So after months of speculation and purported spy shots, it’s finally admitted; the new Black XBOX 360 is for real. For months, people have been speculating about a new “Elite” XBOX 360 that will take care of a lot of advantages the PS3 had: Integrated HD-DVD, HDMI output, bigger hard drive, a cooler, quieter system, free online gameplay, etc, etc…
Instead, we are offered a system that for about $100 more than the current Premium, adds a 120GB hard drive and HDMI output. That’s it. Oh, and the plastic is a greyish black colour…
To put it in perspective, I have drawn up this nifty table comparing the specs of all three XBOX 360 systems that are available:
| XBOX 360 Core | XBOX 360 Premium | XBOX 360 Elite | |
| Hard Drive | None | 20 GB | 120 GB |
| Headset | None | Yes | Yes |
| Media Remote | None | Not anymore | Yes |
| Gamepad | Wired | Wireless | Wireless |
| HDMI Output | No | Yes* | Yes |
| Component Cables | No | Yes | Yes |
| XBOX Live Account | Silver | Silver | Silver |
| Fab Process | 90nm | 90nm | 90nm |
| Integrated HD-DVD | No | No | No |
| Integrated Wifi | No | No | No |
| Plastic Colour | White | White w/ Chrome | Who cares? |
| MSRP | $299 | $399 | $479 |
| Lowest Price Online | $280 | $373 | $481 |
* = in the latest versions found in stores today
o looking at the specs side to side, we see not only what the Elite version adds, but more importantly what it doesn’t add. Fab process is still 90nm, so it’s the same hot processor that the other consoles have; the Elite should be just as noisy and hot as any other XBOX 360. You still get a Silver Live account, with a 1 month trial of Gold. Could that not have at least included a 1 year Gold subscription for the Elite? Integrated HD-DVD is nowhere to be found, but I am not going to blame them too much for that. XBOX 360 is clearly a gamer’s system first, and a media player… well… 3rd at best. Plus HD-DVD is very likely going to lose the war, so I don’t blame MS for not wanting to invest too much into it anymore.
Integrated WiFi is nowhere to be found, so you’re left having to buy one of those for $90 if you want WiFi access.
So for the extra $100, you truly get nothing more than a hard drive, which game developers can’t really use to its full potential anyway, since games have to be developed without the hard drive in mind for owners of the Core System. Instead, you are able to fill a bigger hard drive with more content purchased from XBOX Live. Woo-hoo!
And you get an HDMI cable, even though the component cables are perfectly suitable for games in 720p and 1080i. Update: As of now, Premium Edition consoles come with HDMI output. This makes the Elite version even more retarded, as the one advantage it did have has now been negated. The HDMI cable does enable 1080p for HD-DVD but remember that the Elite doesn’t even have an HD-DVD player. You’ll have to buy the addon for about $190.
And it’s black, so it will stand out like a sore thumb in your A/V setup. Remember when black video game consoles were cool? Welcome to 2001!
Yes it’s true. The XBOX 360 Elite is the new “Retard Edition”. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy one of these, especially to replace their current system. If you already have an XBOX 360, you will be able to just buy the 120GB hard drive for $179.99, so I guess Microsoft will say that you’re actually saving $80 by going with the Elite! Never mind the fact that a 120 GB SATA Notebook drive should normally be under $100.
Just so you know, black consoles are far better than white, white is for ipod loving douche bags
Ya i agree completely, black consoles are way better, and wat is he talkign about stick out like a sore thumb, all my audio equipment and TV are black as well as the stand..
Oh my all these lame stupid ass xbox 360 fanboys
Cant you retards accept that the xbox elite is a total ripoff
So you’re willing to pay 100 extra dollars for a fu*k!ng paintjob????
Even a PS3 is cheaper than that
[...] the venom I spat in the direction of the Elite Edition yesterday, the XBOX 360 is a pretty damn good gaming system. Ask any game developer, and they will [...]
Its great news for us that have waited out the console war. ill pick up one of these elites when i get the chance, since i just have a wii now.
So wait, let me get this straight. The fact that the console is black makes it a less viable purchase?
Many of us happen to LIKE black, dumbass. Silver became the vogue in 2001 because a mess of cheap crappy electronics decided a thin silver paint that wore off and exposed ugly greyish plastic underneath, looked better than black.
Black never goes out of style. There was CLAMOURING to release a black P180 when antec first introduced it. Most high end audio hardware is actually black and uses anodized brushed aluminium fronts. Silver is a popular colour on cheap plastics made in japan by goodmans and sony.
Wow, reading skills for the WIN!
Not once did I say the black colour makes it LESS worthy of purchase. I merely suggested that it doesn’t justify the $100 price premium.
Wow
I own both systems and sony still got microsoft beat You can put a 500gb in your ps3 for the same price of xbox 120gb
Agreed.. elite edition is merely a marketing ploy to get people who’ve been waiting out the console war to finally make the move.
Stick to the core or premium, that $80 hard drive upgrade is hardly worth it. That’s $0.80 / gig.. I just paid $0.23 / gig for a 400 gig SATA. Since you can (and should) stream all your media, might as well put your harddrive money in your home PC where.
Xbox live has, and always will have stringent limitations so that developers can’t eat too much harddrive space with downloable content. It’s basically designed for the ‘default’ 20 gig hard drive so 120 is overkill.
I am disapointed with the elite system. They could have added a built in wireless function to it and had much more intrest in it.
