Leaked Info on 60gb Starter Kit and 20gb's Death

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

There has been a lot of speculation as to how the rumored 60gb hard drive would impact the established hardware in the Xbox 360 lineup. Thanks to some leaked info, we have the complete details. ... Below is a portion of an email being sent out to GameStop and Blockbuster buyers (logistical people handling what the store actually stocks). The email has the complete details on the 60gb hard drive and what will happen to the 20gb and 120gb hard drives. Email follows:

With the introduction of the 60GB Pro console in July, we have research that suggests it is very important to have a 60GB stand alone Hard Drive to go along with it to allow the consumer a full range of choices and values. In late October/early November (exact date TBD but most likely last week in October or 1st week in November), we will ship the Xbox 360 60GB Hard Drive, tentatively called the “Xbox 360 60GB LIVE Starter Pack”. This will be an excellent value price at and ERP of $99.99 with an 18% retail margin that contains:

? 60GB Hard Drive

? 3 Months of Xbox Live

? Xbox 360 Wired Headset

? Xbox 360 Ethernet Cable (same one that is included with Pro and Elite)

Positioning: For Xbox 360 Arcade and Core console owners, the Xbox 360 60GB Live Starter Pack offers all of the components to get onto Xbox LIVE and jump in to on line multiplayer gaming and Marketplace content downloads at an incredible value.

With the end of life of the 20GB Hard Drive and the price drop of the 120GB Hard Drive to $149.99 in September, this new 60GB hard drive will fit very well into our “Choice and Value” pillar and will fit nicely into our accessory line up. Exact SKU/UPC/Set up info will come soon and once we nail down the exact MSD, I will let you all know immediately.

<END>

The XBF Take: How is 150 bucks a good deal for 120 gigs of storage? But at least this 60gb will give new comers a decent setup and enough space to enjoy XBL. But then again, XBLA games keep getting bigger. When will we get a large HDD at a low price? We'll relay more information as soon as we have it.

Source: http://xboxfamily.com/us/index.php/Latest/...gb-s-Death.html

By the way, this is talking about a 60GB HDD addon, not a console.

At first I was like what?! Console for $99?:laugh:ugh:

$99 for 60GB though is still a little bit of a pinch at your wallet. I hope they sell a 60GB pack without all the above extras that are there to obviously compensate for the inflated price.

[Coldgunner]

ah, this somewhat appears to be pushing the core owners to upgrade so they can roll out bigger downloads I guess.

or game installs :p

[+Mystic MVC]

"An excellent value price of....$99", yea right.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

On retrospect on what has happened with these 60GB rumours over the past few weeks, I wonder if the 60GB model is actually still coming or if the 60GB is just planned as an addon?

My bet, Pro 360 20GB is dropped to $299 to clear them out, and then a 60GB model will be introduced eventually.

Right now though 60GB will just be an addon.

The kicker is the 60GB model will probably come at $299, but the 20GB stock has to be cleared first....

[Coldgunner]

On retrospect on what has happened with these 60GB rumours over the past few weeks, I wonder if the 60GB model is actually still coming or if the 60GB is just planned as an addon?

My bet, Pro 360 20GB is dropped to $299 to clear them out, and then a 60GB model will be introduced eventually.

Right now though 60GB will just be an addon.

The kicker is the 60GB model will probably come at $299, but the 20GB stock has to be cleared first....

you reckon that they'll phase out the 20gb, repackage the core and this starter pack and slap a 'Pro' sticker on it?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

you reckon that they'll phase out the 20gb, repackage the core and this starter pack and slap a 'Pro' sticker on it?

The core won't be touched. For whatever daft reason MS want to keep a hdd-less console on the market - No I'm not looking for another argument on this, we went for 5~6 pages a few weeks back.

What I'm saying will happen is this 60GB hdd addon will come out that MS say is aimed at core owners/pro owners. They'll drop the price of the Pro (20GB) to $299

But in a few months they'll "ditch" (or in other words sell out the stock they have) the above 20GB, and start selling a 60GB Pro at $299 along side the 60GB addon at $99.

That's my guess.

I think it will be pretty funny though if a 60GB model does come in at $299 and the 60GB hdd addon sells for 1/3 of the cost of the console.

[WelshBluebird]

Don't forget the 20GB atm retails for around $90 i think. So in comparison to that, the 60GB HDD at $100 is a good deal.

Of course, looking at HDD's in general, its still a rip off.

[Mathachew Veteran]

I was fortunate to find someone to trade their 360 Pro with for Wii, so I have a 20GB drive, but $99 for 60GB and $149 for 120GB is just plain dumb. With the cheap prices of hard drives, spending that much on such a tiny bit (in comparison) is just crazy. I don't think I'll ever purchase a new drive until they're much closer to the prices of standard drives.

[spenser.d]

@Audio - That email states that the 60GB Pro is being introduced this month...

-Spenser

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

@Audio - That email states that the 60GB Pro is being introduced this month...

-Spenser

Um I must be blind but I don't read that anywhere.

It talks about the 60GB Starter pack... Nothing about a 60GB Pro.

I swear I've now read it 3 times.

edit: :laugh: first sentence.

Oh well if the 20GB is going to $299 this month, I wonder what the 60GB will be. MS will have 4 models on the market for a while.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Ugh, I've got to get me an Xbox 360 one of these days.

