty much only buy a game when I need something to play (not just buy everything I'm interested in that I find cheap).

That way I can 1) be more selective with what I play with my limited gaming time and 2) play games more fully without just rushing on to the next one in the stack all the time.

Well i played each just for a little while to see what they play like. I had played Oblivion a bit on my PC, but my system is a bit dated now and it ran badly. I liked Morrowind and this game looks like i will love it, but i am gonna leave this until last as it will need a lot of time to get into.

I enjoyed Crackdown and will probably go through that first. My only experience with Halo has been on the PC and that version was shit. Looking forward to seeing the true versions of the 1st and 2nd in the series. I have Mercs on my PS2 so i will leave this for a while...nothing new to me. I saw Ninja Gaiden running on a PS3 today and it looked amazing. I know the original version will not look anywhere near as good....but i am looking forward to that one all the same. I am definately going to take your advice and go through the games one at a time....best way i think.

Nice, I got the Elite a couple of weeks ago and been playing nothing but Gears of War. Finished it twice and now doing it the third time, that is one of the best games I have played. Multiplayer on Live is awesome too (but brutal).

Awesome, James!

Well after a couple of days of solid play i am very impressed with my 360. I have been enjoying Lost Planet and Crackdown. I quickly ran throuhg the games and liked all of them. It was interesting to play Halo. The last timei played it was on my PC and it was awful. I was pleasantly surprised that it is a great game on the XBox and that the joypad actually works well. I have always been a big Unrealt Tournament fan and always thought that FPS were best played with mouse and keyboard, but this game (along with Timesplitters 2 on Gamecube) make me appreciate using the joypad.

i'd just like to say that elite, premium, core, whichever system you choose, i could not imagine buying any of these units from ebay, or some small retail/e-tailer, without an extended warranty. personally, i purchased my launch system from bestbuy, lasted around 14 months. i do agree, yes, microsoft does offer the 1 year, but i had purchased the bestbuy 2 year PRP (replacement plan)....when my unit died,
i called the 3rd party PRP plan company, they emailed me a "return" label, mailed back my dead unit, and within 2 weeks had a best buy gift card for my original amount (including tax), and picked up a new ELITE.
i know its more $, but i think if you actually use your system quite a bit, it will be well worth the investment. at least until microsoft does something, and acknowledges all the issues people are having, and puts some hardware fixes in place.
to me, the additional $50 is worth me not having to fight w/ M$.

.....BB, cc, target, frys elec., i'd definately go w/ a big chain company that offers
a decent replacement plan, if you are in the market for a 360. there's no way i'd paypal someone on ebay $500, only to have the unit crap out in 13 months, where then you'd be left paying M$ - $140 to hand you a refurb.

just my thoughts, and sidenote: i've had my elite now for a couple weeks, and have been very happy. i've read/heard complaints left and right, buy my unit has been great, and actually runs alot cooler than my last premium.

I agree that if you pick up one of these systems you really need to ensure that you have a warranty plan. I paid for an instore extended warranty. If i have a problem in the first year i will have to deal with Microsoft, but after that will be with the store. I hope to not have any problems in the near future. Actually my machine is running a lot cooler and quieter than other models i have seen running. Maybe its just me getting used to it, but my nephews machine gets as hot as the sun and is bloody loud. Lets see if my machine stays being nice to me (probably not knowing my luck).

a lot of it depends on what DVD drive is in the 360


the benQs are supposed to be real quiet

Well i got the a real scare yesterday. I turned on the 360 and i got the red lights. I had only bought the thing last Saturday and i thought that i was screwed already. I checked the system and the power cable had come out a little bit. Pushed it back in fully and it worked fine. I guess it was good preparation for what is to come.

Yeah, I think 4 red lights is a cable issue.