Economical Gamer Forums

Hey I wanna know whats the cheapest way to get a 360 elite. Are there any deals going on? should I import one seeing as how our aussie dollar is going strong or what?

I really want a 360 :(

Why import one? No...

There arent any decent sales for the Elite at the moment. The best 360 pro deal to date was last week and it was PGR4, Assassins Creed and console for only $538. At the moment there isnt much.

Why exactly do you want to go for the Elite?
Unless you have a HD TV with HDMI inputs, and also wish to store HD movies (which you can't yet download in AU anyway) there's not much point to the price tag.

Bigger HD, thats basically it. >_>

Its black too :D

Having a Pro I can say that it is very easy to fill the 20 (really 13) GB HDD with demos. I havent even begun with downloadable content and dont look forward to having less space.

BTW the newer Pro versions also have HDMI.

Could I just chuck a bigger HD in the pro?

Yep, you can buy 120GB HDDs for the Pro as well.
But although it's easy to fill up the 20GB, Mine's just full of game demos I'll play once and never again.

whatever you do, dont import, if it RRODs, your screwed plus not all games are region free, so you might get compatibilty issues with PAL games.

For reference, i have about 30 games, and buy quite afew things on Live, and im using about 10 gigs, no demos, music or videos though.

I vote for Pro

Every x360 now manufactures is exactly the same hardware wise.  They are all FALCON based now.  The only difference is the external coloring and the pack-ins. If all you want is an x360 with the largest current HDD, then just buy an arcade, then buy the 120gb.  It will probably be cheaper if you watch the front page and grap them when they are on sale.

As a heads up, when GTA4 comes out, there will be an arcade pack with it and HALO3 packed in.  I am unsure of the exact price, but it will only be 80 to 100 more than the Arcade on its own.  That is, basically, HALO3 for free.  You can then trade it, making the pack even cheaper!

You miss the wireless controller and component cables if you buy an arcade.

Only partially correct.  The Arcade comes with a wireless controller.  I believe you are confusing it with the previous, now discontinued entry pack, the Core. The Op made it reasonably clear that all he was interested in was a x360 with a 120gb HDD.  The cheapest way to do this is buying an arcade and the 120gb HDD separate.  The total will be very close to $600 going on common pricing.  Even cheaper watching the front page here and taking advantage of sales.

EG the Arcade for $340 just recently from Target, the 120GB HDD can be found as cheap as $210 even from online stores.  Thats a total of .... er... lots less that $600. :)

Oh, what about component leads though? Dont get them?

Unfortunately this I do not know.  The reason for this is due to the official MS cables having BOTH.  So, unless they actually make one set o cables with BOTH types of connections, and another set with ONLY composite then there is a chance that the Arcade comes with both as well.  This I can not confirm, and to be honest my gut tells me the Arcade has a different "official MS cable" that only has composite.  Still perfectly acceptable for 80% of TVs in Australia, and 100% compatible with 100% of TVs in Australia.  Unless the op has an uber panel TV, the cables will make little if any difference.

Personally I believe it is a mistake for MS to include the wireless controller in the Arcade pack.  The whole reason for the arcade is to get the console to people as cheaply as possible.  As Wired controllers are cheaper and have no ongoing or extra cost, it is a much more sensible option for the entry level pack.  Of course I do not like wireless.  Changing batteries is annoying and can get costly.  Rechargeable batteries are cheaper in the long run, but only in the long run. they are much more expensive initially.  THe play'n'charge kits basically cost twice the price of a wired controller, and are only wireless half the time!   Esentially I see MS wireless as a consumer gouge that is completely un necessary.

This is not exactly the point anyway.  The Op did not ask about cables, connectors, wireless/wired blah blah.  He asked about the cheapest way to get x360 with 120gb, which was answered several posts ago.  I think now all we are gonna do is confuse the poor OP! lol.. Sorry Op!

Does the Arcade version have HDMI output or just Component?

I think the WOW Sight and Sound deals seems to be the cheapest i've seen so far...$399 for a pro console.

WOW sell refurbished consoles, so be careful

I just realised an old JB deal is still going. $537 for Pro console with Assassins Creed

Apparently Big-W had the arcade @ $299???  I can't find any info on that on the web other than people claiming they bought it / saw it at that price.  It might be worth keeping a VERY close eye on the Big-W sales (or possibly making a phone call or two) in case that comes around again.