Well i much agree that it is a retard system and some what stupid on M$ part. I was a few months ago about to put a second 360 in my home and heard rumor of this New elite 360, so i waited it out.Not overly a great deal but will still pick one up. As far as the wirless built in well its a tough call but should have been an option. Wired is just better, for connection,speed,hosting, and team match playing.But yes if your 360 is across your home away from the modem then wirless is the way to go.
i dont have a xbox 360 i want to get one so i can eventually buy fable 2
i dont know if i should get the elite or just the basic can someone help me out
I think the Premium system is the best choice overall. Because game developers will NOT be taking into account that a user may have a 120GB hard drive, it will offer no advantage in games. Unless you plan on downloading and storing a lot of content from XBOX Live, there is no reason to have a larger hard drive.
HDMI output may or may not be of use to you, but almost certainly it isn’t worth the $100 extra to have.
Everything else is identical; the Elite offers absolutely no other advantages over the Premium system.
Hope this helps!
HI
Can someone set my mind at ease please. the only reason i have been waiting for the elite system is that it was rumoured to be based on the 65nm process, not the 90nm. with the launch of the xbox360, the were several reports of the ’0102′ error and the ‘ring of death’ error. when buying the premium system now, still based on the 90nm process, are we as customers still possibly facing a overheating device? the only reason i would buy the xbox is to game, not really interested in the media entertainment aspect at this stage. in short, overheating is my biggest concern. Thanks for any input.
yes they now are 65nm.
By all indications, the Elite system will use the same 90nm process as the Core and Premiums. Not sure what steps they have taken to get rid of the ‘ring of death’, if any, however.
im still stumped on getting a xbox 360
i want one but i dont know if i should wait becuz im getting feedbak of they are awesome but they are having malfunctions of overheating and not reading discs and stuff
could someone tell me whether i should get one now or wait or something
thx
Sure you hear about XBOX 360s malfunctioning all the time, but it really doesn’t happen that much on the 2nd gen 360′s. only about 100 MAX out of 10’000 or so are DOA and only anbout 50 more MAX(out of 10’000) fail within 1-2 years. Now I have a 52″ HDTV so I’ll be getting th Elite for its HDMI, but yes, premium is probably the best deal.(unless your a modder[me]who would use a bigger HDD)
naa im just a regular not crazy about how well it looks with the tv it already looks awesome
premium would be good to to hit up the online for xbox rite and if i go online with it how does that work do i pay is it free or wut??????????????
I just shake my head at Microsoft now. I realize they were losing lots of money on the original xbox, but I now agree with those that said the 360 was the xbox 1.5 when it was released. The fact that there were so many hardware problems with the original release was disappointing (but MS did an excellent job in keeping this relatively quiet). And now, black, HDMI, and a larger harddrive? This might be Xbox 1.75 rather than any major update and a cheap ploy to get current 360 owners to upgrade for completely cosmetic reasons. I don’t know… I just don’t know. I do really like my 360 Premium edition but I wonder about the long-term future of the console. I would rather spend my money on games (i.e. supporting developers) rather than buying a new console every couple of years or on minor upgrades.
Hey Immortal, here’s my thoughts. If you purchase any xbox 360 system, get an extended warranty and don’t, DON’T move the thing (from vertical to horizontal, etc.) with a disc in the system. I’m on my third system (one core and two premiums) but the last one seems to be working just fine. Get the extended warranty at the retailer so you can just return it there rather than getting a cardboard box from MS and waiting for a return system to be returned to you through the mail system should you have problems with it. As to which 360 system to buy? If you just want to play games and do some minor downloads from xbox live (trailers, demos), then get the Premium edition. The smaller harddrive will be fine for those uses (games saves, some music, some trailers, etc.). If you will want to use the 360 for games, lots of downloading, you could even get a Core system and the new, larger harddrive (separately). If you want to play lots of games, lots of downloads, and use the 360 to play HD movies (and if you have a 1080p TV and an HDMI compatible TV), then get the Elite with the add-on HD-DVD drive because that would make use of the HDMI cable. As to the format war between HD-DVD and Blueray, who knows where this is going? Personally, I think it would be better to wait and purchase a HighDef player (Blueray or HD-DVD) sometime in the future as it will probably be a lot quieter and use less power than the 360. Hope this helps.
ROFL you know, with all the extra components you have to buy you are paying way more money than PS3, GG Bill Gates the xbox 1.5 is even lamer now.
The White Box is Cool but I have to say I like the new look of the Black Box however I’m not sure if I’m going to trade in my 2 month old XBOX (White verison)paying $399 for it and get $250 for it to put towards a $479 XBOX Elite. So, Jake… Go play with your snake because the WHITE XBOX’s are NOT for ipod loving douche bags. I don’t even own a IPOD! I have a sony mp3 player which brings me to this… Up till now I had a PS1 and a PS2 and with my experience the XBOX is so much better not to mention so much easier to get online and stuff, oh and it seems far more people have the system compared to the PS3.
my 360 dint came with a 20 gb Hard Drive am I the only one?
thx dclearwater ill take that into consideration and decide from that on which i should buy
thx again
lol to “Tom”
Dude, Xbox 1.5 (elite or not) has nothing can compare to PS3 – PS3 just beats xbox 1.5 (again w/e elite or not) in everyway. We can ven play PS3 games like dam wii with our six-axis controller, can you do that on xbox 1.5? oh about the online service you say, PS network is complete free with voice chat support, almost all the PS3 games come with multiplayer function now, Resistance: Fall of man, which is the earlist PS3 first person shooting game – support 40 people death match and it’s absolutely free to play on PSN, not mention PS HOME is on beta now (assume you know what PS HOME is ;), do you really think the cheap solution of xbox live (with monthly fee) stands a chance? Wipe your eyes and see how xbox 1.5 become a shame, buddy.
