Hardware Review: Microsofts XBox 360s

Microsoft was first.

Well, with this current generation of video game consoles, they were. The Xbox 360 was released in November 2005, ahead of their competitors at Nintendo and Sony. But being first had its drawbacks. In order to come in at an appropriate price point, there would be no internal Hard drive, no WiFi, no Bluetooth (it still doesn't have that), no Bluray (or that), and eventually would fall prey to overly common hardware breakdowns. Many frustrated hardcore and casual gamers have suffered the dreaded "Red Ring Of Death", having to send their consoles back to Microsoft (MS) for repair or replacement, many times more than once and prompting MS to extend the manufacturer's warranty to an unprecedented 3 years.

It has been 5 years of pleasure and pain for XBox gamers. On one hand you had the best library (for hardcore games), the finest and most utilitarian online service, and you had it sooner. And on the other hand, you paid a high premium for what would become standard features in later consoles like internal hard drives and WiFi (that wireless networking adapter is ridiculously overpriced. Someone should have been shot behind that one), not to mention had to deal with one of the worst hardware failure rates in history. As a Xbox 360 user, I lived in fear of the RRoD and was constantly annoyed by my incredibly finicky wireless adapter.

But no longer.

At this years Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Microsoft revealed their updated XBox 360, the XBox 360s (officially). A sleeker, slimmer gloss black model boasting an internal 250 GB hard drive, improved engineering and internal configuration and heat dissipation, and an integrated WiFi.

My first impressions when I got my model were that it was a very sleek and sexy looking piece of equipment. It has a angular hourglass profile and one silver on/off touch sensitive button placed slightly off center on the front. There are two USB ports in the front hidden behind a small spring loaded door and 5 more ports in the back. That should be enough for anyone. There is also a special port to allow for compatibility with MS's new Kinect controller system which will debut this fall for retail. Older model 360s will have to use a separate and probably overpriced adapter to use Kinect. The unit seems ready to go.

When I got home the first thing I had to do was migrate my data from my old Hard drive to my new one. I had to use a Transfer cable, which was NOT included, to do this but the process only took me a matter of a few minutes. My old 60 GB hard drive only had 15 GB of that space used, and once it was done, I was up and running. As easy as this process was, I really feel that the extra $20 expense of these transfer cables is a little bit much. Especially when you will only do this procedure once or twice during your entire ownership cycle. I found it annoying to have to buy a component that I could only get one use out of. Readers, if you can, buy one used.

One thing I really need to mention is that this thing is quiet. I mean whisper quiet. Really. I used to be able to hear my XBox fan over the sound of my games at times, but not any more. Apparently there is only one fan in the machine now and the new hardware configuration allows for more efficient heat dispersal. Notice I didn't say it didn't get hot. It does. It almost worried me a bit as after a few minutes it seemed as if my fiancee's hair dryer was blowing out of that thing so much hot air was coming out of it. Then I realized it's probably a good thing that all that heat is leaving the machine instead of being trapped inside and causing serious breakdowns. The RRoD is no longer an indicator of hardware failure. Now if there's a catastrophe, one of two things will happen. A red LED light will show up on your power brick, replacing the default yellow, or the system will issue a warning and shut down before any damage can occur. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I bought a replacement plan just in case. Due to MS's track record, I'm not taking any chances. Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst this time.

I've put in some multi-hour Halo 3 sessions since I got it and the machine's performance has been alright. My disc games have loaded just as expected, but one of my HD games that I downloaded after the transfer hiccuped at launch and needed rebooting. After that, it worked fine. The touch sensitive buttons for startup and disk tray access are WAY too sensitive. A feather touch is nearly all it takes to turn your system off or pop the tray open. The cat has already caused me to rage when she was sitting on top of the machine (it's really warm, remember) and cut my game off with her paw dangling absently over the power button. Watch out for that. My wireless connection seemed a little wonky too at first but I suffered no disconnects like I had dealt with before. I think this had more to do with server side issues than anything client side.

The $299 price point is good, especially if you already own an XBox and can get in on a trade-in deal at a local retailer. You may have to act fast of course. If you have yet to own an XBox, I really can't say this is a bad time to jump in. Many people lamented the extra expense for storage and utility and the 360s alleviates a lot of this. A 250 GB Hard Drive and integrated WiFi for no additional cost (vs. the XBox 360 Elite) doesn't suck at all. The upcoming exclusives for the system are attractive and the built in Kinect compatibility is a plus for casual gamers. But if you are already against MS or the XBox for some reason, this won't change your mind too much, but it's a bit harder now to argue against it.