At What Price Would You Buy A 360?

[roushimsx]

I'd pay full retail right this second if I could get a guarantee that I wouldn't ever get the red ring of death. A warranty is nice and all, but I'd much rather not be without my console for 4-6 weeks in the first place.

At least when I finally buy one there'll be a huge selection of good, cheap games.

[lordofduct]

Don't have one yet, I voted $200. If I had to reccomend a new console to a first time buyer it would be the 360. I hear later this fall there will be a version that has HD DVD player built in and acts as a DVR as well. That may be what breaks me into the higher def format and DVR market. I would pay much more for that.

The DVR rumor sounds really sweet.

But personally, especially after owning an XBOX and PS2... I'd rather have the game disc tray just DVD. HD-DVD is pretty new technology and really I don't trust it to survive both movies and gaming. That is why I like the seperate HD-DVD player... I use it for music, DVDs and HD-DVDs... so not to wear out the DVD-Rom just for games.

I stand by my theory, game consoles aren't DVD players... but I make an exception for the HD-DVD add on as it is its own seperate piece of hardware.

[philipofmacedon]

I'm so cheap I can't see spending more than a 150 dollars and not until the systems become more reliable.
Also I'd like to see some of the peripherals get cheaper.

Frankly I really like to see the dust settle on a console before I pick it up. I'd hate buying a version of something and then see something better released shortly afterward.

I am excited by some of the upcoming games: Halo 3, Ninja Gaiden 2, a 360 Castlevania, the Conan game. Bioshock also looks good. I'm not sold on Xbox live, I just don't have the time for it and if I was paying for a gold membership I'd feel pressured to use it. But XBLA games like Castle Crashers are tempting.

Ultimately for me the biggest reason to wait for price drops is I just have too many damn games. I'm drowning in neglected PS2, Gamecube, Xbox, Saturn, SNES, and GBA games. I really need to get to work!

P.S.

Another thing that I'd like to see fixed would be how the 360 can eat discs. I was at a friends house and he was playing Gears of War with his 360 standing upright. Someone walked by and bumped it and it began emitting a terrible grinding noise. Apparently the disc was thrown free and scratched severely. The game would no longer play and he ended up buying another copy. I feel like these modern machines should be able to do better.

[JJJ]

Do NOT turn the 360 upright! My friend's 360 failed just a few hours after turning his upright for the first time. They really should remove the 'feet' on the side of the console so people don't attempt this.

My biggest gripe with my X360 now is how very *loud* the damn thing is. I remember when I bought my Dreamcast I thought, damn this thing is the loudest system I'll ever use! But nope, the X360 is at least that loud, especially when the DVD drive spins up. I feel this is unnacceptable for such expensive hardware.

[lordofduct]

Do NOT turn the 360 upright! My friend's 360 failed just a few hours after turning his upright for the first time. They really should remove the 'feet' on the side of the console so people don't attempt this.

My biggest gripe with my X360 now is how very *loud* the damn thing is. I remember when I bought my Dreamcast I thought, damn this thing is the loudest system I'll ever use! But nope, the X360 is at least that loud, especially when the DVD drive spins up. I feel this is unnacceptable for such expensive hardware.

I've heard this loud thing before as well... and I certainly remember it being said about the Dreamcast.

What I don't remember is ever actually hearing it. I guess I don't mute my audio when I play my consoles.

this is also from a guy who sleeps with his PC always on in his bedroom. And it isn't very quiet, but strangely soothing to my geek mind, it's kinda like mum is singing me a lullaby...

now that is gay

[wyatt]

On one hand I would look at all the problems people have had with thier consoles and say I'll stay away, but they do seem to be less frequent and the warranty on the box is pretty good now as well.

Speaking of problem machines, I was discussing the PS2 reliability with someone the other day. Seems like a lot of people have gone thru 2 or 3 of these, myself included. And when they break, people just pony up for a new one. I mean it's a PS2, what else are ya gonna do lol. Never play any PS1 or 2 games again? (Most do not emu, despite the demographic of these boards) If mine broke now, I'd be in line at the store before too long.

I laughed back in Feb when they Sony rep proclaimed they had the Number one selling home console for the 2006 holiday season. It's true too, PS2s were flying off the shelves, and lots of the people would tell me "Yeah well old one crapped out, figured I'd get a new one..."

[racketboy]

Do NOT turn the 360 upright! My friend's 360 failed just a few hours after turning his upright for the first time. They really should remove the 'feet' on the side of the console so people don't attempt this.

My biggest gripe with my X360 now is how very *loud* the damn thing is. I remember when I bought my Dreamcast I thought, damn this thing is the loudest system I'll ever use! But nope, the X360 is at least that loud, especially when the DVD drive spins up. I feel this is unnacceptable for such expensive hardware.

Seriously? Holy cow.
I guess I'm waiting for a hardware revision...
I can't stand loud consoles.
If the Dreamcast's games weren't so compelling, I'd throw that loud thing out the window

[lordofduct]

I just went into my living room and stood right beside my X360 Elite with nothing on in my living room (no fans, tv, anything)... I let it load a game up and the only thing I heard was the DVD-Rom, which sounded like any other DVD-rom I've used in a PC.

Actually my Asus dual layer DVD-burner is a bit louder then that of the X360 Elite's.

My dreamcast also appears to be louder then the X360.

Though, in comparison, the PS2 is nearly silent to that of the X360 (and this is from a sony hater here)

I'm not saying I'm a disbeliever, or a XBOX freak here. I'm just saying, objectively, I've never noticed a loud 360, and I wanted to hear this for myself.


[EDIT]
But you know, I tend to have my receiver on and turned up to like -17 db when playing video games. I think I might be going deaf, heh.

[RadarScope1]

I must be very lucky with sony products. I had a PS1 for years with no issues at all, and it saw quite a bit of use. And it was a day 1 launch console! (I bought it used from a spoiled kid six months after the thing launched).

However a friend of mine bought a PS1 around spring of 1996 and ended up having to do the trick where you turn it upside down to get it to read discs correctly. Go figure.

I bought a used PS2 in mid 2002 and I've never had an issue with it either. Still runs fine.