My suggestion: trade in your xbox 1.5 white and get a PS3.
In my opinion the xbox 360 is the current best system to buy, sure the black is a money ploy, but just wait about a year. When the price of a PS3 goes down it will be the best system. Right now Resistance is pretty much the only good game, but in a year the games will have major ownage even over computers. Except mmo’s.
who cares if is not that much better my new 47″ Lcd is not much better than my 30″ but I bought it anyway, for those that bitch about it they cant afford it and for those that dont care or can afford it good luck, I will myself get one of course and love it.
But as of now ya’ll cant say shit cuz the 360 is the rape machine last time i looked at the polls!
I’ve heard already that the Elite unit is a complete crap case as well.
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/news/inside_the_xbox_360_elite.htm
He identifies the issue nicely.
“A good old dab’l do ya!”
Imukdude…….I love you. Thanks for being on the side of the xbox.
come on. who wouldn’t want it, its “Black”
so wat if itz black n xpensiv ??? microsoft has 2 other systems … if u cant afford the elite, buy a premium or a core !!! if u think dat the premium set is gud enough … then stick with it … why bitch about the elite ??? People who can afford it, who prefers the black colour, who has a gud enough hi-def tv with HDMI, who r gona download lots of contents off xbox live, will buy it … I know I will !!! Nobodyz forcin u 2 buy da elite !!! As for the heating issues and the “ring of death” … wel jus hav to wait n see but im sure microsoft has done something to improve it as I can guess dat they r aware of it. u can see in llamma.com, (where they opened up an elite unit for investigation) that microsoft has made some minor changes to the elite 360 motherboard (even though the 90nm chip remains), maybe to minimize these issues … as i said … wel jus hav 2 wait n see …
p.s. this forum is about comparing the 3 models of xbox 360 and the consumers opinions bout it … so those who are here 2 advertise bout the ps3 … put a (s/c)ock in it !!! xbox fanz r alwayz gona b xbox fanz !!!
I was bummed when the Xbox 360 came out in white. I was like…why can’t it be black? Oh and about you guys comparing it to the PS3…why even go there? Some people like apples and some like oranges! It’s a toss up and depends on what your preference is. Until Xbox, my last console was a Nintendo. Why did I go Xbox? It was because of the games! People are going to buy the console for the games more than anything else. Afterall, I don’t know anyone who actually plays Playstation games anymore. Everyone I know has a Xbox or 360. I waited for the Elite and I have it sitting up in the closet still in the box unopened waiting for one game….Halo 3. Peace.
Touche’, to the one who stated, support the gaming publishers. Since the beginning, games have only been as good as the designer, testers, etc. Gears of War, my fav’ (so far) is a perfect example of the way games can be. Yes, it has its flaws, but what nex-gen game doesn’t. If you have played more than one game, on any console, then you can see the difference between a game that took some time for development, to a game that was made for some quick $$$. Core, premium, or elite. First priority, to anyone who hasn’t, buy an HDTV, and experince how far games have come since the beginning of gaming.
“American bred, and American Fed… I’ll support Microsoft and spend $479 at most compared to the bunk ass price for the PS3″
$700 for a Blu-ray player (No Thanks)
THANK YOU FINALLY SOME PEOPLE SEE WHERE I’M COMING FROM. ALL THESE GAY ASS PEOPLE KEEP COMPARING THE 360 TO THE PS3. YOU CANT FUCKING DO THAT. IT IS LIKE APPLES TO POOP. ALL YA’LL PUNK ASS DILL HOLES NEED TO GET SOME TANG AND SETTLE DOWN WITH A WOMAN OR FOR THE PS3 PEOPLE A MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111
Scott, do you have anything to interject about these tang deprived dill holes?
hd dvd will likely lose the battle????where do you get that information, it appears that neither will win or lose, in fact if there was a winner it would be hddvd because the porn industry which is 60% of dvd sales chose exclusively hddvd
The elite is pretty much exactly what I’ve been looking for. I don’t plan to do any gaming on it, I’ll be using it exclusively as a Windows Media Centre extender, to access TV and content on my Media Centre computer located in my media room in the basement. The Elite will be three floors up in my bedroom. I don’t care about wireless since my home is wired with an ethernet lan. The HDMI is extremely important to me since I have 1080P plasma and LCD displays in my house. I like the HD also because I can store television programs on the HD and take the entire thing with me from my weekday to my weekend residence. I’ll probably buy the HD-DVD player as a cheap way to get into HD video. I was hesitant to buy the 360 until they at least had the HDMI, so I’m ready to jump in, the added features of the Elite are perfect for me.
Before you use the 360 as a media extender, you better do some research. It’s quite limited at what kind of files it can play (in other words – WMV ONLY).
I’ve done extensive research on this already, there are pretty much NO other media extenders that work with MS Windows Media Centre operating system. The DVR in Windows media centre uses the DVR-MS file type. This can only be read by a limited amount of media devices. That’s why I didn’t get the PS3, it had no compatibility with the TV portion of MS Windows Media Centre. The 360 elite will stream live TV from my satellite box in the basement to my 360 elite in any other area of the house, plus provide access to the TV shows I’ve recorded on my computer. There are programs that will convert the MS-DVR file to other file types that can be read by other devices, but I don’t want the added step of converting my DVR files. The conversion process takes a lot of time and I have hundreds of TV programs recorded already.
