Xbox 360, Elite, Arcade, Wha?

June 20, 2011 7:25 PM

Xbox 360, Elite, Falcon, Arcade, wha?

There seem to be various configurations of Xboxen. I know I need a decent sized drive, whether external or internal. But why do I need an Elite? Or an Arcade? Is it a question of wireless? Or HDMI? Or is HDMI another issue?

posted by musofire to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (12 answers total)

There are two models out now. One has 4GB of storage space and the other has 250GB. That's really the only difference anymore. I'd get the one with the hard drive. No muss, no fuss, just set it all up and go.
posted by deezil at 7:46 PM on June 20, 2011

Wikipedia has your answer. Assuming you're planning to buy new, pay special attention to the "In production" column on the right-hand side.
posted by Partial Law at 7:46 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

get the 250 gig model. it's cheaper than upgrading the hdd in the long run.
posted by nadawi at 8:01 PM on June 20, 2011

250 GB is likely more than you'll ever need, but trust me, you need more than 4GB.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 8:07 PM on June 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

One nice thing about the 250 GB is that you can save a bunch of normal on-disc games to the HD to help with loading times.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:14 PM on June 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Best answer: There are two available now, the crap one and the Super Elite. If you pay more than $400 for a Super Elite bundle (generally with a remote, a second controller, a couple of games and some other bits and pieces) then you are paying too much. Shop around and take quotes back and forth. Do not buy a Kinect. The Super Elite has wi-fi and HDMI. I don't know what the crap one has and it doesn't matter because it's a piece of rubbish.
posted by tumid dahlia at 9:11 PM on June 20, 2011

Hi, you're me. I'm thinking of rewarding myself some time in the future with a new 360 console and had a bunch of questions about this. My biggest was 'What size hard drive should I consider if I'm not planning on downloading a lot of extraneous media?' I plan on just playing games on it. It's not my main non-gaming media platform -- I call that my laptop.

I'm leaning toward the smaller HD system, but burnmp3s' suggestion makes me reconsider that option. How much space does a HD-saved game take up?

also I love your use of the word 'Xboxen', OP.
posted by Heretical at 9:35 PM on June 20, 2011

Heretical - game updates, mandatory, non-paid for game updates, can be over a gig. if you get the 4 gig model and you want burnout paradise and say, call of duty, you've nearly completely filled up the hard drive without purchasing anything extra (if you've even got enough room for that). this isn't with downloading the game to the console. what they do is bundle the DLC into a normal update and then when you buy the DLC it's already downloaded, just waiting to be unlocked.

to my mind, the 4 gig model exists to upsell the hard drive later and to sell to clueless grandmas at christmas and birthdays who think they're getting a great deal.
posted by nadawi at 11:09 PM on June 20, 2011

My biggest was 'What size hard drive should I consider if I'm not planning on downloading a lot of extraneous media?' I plan on just playing games on it.

Nadawi is right: there is no reason for the 4GB model to exist other than to trick people.

The optical drive in the recent models doesn't make the same aeroplane-taking-off noise that the older ones are reputed to have made, but it's still annoyingly loud so you'll want to install games to the HDD. I've only used my Xbox's HDD for installed games and a handful of downloaded demos and I've managed to fill up about 150GB so far. Definitely get the 250GB one.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 12:02 AM on June 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

I ended up looking for whatever was cheapest, which ended up being the 250 gb.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 12:44 AM on June 21, 2011

I'm leaning toward the smaller HD system, but burnmp3s' suggestion makes me reconsider that option.
There was a question like this before where everybody said that you absolutely need the bigger harddrive. I didn't agree then and I still don't agree. It probably really depends on how much you game, and how much money it saves. When we bought, the extra harddrive was an extra 100+ euro's, and that wasn't worth it to me and still isn't. Even if 4GB is a little on the small side if you happen to play multiple games that have 1GB+ updates at the same time, you can also always add a spare USB drive for that. I also don't think the optical drive noise is annoying, and I am the kind of person that hates the high pitched noise that comes from for example my MacBook. When I am gaming there is lots of noise anyway, a dvd spinning doesn't really register I guess. But maybe this also depends on the kind of games you play?
posted by davar at 2:16 AM on June 21, 2011

Yeah, keep in mind you can plug in and use up to two seperate 16gb USB drives, for an additional 32gbs of storage. I would probably still go for the 250gb model though, as my 60gb model is getting pretty clogged with installed games and XBLA titles and such.
posted by joelhunt at 7:31 AM on June 21, 2011