So every year my family give me and the wife some easter money. I have slowly but surely brought the wife over to my side in terms of the xbox 360, and think I might put the easter money toward the 360.

The Arcade sells for $199 here, which seems like a good price.

I have read the descriptions on the websites, but they don't really say what is missing.

So I'm wondering...what, if anything is wrong with the Arcade?

Yeah, no HD, but get one (used, maybe?) and you're good to go.

^Are you sure about that? The description on the futureshop website said it was 1080p capable, but a HDMI cable was not included...

HD as in Hard Drive.

capt. worksatgamestop saves the day again. ALL 360s are hdmi nowadays, The litteral only difference between any of the 360s is HDD and stupid little things like free headsets and what not. If you can snag a used HDD, you might get away cheaper with the arcade. However, if you want to play online, you will probably find that just a memory card gets filled up way to fast. If you cant find a good deal on a hdd i would go with the pro. You have to remember that theres practically 0 profit margin on consoles, so unless you find a good deal, you will probably be paying close to the price of "new xbox w/ hdd" as you would "new xbox w/o hdd + used hdd"

So the HDD stores online info?

well the hard drive (hdd) and the memory card do the same job. But the pro is bundled with 60gb while i beleive the largest card is still only 512mb. As with pc games, games are regularly patched over xbox live, as well as downloadable content. All this needs to be stored somewhere. It just works out that playing online leads to a lot more information being saved.

For example, all my game saves could fit on one memory card. But I also have the downloadable expansions for Grand theft auto, halo3, Gears of war, and Call of duty. (these files contain more maps, guns, mostly online multiplayer stuff) and I would need I think 3 seperate memory cards to save all this info rather than my one harddrive. And none of it is expendable if I want to continue playing these games.

Pretty much the bottom line is, most people find they NEED a hard drive in order for their 360 to meet their needs. Any way you can get one the cheapest doesnt really matter, but depending on the deals you can find, keep in mind that buying the pro with new hdd bundled might be your best option

I see, thanks for the explanation.

My thinking right now is that $199 is doable, and is a pretty important piece of the anti-wii argument. Pushing it up to $299 (price of the next step on the ladder here in Canada) is a bit too rich for my blood ATM.

I figure I'm fine without a HDD for now, and if it becomes a problem I can buy an external in the future when money aint so tight.

^thats fine as long as you realize you'll probably want the hard drive in the future, i dunno about canadian prices but in USA, hdd sell used cheap in stores, 49.99 I think, but they dont stay on shelves that long, keep an eye out or check ebay. (they have to be the xbox specific ones)

Pick up a used 360 with a hd for $200 instead of getting the Arcade.

^Im a bit worried about RRoD and other reliability issues...is that much of an issue with used 360s...or is it the age old adage of "if it were going to happen it would have already" applicable?

I don't mean to thread jack but I've actually been thinking about getting a 360 this coming summer too...if I have no plans of playing online would an Arcade be fine?

RRoD's happen to every XBox it seems. Get something with a full warranty.

A little bit of both. On the plus side, 3 year warranty. If it's gonna happen you can probably get it fixed for free. I've had 2 360's and no RRoD's yet.. ~knocks on wood~

yes, perfect if not playing online

Ive had two RRoD's on what were both older xboxs. I'd say newer is safer honestly, but maybe do a little research to see if you can quickly evaluate how old one is on sight. I know tricks like only the newer arcades have hdmi ports are out there

You know.... tricks like only the ... newer aracdes have HDMI ports out there? What?

Oh, you mean that trick like how everyone pretty much knew when MS announced it in 2007, Captain Gamestop? You know... how the Arcade has had an HDMI port since the beginning?

Phix go fuck yourself, if you want to deferentiate between the "arcade" and the "core system" it replaced seeing as they are exactly the same thing, then sorry. Go flex your e-muscles somewhere else.

If I buy one I would be buying it new...