We get the Elite released in Canada tomorrow, can’t wait.
Yo, i’m a serious gamer so i can see myself getting the elite when i heard about it coming out i have to admit i was psyched but now that i read up on it it’s not really a dissapointment but just brought my psyched down a little bit but i am still going to get it, if you get a 360 you might as well just make it the best one right, plus seein that i’m goin to get a HD TV real soon i guess it would make all the more sense… but with all that space… i just Can’t wait until i can put all my Mixtapes and CDs on that thing… IMAGINE playing Gears of War on High definition with the most hardest Music playing BOI!!!!
Im sick of the people who own just a ps3 bashing xbox360 cuz they bought a expensive system that they cant do shit on unless ur chinese..everyone i know who has both says xbox is better hands down..if we pay 50 bucks 4 a year online what dose that tell you about the online world …it kicks ass so go roll around with ur stupid non rumble fisher price controller…peace out
Yes well, “everybody you know” means you don’t have either. So that means nobody cares what you know.
I have three systems. Not two. I say 360 sucks.
I say 360 is a gratified Low Power PC from the same company that is selling us Vista and the “Games for Windows” movement.
Connectivity is limited, the operating system is restrained, the online activities are convoluted, and all the hardware is proprietary.
Pay for cross platform multiplayer?
I don’t pay for multiplayer. Especially not to wax a bunch of Joy(stick)Boys.
this discussion is about the xbox 360 elite. it is not comparing ps3 and xbox 360, it is comparing the elite to the premium and core. on that note, the elite is pretty bangin from the fact that it is black and has HDMI. if ur gonna pay 400 for a 360 anyway, why not just pay another 80 if you like those features (plus the HDD)
i am a PS3 owner and we just had an update that allows you to connect to the WMC and it works great … the media is still limited … some music filetypes aren’t compatable .. but who cares to me the xbox still hase alot of limitations too ….. i like the fact that i can connect my PSP to my PS3 over the internet (new feature ine the update) and listen to music from my computers when im not home!!! ive dabled into the 360 at the game stores and the few “extras” it comes with are ok, but still dont make up for the overheating problems its haveing and to have to buy the 360E at 479.00 hd-dvd 180.00 and a wireless for 90 looks like im out the same amount of money that i paid for PS3 w/1 game ….. but to alls one own buy what you want its your money not mine so i cant tell you what to get!!!!!!
when the elite is sold out, isn’t MS planning on producing them in white, and selling them as the new ‘premium’ system? I heard it would also be at the same price as the current premium. So, if the black colour is not important to you, then wait until them offer it in white at the premium price.
Okay … where to begin. Well, first of all, color should make no difference in a system. Look I love the black 360 elite, but I’m not going to pretend that it’s worth a dime extra. The real issue is the hard drive. Okay $80 extra, and look a 120GB hard drive, worthy, in my opinion of an extra $80. Oh and an HDMI drive. You’re just all pissed off that you wasted your money on a slightly obsolete console. Climb down off the Cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get the fuck over it, loser. Btw if you have any inquiries you can contact me at [email protected]. But for now let’s just leave it at this … you’re an idiot.
Well, I was interested in buying an Xbox 360 Elite, but after reading some reviews I think I might just go premium, seeing how I came from a PS2 (never owned an Xbox). For those PS3 lovers, I think the PS3 is a brilliant system, although this is a race and in today’s gaming world, multi player is the new thing, and if Xbox offers 100,000 more online players then PS3 we might as well join the crowd, because not many people own PS3 compared to Xbox’s.
do you have to have hd tv to play x box elite
No
I just wanna say that here in Canada, the Premium is $499.99 and the Elite is $549.99, so it’s $50 bucks more not $100 more for the Elite. For 6 times the hard drive space I think that’s worth it.
Like “tdcrooks” noted here in Canada the “Elite” is only $50 more than the “Premium”. For that $50, based on canadian prices you are getting in tangible extras close to $300 worth of products. The 120Gb Hard drive retails for $210(+tax), also HDMI cables seem to start around $70 (all prices were taken from futureshop.ca – probably the largest retailer of electronics in canada). Also a vast majority of the “Elite” consoles have the new heat sink that supposedly helps with some of the heat related issues. (probably crap – but worth mentioning)
So really, for Canadian buyers, IF you have an HDMI enabled TV it makes more sense to pay the extra $50 for the elite over the premium. Even if it’s only for the hard drive….I know alot of people who complain that the 20Gb (13Gb space) HDD is too small, especially with a lot of demo/content downloads now being close to or over 1Gb in size.
i have both 360 and ps3 as of right now i play the 360 more .. way more. because it has way more titles out right now. such as gears of war, unreal tournament 3 is comming out, call of duty 4 modern warfair, devil may cry 4, grand theft auto 4 and gutitar hero 3 both came from sony to 360 and not to mention halo 3 which has over 1 million pre orders and still is about 2 months from release. the online community (movies, tv shows, demos, trailers, ect) destroys the ps3s. many of you guys are speaking without knowing all the facts or are just plain fanboys for the xbox or playstation. what i am getting at is if you want to spend the money for the elite go for it, it is only $80 more. as for the war between 360 and ps3 it is in microsofts hands but the ps3 has a chance to regain the title because they did just come out.it is an ongoing war between all consoles that will never end no matter what is said. if you are smart you will agree if not you are just very narrow minded.
