Xbox 360 4GB Console Reviews
Xbox 360 4GB Console
- Sleek New Design
- 4GB internal memory
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- Whisper Quiet
The new Xbox 360® 4GB Console. Here today, ready for tomorrow with a brand new, leaner machine. Wi-Fi is built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE, where HD movies and TV stream in an instant. It’s ready for the controller-free experiences of Kinect — you don’t just play the game, you are the game. Xbox 360 is more games, entertainment and fun.
What’s In The Box?
• Xbox 360 4GB S Console
• Xbox 360 Black Wireless Controller
• Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable (standard definition)
• One Month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership
• 1 year limited warranty on console
List Price: $ 199.99
Price: $ 180.00
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Spring for a hard drive!,
Don’t make the same mistake I did — the 4 GB version may seem like a good deal if you don’t think you’ll need a lot of space, but what they don’t tell you is that some features REQUIRE an actual hard drive. You might think that a gig is a gig and it shouldn’t make any difference whether it’s on a disk or flash memory, but to the Xbox, they are not equivalent.
This means that unless you buy a hard drive (and it has to be one of the new 250 GB hard drives because the old ones are not compatible), you get no backwards compatibility with Xbox games, and some 360 games will arbitrarily block you from some features such as playing online or even installing updates or DLC, regardless of how much free space you have available. Basically, you can only use the internal storage (or a flash drive) to store full games, saves, or other media, but it’s not the same as having a 4 GB hard drive. I wish someone had told me this before I bought mine; I foolishly assumed that the features would be identical and the only difference would be the amount of space, but now I have to buy a hard drive separately, adding up to more than it would have cost if I’d just bought the 250 GB model in the first place. Caveat emptor, indeed.
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|New features at a great price!,
The xbox 360 slim with 4 GB. is what the original arcade version should have been, and is definitely worth its $200 price tag.
10 new features of this model are:
1. New Valhalla chip – hopefully improved design to prevent RRoD issue, but tech. reviews noted that the Jasper chip in the older Elite model runs cooler
2. WiFi N – this is the newest wifi standard that is 12X faster (up to 600 Mbits/ sec) than wifi G; you’ll need a Wifi N router to get the max. speed
3. digital optical audio port (if your sound system is separate from your TV, then you’ll need this to get full 5.1 surround sound)
4. 4 GB of flash memory (although 1.1 GB is used by the game system, but 0.3 GB can be reclaimed by deleting 4 game demos)
5. 5 USB ports (2 in front & 3 in back)
6. slimmer design with side vents (to prevent overheating)
7. dedicated Kinect port (just a convenience feature)
8. only 1 year of warranty (the only negative; older Elite models had 3 yrs.)
9. USB flash drive support (this was a xbox software update released in April 2010)
10. ESPN video streaming (will be included if you are a Gold member, $50/ yr.; should be available about Dec. 2010)
Slim 4 GB vs. 250 GB hard drive:
I bought the 4 GB system over the model with 250 GB hard drive because the xbox now supports game saves/ installs/ downloads and pic/ audio/ video downloads to USB flash drives. It supports 1-2 USB flash drives with 1-16 GB memory (using a 16 GB drive, 1.6 GB is used for formatting). Saving games and media to the USB drives is recommended since loading games and media will be much faster (reading memory is faster than reading hard drive) and more reliable (flash memory rarely fails, unlike hard drives); even the xbox live director recommended using USB drives for storage. If you have such a huge appetite for videos downloads and game demos that 32 GB can not accomodate, then you can always upgrade later with the 250 GB hard drive that will be sold in November; note that the older xbox hard drives are NOT compatible with the slim models. Installing xbox 360 games and game demos on the flash drives is no problem; xbox will ask you which drive to install the game. However, I can not verify if you can install older xbox games like Halo on the flash drive. The only xbox game I have is Halo 2, which does not install on flash. This problem may be specific to Halo 2 because even xbox live does not have Halo 2 for sale, which means Halo 2 is not supported without a xbox hard drive. I’m suspecting that any older games listed on xbox live is enabled for flash installation, but if they’re not listed then you’ll need a xbox hard drive. This is annoying but not a big issue since there are only a few older xbox games that you may want to play.
