XBox 360

[Bytor]

hey folks, my son has decide to get a 360, what size would you recommend? I know pretty much zero about Xboxes.

[John]

So, I think the biggest question here is: How old is your son?

The 4GB Xbox 360 has more than enough size for game saves and one or two downloadable games - but that's it.  If he's young, chances are this is great to start with.  If you plan to do DLC or buy a lot of downloadable games, you'll want the 250GB unit.

If you get the 4GB and decide you want to upgrade, that's easily doable - the new hard drive just slides in.

[Bytor]

He's 18, an between us we have most games that are available on PS3 and XBox, he was wanting it more for some 360 exclusive games, so 4 GB woul be plenty for that purpose?

[John]

That makes it a little bit of a tougher decision - since he's an adult (ish), some of the games that he wants are probably going to have additional DLC, map packs, that sort of thing.  I just got Forza 4 and to get access to all of the cars requires 2.7GB of space - which would eat up almost an entire 4GB memory unit.

However, there is an alternative - the Xbox also allows the use of USB drives as memory - You can go and buy a 16GB stick for under $20 now and I'm sure that would be sufficient for everything there.  I'd say if you're just looking at exclusives, grab a 4GB unit and a USB drive.  If you want to upgrade to the 250GB HD, that option is always available to you.

[Bytor]

Thanks a lot KeeperX, and yeah, he certainly plays "adult games" but he really only wants it for 360 exclusives, and for me to play Vesperia, lol.


Edit: What about a 20 GB Pro?

[John]

Don't get an older model, the build quality is lower.  It's cheaper, but the system will likely die sooner.

[Bytor]

Duly noted, thanks!

[Yoda]

some new games are starting to require/strongly recommend game installs FYI. Battlefield 3, Rage...

I bet that trend increases

[Tooker]

The older models are a lot noisier, too - another reason to get the new version.

[Akanbe-]

Indeed.  The new ones, when installed, are very quiet.  All that space ensures that you will be able to download and install practically any DLC or games you could want.

[Darklight]

You want one of the HDD versions, the reason being is that you can install your game dvd's onto the HDD. This produces allot less heat and noise and in the long run allot better for your 360. The new 360's really arent that much better and the model thats red ringed the least is actually the Jasper from mid 2009.