CORE Vs Premium
 

I'm thinking a lot about buying Xbox 360. I know that there are two sets, CORE and Premium. I know basic differences in stuff you get with X360 like Headset, HDD, HD cable etc. in Premium and simple wire game pad with CORE edition.

Question is about X360 it self, how long do you play it? It is easy to overheat it? Do you have any other problems with it? Final question is about firmware to X360 drives. Do you have it? Does it work ok?

Why CORE? Why Premium?

Thanks in advance.

My 360 works like a champ. It gives off a lot of heat, which means its built-in cooling devices work well, so I haven't overheated it. Obviously if you close it up into a cabinet where the heat isn't allowed to escape, you will overheat it even if you play only for a short while.

Why the Core system? Because you're retarded I guess? Core system is going to cost $300 USD, but you're basically going to want to get a hard drive {$100 USD} and if you play Live, a headset {which is like $20 USD}. And the difference in cost between a wired controller and a wireless controller is like $10 USD, and trust me, you want the wireless one that comes standard with the Premium box. Based on the retail prices of the things that you will have to buy in order to supplement the Core box to make it decent, it is simply cheaper to get a Premium. I mean even if you don't want the hard drive, you have to save your games on something right? So that's $40 USD for the memory card, for FAR FAR less storage space. So already you are at $340 for still a lot less than you get for $60 more. Hell, with the Premium, the only "hidden" cost really lies in the cost of the rechargable battery packs for the controllers, and the recharger dock, so that is like $42 USD for the dock and an extra battery pack.

You can get a Play'n'Charge kit that includes a on-the-fly charger and a battery for 21€ I think, it's less than the dock and allows you to play while the pad charges.
And like russ says a Premium is the way to go because it's really cheaper than the Core.
Finally if you fell like waiting do something else until Q1 2007 when MS will start to sell the 65nm XBox 360. It will make the 360 more silent and cooler, just don't expect a Xbox 360 slim, MS doesn't do slim version of the consoles (and God/Budha/Allah knows the original XBox needed a slimer version!)

Wait wait, so you're telling me that if I get the premium system it comes with no way to recharge the controllers out of the box?

Uh, out of the box it comes with a battery pack that runs off of AA batteries. So once your 30 hours {or however many the batteries last} are up, you got to buy a new pair of AA batteries to replace them with.

And yeah, I know about the Play and Charge kit, almost bought one, but decided to just get the dock and an extra pack. If I were to get a roommate, I can use the dock to charge both of our battery packs simultaneous, so it potentially works better for me at a slightly higher price.

Hmm ok bout is there a way to play wireless pad with cable if I don't have any AA at the moment? And what about drives, are they same troublesome like it was with Xbox? Not reading some types of DVD's etc?

Yeah, you buy the Play and Charge kit and you can use the wireless pad as a wired pad. Of course, after oyu buy that you get the battery pack that comes with it so you'll never need to use the AA batteries again.

Also, at this point, there is no evidence to suggest any of the drives are malfunction prone.

So you all say that the best solution is to buy Premium version of Xbox 360 + Play and Charge Kit to game pad. It doesn't matter what type of drive I'll get since they all work well. I have to keep it on open space so it will not overheat. Hmm it this all? (I will not play Live! since I don't have cash to pay for it every month or buy it for full year. I have limited funds.

Yes one last thing, buy Live if you want to have the greatest gaming experiences of your existence. The overheating issues are totally exaggerated by the way. I never even noticed any hotness coming from my 360 and it's a launch one. Played it liek 10000 hours.

When you exaggerate this much, you can't expect anybody to take you seriously. Yes, Live can be fun, and is worth the cost, if you are playing with your buddies. But playing against random 14 year old kiddies who are not yet experienced enough in the use of profanity to use it properly and effectively is not fun. I would much rather get a 4 player Goldeneye 64 game going with my buddies than play anything on Live right now.

I definitely recommend the Premium over the Core.

I've had the 360 since January, and have never had any heating issues whatsoever. You'll also definitely want the hard drive for downloading demos, high definition trailers, xbox live arcade games, etc. The large amount of space also means that you never have to worry about save games.

Xbox Live is a fine addition if online gaming is your thing. Just don't be expecting awesome game lobbies ala Battle.net.

From what I heard:

1. XBox 360 while vertical stand heats a lot slower since both sides of console are cooled at the same time. Not like while laying down like first Xbox gathering heat at the bottom.

