If you don't already own an Xbox, there is no excuse now.

[racketboy]

I thoroughly enjoyed the 360, but i'm on my 4th one now and i've really lost all faith in Microsofts hardware. I still play the occasional exclusive but the PS3 is now my main source of current-gen gaming - it's just all-round a better piece of hardware, and the failings of PS3 ports of multi-platform games are overly exaggerated. I was also disapointed by the poor backwards compatability of the 360 - i've been dying to replay Panzer Dragoon Orta, but it always freezes on the 3rd stage when I play it on the 360, so i've recently ordered a 'slimbox' off ebay which is an xbox with the dvd drive layer removed and xbmc pre-installed on the HDD. Can't wait to catch up on PDO, JSRF, Morrowind, Ralisport Challenge and all my other Xbox favourites

so they can sell those on ebay? are they modded?

[ZenLogikos]

I plan on picking one up used in a few years time. I figure if it hasn't died by then, it's probably safe for quite a while.

Your assumption is very wrong. Pick one up used to save money, if you must, but do not buy anything mechanical hoping for longevity. Everything mechanical will eventually die, and buying used is only getting you closer to that end date.

[otaku]

360 is a great system just not in terms of reliability/build quality. They have done a decent job of addressing things though (good warranty coverage, adding features regularly) as for games there are tons of quality titles and with killer online play and downloads. I just hope the next one is reliable. As far as this gen goes the 360 is the place to be for games.

[Bootaaay]

so i've recently ordered a 'slimbox' off ebay which is an xbox with the dvd drive layer removed and xbmc pre-installed on the HDD. Can't wait to catch up on PDO, JSRF, Morrowind, Ralisport Challenge and all my other Xbox favourites

so they can sell those on ebay? are they modded?

Yeah, they're softmodded - no mod chip installed, still I think it is against ebay policy to list them so I guess I was lucky the listing wasn't deleted.

[drozdal]

Word of warning (for those who care) those systems do not have HDMI - only component plugs.

Original XBOX with XBMC are marvelous, especially if you install big enough harddrive inside.