# help me buy an xbox 360! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 15, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316 "2009-12-15T04:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/21 "2009-12-16T02:41:25Z")
get a PS3 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/22 "2009-12-16T03:06:30Z")
> [@satoridt](#): > > get a PS3 > > 😃 Yeah, 'cause figuring out [which model of PS3 to buy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ps3#Model_comparison) is _much_ easier. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/23 "2009-12-16T03:42:47Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > You know - I totally forgot about copying discs over. What extra value would you place on that extra memory? Nothing much – it’s one of those “would appreciate the difference, but wouldn’t pay for it” things. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/24 "2009-12-16T15:58:28Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Nothing much – it’s one of those “would appreciate the difference, but wouldn’t pay for it” things. Yeah, unless you simulplay lots of games, it’s not a big deal. I’ve found that the time to install a game to HDD is about equivalent to a trip to the bathroom + get something to drink. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/25 "2009-12-16T16:22:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Yeah, 'cause figuring out [which model of PS3 to buy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ps3#Model_comparison) is _much_ easier. That chart shows two models currently available. The 120gb slim and the 250gb slim. Both are identical apart from size of the harddrive. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/26 "2009-12-16T17:59:10Z")
But good luck if you wanted to play a PS2 game on your PS3. Until earlier this year, PS2s were still outselling PS3s if I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/27 "2009-12-16T18:09:39Z")
Whichever route you go (used, new), you’re going to want to get the Jasper chipset. That should give you the most protection against RRoD. You have to look at the power ratings by the barcode to distinguish models. All Jaspers have 12.1 amp power draw on the 12v rail. I think all the previous generation Falcons are out of the retail pipeline at this point, should you buy new, but you never know. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/28 "2009-12-17T19:40:15Z")
Thanks for the good advice all. As **muldoonthief** very politely requested, I’m just posting back (of my own free will!) to update. I bought the Elite, with a 120 gig hard drive. Hooked it up to my laptop for internet access, bought Bioshock and Portal: Still Alive. (I know the Orange Box is just a few bucks more than the standalone Portal download - but I don’t care about half-life, so the extra game isn’t useful to me, while the bonus Portal levels are.) I’ve already started losing sleep to this darned machine. Stupid cracklike xbox. BTW, does anyone actually manage to “harvest” the Little Sisters in Bioshock? I know it’s just a game, but those things are so pathetic, it’s really hard to consider harming them. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/29 "2009-12-17T20:03:40Z")
Moving this, somewhat belatedly, Cafe Society --\> Game Room. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/30 "2009-12-17T20:42:39Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Thanks for the good advice all. As **muldoonthief** very politely requested, I’m just posting back (of my own free will!) to update. > > I bought the Elite, with a 120 gig hard drive. Hooked it up to my laptop for internet access, bought Bioshock and Portal: Still Alive. (I know the Orange Box is just a few bucks more than the standalone Portal download - but I don’t care about half-life, so the extra game isn’t useful to me, while the bonus Portal levels are.) > > I’ve already started losing sleep to this darned machine. Stupid cracklike xbox. BTW, does anyone actually manage to “harvest” the Little Sisters in Bioshock? I know it’s just a game, but those things are so pathetic, it’s really hard to consider harming them. A man chooses, a slave obeys! I did harvest one at the beginning (after judicious saving of course) just to see the other cutscene. And I did reload a game near the end and harvested the last few to get the evil ending. One thing I haven’t tried is harvesting up until Dr. Tenenbaum’s Home for Wayward Girls - I’m curious if you get different speeches & behavior from the sisters there. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/31 "2009-12-17T20:52:03Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > A man chooses, a slave obeys! > > I did harvest one at the beginning (after judicious saving of course) just to see the other cutscene. And I did reload a game near the end and > > harvested the last few to get the evil ending. One thing I haven’t tried is harvesting up until Dr. Tenenbaum’s Home for Wayward Girls - I’m curious if you get different speeches & behavior from the sisters there. I played the game twice through, the first time as good, the second time as not good. Yes, the sisters cower in fear and run away and the speech from Tenenbaum is different. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/32 "2009-12-22T23:08:24Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > That chart shows two models currently available. The 120gb slim and the 250gb slim. Both are identical apart from size of the harddrive. So? There’s only two XBoxes currently available, too. ---
**Author:** ![Spurious\_George](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Spurious\_George](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spurious_George)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/33 "2009-12-23T00:53:04Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Because you can copy discs to the drive for faster loading now… Buh whahh?? How do you do this? It seems handy. Do you still need to insert the disc to play (and “prove” you still own it) afterwards? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/34 "2009-12-23T01:01:04Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So? There’s only two XBoxes currently available, too. So your contention that choosing a PS3 being complicated was off-base. Unless you’re suggesting that choosing between two models is inherently difficult… ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/35 "2009-12-23T14:43:03Z")
> [@Spurious\_George](#): > > Buh whahh?? How do you do this? It seems handy. Do you still need to insert the disc to play (and “prove” you still own it) afterwards? Yes, you still need the game disk in the drive to play. You need the update to the console that came out about a year ago - so as long as you’re on xbox live you should have it. IIRC, you go to the menu choice to play the game, then scroll 1 screen right, and you get a menu that lets you install the game to disk. I haven’t noticed much in the way of speeding up the game, but its quieter since the disk drive doesn’t spin constantly while you’re playing. And Halo 3 warns you not to install the game to the hard drive - apparently they had some other optimization going on that already that gets slower when you install to the drive. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/36 "2009-12-24T04:54:50Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > So your contention that choosing a PS3 being complicated was off-base. Unless you’re suggesting that choosing between two models is inherently difficult… It’s more complicated than buying a 360, because some older models of PS3 actually have a feature that has been REMOVED from newer models, so there might be a reason to not buy a current model. Therefore, sarcastically indicating that choosing a PS3 is “easier” than a 360 would be…correct. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/37 "2009-12-25T23:16:30Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > So your contention that choosing a PS3 being complicated was off-base. Unless you’re suggesting that choosing between two models is inherently difficult… You seem to have missed some salient points in this thread. The OP was confused about buying an XBox, because he was considering buying used XBoxes, which meant he had to consider differences not just between the two current models, but between all the iterations of the console, including those that are no longer manufactured. Another poster countered that a simpler solution would be buying a PS3. Except that, if one is considering both current models, and older models that are no longer manufactured, the PS3 has a significantly more complicated list of models - made especially so because Sony has removed features from the system in subsequent iterations, arguably making the older units more desirable than the current ones. The XBox, on the other hand, has added some features (HDMI support, chiefly) and fixed some serious hardware issues, meaning that older XBoxes are significantly less desireable than current ones in virtually every area except price, which dramatically reduces the difficulty in deciding which model to purchase. Hence, my contention that, rather than ease the confusion over which version of a console to purchase, suggesting a PS3 does precisely the converse - it drastically _increases_ the difficulty in choosing which version to purchase, at least when one is (like the OP) not limiting their choices to models which are currently in production I hope that I have made my meaning sufficiently clear. Let me know if there are any other relatively simple concepts you’d like explained at laborious length. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316/38 "2009-12-26T05:44:56Z")
Man. I love these boards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-buy-an-xbox-360/521316.md?page=1)