2. While vertical stand DVD can get scratched sometimes? Anyone noticed something like this?

Well mine has been vertical ever since after the first month. The Dvds stick in pretty well without much effort, but of course you should always check that they are firmly in place beforehand. If you don't then dont blame microsoft.

You can get one of those intercooler peripherals if you're worried about overheating issues. I'm told those work extremely well.

And secondly, the orientation will not affect cooling to any noticible amount. (Maybe a fraction of a percent of a degree), since there are no fans coming out the sides of the system. The fans blow out the BACK of the unit. Don't cover the back fans and you'll be doing well.

Secondly, the cost of Live is about the same as one game for a year of service. And if you're dropping 450 bucks or whatever it's going to come to for the unit, save a portion of your next paycheque and get Live. It really is worth it. Not nearly as much as BZ makes it out ot be, but it makes a lot of games better.

Hmm so Premium + Live! + Play and Charge Kit is the best chose I see. Nothing more to ask and nothing more to add I think. Thank's for help everyone and how that I get my cash soon and buy it =D.

Hmm, interesting stuff, I was thinking about getting a 360 too, but mostly waiting on more games to come out (I've noticed at Best Buy they're already starting to drop the prices for some of the launch games, so I'm guessing the $60 price tag was a bit too steep for most people to want to pay).

I think I'm going to hold off a little longer, just to see what other games come out. I hate buying a system (especially one as expensive as this one), and then not buying any games for the system because the vast majority of them suck (Chrome Hounds is really tempting to me, as well as Oblivion, but I'm going to see if anything else comes out that interests me enough to want it).

Well, Oblivion, while not the end-all game that certain internet nerds might try to have you believe, is pretty good, though flawed. Add games like Burnout and some of the games on Live Arcade and you have enough to make it worth the purchase. Playing Street Fighter, Texas Hold'em, and Burnout with e-buddies is pretty fun. I've had my 360 since April and love it; and this is without having any interest in the nerdy mech game that some people seem to love.

From what I hear from all of you Live! is one of the best things about X360 after all. I was going to try with Firmware hack since games on X360 in Poland are quite expensive and waiting for PAL release is pain in the ass.

From what I know games work fine on Live! even after Firmware hack on drive since they are patching each game for stealth mode. But more and more I'm starting to think about not nodding it at all. Live! for 13 months cost like 60$ so it's 5$ a month, it's not much for what you can get from it.

What does Halo for PC have to do with anything? The prices on some games are starting to drop. RR6 for example is only 30 canuck bucks right now, along with NBA 2K6. There are others available online for much lower prices too, like Kameo.

And they are planning on doing a price drop on many of the older titles too this fall and winter season. PGR3 and Perfect Dark are going to be 19.99 GBP come October.

I don't know if it has anything to do with people "not being able to handle" the pricing. This is pretty much standard fare for games. Games usually drop in price 6-8 months after their release. As for 2K6 I believe it's been $30 since it was released.

I say this is just par for the course coupled with the fact that the PS3 is about to hit. You can look at the PS3 section and see 95+% of all of the games with prices $60 and up where as you look at the Xbox 360 section and see some at $60 specled in between others that are 20 - $50. It's just timing and marketing sense.

I started working now and I'm already with my hands itching to get myself an Xbox 360. In my opinion Premium pack should be the only option to buy, unless you really don't care about the stuff you can download with the HD (I belive it is a must for Live, since some games have things that should be saved on HD, like Farcry Instincs custom made maps).

Even though it is more expensive, it isn't as much difference in money as the difference between the versions of the PS3.

If you do grab one, don't delete the Xbox Live Arcade games included on your hard drive. I did that in the past expecting those games to be available on the marketplace and zilch...nada. :doh:

I walked by EBGames on Saturday and noticed that they're taking original X-Boxes for about $60 (I don't remember exactly) towards a 360. I think I might do this, except I own two Hori Fighting Sticks for playing Guilty Gear and Street Fighter II/III. First of all, are either of these games supported yet for backwards compatibility, and secondly, can X-Box controllers be used on a 360 (yet)?

Another issue I've been pondering about: Does the CORE system not support wireless controllers if you buy some later? Is it fundamentally stuck with cords?

Savegames for more than 3 games at time, Live and backwards compatibility has zero value for me (personal preference, no pun at all) - so I'm pretty sure I'm going CORE, if it's compatible with wireless controllers.