With GTA4, and the GTA4 console pack just around the corner (x360 arcade + GTA4 + Halo3), I expect there to be some VERY promising console prices in the next few weeks. :)

Also note the WOW consoles are the old Pro consoles, not the new HDMI version. (If you are lucky enough you could take WOW's price somewhere else and get them to match it on a HDMI version if the salesperson doesn't realise.

Hi folks,

I have a question.

As a predominantly PC gamer who has a decent xbox (original) game collection from the olden days, I'm interested in the 360 and have been keeping an eye on the deals, mainly with the help of this site.

I was caught in the PS3/360 debate for ages but realised that the only things really attracting me towards PS3 (MGS, LittleBigPlanet, resistance, motorstorm, GT5 and killzone3, not to mention blu-ray) are probably outweighed by the relative cheapness of the 360, some great games and the backwards compatibility of all my xbox titles which i'm hoping will run mostly fine on a 360, someday upscaled a bit on a decent TV screen. Also I can't stomach forking out $700 for a PS3 I won't be able to afford games for!

I'm hoping someone can tell me whether they've had any experience with the 360 Core (currently in a bundle with creed for $419 at target) + a BYO microsoft xbox HDD for backwards compatibility with old xbox games? I'm only guessing that the HDD is the component which makes any 360 console backwards compatible, if I've got the wrong idea here please someone tell me!

I found the xbox Aus site regarding this:

http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/hardware/console101.htm

And it has a tiny disclaimer next to the bit on the chart about the 360 arcade games compatibility, but I just wanted to hear if anyone has any experience with them.

I also just worked out that the 360 arcade doesn't necessarily have an HDMI port (and definitely doesn't come with a cable), can anyone confirm this?

Also, I don't suppose the 360 arcade + halo3 + GTAIV bundle ever happened did it?

Well, hope someone can give me the low-down on all this, this has been a real helpful site for me as we don't seem to get any junk mail or catalogues, must be a city thing  ;).

Thanks guys, cheers...

I dont think an arcade is worth getting unless you already have a HDD. Those things are EXPENSIVE. You will undo any savings immidiately when you get one. I think the GAME deals at the moment are best, cant be entirely sure because I havent been tracking Xbox 360 prices too closely lately.

http://www.ecogamer.com/content/view/619/6/

Have to agree with Anthony here. If you're looking for backwards compatibility, might as well go for the Pro bundle. There are a few good deals around. You've got till tomorrow (20th) to grab one at your local Toys'r'us and receive a $200 gift voucher for future purposes. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Not sure if Game still has the Pro 360+GTA4 for $499 offer. That's one hell of a good deal as well.

Make sure your games are listed here...
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibilitygameslist.htm)
Some games (such as MGS2: Subsistence as I found) aren't playable on 360.
But most games are.

Id say most games arent.

Well, maybe most games worth playing are?

Or maybe we could just settle at a lot of games are, but make sure you check the list before you sell your original Xbox :P

Thanks folks, that's great info and advice.

Summary: Don't waste time/money on the arcade, wait for an appealing deal on a pro, and make sure the games I'm wanting to play on it are listed as compatible.

I did also just realise though that I won't actually be chucking my original xbox away, I can always just play old games on that... damn, back into the PS3vs360 quandry again...

Thanks guys, I'm in the north of Tas though and the nearest JB and GAME and BigW are about 200kms away so there are only a few relevant deals here for me, but I'll keep an eye on them.

Dude, you can get a 360 pro and GTAIV for 330 bucks and it's at JB. Thats the best deal I've seen going around.

Seriously?
That's gotta be a second hand one or something, because yeah, that price is way smaller than I've ever heard of.

Ohh woops, thats a huge mofo typo. It's going for $530 >_<

ok, seriously, I am going to have to put this into a txt file and just copy pasta it in.

Acrade packaging if FAR superior to Pro packaging.  The actual Hardware of the console itself is exactly the same, and when the sales are on, the Arcade can be over $200 cheaper.  Even when the Pro goes on sale, a GOOD price is $500.  That is Still $100 more than an arcade that is NOT on sale.  That is insane price hike for the EXACT SAME CONSOLE.

Now, to the pack-ins.
There is not a single pack in found in the Pro Bundle that makes the price difference worth it.  The Component cable?  Can be bought almost anywhere from around $20 for decent third party, but is going to achieve very little gain over the Standard cable that comes with the Arcade. The only people who will actually see any significant difference are those of us with Panel TVs who can run the x360 in HD mode.  If this is the case, you will NOT want the Component cables anyway, as you will want either the VGA, or HDMI cables. This makes the Pro pack's Component cables completely irrelevant.

