Posted: 1/16/2009 11:35:15 PM EDT
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I pretty much hate video games.
At least with a computer, my kids are learning how to manipulate a mouse and file systems, something they might be able to use later on. But my son managed to amass enough Christmas money to buy a gaming console, that's what he wants, and it's his money, so I caved in and let him get it. Thing is, he could only afford the bare bones system. 512mb memory and no hard drive, per the box. For another hundred bucks, I could upgrade him to one that claims 120GB of memory. What are the tradeoffs here? Can the smaller unit play all the games? Will I have to spend twice as much to add on to the smaller unit to get it to do whatever it is he wants it to do? He's going to be wanting to break it out and hook it up first thing Saturday morning, if we're going to swap, it has to be quick, so any help you can offer will be appreciated. Thanks. |
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At the very least you should buy the Xbox 360 Pro
It has a 60 GB harddrive so you can save a bunch of stuff on the HD Take into account you most likely will need to buy a $50 Xbox Live membership to play multiplayer, and a $100 wireless receiver unless you have it near your router. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/compare101.htm That link shows what you get with whatever pack you buy |
| Exchange it for the 20Gb one if you haven;t opened it yet. I have the 20Gb and it's perfect. I can save games and play on xbox live. 120Gb is unnecessary in most cases. If you buy the 20Gb hard drive separately, it will be more expensive than if you get the xbox 360 with it on there already. |
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Hey, I found some deals at Dell.com for you.
The Xbox 360 Arcade for $170 instead of 200 The Xbox 360 Pro for $254 instead of 300 I bought the Xbox 360 Pro for 254 during the Black Friday deals Really good deal that you should pounce on. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2058345&cs=19&c=us&l=en&lid=566643&dgc=CJ&cid=24471 The Pro link in the right collumn |
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I probably have ten 40 gig Seagate IDE/ATA hard drives laying around here. Will they work? No sense wasting money on something you already have, IF they'd work.
Pretty far out in the country here, anything more than dial-up net access is probably a few years in the future yet. All we'll be doing is playing games here, with my son, daughter, and me I guess. Online play probably isn't going to happen. |
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Quoted:
Hey, I found some deals at Dell.com for you. The Xbox 360 Arcade for $170 instead of 200 The Xbox 360 Pro for $254 instead of 300 I bought the Xbox 360 Pro for 254 during the Black Friday deals Really good deal that you should pounce on. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2058345&cs=19&c=us&l=en&lid=566643&dgc=CJ&cid=24471 The Pro link in the right collumn I think he already has the Arcade in hand and may need to exchange it at the store of puchase for one with a bigger Hd. The Xbox can read stuff (porn, music, pictures) off of portable harddrives, but I have never tried to save a game on it, I don't think it'll work *edit* go for atleast the 20gig |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Hey, I found some deals at Dell.com for you. The Xbox 360 Arcade for $170 instead of 200 The Xbox 360 Pro for $254 instead of 300 I bought the Xbox 360 Pro for 254 during the Black Friday deals Really good deal that you should pounce on. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2058345&cs=19&c=us&l=en&lid=566643&dgc=CJ&cid=24471 The Pro link in the right collumn I think he already has the Arcade in hand and may need to exchange it at the store of puchase for one with a bigger Hd. The Xbox can read stuff (porn, music, pictures) off of portable harddrives, but I have never tried to save a game on it, I don't think it'll work *edit* go for atleast the 20gig  That's what I get for not reading the post
Really tired. But if you take it back for a refund, thats 30 bucks saved for a video game if you buy it from Dell at the link I posted. |
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Quoted:
That's what I get for not reading the post
Really tired. But if you take it back for a refund, thats 30 bucks saved for a video game if you buy it from Dell at the link I posted. I hear ya, I always misread stuff this late, thank god for the edit option To the OP: What kind of games are you going to get him? Fable II would be cool for a kid, great time burner and not too violent |
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You may hate video games now, but when you buy that 360 for your son, you won't know what you're getting yourself into.
