I'm considering the purchase of an Xbox 360 to tide me over until I build a new PC post-Vista & DX10 release. Plus, Ive not played a console since Sega Genesis and Im itching for some sports games. I've read rumors that there is going to be a new version of the Xbox come January 2007 with an updated processor, better cooling, and a possible lower price. Any truth to these rumors? Should I wait for the newer version or is that bogus and Id be better off to try to take advantage of some holiday deals now? Thanks for any insight.
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Xbox 360 Rumors?
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Psychotext
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Wont be January. More likely to be late feb... if then. Manufacturing of the 65nm CPU will start first quarter but obviously they'll be putting together stocks of the newer version before they hit retail. Also, you're unlikely to see a price drop before the PS3 stops being supply limited. Which may be quite some time.
nobody_here
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Psychotext said:
tough choice, i own one now btw and have been following the rumors too, the 65nm CPU is real, the possibility of a larger HDD being offered on the Premium system i think is real, with the 20Gb HDD's becoming standard on the Core systems (ala PS3), which would help justify not dropping the price anytime soon, "you're getting more value for the same price as they were a year ago", not to mention by the time they do any or all of this, the DVD performance of the HD-DVD drives should be up to snuff to make it the standard internal drive, but since they have money invested in packaging, marketing, enclosure and all for the HD-DVD drive to be sold as a standalone drive, etc....i somehow doubt that will happen at any time it is also popular with the HTPC crowd as a much better alternative than a standalone Toshiba HD-DVD player, so it is being sold to people that dont even own a 360, it sells itself, and i also think we could easily see a HDMI output on the 360 with the refresh
if it was me and i had a chance to grab a Premium system for $299 i think i would grab it, then in February or whenever the updated version hits store shelves, ebay it or sell it locally, whatever, then buy the newer version, unless you are just content to wait, but you could likely end up having one to play until then for nothing out of pocket as you will certainly be able to get at least $300 for your two month old used system that normally is $400
as far as price drops, i seriously doubt that will be happening to any degree to speak of until the 2007 holiday season, M$ just got to where they are making a little on each console sold, they will want the entire next year to reap even more profits especially with the profits being bigger after the move to 65nm CPU's and other manufacturing streamlining
Yeah I agree, M$ isn't going to change the price until it has competition. Right now X360 is pretty much all you can get as far as stock is concerned. Plus its already cheaper then the PS3. You can also already get the X360 premium for ~$350 online.
Or 500$ depending on where you live...
Doesn´t sound like it matters much. Haven´t had any issues with overheating CPU yet. And if you buy one now and it dies you may get the new version when you turn it in
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2 years warranty at least here in Europe.
Doesn´t sound like it matters much. Haven´t had any issues with overheating CPU yet. And if you buy one now and it dies you may get the new version when you turn it in
.2 years warranty at least here in Europe.
Erasmus354
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puphus said:
Updated processor? Not really, it is the same thing but on a smaller process. The only advantage to this is it will likely run a bit cooler, but probably not by much.
Better cooling? No, they will stick to the cooling they have now. It works just fine when the heatsinks are making good contact. Most cooling problems are either people sticking the 360 in a closed entertainment center (no amount of internal cooling will help that), or from heatsinks which got shifted during shipping or what-not and no longer make contact.
Lower price? Conceivable but likely not until the middle of the year next year. Probably not until this time 2007. Simply because MS doesn't have to lower the price.
HD-DVD Driver Internal? Absolutely not, if this ever does happen it wont be until near the end of the lifetime of the 360. Not for 2 more years at least, and I still dont see it ever happening. By the time it would happen you will be able to get a good multiformat Bluray/HD-DVD player for 100$ or so.
Larger HD? On the premium maybe, I dont see them putting a 20GB on the core model just because it would make a lot of people bitter. What I do see happening possibly is the introduction of an "ultra premium" model with a larger HD. Lowering the price of the premium model, and either phasing out the core or lowering the price of the core to go head to head with the Wii.
Basically MS most likely wont be making any changes to the 360 for another 5 or 6 months at least.
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Erasmus354 said:
why wouldnt they make the hd dvd drive internal?
I can logically think through the idea of releasing the 360 with an internal HD DVD drive if the ps3 gains ground for it's blue ray ability.
