Microsoft Xbox 360

...improvement in the graphics department. Microsoft really does seem to have gone all out to give Sony and Nintendo a run for their money. I know a lot of it will depend on the actual game but over all it looks very realistic.
In Gears of War the chainsaw looks like it's chopping through the baddie's head, there is blood squirting out everywhere, severed hands being kicked about on the floor during the course of the fight between good and evil, ...
...has been done best by Microsoft and their baby; XBOX Live. However there seem to be a few bugs that require ironing out here even now 2 years after the console was released in the UK. Regular updates are ironing out most of the problems and updating now only takes seconds which is a lot faster than before. It's just so annoying when for whatever reason you can't get into a ranked online match of Call of Duty 3 because something has gone haywire. ... more

Now then I will start off here with a confession...I bought this for me too! We have both been playing the XBOX since it came out near enough, way back whenever it was. We both love the ability to play online with our friends most of all. So when the 360 came out we both wanted one but decided to wait until the prices came down. I think it cost £400 for the premium package originally. When the prices dropped for Christmas I just had to get us one.
So we ordered. GAME had the best package at the time, £299 for the premium package and two top games. The premium package really is the best deal. If you get the core package, it costs £199 but for an extra £100 you get an awful lot of extra bits and bobs. The two games alone are worth an extra £90.
The package itself comes with
- The console itself with a very fancy silver Disc Drawer,
- 20GB HDD hard drive,
- Wireless control pad,
- Wired XBOX live communicator,
- A very short Ethernet cable
- HD AV Cable
- Power cable
- XBOX Live 1month silver membership card
- 2 top games,
- Lots of bits of paper!

One thing I will say about this lot is that the Ethernet cable is far too short so it is worth buying either a longer cable or going wireless. A 30M cable will set you back £12 and a wireless network adapter for the 360 costs £50 from ebay.

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Appearance
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The 360 console is slimmer than before and has a much more sophisticated looking design. It is white and grey but you can change the faceplate to just about any design you want. It simply clicks on and off like a mobile phone cover. Cool eh you can customize your 360!
The dimensions are 31 x 8 x 26 cm and it weighs 3.5KG. So it's quite a bit slimmer and lighter than its original counterpart.
If you use an Ethernet cable then you have three wires coming out of the back of the console. The power cable has a black box thingy about half way down it which makes it harder to hide away in the back of the cupboard. If you're fussy about that sort of thing then you have some maneuvering to do.
The 360 itself is actually quite noisy. It has a lot of fans and computer stuff like processors and all that technical gobbledygook that nobody really understands. Whatever Trevor, it's just pretty noisy. Fortunately it's only especially bad when you're actually playing a game, and everything is running at once. When you play a DVD it's only just audible and easily ignored.
All in all it is a vastly improved design. Very stylish white and grey colours and changeable face plates...I am impressed! It is bulky but so what there's a lot of stuff inside these things. It fits in my TV's unit quite comfortably with an extra fan stuck on the back of it and that's all you need to know really isn't it?

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Durability
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Well we got ours at the beginning of December so I personally don't really know. However my mate has had hers since last Christmas and has no problems either in its appearance or mechanical.
There are no scratches at all and hers isn't kept in a cupboard it's just on the floor. The insides don't look covered in dust and neither do the vents. Marie is a clean freak though and she probably dusts the thing every day but the point is that it still looks like brand new. It also runs like brand new but the memory is nearly full. 20GB remember! Other than that minor defect it comes up trumps on the durability department.

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Setup
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Even my Nan could do this one, you can't go wrong. There are 3 wires, Plug one end of each into the 360, the other ends into the TV, PC router and plug socket, press the new snazzy XBOX logo button in the middle of your pad to turn it on remotely and you're away. Yes remote control power, yet another new snazzy addition.
Positioning the console needs a little more consideration. It looks better stood up on its end but don't do this. Lay it down flat and make sure that any venting panels can get plenty of air. (The vents are the bits with lots of holes in.) Standing it up on its end means covering one of the vent panels and the console is more likely to be knocked over.
This baby needs plenty of breathing room as it is prone to overheat and this causes the processor to Nellie up. This, in turn causes the consol to freeze up or tell you that "Your disc is dirt or damaged". When it isn't dirty or damaged at all! It's a big fat fibber is the 360!!!
Knocking the console over when a disc is playing is extremely detrimental indeed. The laser moves too close to the disc and burns it. The disc is then obsolete and can not be used again, £50 down the swanny.
You can buy a vertical stand for it from ebay for £12 which will cut out the risk of knocking it over. The stand I'm talking about also has fans at the bottom to help the air to circulate around that bottom vent. If you want to lay it flat in your cupboard then I would buy the fan that attaches onto the back of the console where it tends to get particularly hot. This will set you back £13.
This console does look pretty solid but it isn't as the instruction manuals will tell you. But very few of you will bother to read the manuals will you!!!

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So, you've Turned it On
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If you've got a disc in the disc drive then this will load up automatically. If not then you are greeted with the all new and swanky XBOX 360 Dashboard. The Dashboard gives you access to four different sections which are represented by PC style tabs. 1) XBOX Live, 2) Games, 3) Media and finally 4) Systems.

