360 Console Advice

[Goronmon]

Alright, so here's the deal. My sister expressed her interest in getting a 360, mainly for Netflix streaming and perhaps the occasional game of Viva Pinata or whatever. I told her I was thinking about trying to pick up a replacement and would sell her mine. Of course, her birthday is in a month, so I'll probably just give it to her.

Anyways, here's the problem. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do about the replacement. Mainly, I want to try to pick up a Jasper, and also get a bigger HD so that I can include the old 20GB in the one I give to my sister. The easiest solution would be to pick up an Arcade and a 120GB with the transfer cable, but that seems a bit too expensive. Or I could go for a Pro with the 60GB and try my luck finding a cable and transfering the data to that one.

What do you guys think? Anyone have experience with this in the past?

[Bingley Joe]

OOhH! I know this one: I just recently picked up a Jasper Pro to replace an old, dead 360 because I wanted a slightly larger HDD, but didn't feel like shelling out for the 120GB.

- The unit is SUPER quiet, and produces WAAAY less heat than my old one, both of which are huge plusses.

- I called MS and asked them to send me a transfer cable, which they happily did free of charge. It arrived within a week, which is great.

- I haven't used the transfer cable yet because the HDMI port on the Jasper is completely dead out-of-the box.. :mad: The regular A/V port works just fine, mind you, so when I called MS about this, their conclusion is that there is nothing wrong with the console, and that I should just not use the HDMI port because it doesn't seem to be working :confused: Totally fucking moronic.

I'm taking it back to Best Buy for an exchange as soon as my GF finishes Portal because she's having too much fun.


Thus, my scientific conclusion is that nobody should ever buy a 360 ever again because every last one of them is a humongous piece of worthless shit, but if you do go ahead with your plan, you will have lots of fun while the machine is still working, and you'll make your sister happy until hers breaks as well.

[Food Nipple]

Don't buy the console and hard drive piecemeal, the pricing structure is set up to be prohibitively expensive.

Obtaining a transfer cable isn't a big deal, Microsoft will send you one for free if you fill out the form on their website. (PDF (http://assets.xbox.com/en-us/support/MigrationKit-OrderForm.pdf))

[Goronmon]

Obtaining a transfer cable isn't a big deal, Microsoft will send you one for free if you fill out the form on their website. (PDF (http://assets.xbox.com/en-us/support/MigrationKit-OrderForm.pdf))It does say only for Elite or Special Edition consoles.

[Wolvie]

Go with the arcade and the 120 GB HDD. Do the math: $199.99 arcade+ $99.99= $299.98

You could even save a bit more money by buying a used 120 GB HDD.

Edit: or you could just add an extra $100 and get an elite. You get the big HDD, an HDMI port and cable and a cool black case. And the new elite bundle comes with two games you can trade in/sell so you could still save some money anyways.

[Goronmon]

OOhH! I know this one: I just recently picked up a Jasper Pro to replace an old, dead 360 because I wanted a slightly larger HDD, but didn't feel like shelling out for the 120GB.How hard was it to find a Jasper at Best Buy?

Go with the arcade and the 120 GB HDD. Do the math: $199.99 arcade+ $99.99= $299.98Where is the 120GB for $100?

[Wolvie]

Where is the 120GB for $100?

Right here (http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=73822) my friend. Sorry, I missed the "refurb part the first time I read it. But hey, that's still pretty good.

[Goronmon]

Right here (http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=73822) my friend. Sorry, I missed the "refurb part the first time I read it. But hey, that's still pretty good.Hmm...I don't see any mention of a transfer cable, which usually seems to mean that there isn't one.

[Wolvie]

Hmm...I don't see any mention of a transfer cable, which usually seems to mean that there isn't one.

True that. Then again you can get one for free from MS. Or you could ask one of us here at the COG and get one mailed to you. *shrugs*

[Zanzibar]

Fuck, I've got two transfer cables. I'll send you one if Microsoft gives you any trouble.

I called up Microsoft and explained that I was transferring my old 20gb data to a new 60gb. The guy first told me about a form you download and fill in, then fax. Then he wanted my address for some reason, I thought just to update my records. So I DL'd the fax form, faxed it in, and wound up getting two cables on consecutive days - the dude apparently took my address to just send me a cable, and then the fax form got me another one.