XBOX vs. PS3:
I am originally a PS3 and Wii gamer, but finally bought the xbox when the slim 4 GB model was released. To be competitive with the PS3, the xbox had to have the built-in wifi, optical audio port, and USB flash drive support. I was deciding whether to buy another PS3 for $300 since many games require 2 consoles for coop and multiplayer gaming, regardless of what system you choose. With this xbox priced at $200, I decided to choose the xbox since it has better coop games, more online gaming, and their video library blows away the PS3 online videos. However, Netflix on xbox requires gold membership and starting a movie is a lot slower than the PS3 eventhough the xbox has faster wifi. Xbox music and music videos library needs to expand to the size of their TV and movies selection to be comparable with iTunes. The PS3 has better graphics though not significantly better (expected since PS3 has a better processor), but the XBOX has better coop and multiplayer games. The PS3 controller is better designed, better constructed, and has a rechargeable battery; the D-pad on the included xbox controller creaked without even playing a single game. Also, the PS3 has a Blu-Ray player, but is $100 more than the xbox slim 4 GB model. The button to open the disc tray on the xbox is too sensitive and not recessed, so slightly brushing it with your clothes will activate it. The xbox Kinect has more features and better specs. than the PS3 Move. With my Wii collecting dust, I decided to wait to see if games for the Kinect are a flop, similar to how many games for the Wii flopped. Anyways by June 2011, Kinect games should be 1/2 price with better selection.
Halo Reach Update:
You can not play Halo Reach coop online without a hard drive; using a USB flash drive does not fix the problem. Microsoft has confirmed this problem, so don’t buy this system if coop online is important to you. The official XBOX FAQ is: “One or more players do not have a certified Xbox 360 hard drive attached to their Xbox 360 console. Some multiplayer aspects of Halo: Reach require an Xbox 360 certified hard drive.” Microsoft said they…
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|What the original should of been….,
I am one of those guys who had an Xbox 360 when it first came out. I like everyone else sufffered from the Red Ring of Death and had to send my unit back in for repair. That was probaly a year and half to two years ago that it was repaired from the RROD. About 1 year ago, I started having problems where the disc player would not read the game correctly and I had to keep on opening the disc player and closing it over and over until it read the disc. Finally, the video card of the Xbox 360 seemed to just die out, i could no longer get a signal on any television, I even bought a new AV cable with no success. Alas, I called microsoft and they wanted $100 to repair it. I decided to say screw that, so I bought a new xbox 360 with HDMI support. I hooked it up to my reciever and I started having some problems with the screen. I was now fed up with microsoft. I returned the 360 and decided to go PS3 all the way.
Well it turns out that on the second 360 i had bought (the new one) the problem was with my home theater reciever and not the 360. So while all my friends had fun playing online together on 360, I was left out with no friends on PS3. ( I just dont know anyone online on the PS3). So my wife bought me this new slim model for my birthday and these are my thoughts.
WIFI – Found my network and connected with ease, wonderful feature.
HDMI Support – does not come with a HDMI cable, but you can get a cheap one on amazon.
4 GB Memory – not exactly alot, but you can buy a 16 GB flash drive to put in one of the many USB ports. BUT…the flash card I bought had a slightly thicker base and I could not plug it into the rear of the 360, so it is poking out of the front slot. So make sure you get a flash drive that is not too big.
Xbox Live – No card for free live for a month?
Headset – No headset
Xbox 360 – the new model is sleek and beautiful. The disc drive is like a touch sensor which is really neat. This is soooo much more quiet than my old 360. I havent put in a major time yet but I didnt feel much heat coming off it which is a definite plus of course.
All in all, 4/5 stars, just because I thought microsoft was a little cheap with no headset, the memory, and no free xbox live gold trial – especially since they are raising the price.
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