What I'd prefer (instead of $99 for 60GB), Is just buying an empty shell with the necessary parts to hook my own drive in. I can get a 650GB hard drive for $150 at a store near here.

[spenser.d]

Um I must be blind but I don't read that anywhere.

It talks about the 60GB Starter pack... Nothing about a 60GB Pro.

I swear I've now read it 3 times.

edit: :laugh: first sentence.

:p

I figured you just missed it, it's a pretty short reference, but it's there.

-Spenser

[+Mystic MVC]

Dang Audio, you must be reloading Kotaku constantly this morning! You beat me to those pics by a mile.

[Martog]

Ugh, I've got to get me an Xbox 360 one of these days.

What I'd prefer (instead of $99 for 60GB), Is just buying an empty shell with the necessary parts to hook my own drive in. I can get a 650GB hard drive for $150 at a store near here.

You do realize like the PS3, the 360 hard drives are 2.5" laptop SATA drives right?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

You do realize like the PS3, the 360 hard drives are 2.5" laptop SATA drives right?

I'm guessing 2.5" drives aren't up to 650GB yet?

[Martog]

I'm guessing 2.5" drives aren't up to 650GB yet?

If they are, not for $150 I can tell you that much, Newegg has 320GB 2.5" drives ranging from $110-$180, that would probably smack a 650GB in the $250+ range.

EDIT: According to Wikipedia the highest capacity 2.5" is 500GB currently on the market looks like.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

You do realize like the PS3, the 360 hard drives are 2.5" laptop SATA drives right?

Yeah, but that involves (for lack of a better term) "cracking" it open. While I can do it, it'd be easier to have it designed to be easily opened and swapped out.

Edit: Yeah, 2.5 inch is $139 for 320GB

[Martog]

Yeah, but that involves (for lack of a better term) "cracking" it open. While I can do it, it'd be easier to have it designed to be easily opened and swapped out.

Edit: Yeah, 2.5 inch is $139 for 320GB

I know what you mean, unfortunately MS wanted to make Money off of it plus it would require the OS on the onboard ROM to be able to install all the neccessary software on the hard drives, I am unsure if the 2GB reserved for backwards compat is even close to full, the ROM chip may not be big enough to handle the extra content needed to install a hard drive, but then again that could be gotten around with a data disc that would set the drive up for you. I am going to upgrade my PS3 hdd sometime, maybe when it gets closer to home, don't know :)

[xinary]

Is the 60gb kit going to include a transfer cable?

[Martog]

Is the 60gb kit going to include a transfer cable?

Sure hope so, because maybe not everyone wants to pay the price of the 120GB.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I would be all over one of these drives in an instant if they were just more fairly priced. I am so sick of deleting things to make room for Marketplace Movies (I on average get at least a movie a week). Oh well. Still will patiently be waiting for the day they make it cheaper.

[AlphaPrime]

Oh well if the 20GB is going to $299 this month, I wonder what the 60GB will be. MS will have 4 models on the market for a while.

Rumour has it that the 60GB will keep the $349 price point. They'll most likely wait until the 20GB is cleared out, then drop the 60GB to $299, probably later in the year. Hmm, d?j? vu...

[George P Global Moderator]

Well, you know, we can moan about the 60GB price at $99, but the cost in total is not JUST for the 2.5" SATA HDD inside!

You have to factor in the cost for the HDD, the external case, the other bits inside that connect the HDD to the case and then to the 360. YOu have to factor in packaging costs, and then finally you have to factor in the margins that retailers have for which they make a profit on.

The thing is to find out how much this costs MS to make and what they sell it to retailers for. IF It costs MS like, $50 for everything, and they sell it to retail for say $70 (making $20 a pop), and then retail turns around and sells it for $100 making $30 it all fits in really. It's a whole retail chain/channel, now I'm sure those prices I've guessed aren't right, but it's probably close, you have to figure MS and then retail stores are making $20-$30 in profit to get it up to $100.

[Mathachew Veteran]

Well, you know, we can moan about the 60GB price at $99, but the cost in total is not JUST for the 2.5" SATA HDD inside!

You have to factor in the cost for the HDD, the external case, the other bits inside that connect the HDD to the case and then to the 360. YOu have to factor in packaging costs, and then finally you have to factor in the margins that retailers have for which they make a profit on.

The thing is to find out how much this costs MS to make and what they sell it to retailers for. IF It costs MS like, $50 for everything, and they sell it to retail for say $70 (making $20 a pop), and then retail turns around and sells it for $100 making $30 it all fits in really. It's a whole retail chain/channel, now I'm sure those prices I've guessed aren't right, but it's probably close, you have to figure MS and then retail stores are making $20-$30 in profit to get it up to $100.

There's no way this thing costs MS $50. Not even close. Take a look at the guts. Considering Microsoft is buying all of the parts in large quantities by the thousands (probably tens of thousands), and that the average consumer can buy a 60GB 2.5" drive for $50, my uneducated guess would be it's costing MS around $7 per drive, possibly as low as $5 (heck, maybe lower!). All of the other parts are probably a few dollars combined because SATA adapters are dirt cheap, plastic is dirt cheap, and the little bit of metal included is cheap. Simply put: the price tag on the 360 drives is a rip-off.

[popisdead uk]

Its massively overpriced. I thought we all knew that? It's a SATA HDD in a case, nothing more, nothing less, and they use crappy HDD's