Don't get an Arcade unit, just get a 60gb Pro. 60gb is plenty big; I've been doing full-game installs and all kinds of Rock Band DLC and still have 30gb left. The wireless controller alone will make her happy.

EDIT: Yeah, you could get the Elite with the new H3/Fable2 bundle for the extra $100 and solve everything. That's a helluva deal.

[Bingley Joe]

It does say only for Elite or Special Edition consoles.

It does say that, but don't worry about it -- the cable will work just fine with a 60GB drive as well.

And don't worry about sending in any forms. Just call MS and ask them to send it to you. Much quicker.

How hard was it to find a Jasper at Best Buy?

Dead simple. I actually just asked the guy working in that section if he knew if any of the boxes were Jaspers. Without even skipping a beat, he said, "those four", pointing to a row of Pros :p

I said I was going to double-check just to be sure, and he said it was no problem as long as I didn't wreck the packaging -- what you want to do is look through the little slot on the box, and shift the console inside until you can see that it says 12.1A on it. Might want to bring a pen or a spare set of hands to help, since they're packed in there pretty tight..

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/12/jasper_find.jpg

[Goronmon]

Yeah, you could get the Elite with the new H3/Fable2 bundle for the extra $100 and solve everything.Problem is that I own Halo 3, played the hell out of Fable 2, and it would be spending the extra cash.

I think I'll go the 60GB Pro route and see about getting a cable from MS.

Was this the form (http://assets.xbox.com/en-us/support/MigrationKit-OrderForm.pdf) you used?

[Goronmon]

By the way, thanks for the advice guys. I really appreciate the help.

[Wolvie]

It does say that, but don't worry about it -- the cable will work just fine with a 60GB drive as well.

Actually there are certain disks out there in the wild that only work with the 20GB model, and won't register the 60 GB HDD. I know this from personal experience as an older 360 of mine had a 60 GB HDD and I couldn't transfer the data I had from my even older 20 GB HDD.

The only thing you can do is call MS and ask for a transfer kit with the disk that will recognize a 60 GB HDD.

I just wanted to point this out so others wouldn't have to go through what I did. I'm not calling you out or anything Bingley.


http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/12/jasper_find.jpg

Ah, thank you! I now know I have a jasper. :D

[Bingley Joe]

Actually there are certain disks out there in the wild that only work with the 20GB model, and won't register the 60 GB HDD. I know this from personal experience as an older 360 of mine had a 60 GB HDD and I couldn't transfer the data I had from my even older 20 GB HDD.

The only thing you can do is call MS and ask for a transfer kit with the disk that will recognize a 60 GB HDD.

I just wanted to point this out so others wouldn't have to go through what I did. I'm not calling you out or anything Bingley.

AHA! That's good to know, actually. You goddamned bastard!! :)

[Goronmon]

Well, the kid at Best Buy had no idea what I was talking about, but he opened the cage to let me poke around in the boxes and I found one on the second try. Now I just need to get a transfer cable from MS and I'll be good to go.

[Wolvie]

AHA! That's good to know, actually. You goddamned bastard!! :)

Aint I a stinkah? Anyways, to further clarify, the data from the 20 GB HDD was already transferred from my old 20 GB HDD( I didn't have the 20GB anymore), and I couldn't transfer it from the 60 GB to my 120 GB since the disk obviously won't read a 60 GB.
My only options was to either contact MS and wait a week to get a cable and disk, or use a memory card and transfer the data the hard way... I never ever want to do that again.

And just in case you wondered why the hell I didn't just wait for the cable? I'm an impatient bastard. What can I say? :o

[Purple Santa]

It does say only for Elite or Special Edition consoles.
MS will send you one. I bought a refurbished HDD...I sent in the form and within a week I had the cable.
Right here (http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=73822) my friend. Sorry, I missed the "refurb part the first time I read it. But hey, that's still pretty good.
Refurb HDDs are great. I have a 60GB one that works fine.

[Goronmon]

Just got my transfer kit from MS. Took less them a week from the time I sent the fax.

It's pretty cool that they not only give the kits away but also ship them out decently fast.

[OldJadedGamer]

Where is the 120GB for $100?

I bought my 120 gig brand new through Amazon for $135 with no tax and free shipping, then sold my transfer cable on eBay for $40 bucks, and then sold my 20gig HDD from my existing unit for another $25 bringing the price down to $75 bucks (had to pay eBay fees).