[...] has a sweet bundle deal going on now for the recently-reduced XBOX 360 Elite Edition. Sure, we called the Elite the new Retard Edition, but at this price it’s too good a deal to pass up. Included in the bundle [...]
if u ppl could pick a console (xbox 360 white or xbox 360 elite) which console would u prefer?
I purchased an xbox360 about 10 months ago, I loved that consoled dearly. As of two days ago, the system began to freeze during game-play and finally yesterday it produced the infamous “red ring”. I spoke with Microsoft and I will be sending my 360 in for repair covered by the 3 year expanded warranty. I just bought a ps3 which I’m extremely happy with, however, despite my new system and my altercations with my xbox, my 360 will always be my baby. For those considering to invest in a 360, at this point in time I believe that the elite version would be a more solid investment than the premium, due to the fact that the elite at least for the time being seems to be less vulnerable to the red ring of death than the premium version, I sincerely hope Microsoft gets their act together in tern of product quality, because the 360 is a great system with tremendous potential.
I got my Elite from Dell on their ‘Dell Days of Deals’ it was just $499CDN AND it came with Halo3 (preorder)! :D Plus I went through http://www.airmilesshops.ca and earned 50 AIRMILES on my purchase :)
Its gonna arrive today. Cant wait! Just one question, I have winXP and want to stream all my videos and mp3s through the xbox. Is it doable or do i need windows media center?
hemiboy, there is a way to stream without WMC, however you cannot copy files directly on to the hard drive (you need to put the MP3/vid on to cd).
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/howto/mp11/Xbox360toWMP11XP_StepbyStep.aspx
theres a link to microsofts help
hey ty for the info i have been searching every where to find out the differences are so since i dont have any system besideds a ps2 i will just buy an elite thanks
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[...] on a disc. That version is $279.99. Finally, there is the Elite Edition (or as we call it, the New Retard Edition) which is exactly like the Premium, but is black and has a 100GB more hard drive space for an extra [...]
right your all banging on about black is best no white is just by a tin of black paint spray and spray the white black.save money .. the point the guy is trying to make is xbox360 and the xbox elite its the same just different colour. so what the elite as hdmi that’s it … 3 day ago i had my 36o back from Microsoft because the red ring of death and today its going back because the r.r.o.d after 2 hour’s game play…think ill try my luck with a ps3 instead
you lot have nowt to worry about the elite over here(uk) is near double what you pay for it its cheaper to buy premium and on a seperate hard drive as you get four games bundled in to boot,europe excluding rip off britain has lowered the price so here the elite is the same price as the lower end ps3
just for your info and every one else the elite is running at 65nm not 90nm
I have the Elite system and yes it is a load of crap i cant believe i spent that money. I had a generation 1 Xbox 360 which i loved and thought this would be better…. WELL IT ISNT Bill Gates has really wasted my time. I now own a PS3 as well as the elite and there is no competition. I’m sorry to say this as i love X box but i gave in. The X box system is great but stay away from the elite…..
There is virtually no difference between the elite and the first generation, all it does is look slicker, and have a bigger hard drive, all of which are not really necessary. Unless you are storing full-length movies on your 360, why would you need 120 gb of space. I am just gonna stay with my regular xbox.
so do i have to by the extra hd dvd player in order to watch hddvd’s on an 360 console
yup pete, it’s cause microsoft knew all along that hd dvd would probably lose the new “disc battle” they didn’t want to integrate them into all of the systems and have them phase out. pretty clever really. they should’ve made the players cheaper though:(
Everything else in my AV rack is black, so I like the black color of the new Xbox 360 Elite. However, it is still the “Retard Edition” for lack of value added. Major toolage from MS.
To PS3PWNSXBOXN
“lol to “Tom”
Dude, Xbox 1.5 (elite or not) has nothing can compare to PS3 – PS3 just beats xbox 1.5 (again w/e elite or not) in everyway. We can ven play PS3 games like dam wii with our six-axis controller, can you do that on xbox 1.5?”
I’m sure if you ask any Xbox 360 owner, 100% of them would not give a fuck about not having “six-axis” abilities.
“oh about the online service you say, PS network is complete free with voice chat support, almost all the PS3 games come with multiplayer function now, Resistance: Fall of man, which is the earlist PS3 first person shooting game – support 40 people death match and it’s absolutely free to play on PSN, not mention PS HOME is on beta now (assume you know what PS HOME is ;), do you really think the cheap solution of xbox live (with monthly fee) stands a chance?”
I’d rather pay for Xbox Live, which is multitudes better than Playstation Network. More people, better games, better features … it’s just … better.
“Wipe your eyes and see how xbox 1.5 become a shame, buddy.
My suggestion: trade in your xbox 1.5 white and get a PS3.”
My eyes are quite clear and I’ll be keeping my 360, thanks.
Oh by the way, learn to use periods instead of littering commas throughout your giant run-on sentence.
I got the Xbox 360 Elite because I own an HDTV that outputs 1080p. The Elite COMES with an HDMI Cable. If I had gotten the Premium system, yes, this would come with an HDMI Output, but I would have to buy Microsoft’s HDMI cable pack for $50 more.
In my mind this bumped the Premium System price up to $400.
