And what would be the point of doing the new chip as a separate SKU? "Hey consumers! Buy the XBox 360 with the 90 nm chip that's prone to overheating for $400, or buy the XBox 360 with the 65 nm chip that's less likely to break for $500!"

Any ideas what this might be?

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2263/grey360qx7.jpg

Lighting?

A fourth SKU? I'm not sure what we're supposed to be looking at here.

I could see that, but it looks pretty uniform in color. Even the red glow on the bottom doesn't look like it is shining on white. I guess we'll know in 10 hours or so.

A (grey) 360 w/ HD-DVD drive??? nah...

(or maybe 4 empty 360 shells with a battery running the green LED??)

Would not be surprised if the Grey model was the "Falcon"

That would be idiotic for MS to do. No one would buy the 90nm models. Not saying they won't do it, but it would be incredibly stupid of them.

Maybe it is a unit with an integrated HD-DVD drive. While adding even more confusion to the market, it would make sense. That said, it would just add to MS's headaches when reparing these units.

Yeah, nothing makes sense hardware-wise other than a non-black Elite. Pixy's probably right that's it's just lighting and nothing new, but it sure looks like there's more to it than that.

It's not the lighting. It is definitely gray. If anything it is dummied gray unit for the sole purpose of calibrating the lighting. Unless MS has gone totally bonkers and will do something like adding a 4th SKU (or replacing one of the existing 3).

Why are all four 360s powered up but only one screen? Are they backups in case some of them get the red lights of death? :sarcasm:

I've read several articles where MS has stated that the 360 will never have a built in HD-DVD drive, so I really doubt it's that.

Also, you are giving JP6 way too much credit. I would say that 90% of the gaming public has no idea about the 90/65 issue. MS may even reduce the price on the older models to encourage sales.

Agreed, but add a SKU and change the color and J6P is going to start noticing. And when they find out, good luck selling the 90nm premium. Unless the 90nm premium had at least a $50 discount, to cover the warranty you are guaranteed to need with the 90nm premium (and will likely need with the 65nm box as well).

Yeah, they'll start noticing that one has 90 nanometers and the new one only has 65 nanometers. Since they won't know what a nanometer is they will choose the SKU which comes with more. Best Buy employees will help with this.

I'm not sure why you'd need to buy another warranty. MS extended the warranty on the 360 to three years.

:lol: "This one comes with over 50% more NMs and costs the same (or less)!"

or...

Well, for anything not RROD (3 year warranty only covers RROD errors). For example, my 360 just died and was freezing constantly when playing games. Not the RROD. I'm certainly glad I had the extended warranty and I would still consider the warranty a required purchase, unless the hardward failure rates start to drop in the near future (and perhaps they will with new SKUs).

Well, weren't we told no HDMI at the beginning?

I know what's wrong with this picture. There are 4 360's. Shouldn't two have red rings?!

That's a big leap.

There are no power cords, so it appears that the green lights are being faked.

Holy crap. I wonder if the XBox 360 Elite I just got has the 65nm chip.

Go get the screwdriver!

What is the manufacture date? If it was not made within the last month or so, it is highly unlikely that it has the 65nm.

Amazon is shipping it out to me today.