I really hope that nothing goes wrong with my system for a while to come. I am having a great time with it. Even if i have problems i do not regret buying the 360 at all.

Is the Elite less likely to break down than the regular Premium unit? Does it run cooler? I just sold my old system on ebay and am thinking of upgrading to the Elite one.

Too early to tell from consumer reports etc., but all impressions that I've read said that it's pretty much the exact same hardware (i.e. it's still loud, gets about as warm as the regular etc.) just with the HDMI out added and a bigger hard drive packed in.

They seem to put more epoxy on the CPU/Graphics chip as well, so maybe this will reduce the dreaded red rings of death. But you are right, it is still too early to tell.

Granted, I've only had it for 2 weeks, but I've been very pleased at how my Elite has worked. The back on the console gets a little warm, but nowhere near as bad as some of the 360 horror stories that I've heard.

And I've been very surprised at how NOT loud it is. That's the one thing that I was really preparing myself for because of so many complaints, but I really never notice it when it's on, at least no more than I ever detect any of the other components that I have in my living room. I'm actually far more likely to hear my PC than the 360.

But it's still early, we'll see ...

I have had my 360 for about a month now and i have had the same experience as you. I saw my nephews 360 about a year ago when he first got it and the noise and the heat that it generate were incredible. My system is pretty quiet and the heat coming off it is not that bad at all. Same as yours, the back is getting a little hot...but not that bad. I live in Puerto Rico as well so i expected there to be problems due to the weather here. Not the case. I was really preparing for the worst. I still got the extended warranty just in case, but i am very happy with my purchase so far.

Just to state the i actually bought the standard $400 360 and not the Elite.

Well it could also be the games you are playing. Some are more taxing on the system than others. Dead Rising is notorious for fire hot systems.

Well it seems like Oblivion is pretty hard on the console. The disc is continually spinning and loading in areas. It seems to be fine with that game. What other games other than Dead Rising are hard on the console....i just want to avoid them if possible.

eh, I definitely wouldn't go about it like that bro

I mean, chances are, you'll have some type of problem with your console. That being said, it's kinda pointless to cater to their shotty quality control, considering it's an eventuality

Agreed. I wouldn't avoid them, just be aware of them. You'd be missing out by just dismissing them altogether. My memory is hazy but I think Dead Rising is so taxing is because it is one of the few games(at the time) that utilizes both processors in the system.

Chances are, no matter what precautions you take, your system will die. Sad to say, but it's true.

Mine doesn't have one physical, cosmetic scratch on it, but the fucker has still eaten 2 of my games

thanks to that friend of mine, he has swapped it out. If it weren't for him, I'm sure my entire attitude would be a bit different