Xbox Premium with HDMI Attachment: $400
Xbox Elite with Attachment Included and 100GB MORE …………… $450
The choice was obvious. The Elite was a better Value due to the simple fact that the HDMI CABLE was included with the elite package.
Why not just buy a normal HDMI cable for $10?
Re: “Why not just buy a normal HDMI cable for $10?”
If you can tell me a retailer where I can get an HDMI cable for $10 (not ebay) – I will bow down to you as the god that found the most awesome deal on the planet.
A good HDMI Cable these days costs at least $70. (Monster Cable)
While it’s not quite as good as a monster cable Microsoft’s HDMI Package (that comes in the box with the elite) sells for $50 – and it comes with an additional attachment that allows one to output audio only through the once AV Jack (outputs Digital Optical Audio Out & Standard Red/White jacks).
If your audio reciever does not have an HDMI input, but your TV supports HDMI Video, you NEED microsoft’s package to output Digital Optical quality sound.
Needless to say, if your audio receiver has HDMI capability, or you are satisfied with the sound that is output through your HDTV thru the HDMI cable (I don’t know who that’d be)… all you need is the HDMI Cable.
So the answer to your question is: Microsoft’s $50 package gives you all of the audio options that should be included with the XBOX 360:
-HDMI Audio Out
-Digital Optical Audio Out
-Red/White Composite Audio Out
Steve Waters, Monster Cable is the Bose of the cable world. That is, it’s overpriced junk designed specifically as an impulse buy at checkout that makes the $100 it costs pale in comparison to the thousands in components you just bought with it. Go to monoprice.com to see HDMI cables that will work just as good as your monster cable for like $4.
Also: Here’s a link to what I’m talking about with microsoft’s HDMI bundle that is included with the Elite. It allows more versatility with your audio connection:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360hdmiavcable/
“Utilize the Optical/RCA Audio adapter for enhanced sound in non-HDMI supported stereo systems. Feel confident connecting your console to high-definition equipment with the quality you expect from an authentic Xbox® product.”
If you think you need a Monster brand HDMI cable, I’m afraid you’ve been severely misinformed.
A good quality cable can be found at places like http://www.monoprice.com which has a very good reputation.
When you pay anything more than $10 for a reasonable cable, every penny you put in over that $10 goes to nothing but marketing and profit.
A good TOSlink optical cable would be less than $10 as well. Check around.
The link you have provided to monoprice.com is Excellent! Thanks for this link, it will save me tons of money when I need to purchase another HDMI cable (once I upgrade my sound system)
Thanks Again.
From reading this article it sounds to me like the dude who wrote it hates black consoles. WTF?!? Even the PS3 is black, so WTF? And there is one other difference that the ELITE console has which he failed to mention: the ELITE has an extra heatsink which ensures that it doesn’t overheat as easily.
I have nothing against black consoles. I think the black PS3 looks much better than the white or silver ones. I think the black XBOX 360 actually looks a bit nicer than the regular white one.
But to pay almost $100 extra for black and useless hard drive space? That’s what makes it retarded. There are no extra heatsinks compared to the normal Premium now.
Interesting how you failed to mention the elite COMES BUNDLED with the HDMI cable which is $50 separately. The other sku’s do not come with this.
If you spend more than $10 on an HDMI cable, you are making a HUGE mistake. Don’t buy that crap they sell at the electronic stores. Order a good quality cable for $6-10 from Monoprice or somewhere else.
I wanted to see and upgrade to the 360 elite, to the hardware itself, not the dvd player but the chipset and motherboard that cooks and fries itself (the ring of death).
I know three people with a 360 and four with a ps3.
Two of the three 360s were down with the ring of death.
zero ps3s down so far.
If your going to call it the elite, it needs more that a paintjob and hd space.
“Instead, we are offered a system that for about $100 more than the current Premium, adds a 120GB hard drive and HDMI output.”
I dunno, $100 for a 120GB HDD + HDMI output sounds like a bargain to me. Usually that would cost twice as much.
You’re right: you Don’t know.
Twice as much? Stop huffing glue and check prices for yourself before posting like you know what you’re talking about.
A 5400rpm 250gb 2.5″ Hdd is 130 bucks in my local big box retailer, Now.
A Solid State 2.5″ 60gb Hdd is $400 (“twice as much”).
So yeah, if you wanted the most bleeding edge hard drive (which doesn’t work in your 360, but will work in my PS3), then by all means, go ahead and blitz the cash on a drive that costs as much as the PS3, lol.
I’m an Australian and I know where I stand. The elite here with three games (Halo 3, Gears of War, Saint’s Row) costs around $649. Bundles for the PS3 including one game (eaither MGS4 or GTA4) are $749.95 (or still a massive $699 without a game). And this is the cheap shitty 40gb PS3 we’re talking about too. The one where they even dropped emulation support for PS2 games essentially meaning you’re buying an expensive media player that plays the few decent titles Australia has access to. And did I mention pretty much every game worth buying on the PS3 apart from Metal Gear Solid IV is also here on the 360? It’s really a no-brainer for me. I want my console for games, not some damned overprice DVDs that show movies in a resolution so high it’ll only matter on displays I can’t afford.
I read someone above talk about the motion sensitive controls of the PS3 controller. So what? I’m yet to see it employed successfully in anything other than one or two crappy games anyways.
