Customer Reviews
Some things to note about this product
Things to note about this product:
-If you are looking at this in Aug. 08 then note that this is NOT the Jasper console, these consoles are the newer bundles they created to clear inventory of Falcon boards while they work on inventory of Jaspers (The Jaspers were to be produced in August and that is what they are doing right now. Producing, not releasing for retail sale -yet-) When the stores sell out of ALL Falcon units they will start putting Jasper units on the shelves. Two tips for spotting a Jasper: 1. Check the wattage information, it should be below 175w. 2. Check the manufacture date. Jaspers should be manufactured during August 2008 or later. (I’m pretty sure I have this in another spot in my post but I’ll put it at the top also, for easier access.
-This console will be reduced in price once again in early September. The new price-tag on these Pro bundles will be $299.99 (Edit: Next information may now give issues, as Amazon has done a bait and swap with their policy and removed their 30-day protection as of the 31st of August. Very low, Amazon, very low. If you bought a system before the change and before the 30 day period of the price drop you may still be able to get your price matched, but it will likely be a headache. See new section at bottom for possible ideas) Do not panic if you bought one at the $349.99 price. Why? Amazon has a price guarantee, meaning for 30 days if the price of any product goes down, you are entitled to cash back to price match the new cost. So in early September check back here when the price goes down so that you can get 50 dollars back.
-The September consoles are when ‘technically’ the new Jaspers should start rolling off the assembly line and into stores. HOWEVER there is a technicality with this. They may have them in the stores warehouses, but won’t put them on the shelves til all of that store’s FALCON units have been sold. This includes all the falcon units from that store’s warehouses. All Falcon units must go first before they start selling Jaspers. Keep an eye on the wattage information to confirm your Jasper units. As the new GPU should reduce the PSU wattage requirements. (currently they all use 175w) Also, look at the manufacture dates. Any console that was manufactured from mid to late Aug. 2008 and on should be Japsers. As you know, they said they would manufacture the Jaspers in August, so that is the manufacture starting points you want to look for.
That is technically all the current information available. Did a lot of research on this, since I’m currently in the market. Hope this helps all of you future buyers, as well as those of you who have already made a purchase.
Edit: According to the member who posted a comment if you ordered before Sept. 1 directly from Amazon and are still within 30 days, you will be able to get your price matched to the current price tag. However ONLY if you ordered directly from Amazon and not another retailer that sold via Amazon. If you don’t fit this category continue reading below.
If you didn’t order directly from Amazon: So Amazon basically pulled a fast one one people, on the 31st of August they discontinued the price guarantee. Gee thanks, Amazon! Way to screw over your customers. You may still be able to convince customer support that because of the fact that you bought when the policy was still active that you should be covered still since they made a guarantee to you at the date of purchase. If after trying to get your money from Amazon you still don’t meet with results, what you can do is return the 360 if you are still within the return period and get another 360 now that the price has gone down. Amazon provides free return shipping on some products so you may not have to pay for that. You wait for your refund, get a new 360 at 50 dollars cheaper and the shipping a 2nd time should still be free since all products over x dollar amount qualify for free super-saver shipping. Just don’t TELL them that is why you are returning it. Say the unit scratches up your disks or something since that is a common problem with some of these older units.
Product review (obligatory since someone pointed it out in comments): Solid system, great graphics, has been known to give RROD issues but should be fixed with Jaspers so will lead to an even more solid system. Tons of fun, great games. The list goes on.
Will you still love me…when I’m 60gb?
Just picked up the new 60gb sku of the Xbox 360 and have a few things to report. My main reason for getting this was mainly due to getting the RRoD on my first 360 (which was purchased when Gears of War came out). Microsoft, of course, sent me a replacement unit in March of 2008. However, the replacement ended up sounding worse than my original. The fan was louder. The disc drive was louder. I heard all kinds of weird chirps and whirs coming out of it, which was very distracting and irritating. Needless to say, I was not pleased.