Erasmus354
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jfnirvana292 said:
Because it adds cost, is only used for movies, they already have an investment in the external drive, and by the time they would consider doing it there wont be much demand for one because dedicated players (dual format no less) will be readily available and probably not very expensive (200$ at most).
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Erasmus354 said:
Thats the thing, they invested the money to create the external one....so why not replace the existing internal drive??? I see it as a competitive move.
Erasmus354
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jfnirvana292 said:
Did you not read what I just posted? HD movies aren't that popular yet, and by the time they do become popular you will be able to buy a regular set top player for an affordable price. People wont care if the 360 can play HD-DVD or not because the vast majority will be using a dedicated player.
And of course all the other points, added cost etc.. still stand. It just doesn't make good business sense to integrate the drive.
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Erasmus354 said:
You are missing my point.
MS will integrate the HD DVD drive as a competitive move to the PS3's blueray. in other words, if people start choosing the PS3 over the xbox because it can play blueray movies out of the box and the xbox cant (hd dvd), then they will include it JUST to be more competitive.
I was debating this myself recently, but decided to go ahead and buy a 360 on Black Friday anyway. The change I would expect to come on a redesign would be an HDMI port, which I can wait until the system eventually hits $200 or so before I go for that. Component looks great, and I'm already getting my fill of gaming goodness with the likes of Gears of War, as opposed to waiting for possibly 6 months to a year before a redesign is announced/released. I'm not concerned about the hard drive, I doubt I'll fill up the 20GB.
I doubt that. As said, it would not make good business sense to invest in the development of a product, only to release a redesigned system with that product built-in six months down the road. That adds up to wasted development funds, loads of unsold stock sitting on shelves and in warehouses, not to mention unhappy owners and confused customers wondering wtf to buy when they see Core, Premium, and HD-DVD models sitting on shelves.
HD and BD are a very small part of the market right now, and it will be a while before the format war is over. SD DVD quality is good enough for the majority of people, there is little selection available in HD/BD movies, and pricing is high - typical question being "Why pay $25-$30 for a movie that's already available on DVD for typically $15 or less?" MS is simply offering people that want it an affordable means of going high-def for the combined price of a PS3. Not to mention the Premium 360 at least includes component cables, saving at least $40...
jfnirvana292 said:
I doubt that. As said, it would not make good business sense to invest in the development of a product, only to release a redesigned system with that product built-in six months down the road. That adds up to wasted development funds, loads of unsold stock sitting on shelves and in warehouses, not to mention unhappy owners and confused customers wondering wtf to buy when they see Core, Premium, and HD-DVD models sitting on shelves.
HD and BD are a very small part of the market right now, and it will be a while before the format war is over. SD DVD quality is good enough for the majority of people, there is little selection available in HD/BD movies, and pricing is high - typical question being "Why pay $25-$30 for a movie that's already available on DVD for typically $15 or less?" MS is simply offering people that want it an affordable means of going high-def for the combined price of a PS3. Not to mention the Premium 360 at least includes component cables, saving at least $40...
Psychotext
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I have to disagree with those that think MS wont stick a 20gb in the core and give the premium a bigger drive. Sure some people will be annoyed but it's no different to any other company that updates their product line every year. Right now people can argue that the PS3 "core" is really the equivalent of the 360 premium so don't be surprised if they do this. The other possibility is of course phasing out the core model and bringing out an "ultra-premium". That's just semantics though, cos if they sell a premium and an "ultra-premium" you're still really talking about a core and a premium.
HDMI port is of course an option at some point but don't forget that MS also confirmed recently that the multi av port on the 360 is capable of digital output so a HDMI dongle isn't out of the question (though I'm confused as to what is taking them so long). Obviously this will cost more than just a standard HDMI cable though.
As for the 360 with the internal HD-DVD drive. If they do this it wont be to replace the standard models - It'll probably be a limited edition (and hopefully in black!).
HDMI port is of course an option at some point but don't forget that MS also confirmed recently that the multi av port on the 360 is capable of digital output so a HDMI dongle isn't out of the question (though I'm confused as to what is taking them so long). Obviously this will cost more than just a standard HDMI cable though.
As for the 360 with the internal HD-DVD drive. If they do this it wont be to replace the standard models - It'll probably be a limited edition (and hopefully in black!).