Xbox 360 Core

Xenon configuration - Original configuration



Xbox 360 Arcade

Falcon configuration - Introduced in '07 / from the beginning with the Arcade announcement



Latest 360 configuration including the latest Arcades

Jasper configuration



So, no, asshole, they're not "exactly the same". They're only the same in the sense that they both acted and currently act as the starting point in the 360 lineup.

Drastically different hardware, better reliability, and much better peripherals with the Arcade.

Calling them from a technical standpoint that they're one and the same is just retarded and lazy. Any Arcade you buy will have an HDMI port built-in regardless if it's an "older" Arcade or a "newer" Arcade.

Glad to see Gamestop is still hiring knowledgeable employees.

http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index.php/Xbox_360_Revisions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_hardware

What are you babbling about, nobody mentioned the Core...he pointed out that the Arcade has always had HDMI, since the thread started with Bjorn asking about the Arcade. That wiki article is wrong too, any system with with lot number > 0728 had HDMI except for a select few that weren't made in Mexico. I bought my pro during the month that MS was switching over to HDMI on all 360's and I managed to get one with the new CPU/heatsink as well. I haven't had an RRoD, but my dvd drive has shit out on me, and I've since replaced it.

Bjorn if I was you, I'd get a new Arcade, buy an HDMI cable on monoprice for like $5 and then look into getting a 120GB HDD (on ebay or whatever) if you find yourself wanting downloadable content or a media center extension.

You're right, when proposed with a used 360, bjorn should open the case and inspect the processor... or he could use whatever visual clues he can to determine the age. If theres no hdmi port on the back, its pretty fucking old. Given as just an example, I wasnt claiming to know any more than that, other then i forgot the name of the entry level model changed. Thats why i told him to go do research. If you want to help bjorn go ahead, or you can keep being the overaggressive, obnoxious, badass jumping on undeserving peoples backs for irrelevant bullshit. Either way, i dont care. Im out,

Summary: fuck you

Ladies ladies ladies, please take your midol and stfu. Bjorn just get whatever 360 you want

IMO just save more money and get a new Xbox. The 360's aren't reliable enough to buy used. I'd rather spend a few extra bucks to get new and at least get some sort of warranty.

I just got an open box arcade for $125.00. No contest...full warranty and a $74 savings FTW.

Good catch! 74 dollars saved is 74 dollars to your bills.

-edit
What games are you going to buy? Buy Forza and L4D. The new Fight Night is going to be amazing too, if you're into fighting. You should like l4d, it's co-op multiplayer where you kill zombies and shit.

for now Forza 2 and Force unleashed.

Part of the deal was that I had to get the wife a game she liked, which turned out to be Tomb Raider Underworld.

I didn't know that I needed a HDD to play XBOX 1 games...kinda shitty, but what ever.

Is there any way to transfer over my saved games from the Xbox?

My suggestions are:

1. Buy new. You're going to go gray very fast without a warranty.
2. You're definitely going to want a hard drive and a big one.

O_o

I bought an arcade a while back, the next week I went out and bought the HD. I had planned to from the very beginning. It cost around the same as buying the next level 360, but I got the newer design, thats all. I have yet to notice a difference, except when I launch a game, it asks me what HD I'd like to run off of. The thing is, the 360 is going to cost what the normal one does, because you will get a HD in all likelihood. It's pretty much the same system after that.

I have the HDMI cable for mine, so debate over.

Skip L4D, it was fun for all of an hour. Get GRID, Halo3, and Gears of War.

I can't believe im going to say this but don't listen to moe, L4D is really good.

Heh, oddly enough I bought L4D on your recommendation. I did like it though, just wouldn't have it on my list of essentials.

Oh man now I feel bad. You gotta play it on live versus if you haven't yet, thats the best part.

I went out today and got Force Unleashed and Forza 2. That should keep me happy for a while. Forza 2 is kinda weird...I have been playing a lot of Forza 1 lately, and 2 feels very different.

Although that might have something to do with the fact that I was on level 50 in Forza and 5 in Forza 2