Xbox 360 Elite - worth it?

[Dr Mattt]

Hi - I'm new to PH, so first of all I'd like to say hello.

I've currently got an xbox with Forza 1 - love the game but the AI opponents are now at the point where the game has nothing left to give.
Broadband has now arrived at the new house and I'm looking to get a 360 so I can get in on some of the Forza 2 online action!

Question is this:
From Game store, current 360 Premium + 2 free games = £280
360 Elite + Forza 2 will be about an extra £90 ish

Is it worth me waiting another month for the Elite?
Does the Elite solve this "3 red rings" thing I keep reading about?
Do I really need a 120 HD vs a 20?
Should I just get the deal on the current Premium pack and get stuck in?

Thanks - oh, by the way sorry if this topic has been covered to death already by you guys - if so, a linky to that thread would be great!

Cheers

[Trax]

I have no idea how much better the elite model is, but if I was you, I would wait and get it, its always nice to know you got the best one going.

I wouldn't sell the 360 to get one though, only if it had better mechanics and graphics would I change.

[kiwisr]

Or wait for the Halo 3 limited edition console.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/events/e32007/...

IMO the extra HDD space isn't worth it, it's certainly not needed at all. Maybe when they start offering some decent downloadable content.
Having HDMI might be useful.
And the black colour is personal choice, I prefer white.


I have heard that all new 360s should have had the overheating bit fixed, I don't know how to verify this.

[ThePassenger]

kiwisr said:

IMO the extra HDD space isn't worth it, it's certainly not needed at all. Maybe when they start offering some decent downloadable content.

In the states Live apparently offers a substantial amount of content, movie trailers and such all in HD/high res. So the bigger drive is quite useful, having said that, poking around the internet it seems some enterprising people have managed to get a 500Gb drive working.

kiwisr said:

I have heard that all new 360s should have had the overheating bit fixed, I don't know how to verify this.

Indeed. Black or White, if you buy a new one it'll have the fix applied (probably) but if it fails the warranty is 3 years so bonus

[RobDickinson]

When the Elite launches in the UK there will be appropriate tv/movie downloading available too.

IMo if your going to use it purely as a games machine with a few vids/music/demo's the normal one is fine unless your desprate for HDMI.

The overheating issue is solved I beleive.

Also theres a Halo special edition coming out soon with 20gig and HDMI, I assume soon ALL 360's will have HDMI so no need for the elite unless you want black.

[Digby]

Dr Mattt said:

Does the Elite solve this "3 red rings" thing I keep reading about?

Nobody really knows what they are doing yet.One of the first US elites was opened up
and there was no extra heatsink and just some glue in a certain area to try and stop
the GPU popping off due to motherboard warping (the reason most 360's die)

When another site asked MS about them adding an extra heatink to future consoles,
MS said this..

"Regularly updating console components is commonplace within the industry and is a standard
aspect of the business for a variety of reasons including cost reduction, improved manufacturability
and improved performance."

[Dr Mattt]

Thank you for all your helpful replies.

I only really want a 360 for online Forza 2, so no need for an Elite model I reckon.

As soon as I'm ready, I'll post my user details - hope to be out there racing soon!

Thanks

[David Godfrey]

Just another bit of info, there is supposed to be a conversion cable for the current 360 to enable hdmi, no idea when it will be available, how much or indeed if it will work aswell as the elite's onboard jobbie, but thought I'd mention it.

[Dr Mattt]

David Godfrey said:

Just another bit of info, there is supposed to be a conversion cable for the current 360 to enable hdmi, no idea when it will be available, how much or indeed if it will work aswell as the elite's onboard jobbie, but thought I'd mention it.

Hi - thanks for this. Forgive me but I presume that hdmi relates to high definition TVs?

Eek! Sorry for being so technically lame!!

[David Godfrey]

Dr Mattt said:

David Godfrey said:

Just another bit of info, there is supposed to be a conversion cable for the current 360 to enable hdmi, no idea when it will be available, how much or indeed if it will work aswell as the elite's onboard jobbie, but thought I'd mention it.

Hi - thanks for this. Forgive me but I presume that hdmi relates to high definition TVs?

Eek! Sorry for being so technically lame!!

or projectors but yup, your right