Xbox 360 Elite Winter 2009 Lego Batman / Pure Bundle

XBox 360 is an awesome game system. This bundle package was a terrific value and is enjoyed every single day!

I'm no fan of Microsoft, but now that these things aren't frying this console is pretty cool. If you've got a 150w power supply brick, yours was made w/ a jasper chip and has a 99.9% chance of not getting the infamous 3 red rings of death(which are covered by warranty btw). Tests have shown it runs about 20 degrees cooler and the power supplies went from 203w, then 175w, now 150w. It's slightly quieter, and you can always download games and play them from the hard drive for an ultra-quiet performance(unfortunately you still have to have the disc in). It has 120gb of memory, so there's plenty of room for your music, games, and Xbox Live purchases. The black is much a needed change from the cheap-crap looking white console. Most electronics are of the black variety now(TV's, Blu-ray dvd players, receivers, DVR's, etc.). It's too bad they couldn't figure out it's supposed to be glossy black like the previously mentioned components(what'd you expect, it's Microsoft). I searched the net and found a glossy black face-plate to put on it. Took 30 seconds to put it on, and bam! It looks hot and fits right in w/ my other glossy black components. Now this new bundle version doesn't come w/ the HDMI cable which you'll definitely want to use. It's the highest quality digital connection available. To not use it would be equivalent to using a cassette instead of an Ipod. You can get an HDMI cable for the 360 for about $4 on the net(try Monoprice). Many stores are now taking old consoles for trade-in. Mine was a 20gb HDMI version and they gave me $98 for it! Between that and the old headsets, controllers, and games I was no longer using, I had a $148 credit. So if you need the hard drive space or you gotta have the black, try trading-in and reduce your costs.

This is my first console so I'm not sure how to benchmark it against anything else I've played before (except the Wii, but let's not go there). However, I was totally blown away by the gaming experience on the device. I've been playing Forza3 on it and have been completely hooked. The only downside I experienced was the loud CD/DVD drive. To get around this, I installed the game onto the hard drive and things are running along smoothly now. The load times have reduced dramatically too. As for the pricing, I think the console is cheap enough, but you'd have to shell out a bit to buy accessories that you almost can't do without, like a rechargeable battery for the controller. Other than that, it's a great purchase.

I have all three consoles (Wii, PS3 and the Xbox 360). I think the facts speak for themselves i am currently on my third Xbox 360 but i still have my original PS3 and Wii. All my Xbox360s have suffered from the red ring of death and although you might think that you will be covered by the Xbox warranty this may not be the case. Apparently, as i have been informed by the xbox support team, due to a recent policy change microsoft has refused to fix my defective Xbox 360 so I am stuck with a broken Xbox360. Therefore before purchasing this console think carefully if you want to risk it or play it safe and get a PS3 or a Wii because one of their "policies" might change that will mean that you are no longer covered.

The Xbox is great, but after opening the box I soon realized that this deal wasn't as good as I thought. Yeah you get two free games in the winter 2009 package, but they dont tell you that they take out the HDMI cable that comes in the normal Elite package and replace it with the standard audio video cables, the yellow, white, and red cable... It's ok though, I traded in those two AWESOME games to Game Stop and got back $6 that eventually went toward a quality brand name HDMI cable that ended up costing just under $50. So if your a 6 year old, go with the winter package cause thats the age group for those two free games, but if your older and DONT care for "kiddie games" buy the regular Elite package without any "FREE BOUNUS STUFF INSIDE"