XBOX Live
This tab allows you to create or upload your XBOX live Gamertag, essential for online gaming. Your profile name or Gamertag is displayed along with your reputation stars and gamer score.
\Reputation stars show the XBOX Live public what other gamers think about you.
Your gamerscore is something very new. Each of your next generation games now has an extra "to-do" List. These extra challenges are called "achievements" and completing them gives you gamerscore points. This enables your mates to see how far you have got on the games you are playing. Each full game has a total of 1000 gamerscore points available and each arcade game has 200.
This section also gives you access to another addition; the XBOX Live Market Place. This is where you can purchase downloads. You can get extra levels, cars etc for your games, promotional videos, free demos, and arcade games. You can even get alternative themes and gamer pictures to change the appearance of your gamer profile which is viewed by fellow gamers.

Games
On the Games tab you play your downloaded demos and arcade games. Arcade games...what an idea! Like I said before you can purchase the arcade games through the XBOX Live Market Place and play them through the Dashboard. There is a great selection, not only the old classics like DOOM and new ones like UNO and Bankshot Billiards 2. Also there are remakes like Hexic HD and Marble Blast Ultra.

Media
The media tab is where you will find the biggest improvements. It is no longer just a place to play your music. If your PC has a program called "Windows Media Centre", you can connect to your PC through your 360 and use any media files stored here. Pretty good eh! If you don't have this program on your PC then you can install it from here. I think that this is a fantastic new function as we can connect to the vast storage facilities of the PC from our living room instead of having to rely on the fast depleting 20GB of the 360's hard drive.
Also stored here are any files that are on your hard drive. I.e. any CD's that you have downloaded onto the 360, gamer pictures etc.

Systems
Well this is pretty boring really it's mostly settings. You can access and cleanup your hard drive from the "Memory" section here though which is pretty essential. (Only 20GB remember!)

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Play Time!
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So you've finally decided to put a game in your snazzy new console. Well I suppose that the first thing you will notice is the improvement in the graphics department. Microsoft really does seem to have gone all out to give Sony and Nintendo a run for their money. I know a lot of it will depend on the actual game but over all it looks very realistic.
In Gears of War the chainsaw looks like it's chopping through the baddie's head, there is blood squirting out everywhere, severed hands being kicked about on the floor during the course of the fight between good and evil, it's all pretty darn well disgusting!!!
First person shooters have seen a huge improvement. Gone are the cries of "I shot that guy 4 times in the head and he's not dead..." You even notice a difference when you're playing the old XBOX games like Halo2

DVD's look pretty good too and you may find that you're putting your DVD player on ebay in favor of the 360. The DVD remote isn't necessary to play the DVD's, you can just use your ordinary controller. (Another improvement). The picture looks just as good as what I get from my DVD player.
Note to readers....We do use the 360 with a HD TV. Compared to the normal telly in the bedroom there is a marked difference in picture quality. The text is unreadable in Call of Duty 3 for example whereas downstairs it is perfectly clear.

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Sound
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Well it's as you would expect really. The surround sound is the usual brilliance. The guns sound realistic as far as I know and when a grenade lands close by you really do seem to go deaf for a few seconds! Car smashes and the engines are just music to my ears! I now need to win the lottery to buy a Dodge Viper SRT 10, man does that engine sounds scary!!! (Please note, any and all donations towards my needy cause will be humbly accepted!!!)
The only let down is that if you're trying to listen to your own music collection whilst playing a game it can't seem to handle it. The music sounds slower and the game itself seems to struggle. Perhaps the processor can't handle it or whatever. Anyone who knows a bit about computers will be able to say straight off what the problem is but I'm only guessing. It's annoying and that's all I know!!!

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Online
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In my Opinion, online gaming is now and always has been done best by Microsoft and their baby; XBOX Live. However there seem to be a few bugs that require ironing out here even now 2 years after the console was released in the UK. Regular updates are ironing out most of the problems and updating now only takes seconds which is a lot faster than before. It's just so annoying when for whatever reason you can't get into a ranked online match of Call of Duty 3 because something has gone haywire. Or sometimes it won't connect to a game lobby for no apparent reason.
The online capabilities have however been extended and even in my ignorance of technological what-not; I can understand that Microsoft will have a huge amount of bugs to get shut of.
It's pretty amazing that billions of folk out there can be playing so many different games with their friends and or enemies. When you think about it, how the heck do they do it??? I'm flabbergasted anyway!!!
A great addition to the online capabilities is the ability to send MSN Messages to your friends. You must have an MSN passport to gain access to XBOX live, (one way of getting consumers away from other instant messaging providers!). Anyway so you either use your friends list or Messages option to send messages. You can send voice, text and even video messages.
This web cam thingy you can buy is called XBOX live vision. You can use it to upload a custom gamer picture and video chat with your friends, It costs around £30 to buy which is a little expensive when a cheap web cam costs less that £10.

All in all we are both very pleased with the new toy. There have been marked improvements and limited faults. I am however very fussy and expect things to work as they should which is why I have given the 360 4/5 stars. I would still strongly recommend this console. It's the little extras like the ability to buy alternative bits and extra hardware. The little gadgets like being able to turn the thing on and off remotely via your controller. It's these little things that make up for the little annoying niggly bits.
There are no mechanical faults if you use the console as advised. Any problems with XBOX Live gaming are pretty promptly ironed out with free and fast updates.

Hope you found this helpful...and remember the charitable donations...I want that car!!!
All prices mentioned include delivery and are from today's ebay, which can alter as we know!
 

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