As far as I’m concerned the PS3 became an expensive media player/paperweight the moment Sony dropped emulation support. Hell I was annoyed about hearing of the emotion engine getting cut… And then I hear several games said to be exclusives for PS3 have gone multi-platform as well. The Final Fantasy main series is Sony’s alone no more. As far as I’m concerned Microsoft seems to be constantly improving what the 360 has to offer, while Sony’s dropping more and more features faster than they’re dropping their price leading me to personally feel that Sony feels nothing wrong with ass-raping all the Sony fanboys of Australia.
In the days of PS2 vs. XBox I preferred the PS2. These days? A PS2 and my new xbox 360 elite. Did I mention I’m an RPG nut and PS3 has shit all in the name of exclusives? It had the entire back catalogue on PS2, but then Sony had to pull that shit recently… The 360 though has a few, and while several have become ported to the PS3, it’s still a few RPGs short of even vaguely interesting to me.
Play whichever console you like, but as far as I’m concerned the three dual cores of my 360 elite are great enough for any game I want to play. :D
ok wait, black consoles are bad, they stick out like sore thumbs? HOLD ON, my entire auido/video setup is black! including my TV, DVD/stereo receiver and tv stand. tell me in what way, a black console would stick out like a sore thumb….
So….just cause its black….its more retarded?
Racists……
anyway….
umm….everyone knew the Elite was a waste of time other than the black thing…everyone likes black….grow up you stupid 60 year olds developing these things
Wow. I bet you feel like a retard now with the NXE you can save games onto your hard drive for virtually instant load times and no disk drive noise. I only have the premium but i am buying the 120 gig hard drive which is 100 bucks so the elite is really worth it because its like buying the hard drive but also getting a cooler looking console and controller. Because shit i also plan on painting my 360 black and printing a gears stencil to put in red on the top (doesn’t void warranty either). Oh yeah and original xbox games take up a lot of space so it is also good for that.( most likely a better deal since it’s only like 10 buck ms points and more likely higher in stores). So yeah i bet you’re just some butthurt ps3fag or Wiifag that doesn’t like that the 360 is cheaper with more capabilities.
Christ, people are still adding to this?
360 still doesn’t present the experience I get out of PS3. A G25 with a gated shifter and clutch pedal made for the PC, or there’s now the Porsche wheel which is even better and still doesn’t work with Forza 2. Instead you’re forced to use, the McWheel.
I don’t give a shit if it’s wireless, I want the wheel, the pedals and the shifter. 360 is a cheap alternative with all the same games.
This is why I own a PC. Because I don’t need to invest in ‘the cheap alternative’.
I’m fortunate enough to wire my hardware direct to the home entertainment, so I get everything the 360 offers, including the controller, if I so choose.
All this and I still play online for free.
I’ve upgraded the PS3 to a 250gb, which cost a $130.
I use it as an everything player, and although the new ones don’t have the emulation support (a big mistake imo) the system still accepts more plugins than Photoshop.
The 360 is a cheap system to begin with and doesn’t offer anything I don’t have on a PC.
I’m happy you have Fable 2 on 360. Nothing is exclusive (for long) on 360. Were I truly concerned to play any 360 title Before it reached PC, I can always buy the game, and use an emulator.
Fancy that.
Now here’s a quick sidenote: Y’know all the articles talking about piracy and the PC? Any of you ever notice typically the articles are citing 360 games?
Fancy that.
PS3s suck in the way I find most important. Games.
For every game on the PS3, there seems to be a dozen Xbox 360 games. Or here in Australia anyway. I own a 360, a Wii AND a PS3 and apart from using the PS3 as a cool multimedia box or installing Linux on it so it can be used like a PC, it doesn’t do anything for me. Blue Ray? I don’t got the cash or space to store a screen big enough for me to tell the difference between DVD and blue ray resolution.
The 360 plays almost all of the better new games out (I only really need the PS3 for a few titles that do manage to be exclusive like Valkyria Chronicles amongst a couple others) and the Wii plays all the good old skool titles which are often better than anything new despite their outdated graphics/sound/gameplay.
I have a few PCs myself, and I can tell you that I don’t believe you’ll be emulating any 360 games any time soon even if you have a modern mainframe. Why? Because there aren’t any good emulators around. Unless of course you know someone who worked on the Xbox360 and they gave you something not available to the public or something…
But then that defeats the purpose of you saying that as no-one bar you could emulate them.
What you called a ‘cheap alternative’ can play games a lot better than a similarly priced PC. It also saves the hassle of wondering whether or not a game will work on your hardware.
I personally don’t mind shelling over some pocket money for a quality online service. You get what you pay for there. And don’t diss the McWheel. If you can’t win with the cheaper peripherals, chances are you suck at the games anyways. =)
[...] audio output. This cable sells for about $50. That said, the Elite Edition certainly isn’t retarded as it was when it cost $479.99, and seems like a sensible purchase considering you can’t [...]
Yeah the pro edition is by far the best.
If you want a black console, paint your pro, just like I did.
But im noy even gonna go into painting and all
Just wanted to give a suggestion.
what do you mean the elite should be louder??? i have one along with 2 white consoles which one has red ring and the other has the “This is not an xbox 360 console” error and they were at least 3 times louder than my elite.
Knowing for a FACT you can’t upgrade the HDD yourself(I have tried)and 60GB isn’t ever close to enough space,I got the 120GB and I have about 8GB left.The Elite is a way better deal,you get the HDMI cable and optical cable adapter,and isn’t everything comming in black nowdays?To say its retarded is a little too harsh,you wanna know whats retarded?PSHOME!! It takes first place in the worlds stupidest videos game ideas and all time wastes of money.If you like to play games without the jet engine sounds,download the game to your HDD,thats why its there.