I began hearing about the new mother boards and power supplies being shipped with the newer sku’s and started to get intrigued. Could Microsoft finally be solving the dreaded RRoD problem? Supposedly, the newer mother boards included a smaller, 65nm chipset that produced less heat and required the fans to spin slower (hence less noise and overheating). Many of you have probably heard of the Falcon chipset or the Jasper chipset. Well, I can’t really tell which one my unit has, but I can tell you there are some improvements.
The new 60gb 360 has the 175 watt power supply. It is smaller and lighter than the original power brick. The console does run a little quieter and cooler. I would not say that it runs whisper quiet, but it’s not nearly as loud as my original or replacement unit. The disc drive runs a little quieter as well. According to the label, my unit was manufactured in June of 2008, so I assume it has the Falcon chipset in it. If anyone has more information about these chipsets, please enlighten me.
It comes with an HDMI port, which I really like. I will say that after I connected the console to my TV, the image seemed a lot brighter than with component cables. I had to turn down the brightness on my TV, but it looked fine then.
The console comes preloaded with several demos, including Pac-man, Geometry Wars, and several others I can’t remember. It has a full version of Hexic installed. After I transferred my game saves and gamer profile, I had about 45gb of storage left on the hard drive. Plenty of room for other demos and whatnot.
Getting it connected to Xbox Live took no time at all. Set up was straight forward and easy. I certainly hope that this sku stands the test of time (at least until the Xbox 720 comes out). So far, I like what I see.
Best overall game console this generation
I have owned the Xbox 360 since its launch. I have also owned the PS3 for over a year. I now feel I have had enough experience with both consoles to do a fair comparison of their relative strengths and weaknesses. What follows is my review of the Xbox 360.
Pros: price, game selection, graphics, online support, controller, multi-media functionality, user interface, backwards compatibility.
Cons: expensive hard drives, reliability issues.
Price:
With the recent price drop, the Xbox 360 is now the most affordable next-gen console on the market. The arcade bundle is only $199, which means it costs $50 less than the Wii. This is amazing because the Wii doesn’t offer nearly the same performance or features as the 360. As a game console, the 360 is the best value out there at the moment.
Game library:
The Xbox 360 has an unparalleled line-up of exclusives and multi-platform games. There are more than 600 games available for the Xbox 360, while only around 180 for the PS3 and 275 for the Wii (according to the Oct. 08 issue of GamePro). This means that the 360 has substantially more games than the other two consoles combined. What’s more, the 360 continues to get more third-party exclusives than the PS3; games like Left 4 Dead, Velvet Assassin, Ninja Blade, and a number of Japanese RPGs continue to find an exclusive home on the Xbox 360. Game consoles are first and foremost designed for playing games, and in this area the 360 really excels.
The Xbox 360 also shows several clear advantages when it comes to multi-platform games. Most notably, multi-platform games still tend to look and/or perform better on the 360. Many people claim that the PS3 versions of multi-platform games are finally starting to catch up to their 360 counterparts, but that hasn’t been my experience. I have compared dozens of recent multi-platform games on the two consoles (one of my geeky little hobbies), and in the majority of cases the 360 versions performed better. Even in the worst cases, the 360 versions at least equaled the PS3 versions. It’s also worth pointing out that every multi-platform game on the 360 supports achievements and custom soundtracks, while only a few on the PS3 do.
Performance and graphics:
Many people have been misled into believing that the PS3 is the more powerful console, but this simply isn’t true. The Xbox 360 has a more powerful and flexible GPU, better memory configuration, fewer bottlenecks, faster disc read speed, a more efficient (for actual game code) general purpose tri-core CPU, and better tool support. It is effectively the most powerful console, plain and simple. Developers know this, and so does anybody else with enough technical background to understand what the comparisons are. Leading software gurus like John Carmack have said as much, yet the myth that the PS3 is the more powerful console continues to live on in the minds of many people.