The Head Set?  Its ****.  Far superior third party ones can be found for as little as $10 if you positively must have a headset and to not already have one from.. you know.. almost anything else that has a headset you already own.

Contrary to what the internet may lead you to believe, the Pro does not come with a remote.  THe previous PREMIUM packaging came with the remote for a while, but I am pretty sure that stopped long before it was replaced by the current Pro Pack, which happened way back at the end of last year.

This brings us to the HDD.  Again, this is completely un-necessary if you just want to play games.  The Arcade pack comes with a 256meg memory unit, and considering most saves are less than one meg, some as little as a few kbs, this unit will almost certainly suffice for all your saves for a long time, possibly the life of the console.

Backwards Compatibility is a farce with the x360.  Anyone who has a decent xbox games collection will be far better off keeping their original xbox console to avoid the headache that is x360 BC travesty.  Remember that your xbox MUST be online for BC to work, as almost NO xbox games will work without patching of some wort that can only be gained off the internet.

That only leaves Live content.  Now, if you are the sort to be attracted to Live, you will want the 120gb HDD, and not the paltry 20gb (about 13gb usable) that comes with the Pro. that 13gb will get eaten by just a few demos, maps, and other DLC.  The 120gb HDD can be found quite easily for $200 around the sales, online etc.  This basically makes the Arcade with 120gb the same price as a Pro that only has 20gb. That is an extra 100gb for the same price.

So.. you can pay up to $200+ MORE for a Pro, but when considering all these factors, it would be an extremely poor economical choice. Personally I bought an Arcade for $340 from Target earlier in the year, and it has played every single game I have put in it perfectly.  That is $160 cheaper than a Pro ON SALE, and has played the exact same games.

The 120GB HDD is hardly necessary if you use Live content =\
I've made do with the 20GB, have never got closer than 3GB away from filling it.
And I currently have about 10-15 demos on the HDD which I never play and could delete either of them if ever I needed more space.
The only reason I can see people needing or wanting the 120GB hard drive is if they simply refuse to delete demos, or they download films/TV from the Live service (which conveniently isn't available in Australia anyway, making it somewhat of a moot point).
Yes the Memory pack thingy will allow you to play games and such, but you will have room for barely *any* downloadable content, which may or may not be useful to you depending on the games you play.

I play my X360 using Component cables, on a 720p TV. I'm hard pressed to notice the difference comparing it to VGA/HDMI cables, and the extra cost of the VGA cable doesn't really appeal to me when there's such a negligible difference.

Are you sure about the third party head sets as well? The ones you already own wouldn't likely be the correct size for the wireless one (the 360 controller has a smaller than standard audio port in the controller) and wireless ones really have to be Xbox specific ones.
I have a wireless MS Lifechat headset, designed exactly the same as a 360 wireless headst, right down to the fact that it's reciever doubles as a wireless 360 controller reciever for PC, however this is in no way compatible with the 360.

Again, look out for bundles. The recent x-box 360 + GTA 4 bundles cost around $500-530. Deducting the cost of GTA 4 with a RRP of $120 (though obviously u can find it cheaper), you can get the x-box for $380-410. That is, of course, if you plan to get the game anyway. Not that much of a price difference to the arcade i think.

But if you really want to save a little, get the arcade, as recommended earlier. Considering your location and inability to access certain stores, the arcade may be the cheapest option.

As for the PS3 or 360 dilemma, maybe this will help:

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/27/gamespot-compares-360-ps3-graphics-calls-it-a-tie/

(my own verdict: the 360's been out longer, has a larger library, and a lot of cheaper games. only things missing are MGS4 and Final Fantasy, if you're into those things. no competition, forget about the PS3 unless you want to spend money on a trueHD HDTV and use it's blu-ray functionality)

Hi folks,

Well, after much considering I think I'm going to go with the $359 Arcade from target as there is one just down the road. In fact, there is a new EB even closer down the road that I might get to price-match target for one!

Backwards compatibility was probably not the right reason to go for a 360 anyhow, and second hand ones are ~$70 anyhow so I might just buy one of those and keep it as a spare in case my old one conks out irreparably. I think downsys' observations re: bigger and cheaper and subjectively more compelling library of games are better arguments for the console right now.

And I've only got a crummy old rear-projection tv right now anyhow, but when a flat 'n wide one comes my way I'll invest in a HDMI cable and be set for the next phase.

I'll let y'all know how I go with the blood-from-a-stone experience that is the EB price match...

Ive never had any troubles with EB price match, then again yours is new...