Questions regarding buying new 360


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Hey all, I have a few questions about buying a new 360 to replace my release day console. Reasons being, I'd like to get the HDMI port, I've been having consistent dirty disc errors, and my console is loud. Will the newest hardware revisions solve the dirty disc errors and loudness? Also, I am probably going to get the bigger hard drive so I can install my most played games on it, so would an Arcade be good enough? Anything I will be losing with the Arcade?

Thanks for any help!

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you won't lose anything by getting an arcade and then getting a hard disk separately as long as that's cheaper of course.

to ensure that you get the coolest and quietest 360 you need to get a jasper. most of them are now but you should still check to make sure if you're buying it retail. if you buy it online then there's no way to know.

and as long as your disks are clean I'm sure getting a new 360 would fix read errors.

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Thanks mad_onion. The disc errors are irritating because it happens on games I just purchased. Tiger Woods 10 did it within an hour of first play. Strange - its usually EA games that does it, although GTA IV has on occasion too.

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If you want to get a bigger HDD then you might be better getting either the 60GB Pro or the 120GB Elite instead of the Arcade model to grab a bigger HDD at the same time.

You could however swap out your 20GB HDD and put in a modified 120GB HDD but i will not disclose information on it.

Most 360s sold now should be a Jasper but i would keep a check on the LOT no and the MFG date. Anything from November 2008 onwards will be a Jasper and anything before will be a Falcon.

I wouldn't say it's quiet by any means but its far quieter now on Jasper chipsets than the original Xenon chipset.

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With regards to the DVD drives, pretty much every single 360 manufactured since about April 2008 has been a liteon and they're not too bad. I'm guessing your drive is a hitachi or a samsung, which tend to be the "pickier" drives. Chances are, though, you can easily get the drive fixed. If your console is completely out of warranty, why not open it up and clean the drive laser? Or better yet, do a POT tweak. It couldn't hurt and could mean you don't need to buy a new 360, unless you're really keen on that HDMI port.

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Keep in mind also, since you are looking for HDMI that the arcade and pro do not come with an HDMI cable (and the arcade only comes with a standard composite AV cable, whereas the pro comes with the AV/HD cable that has component also).

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why not use the HDD from your existing 360? this way you can get the Arcade now and upgrade later when you have the money. get your HDMI cable from monoprice.com, advice given me on the forum and works great. if you buy your 360 now from any major retailer it'll be a Jasper, they're noticably quieter and much cooler than the previous iterations. i wouldn't worry too much about read errors, in the last five months with my Jasper had two of those and they clear up. did notice that if you drop game discs on a hard surface the console won't read them at all for like 30 minutes, then the problem goes away. weird!

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Hey all, I have a few questions about buying a new 360 to replace my release day console. Reasons being, I'd like to get the HDMI port, I've been having consistent dirty disc errors, and my console is loud. Will the newest hardware revisions solve the dirty disc errors and loudness? Also, I am probably going to get the bigger hard drive so I can install my most played games on it, so would an Arcade be good enough? Anything I will be losing with the Arcade?

Thanks for any help!

All new consoles have the HDMI port and you will want to get either a Pro (60 GB) if you are lower on cash at the moment or go all out for the Elite which has a 120 GB HDD. Newer units are reliable as they have the Jasper chip with CPU and GPU on a single die.

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All new consoles have the HDMI port and you will want to get either a Pro (60 GB) if you are lower on cash at the moment or go all out for the Elite which has a 120 GB HDD. Newer units are reliable as they have the Jasper chip with CPU and GPU on a single die.

Jasper chips are still separate, but both are 65nm process (vs 90 in the original unit, so 50% of the original surface area). Valhalla (next revision) is allegedly going to have the combined Xenon/Xenos at 45nm.

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Keep in mind also, since you are looking for HDMI that the arcade and pro do not come with an HDMI cable (and the arcade only comes with a standard composite AV cable, whereas the pro comes with the AV/HD cable that has component also).

HDMI cables cost like ?3-5 for decent ones, it shouldn't really be an issue.

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arcade is good as u get a memory card and a few games with it i think. u can pick them up for ?100 too

The current units ship with on-board memory instead of a memory card. It's worth remembering that you may be eligible to get a cheap 20gig hard drive from Microsoft if you buy an older unit that doesn't come with a memory card or onboard memory.

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Money isn't really an issue. I just figured since I already have several controllers and unused HDMI and optical cables laying around, the Arcade would be fine. My plan is to get the 120GB now and use it on my Pro while I try and sell my Pro. I'm having a house built and I want to have all my cables run through the wall to my mounted TV. HDMI is a lot easier (not to mention longer) than the VGA cable (which is what I'm currently using). I figure I can sell my Pro for the price of the Arcade and just buy the hard drive.

Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions!

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If you're going to sell the Hard drive with the Pro, you could probably get a bit more for it than just the price of the Arcade. Just make sure you transfer your stuff over first.

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