A buddy of mine has been fixing them for the past year or so.
When you get under the hood… wow, the 360 is only that much more a piece of shit.
Strangely he fixes all systems… but all he receives (until recently) is 360′s… lots and lots of 360′s.
He sells them, after refurbishing them, buys broken ones off EBay too, fixes’em up, gets them running, puts new crossmembers on the chips, etc.
Sells them for a hundred bucks a pop.
It’s been quite lucrative.
So’s the PS3 compared to a modern day mid-range PC.
I always thought consoles were more about knowing your games are compatible and making the gaming aspect that much easier.
If you want a gaming machine that’s not ‘shit under the hood’ you need to spend some bucks on a decent gaming PC.
oh for gods sake!!!!!!! the xbox 360 is superior to the ps3 in all ways but two. what are they you ask???
blu-ray – personally i think is pointless as playing films on your ps3 is probably jsut going to destroy the drive eventually
quieter to run – two ways of stopping this, install the games (i own an elite and have installed all the games i play often. plus addons. and i have still got over 45GB left.)
you have a volume control don’t you? now how many decibels is the noise you get off an xbox at a few metres? VERY LITTLE. turn the volume on your tv up, problem solved, i can manage not to hear my xbox or be bothered by it at volume 10. and i have 100 notches!!! 10 is barely audible!
and for the fact it is black, well thats a matter of personal style, my brother has a silver ps2, don’t like it, and a white xbox core, don’t like it. i like the black elite, especially the controls, my brothers controls pick up dirt like computers!! but the black ones don’t show it! the main reason i liek the elite is cos everything i own is black:
computer
tv
xbox 360
ps2 slim
psp
sound system (25 – yes, twenty-five – years old and the best electronic device i have ever owned!!!)
my bed
my lamp
i could go on and on. but jsut proving that its taste for the colour of it, and surely painting your pro IS going to void the warrenty?
the only problem i have had with my xbox elite is the fact that i can’t get it networked properly with ym pc, thats not the xbox’s fault though! its vista’s!! and i have had an xbox since the elite came out!
Dude, Xbox 1.5 (elite or not) has nothing can compare to PS3 – PS3 just beats xbox 1.5 (again w/e elite or not) in everyway. We can ven play PS3 games like dam wii with our six-axis controller, can you do that on xbox 1.5?”
Explain to me how the PS3 beats XBOX 360 in everyway when the XBOX 360 has the Xenos GPU which has more power – higher fillrate, higher pixel processing power, higher vertex processing power, and better memory architecture. Just face it, people who try games and find out that they suck at the certain game ALMOST ALWAYS say, oh I didn’t like that game it was garbage. Instead of saying, oh man that game is hard I’m no good. They always make it out like the game is horrible when really they just suck at it. Same way goes for the console. If someone finds they are too technically retarded to figure out how to do something on the console such as change the time or something farely easy on it, they always say that the console is horrible and the other one is better. Nobody ever has any hard evidence on why one thing beats the other, it’s always just based off of someones opinion.
you are stupid if you say ps3 beats xbox 360 in everyway cuz it dont xbox i better than ps3 in most way and ps3 beats xbox in most way as well
@ john15 Just shut the fuck up.
Why waste your time posting a retarded fucking comment like that?
“ps3 beats xbox 360 in everyway cuz it dont xbox i better than ps3 in most way”
Do fuckwits like you even read the drivel they post? ‘i better than ps3. I’ll bet you talk like that in real life too. ii betta thahn ps3… uhhh guuhhh…’ Want some icecream? Does your caretaker know you’ve been using the keyboard again?
I can see why 360 is still popular. Cause guys like you are allowed to roam, breathe and breed.
Just go die in traffic you waste of skin.
Wtf is John15 anyhow? One decimal off from a biblical entry? Don’t answer that, nobody gives a fuck.
“I have the Elite system and yes it is a load of crap i cant believe i spent that money. I had a generation 1 Xbox 360 which i loved and thought this would be better…. WELL IT ISNT Bill Gates has really wasted my time. I now own a PS3 as well as the elite and there is no competition. I’m sorry to say this as i love X box but i gave in. The X box system is great but stay away from the elite…..”
This is a prime example why people are dumb. Did you even bother to check what was different about the elite and the generation 1 before you bought it? It doesn’t sound like you didn’t. So now the xbox 360 elite is garbage because this guy thought it was going to be better than the original one. I don’t know about any of you people, but usually before I purchase ANYTHING, whether its a tube of toothpaste or a tube of chapstick, I always compare to others. It’s only commen sense. So now Bill Gates wasted this guys time because HE is a jackass and decided not to see what was different about the two Xbox’s.
I still fail to see why the elite is a ‘retard edition’, now moreso than ever.
Back when this article was written, before NXE, a larger harddrive was still better so you could have a decent amount of DLC, arcade games, music and whatever else on the drive without having to delete anything. Also bear in mind that buying a 120gb hard drive seperately was considerably more expensive and I’m pretty sure at the time it also bundled in a few other cables that when purchased speerately cost some extra coinage.
I always saw the Arcade unit as the retard edition. Just because it lacks the space to install one piece of DLC if large enough and essentially forces you to buy a hard drive later at a higher price if you do wish to store larger files/ more smaller files. I know I’ve seen plenty of people fall for that trap with the false promise of a fully functional 360 at under the cost of a Wii.