I'll give you 3 months until you two are fighting each other to play COD4 or Dead Space. 
ETA: Also Gears of War and Left4Dead. You can't forget those... |
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My dumbass kid bought another one of those things for Christmas this year.
He then went on to spend his birthday money on a headset, and some other nonsense to play whatever game he plays, with other dumbass kids online. I asked the boy to do a chore recently, and he said "I'M ONLINE, AND CAN'T RIGHT NOW...THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!1" Me ––->
I pulled the friggin plug. Like, seriously, I pulled it out of the wall. I might have killed him, in some online sort of game, but when I say its time to take the trash out, I'm really not asking. 
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Considering Brilliant Bill Gates the Stacker thief had a hand in this fiasco, I had to know going in that everyday hard drives weren't going to fly.
Still, it never hurts to ask. I wouldn't have any trouble unplugging him if he doesn't get his work done,....except I'm just too lazy. Last time he brought home a crappy report card from school, HE spent a coupla hours unwiring his room for ME. Then he got bored. Then he got a list of things I wanted done, and became the most unbored kid you ever saw. Then he brought his grades up, re-wired his room, and he's been doing better ever since. Sometimes I miss my little slave boy...who knows, maybe he'll join my work crew yet again in the future. 
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Quoted:
You may hate video games now, but when you buy that 360 for your son, you won't know what you're getting yourself into. I'll give you 3 months until you two are fighting each other to play COD4 or Dead Space. 
ETA: Also Gears of War and Left4Dead. You can't forget those... I played computer games for a while, let's see, Comanche vs Werewolf, F-16 Falcon, never will forget the time I "enhanced" a Red Alert session with a buddy, former Marine, Vietnam Vet...drove on his center with an equal force, fixed his right with another, then crossed over with a brigade from my right and overran his lines...about the time he realized that game was over and he wasn't the winner, the big handfull of snap and pops I MEANT to sail between him and the monitor to impact the wall beside him... ....all detonated on his crotch... That was some interesting special effects an X-box can't quite match. I pretty much grew out of all that. Most of the "strategy" games are really a matter of who's quickest on the mouse, and who knows "the sequence" best, not really strategy at all. Every once in a while, he'll drag me onto his PC, Need for Speed: Carbon is one we've all taken turns on. We'll see how this works out. I'll ask him if he wants a hard drive in the morning, and who knows, maybe him, my daughter, and me can all have fun with this, we'll see. |
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Quoted:
I asked the boy to do a chore recently, and he said "I'M ONLINE, AND CAN'T RIGHT NOW...THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!1" Me ––->
I pulled the friggin plug. Like, seriously, I pulled it out of the wall. I might have killed him, in some online sort of game, but when I say its time to take the trash out, I'm really not asking. I do that to my kids all the time. The other day my 14 YO was playing and I told him to come upstairs and help me put away the Christmas stuff. "I'm in the middle of somethng and I can't stop right now" is what I heard comming up from the basement. Sorry Charley. I tripped the breaker to that part of the house for a few seconds and the next thing I know here he comes. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I asked the boy to do a chore recently, and he said "I'M ONLINE, AND CAN'T RIGHT NOW...THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!1" Me ––->
I pulled the friggin plug. Like, seriously, I pulled it out of the wall. I might have killed him, in some online sort of game, but when I say its time to take the trash out, I'm really not asking. I do that to my kids all the time. The other day my 14 YO was playing and I told him to come upstairs and help me put away the Christmas stuff. "I'm in the middle of somethng and I can't stop right now" is what I heard comming up from the basement. Sorry Charley. I tripped the breaker to that part of the house for a few seconds and the next thing I know here he comes. I'm pretty sure they will survive.
Good job Dad. 
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Get the Elite. The consoles are pretty old now, I'd invest in the most up-to-date version.
The 120G version lets you store the games on the hardrive if you want. No more annoying fan and drive noise. Have no fear of the new consoles, they are the future of home entertainment. Everything done in one box, all you need is a credit card and an internet connection. |