Mom needs Xbox info please

[4BusyBees]

Ok, so my 13 year old son wants an Xbox 360. I have NO idea what all of this stuff means. What kind should I get? Value for price? Any good deals?

How many GB does he need? He has a PS2 and a Wii.
I also have no idea what kind of information would be helpful here. We are on a tight budget (like most). I'd like to be able to afford to buy some accesories so I'd like to keep the cost down.
He loves the racing, hunting, gangster games....typical boy. Not too much into the sports games though. So I dont know if the games he plays has any impact on the type he needs or not.

Any information or current deals would be much appreciated. Thank you all so much in advance.

[damnyou]

xbox 360 (new one) comes with three options

Arcade : No hard drive and one wired controller

Pro: 60 GB hard drive and one wired controller

Elite: 120 GB hard drive and one wireless controller

Now Dell has a coupon Z0WPL1J0CC3W47 for 20% on consoles

You can get a pro one for around $240 + tax

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/XBOX_360/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A1840403

[Mak0]

Well if you plan on buying an xbox 360 for your son i think thats a great idea. They are cheaper then ps3's and some of the 360 packs you can buy are cheaper then a wii. Being a person that has fixed many xbox 360's from the dreaded RROD-Red Ring of Death (which is a extremely common problem with the xbox 360's) i would have to advise getting a Brand new xbox 360 from a place like gamestop or EB if you have one in your area. DONT DONT DONT buy one from walmart i know too many people that buy them new from walmart and when the one they have breaks they buy another one and switch out the parts that are broken on the inside and then take the xbox back to walmart and get their money back. I've bought 2 from walmart new that i found had been broken into parts changed and returned. Also if you can the version you want is the JASPER model. Its the newest model and anyone working at those stores should know about it if you just ask them about it. **also the RROD is a overheating issue and is a very common problem with earlyer xbox's. If you buy a used one or one on ebay i would be very careful about it still being under warranty with microsoft they will fix the xbox if you should get a RROD but only if its warranty sticker is intact. If you should have any other questions feel free to ask i'll be happy to help. Cheers and good luck to your son on getting him a box :) **EDIT** also just noticed the post above dell is also a good place to get a xbox though getting a jasper model from dell is hit or miss.... if you should get one of the older models at least getting it from dell you have the microsoft warranty intact.** Also for what he wants i'd go with a arcade (which is just the system and a controller and sometimes a game depending on where you buy) and if you see that later he needs a Harddrive i would just buy the harddrive on ebay. cheaper that way.

[heavylee]

I imagine this is not the type of responses you are looking for, but I have to say it anyway. If you don't want to read it, don't.

Your son already has a PS2, and a Wii, but you're going to get him an XBOX even though you're on a tight budget? How 'bout selling one of the others to help fund the purchase? Maybe strike a deal with him to match his earnings at a job he gets, so he can work for his reward? I'm sure you'll say that he's a good kid and that he deserves it, but you're not doing him any favors by teaching him that he can get whatever he wants.

[mrayray09]

I would suggest a x360 with a hard drive only because 1.It is required to play online. 2.Some games take a good amount of storage and a memory card will run out of space quick

You are looking at about spending around $250 - $300 for one with a hard drive, probably under $200 for one without a hard drive. If you do some searching, you can find bundles, meaning it will come with some extras (usually a game or two and maybe an extra controller)

A 60GB should be plenty. Thats what my roomate has and there are 3 of us always downloading demos and saving games

Keep an eye out for Dell, they usually have bundles plus coupons(20% thru end of 3/26 Z0WPL1J0CC3W47)

Good luck

[aksH]

If you are on a really shoestring budget, I'd recommend the arcade version which goes around $170 iirc. Thing to remember is that the arcade version has no hardrive for storage.

If your son wants to play online, you'll have to get xbox live which is a $49/yr subscription from microsoft.

Keep in mind that 360 games are expensive ~$60 and without xbox live and a harddisk you'll be missing out on most things.

[kyzen]

xbox 360 (new one) comes with three options

Arcade : No hard drive and one wired controller

Pro: 60 GB hard drive and one wired controller

Elite: 120 GB hard drive and one wireless controller

Now Dell has a coupon Z0WPL1J0CC3W47 for 20% on consoles

You can get a pro one for around $240 + tax

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/XBOX_360/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A1840403


Not totally correct; all current Xbox bundles come with wireless controllers. I just bought the Arcade bundle a month ago and got a wireless controller with it (along with the 256MB internal memory on the xbox).

[Mak0]

Not totally correct; all current Xbox bundles come with wireless controllers. I just bought the Arcade bundle a month ago and got a wireless controller with it (along with the 256MB internal memory on the xbox).

This would be the jasper model i was referring to in my earlier post. If you can manage to get this model this it would be a better "Deal" to get this one even if it cost you more then a used xbox or a good deal on a earlyer model. If you have to send the box in because it is broken due to RROD then it becomes not worth it to have the crappy older models.

[damnyou]

Not totally correct; all current Xbox bundles come with wireless controllers. I just bought the Arcade bundle a month ago and got a wireless controller with it (along with the 256MB internal memory on the xbox).

ok that was not the case when I recently when to FYE. They mentioned only Elite comes with wireless.

[kyzen]

ok that was not the case when I recently when to FYE. They mentioned only Elite comes with wireless.

