[BobM]

I need to pick up an X-Box 360 for Christmas for my kids (13 and 16). There are a number of options and I don't know which one to get. Is it worth the extra money to get the Elite version with the bigger hard drive or should I just go for the Arcade version?

We're hooking it up to a regular TV and don't need HDMI but I don't know what the extra hard drive space and what anything else on the Elite version really provides for me.

Thanks,
Bob

[mcullinan]

Get the Elite, it has a 120GB HD which you need, you will also need to buy an extra wireless controller and gold membership to play online.

HD allows you to download games, movies... have music to play.
Mike

[mshan]

"The 360 Arcade is the same as the other 360s except that it doesn't have a hard drive. You can still play games without the hard drive though because it comes with 512 MB of internal memory. If you want to download demos or movie, buy DLC, use Netflix, Last.fm, etc you'll need to buy a HDD."

"The $300 base model has a 120 GB hard drive. You can't add your own hard drive, you have to use one of Microsoft's expensive drives (check eBay). You'll need the hard drive for demos and DLC. The Arcade has some amount of built-in flash memory for saves (256 MB?) and some of the smaller XBLA games would fit."

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2020215

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=xbox+hard+drive&x=0&y=0

[Woodsea]

This next month and 1/2 you will see quite a lot of sales.  Buy a new console on some ridiculous sale that will start on Black Friday, anyone will do, they all do HD.  If you get an arcade, you can buy an HD, I suggest larger than 20gb, on ebay.  You will also, if you have friends or family, want to buy an extra controller, preferably with the qwerty board, I just bought one for $38 shipped.  Do not if you can help it go wireless, because Netflix is the best deal around, HD 720p is really only feasible wired.  Last but not an option but a requirement is Gold, every winter you should be able to pick it up for around $30 for a 12 month membership.  Pick up some xtra xbox live points as well, they have fantastic arcade and really inexpensive good Indie games.

[BobM]

A lot of people feel the hard drive is mandatory. Can the Arcade connect to just any external hard drive or does it need a special version that only works with the X Box? I'm unclear on that.

This box will not be connected to the main TV. It will be hooked up the old cathode ray tube for the kids to play games on. There's no wired internet connection there either, so do I still need the Gold membership if they are not going to play on-line? Or is there something else to Gold membership?

They can connect wirelessly to the internet. Is there an option for that in the X-Box?

[mcullinan]

A lot of people feel the hard drive is mandatory. Can the Arcade connect to just any external hard drive or does it need a special version that only works with the X Box? I'm unclear on that.

This box will not be connected to the main TV. It will be hooked up the old cathode ray tube for the kids to play games on. There's no wired internet connection there either, so do I still need the Gold membership if they are not going to play on-line? Or is there something else to Gold membership?

They can connect wirelessly to the internet. Is there an option for that in the X-Box?

The HD snaps to the top of the 360 and is made for it. No Gold no multiplayer, like for instance I am playing Modern Warfare 2, omg awesome! You wouldnt be able to do that with all my 13 year old friends.. lol, true. You would need a wired connection to a  WAP.
M

[mshan]

I was told only to use a genuine Microsoft hard drive kit to avoid pissing off Mother Microsoft (some said you could get banned for this, but others said that was for modded hard optical drives and something about pirated patched games or something like that).

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/xbox-360-wireless-n-adapter-is-really-real-out-this-week-in-us/

[mcullinan]

They just did a large ban on the XBox 360 of people who use pirated games and modded hardware. SO be careful or you could get booted. Cool I didnt know they were coming out with a wifi connection.
Mike

[BobM]

OK, now I'm really confused. Why would you need to buy the annual Gold thing just to play multi-player? Isn't that just getting another controller and hooking it up to the box?

Oh wait - you're talking about multi-player on-line gaming, not 2 people in the same room (I'm getting so old I just don't think like a 13 year old anymore)

[mcullinan]

Heres the article about the banning. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10395265-52.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

Oh Gold is for Multiplayer over the internet, not at home. Oh you figured it out for yourself.. cool.
Mike