Xbox 360 Core Console

I have owned my Xbox 360 since June 2006 and have loved every minute on it.
I am in the lucky posistion of owning both the 360 and a PS3 and at the moment I think the 360 is better.

Xbox Live is one of the best features i've ever used. A great way of communicating to friends online & to download the latest demos, videos and classic Arcade live games, along with the latest extra content for games that have already been purchased.

With plenty of great titles like Rainbow Six: Vegas, Call Of Duty 3, Oblivion (All of which have been out for months, yet not even out for a PS3), along with Gears Of War, Test Drive Unlimited. And with Forza 2 out next month and Halo 3 in November and GTA: IV, things are only going to get better.

If I had to choose to keep either the 360 or the PS3, i'd definitely keep the 360 at the moment.

No one can say you "don't" get great 360 games , you do..with some of the sharpest Graphics and amazing titles you could ask for ...the joypad alone feels amazing for FPS as well as driving games and many other titles , plus getting and playing games online is as easy as pie ..

BUT!...With that said the 360 is probably the worst actual "console" you could ask for , yes the famous " 3 red lights of death " is well publicised and is practically a plague to the system , basically meaning at some point you more than likely will suffer from this and have to get a replacement console from Microsoft , but isn't by far the only problem the console suffers from , No disc error's , disc tray jamming , disc eating , overheating , numerous error's related to playing games in 60Mhz...what makes this worse is the customer support , if you do ( you probably will at some point ) need to get a replacement console , odds are you will get a refurbished replacement rather than an actual "New" console .

it is by far the worst designed console I've ever seen and its also extremely loud , you cant even exchange music from your MP3 player to your hard drive and back , which means if you want to listen to your music in game you have to leave your MP3 plugged into the console and last but not least , on live ...you have to pay a small fortune for most downloadable content .

you don't need a new one. you can fix the red ring. the xbox system is effectively a microsoft computer, and the red ring basically shuts of some of the subsystems inside. if you take it to a PC repair shop who can fix microsoft products, they should be able to repair it for you.

Yes, you get a 3 year warranty on the xbox 360 if you are one of the minority to experience hardware failuire. The console accessories are covered for the usual year as with all electronic products. If you did have to sen the console back for a repair it's free shipping & nornally takes 5-10 working days but i know of someone that got his back in 5. It's a great system with a vast array of amazing games, connectivity to a media pc & also xbox live is outstanding!

So, looking at 360's and wondering about whether to go premium or go core... I must, must recommend premium. Why, well at launch, I could only get a core system, and to eventually get to the premium package, cost me in excess of £150... So, why bother.

The Core system is only worth it if you are not thinking of or own an HDTV, if you have no plans to connect to the fantastic Xbox live (Trust me, getting your xbox on line is as essential as having your PC online) if you do not wish to try out free demos off xbox live, play a fantastic range of Arcade games or challenge gamers from all over the world.

I remember after battling to get an Xbox 360 in December 2005 how gutted I was as I connected it to my TV and PGR3 looked worse than PGR2 on the original Xbox. Finding the component cable (included in the premium pack) a week or so later was like I got a new 360. It showed the crystal clear, photo realitic graphics of Xbox, and games such as Gears of War, PGR3, GRAW2, Rainbow 6, Viva Pinata all showcase the console's brilliance.

Firstly, in the core system, you cannot save a game, as there is no memory to save. you will at the very least need to buy a 64MB memory unit which is about £20, this will let you save around 10games worth of progress. So for an extra £50 you get an arcade game (Hexix) around 16GB of storage which you can fill with demos, trailers and TV shows. A wireless controller. The ethernet cable to connect to you router for Xbox live, and both the standard and high definiton connection and a wireless controller. Well worth £50, or you can spend an extra £100 on top of this like me if you wish...

The composite cable supplied to attach to your TV does not show at all the power of the 360... If your in Standard Definition you will need to purchase the Xbox360 Scart cable which will sharpen and brighten up the image.

Alot of reviews have said its not worth it as many Xbox's break down. Indeed, this has been a problem and around 30% of all Xbox360's sold have needed repair. But there is no need to worry, the service by microsoft was astounding. I got the 3 red lights which indicates its broken, called Microsoft, they sent a UPS label to me to print off and a UPS man to my house to pick up the Xbox. Then 5 days later it came back and I've had no problem since. Plus Microsoft have now extended there warranty to 3 years, costing them $1billion.

X360 is currently the champ of the next Gen consoles, trust me, I have all 3 (wii, PS3 and X360). The game libary is currently the biggest - Over 200 games and 100 Xbox Live Arcade games, they have the most exlusive titles and developers working for them, so most games are X360 first or only. Obviously multi format games, like spiderman 3, Transformers appear on all... But PGR series, Halo, Forza, any RARE made game all xbox only. Xbox first, all Tom Clancy games.

This core system will let you play any X360 game, you won't however have access to Xbox live which is just simply criminal.

Lastly, the Xbox's cooling fan is very loud, and clearly audible when you play at low volumes, but the pro's of the massive games library, Xbox live, Xbox Live Arcade the Gamercard which tracks the games you play and accomplishments in them that unlock achievements.

See one of my premium pack reviews to compare why you should go premium. the extra £100 on this web site will get you a premium pack and 2 or 3 games.