Need help buying an XBOX 360...

[BillyMadison]

Buying and XBOX 360...

Hey guys,

I am strongly leaning towards getting an XBOX 360 to hold me over and so I can play NCAA football. I sold my XBOX and PS2 for gas money last summer when I was broke, but am getting the itch to make the jump to the next gen.

With that said, I am not sure if I should wait it out for a few months. I have heard so many disaster stories about people having to send their systems in for repairs, 3 or 4 times. That is discouraging, and while the XBOX 360 has proven to be extremely fragile, I have no interest in the Wii and the PS3 is just too expensive for me at this point (plus has no good games, yet).

I guess my main question is, what has been the main, persistent failure of the systems? What exactly, is dysfunctional? Also, has this been fixed in "newer generations" of the console? For example, a first generation XBOX 360 that was manufactured for launch day can expect to have problems. But if I buy one off the shelf today, has the problem been fixed and will I be buying a stable machine? Or is it on the same manufactured line? If that is the case, does anyone have any idea when the new, improved and stable models will begin to hit shelves? I know about the new, 3 year guarantee... but quite frankly I don't want to put up with the hassle, and I don't want to have to keep sending in a lemon console, even if it is guaranteed.

Also, rumors of the price drop for August 1st? I have heard this mentioned on some sites, and is there any truth to this? If I brought a system and 2 weeks later it was dropped $50 or even $100, I would be pretty pissed. I am anxious, but I am patient as well.

Also, what system is the best deal? The Core's price is nice, but I hear you can't even save anything on it? I am not crazy about all the extra's on the Elite. I am a pretty simple gamer: I want to be able to play games, save games, and play online. I do not need my console to cook me breakfast, and monitor my breathing. I don't know what 1080p or 1080i means or does, and I don't care. My T.V. is a nice flat screen ('36 Sony Wega, probably 5 years old), but it isn't the best and I'm not going out to buy a new super duper 1080 Plasma to get the best possible graphics.



I know this is a lot of questions. I am pretty in the dark about this stuff as I have taken a year long sabbatical away from gaming. Please don't turn this into a fan-boy flamefest, I have absolutely no allegiance to any company and just want an enjoyable experience, when I want it. I am sure the Wii and PS3 are great, and maybe I will consider them down the road, but I am asking about the 360 right now.

Thanks

[The GIGGAS]

First off... you get the repairs free. I believe it's the heat of the system itself. It seems to overheat. They haven't included the new chipset, I believe. I'm still on teh one I bought 01/01/06, though.

I don't know about the price drop. M$ seems quite arrogant with this console.

Yeah, you'd have to buy a hard drive or a memory card for the Core. Get a Premium if you don't need HDMI. If you need wireless, you'll have to spend 99 bucks on the wireless adapter, if you don't plan on playing wirelessly, then you don't have to worry about it. Live is 50 dollars a year I believe.

I hope that this helped.

[mike01]

I would just go ahead and get a premium if you can afford it. I wouldn't worry about it breaking down at this point, MS has given almost a three year warranty and is fixing everything for free. I understand the hassle thing, it happened to me. My guess is it is better at this point and I don't see some huge change coming where they will all be perfect.

I bought a core and a memory card, and now I'm finally playing online and want to buy a hard drive. Should have just bought it all together in the first place. Memory cards are like $40, a headset for online is $22, ethernet cables or routers can be expensive, etc.

[Rodster]

My advice is buy the Premium from Best Buy and purchase their two year extended warranty. Even if the price drops by $200 within the two years you own the 360 you can always get the original price back from Best Buy. Your extended warranty locks you into that price.

Also you have 30 days and BB will match the price if MS goes thru with the rumored Aug 1st price drop.

[mercalnd]

Quote: Originally Posted by mike01

I would just go ahead and get a premium if you can afford it. I wouldn't worry about it breaking down at this point, MS has given almost a three year warranty and is fixing everything for free. I understand the hassle thing, it happened to me. My guess is it is better at this point and I don't see some huge change coming where they will all be perfect. I bought a core and a memory card, and now I'm finally playing online and want to buy a hard drive. Should have just bought it all together in the first place. Memory cards are like $40, a headset for online is $22, ethernet cables or routers can be expensive, etc.

The only thing they fix for free after the first year is the RROD. Anything else is $100.

[bkfount]

honestly, if quality concerns are keeping you from getting one, just wait until October/November or so when people buy things for christmas. MS would be utterly stupid to not have the "falcon" 360's out before the holiday shopping season, especially when the later part of 07 will be the best lineup for 360 games yet.

If you choose to get one now, buy it from a retailer that offers a warranty. MS is sneaky with their 3 year warranty language. It's not as great as they wanted it to sound. They only cover red ring of death issues, and only if they can replicate it out of the box. If not, they will charge you money to fix it.

I got my first 360 from best buy and paid 59.99 for a warranty. It took 10 minutes to swap it out when it broke.