I remember reading a few months ago (on Gamepsot I believe) that a Microsoft rep said that a larger HDD in the future was "not out of the question." I dunno if that's a "not out of the question, so go away" or a serious "no, we're considering it" move. Anyways, I too read about the 65nm processor and really the only benefit is going to be that it will run a little cooler. Question is, are the 3 red rings of death caused by an overheated processor? If so I'd want the cooler processor. If not then I could probably care less. Another option is to stick the $15 or so intercooler on the back (which in reality shouldn't have to be used, but apparently it does help)...
I'd have mixed emotions about a move to a larger HDD. First, if you've got a 20gb how would you move your info to the 60gb if you bought one? Next, say all these people buy the 20gb in the Christmas rush, how are they gonna feel when a cheaper 60gb version comes out in 2 months?
I dunno...guess the only thing to do is wait and see...
In the meantime I think I'll just go ahead and buy one.
I'd have mixed emotions about a move to a larger HDD. First, if you've got a 20gb how would you move your info to the 60gb if you bought one? Next, say all these people buy the 20gb in the Christmas rush, how are they gonna feel when a cheaper 60gb version comes out in 2 months?
I dunno...guess the only thing to do is wait and see...
In the meantime I think I'll just go ahead and buy one.
HD-DVD will not make it into the hardware, ever. It will fragment the consumer/developer base (Developers will have to decide what, if any features, should be added on to the HD-DVD version; if no features are added, they'll still have to decide how many disks they should press for the HD-DVD drive.)
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KingSmoth said:
We'll see I guess. I am either buying a 360 or PS3.. whatever one has a price drop first (guessing the 360 will).
Psychotext
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Even if HD-DVD made it into the hardware it would never be for games. That's something I probably should have made clear.K600 said:
nobody_here
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i think alot of you are missing the fact that the HD-DVD drive can also play standard DVD's, it is not limited to only HD-DVD playback/reads, the only reason it is not used for games at the moment is that DVD read performance is much lower than the standard DVD drive that comes in it now, it's fast enough to decode a movie, but not fast enough to make load times acceptable when trying to access game data, but we all know how fast drive read/write capabilities increase, in very little time the HD-DVD drive will have an acceptable DVD read rate and data throughput to make using it for gaming just as good as the standard DVD drive now
and have you also forgotten that HD-DVD's are also capable of being dual format, DVD on one side, HD-DVD on the other, so the point about game developers having to make a choice on who they cater to is void, developers can write the game data anyway they want to, and simply press the discs to that the HD-DVD version is on one side and standard version on the other.....but more likely we will see them press two separate discs, a standard edition on DVD and a "Limited Edition" on HD-DVD with all the extra content, increased capabilities, etc....on the HD-DVD version, they already do this now but with standard DVD's, but you end up with two discs in the package, with HD-DVD that is not necessary
i dont think it will be before the 2007 holiday season though
i do think the 20Gb HDD will move to the core system, core system MSRP will go to $329 +/-, Premium system would inherit the newer larger HDD and stay at $399 or so, but i would also like to see a new Hybrid HDD offered as an upgrade.....i havent seen anyone explore this idea yet, but if you read up on Hybrid HDD's, you will find that it could lead to much better performance expecially in a system that relies so heavily on caching data needed for instant access, kiss long load times goodbye
this is all speculative of course
and have you also forgotten that HD-DVD's are also capable of being dual format, DVD on one side, HD-DVD on the other, so the point about game developers having to make a choice on who they cater to is void, developers can write the game data anyway they want to, and simply press the discs to that the HD-DVD version is on one side and standard version on the other.....but more likely we will see them press two separate discs, a standard edition on DVD and a "Limited Edition" on HD-DVD with all the extra content, increased capabilities, etc....on the HD-DVD version, they already do this now but with standard DVD's, but you end up with two discs in the package, with HD-DVD that is not necessary
i dont think it will be before the 2007 holiday season though
i do think the 20Gb HDD will move to the core system, core system MSRP will go to $329 +/-, Premium system would inherit the newer larger HDD and stay at $399 or so, but i would also like to see a new Hybrid HDD offered as an upgrade.....i havent seen anyone explore this idea yet, but if you read up on Hybrid HDD's, you will find that it could lead to much better performance expecially in a system that relies so heavily on caching data needed for instant access, kiss long load times goodbye
this is all speculative of course