Any advice on getting xboxes?

[DinnerX]

I've been contemplating getting an xbox 360 for some time. I've also been thinking about getting an original xbox. I have almost no experience with microsoft consoles.

Here's my current plan:

Buy an Xbox 360 Slim 4GB- These are not backwards compatible with oxbox games unless you buy a harddrive apparently. I don't really care, since I planned on buying an oxbox to avoid BC issues anyway. Since I don't plan to buy any downloadable stuff, having only 4GB of storage shouldn't be a problem right? Do slims have any hardware issues?

Buy an original Xbox- I know some original Xboxes had disk read errors. A few years back I bought one and had to return it because of that. How can I be sure I get one that works well? Are the majority of original xboxes still funcional?

[swiftzx]

Why would you want to avoid downloadable games? There are plenty of great downloadable titles that are cheap, I can name some if you like. As far as I know, Slims are very reliable and there aren't many issues like the original. oXboxes are like this as well, they tend to work and are very well built.

Slightly off topic: I have had my original Xbox 360 elite for almost a year and it has seen very heavy usage (about 15-25 hours per week) and still works like a champ. There are also all these stories with 360 getting rrod makes me think that people who get it just doesn't take care of their stuff.

[sabrage]

I see no reason not to get one with a hard drive, simply to install your games for better load times.

[Opa Opa]

In case you haven't checked it out yet, Ack wrote up the Xbox 101 Article.

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/microsoft/xbox/xbox-101-a-beginners-guide-to-microsofts-original-console

[DinnerX]

Why would you want to avoid downloadable games? There are plenty of great downloadable titles that are cheap, I can name some if you like.

Oh, I just have problems with nonphysical media and DRM. Some of them do look pretty interesting though.

Slightly off topic: I have had my original Xbox 360 elite for almost a year and it has seen very heavy usage (about 15-25 hours per week) and still works like a champ. There are also all these stories with 360 getting rrod makes me think that people who get it just doesn't take care of their stuff.

Hmm. Interesting.

I see no reason not to get one with a hard drive, simply to install your games for better load times.

I'd forgotten about that. Part of the reason I wasn't planning on getting a harddrive was because of the cost. How much space does a game use? Are regular USB harddrives supported well?

[BoringSupreez]

I say get both, but if you're only getting one for now, go with the oXbox. oXbox stuff is as cheap as it'll ever be, while 360s will only get cheaper.

[lwcook]

Slightly off topic: I have had my original Xbox 360 elite for almost a year and it has seen very heavy usage (about 15-25 hours per week) and still works like a champ. There are also all these stories with 360 getting rrod makes me think that people who get it just doesn't take care of their stuff.

Ah, so naive and/or lucky. No one ever thinks it can happen to them. Just like a car accident or cancer.

[BoringSupreez]

Slightly off topic: I have had my original Xbox 360 elite for almost a year and it has seen very heavy usage (about 15-25 hours per week) and still works like a champ. There are also all these stories with 360 getting rrod makes me think that people who get it just doesn't take care of their stuff.

Ah, so naive and/or lucky. No one ever thinks it can happen to them. Just like a car accident or cancer.

Me and my brother can both attest to this. I always thought that RROD would never happen to me because I took good care of my 360. Not so. My brother made the mistake of buying a used one off Ebay, and it broke within days of light use. Anyone here thinking of getting a 360: get a slim. Seriously.

[isiolia]

Oh, I just have problems with nonphysical media and DRM. Some of them do look pretty interesting though.

While you could install/delete them regularly, having HDD space means you have room for demos, which can regularly clock in over a gigabyte per. Even if you aren't interested in Arcade titles, it doesn't mean you have no use for downloadable game space.

Are regular USB harddrives supported well?

USB storage is supported, however, 512MB is automatically reserved for system use, and only up to 16GB can be used (as per here - they mostly intended the functionality for USB sticks, not HDDs). So hooking up a USB HDD for game saves/etc would be a waste.
The console can access larger drives if you're just playing video files off of them or something, not using them for system data.

There really isn't a price premium on the basic HDD models. The cost for a HDD kit is usually around $100 alone, and the $300 console tends to pack in a few more goodies - a headset, for one, plus you can still find the holiday bundles around (disc copy of Fable III, downloadable copy of Halo Reach, and 3 months of XBL Gold).
There's a 10th anniversary bundle coming out for Europe that makes me wonder if we'll see something similar stateside.

Main complaint I recall seeing about the Slim was that it still doesn't lock the disc well, so, try not to knock it around while playing (which you probably should avoid in general ).

AFAIK, the only issue the oXBox has is the disc drive in some models.

[BoringSupreez]

There's a 10th anniversary bundle coming out for Europe that makes me wonder if we'll see something similar stateside.

That would be awesome. Especially if they made a limited-edition 360 that looked like an oXbox. I'd have to buy that.