Online Support:
Simply put, Xbox 360 offers the best online service available on any console. Sure, Xbox LIVE might require a subscription fee, but in this case you truly get what you pay for. PSN covers most of the basics, but LIVE offers many additional features that really do make the online experience that much better. You can get a 13 month subscription card here on Amazon for $39 (that’s 3 dollars a month), and that gives you access to what nearly everyone agrees is the standard-setter for online gaming.
Controller:
This category in particular is going to come down to personal preference. I really like the PS3 controller, but I do feel that the 360 has the better controller overall. The buttons are responsive, the rumble is strong, the analogue sticks are precise, and the ergonomic design makes the controller the most comfortable I have ever used.
Multi-media functionality:
This is one area where I feel the PS3, with its Blu-ray capabilities, has an edge. That said, the Xbox 360 is a very capable multi-media device in its own right. Both consoles allow you to listen to music, view photos, and watch videos and movies. The Xbox 360’s video download service offers a larger selection of movies and tv shows than the PS3’s service at the moment, but the flip side is that the PS3 is the only console that can play Blu-ray movies. Next month, however, the 360 is getting Netflix integration, which will allow us to stream thousands of movies directly to our TVs. All things considered, the PS3 wins this category, but not by as wide a margin as some might imagine.
User interface:
The Xbox 360 dashboard is feature rich and easy to navigate. However, the current interface is going to be replaced next month by a completely redesigned and more feature-laden interface. New features include avatars, full game installs, 8 person parties, community games, and a nicer looking, more intuitive dashboard. The PS3 is also due to get an upgrade next month in the form of `Home’, but that isn’t specifically an upgrade of the user interface (XMB), so it isn’t directly comparable. For now, I will say that I think both consoles have very nice user interfaces, but I prefer the 360’s interface a little more.
Backwards compatibility:
The Xbox 360 plays hundreds of original Xbox games. On the other hand, none of the current PS3 models offer backwards compatibility with PS2 games. They do, however, play PS1 games. I would have never expected this, but the way things have turned out the Xbox 360 actually offers better backwards compatibility with last generation games than the currently available PS3s.
Cost of hard drives:
There are no two ways about it, the 360 hard drives are expensive. Microsoft decided to go with proprietary hard drives presumably in order to have them work with the slim design of the 360, but this also makes producing them more costly. The standard 2.5″ drives the PS3 uses are much more affordable. That said, if you search around, you can get a 20GB Xbox 360 drive for about $30. So in the bigger picture this isn’t too big of a deal.
Reliability issues:
Much has been made of the dreaded RROD that has affected a number of Xbox 360s. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get down to the solid facts of the matter. The problem absolutely is real, but at the same time it has almost certainly been greatly exaggerated by dishonest people who wish to hurt the reputation of the console. My console did experience the RROD, but many of my friends have had no problems whatsoever. Furthermore, I think Microsoft has handled the problem pretty well by offering a three year warranty to cover any possible hardware failures.
Remember, also, that the PS2 suffered similar hardware failures due to faulty disc drive lasers. That time, though, Sony had to be sued before they would acknowledge and take care of the problem. This generation there have, likewise, been reports of bricked PS3s, disc drive failures, and other PS3 hardware problems. I am sure these problems aren’t as common, but they are happening. Not only does Microsoft offer a 3 year warranty to cover any hardware failures you might experience, but they have also taken measures to prevent newer models from having those problems in the first place. By all accounts, the newer chipsets are smaller, quieter, cooler, and much more reliable.
Conclusion:
I am very impressed by how many things Microsoft has done right with the Xbox 360 this generation. Sure, the hardware issue that some of us have experienced is a bit of a downer, but weighed against the overwhelmingly large number of positives, it doesn’t come close to souring the experience. The Xbox 360 is not only the most affordable console, but it is also the most powerful, has the largest and most varied game library, the best online service, and the best looking multi-platform games. What I have learned about these consoles I have learned from my personal experience with them, and I am telling you sincerely that you can’t go wrong with the Xbox 360.
Source : Cheapest Xbox 360