They lied to you; even before the newest bundles, the premium came with a wireless controller. The only model that at some point came with a wireless was the arcade (or, a long time ago, the "core") system.

[MaxRider]

I imagine this is not the type of responses you are looking for, but I have to say it anyway. If you don't want to read it, don't.

Your son already has a PS2, and a Wii, but you're going to get him an XBOX even though you're on a tight budget? How 'bout selling one of the others to help fund the purchase? Maybe strike a deal with him to match his earnings at a job he gets, so he can work for his reward? I'm sure you'll say that he's a good kid and that he deserves it, but you're not doing him any favors by teaching him that he can get whatever he wants.

Tell me about it. I have to get straight As for a year for my mom to buy me a SNES and I have to continue to get A to play it.

[4BusyBees]

I imagine this is not the type of responses you are looking for, but I have to say it anyway. If you don't want to read it, don't.

Your son already has a PS2, and a Wii, but you're going to get him an XBOX even though you're on a tight budget? How 'bout selling one of the others to help fund the purchase? Maybe strike a deal with him to match his earnings at a job he gets, so he can work for his reward? I'm sure you'll say that he's a good kid and that he deserves it, but you're not doing him any favors by teaching him that he can get whatever he wants.

Yep, I totally feel what you are saying :nod: He would totally want me to sell the Wii but it was a gift from the grandparents.(he never plays it) He wanted the Xbox for Christmas but they insisted on getting the wii for "the whole family". I was planning on actually using the Xbox as a bribe....I mean incentive :teehee:

His birthday isnt until June so I was hoping to do some research and pitch the earnings match idea to him. I was going to put the Xbox price and the accesories plus a couple of games on a sheet with a total goal. We can afford to do this, just not on a budget to splurge.

BTW~I noticed once I started making him pay for his own PS2 games that he didn't loan them out to his buddies anymore. :lol:

**thank you all for your help! I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to answer. Reps to you! If I can't rep you today, I will rep asap. If anyone else has anything to contribute I will be checking the reponses often. Please feel free to chime in.
:thanks:

[trujunglist]

I would recommend going for the Pro. It's middle of the road, and has a 60 gb hard drive for downloads, saves, and game installs. Game installs are great because the 360 is very loud when a disc is spinning in the drive. Some games run better from the HD as well. I'd imagine that with the NXE (new Xbox experience, aka the current 360 operating system), developers will be taking advantage of HD installs as frequently as is possible, so that is another reason to purchase an Xbox with a HD. I recently purchased one in a "holiday bundle" from Dell for about $250. I think you can actually get it cheaper these days, AND get an extra game with it, which is a great deal. If you can't afford that, you can pick up an arcade version for like $170 as mentioned earlier, and then scour SD for a deal on one of the 20 gb hard drives that you can add to it. I recently went in on a deal from Circuit City that had a refurb wireless controller and 20 gb HD for only $40 bucks! I plan on giving the HD to a friend when/if he purchases his Xbox, or I suppose selling it.
The Xbox Live cards are $40 right now, but that may be temporary for all I know. You can pick one up from Costco for $30 or so, and K-Mart is having a sale next week? for the same price. Xbox Live is pretty much essential. You don't have to get it, but you miss out on a LOT of content and fun playing time, and your Xbox is half-crippled without it. You don't seem to be the overbearing type of mom, so I don't think the other gamers will be an issue for you (fyi, 90% of the people on Xbox Live are VERY immature, if you know what I mean). If you have Netflix, Xbox Live is absolutely awesome, because you can stream movies directly to your TV (if you don't already have another solution). This for me has been one of the most surprising perks of having a 360 and Live. I feel like I am now paying Netflix for the streaming content, and the discs that they send are the bonus, rather than the other way around.
Keep in mind what others are saying about the RROD. It may or may not be an issue with your console - only time will tell - but it is a good idea to be aware of the issue and try to prevent it from happening at the very least. Make sure the 360 is in a well-ventilated area. Also, do NOT move the 360 while a game is in the drive, because it will likely destroy the game.
All in all, the 360 is probably one of the best purchases I've made. It's saved me a lot of money in a way, and combined with Slickdeals, I've saved ridiculous amounts on games for it. You can always get cheapo games from places like Gamefunk (although I can't personally recommend them due to the complete and utter failure they call customer service) or wait for a deal at Blockbuster. Overall, it is a lot of fun, while my Wii sits on the shelf looking neglected.
... and this is coming from a lifelong Microsoft hater!

[spacetroie]

One year plus one month live is now $30.
If you are on a really shoestring budget, I'd recommend the arcade version which goes around $170 iirc. Thing to remember is that the arcade version has no hardrive for storage.

If your son wants to play online, you'll have to get xbox live which is a $49/yr subscription from microsoft.

Keep in mind that 360 games are expensive ~$60 and without xbox live and a harddisk you'll be missing out on most things.

[frazzled4]

As a mother of 13 and 14 year old boys, I will offer my two cents:

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

That stupid 360 live is like crack for kids. Ours has been out for repair for 3 weeks. (RROD) UPS attempted to deliver it 2 days in a row and no one was home. We can go pick it up at the UPS guard shack tonight after 8:30. These two are driving me absolutely insane about picking it up tonight. If you do get one, I would strongly advise against allowing him to go online. I don't know which is worse. The obsession of them playing it, or the obsession of getting it back!