Questions & Advice on buying a 360

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I'm thinking of getting a 360 (maybe for my birhtday) but am still not sure.
Have all the problems been sorted?? Cause i remember reading and hearing of many problems with them.

Has the backwards compatablity been sorted properly?? (i dont care about Halo have been there and done that when i used to own a n XBox). Am really interested in Half-life 2.
What about all those crashes, over-heating & having to send consoles back to Microsoft. Has that all been resolved??

Also i dont have a HDTV or Broadband, is it really worth me getting a 360?? Is the quality noticably worse when you dont have HD??
And when you cant use Live.

All help apreciated.
 
555
I'm thinking of getting a 360 (maybe for my birhtday) but am still not sure.
Have all the problems been sorted?? Cause i remember reading and hearing of many problems with them. What about all those crashes, over-heating & having to send consoles back to Microsoft. Has that all been resolved??
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I don't think all of the problems have been sorted, but I'm not totally sure.

Has the backwards compatablity been sorted properly?? (i dont care about Halo have been there and done that when i used to own a n XBox). Am really interested in Half-life 2.
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I don't think all games work still, but, again, I'm not totally sure as there has been an update since the last time I checked properly.

Also i dont have a HDTV or Broadband, is it really worth me getting a 360?? Is the quality noticably worse when you dont have HD??
And when you cant use Live.
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There is quite a big difference on a HDTV for sure. Even with a standard TV though, the graphics are better than the previous consoles, but in no way you are seeing as much detail as on a HDTV.

I think you need broadband to go online. That's half of the 360 gone of I didn't have that, so it wouldn't be worth it in my case. But if you're fine with playing offline, then there shouldn't be a problem.
 
555
Has the backwards compatablity been sorted properly?? (i dont care about Halo have been there and done that when i used to own a n XBox). Am really interested in Half-life 2.
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Not all games are backward compatible, only the top-selling ones. But Half-Life 2 is compatible. Here's a list of all the backward compatible games.

The main deal with playing normal Xbox games on the 360 is that you have better anti-aliasing, and you can play the games at 720p. But on one of my games, I have sound issues I didn't have before. :odd:


What about all those crashes, over-heating & having to send consoles back to Microsoft. Has that all been resolved??
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I don't have overheating, but my 360 freezes every now and then. :ouch:

Also i dont have a HDTV or Broadband, is it really worth me getting a 360?? Is the quality noticably worse when you dont have HD??
And when you cant use Live.
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There's going to be a noticible difference, but with HDTV there a lot more detail. And without broadband, you can't even download demos or trailers or anything, let alone play games.


So, without broadband, or HDTV, I'd just skip the 360, and just get the original Xbox for $250 cheaper.
 
Without an HDTV (big minus) and broadband (a big minus again, depending on what you want to play), the Xbox 360 wouldn't do you much good. I believe you need broadband to go on Live, and even if you don't pay for Gold service, you can still get these for free:

- high res trailers
- game demo's
- e3 trailers
- game patches
+ more

If you have gold service, then you can play the games online which is what you would expect.

And the HDTV thing, now I haven't played my 360 in 480p mode, but I have seen it at friend's house with DOA4 and Perfect Dark Zero in 480i (just the standard analog cables), and it didn't really look that much better than Xbox1 IMO.

In HD though, PGR3 for example (the only game I have at the moment) looks very nice on my TV at 720p.

HDTV's aren't that expensive nowadays as they were. Maybe gettin an X360 would make you get one sooner than expected. The Samsung 50" DLP Projection which many of my friends have is still a popular choice, and I have played my Xbox1 in widescreen 480p and it looked very nice, so I can only expect that the 360 would look very nice as well, and you can find one of those for under $2000 nowadays I think, depending on where you live, or somewhere around that.

Anyway, that's just my advice. Without broadband and HD though, the 360 won't impress too much over the first Xbox, but that's just my opinion.
 
I have yet to buy a 360 (might happen this week actually), but I can answer some of your questions...

1) Bugs, other issues: From what I understand, a good number of the early problems have been sorted out now that we are in the third or fourth production run of the consoles. Overheating is still a problem on many systems, but as long as you keep the power-brick cool, you shouldnt have any problems whatsoever.

2) Not having an HDTV isnt going to kill you, but it kinda messes up the whole point of having a 360. If you live near a Best Buy, you can get your hands on 27" 4:3 HDTV that can run up to 1080i for less than $400. It is an insignia model, and I'm not too familiar with the brand, but I do hear it is pretty good.

3) Not having broadband however, thats not good. Every 360 title is designed to do something with the XBOX Live service, so not having broadband is somewhat of a buzzkill.

4) Half-Life 2, from what I understand from reports on IGN.com and Gamespot.com is that it actually runs WORSE on a 360 than a XBOX 1. If you want to play the game, just get it for XBOX or on the PC... You will probably be much happier.

If I get my 360 this week or next, I let you know if I have any problems.
 
The only way people had 360's crash on them, is well first they did not let the 360 get the right amount of airflow over and around it. And also people were too scared to show off there Power pack from the 360, which did not let the PSU get the right amount of airflow.

So if you buy a 360, make sure it gets the right amount of airflow 555. Also if you want the best HDTV format, then buy an HDTV that supports widescreen.
 
Most Xbox games run much worse on Xbox 360 than on Xbox. Forza, for me, is at 20-25fps most of the time, until I run off track or make smoke (or any other particle effect) when it goes to like 10fps :(
 
Yea about that, I tried playing Forza on my X360 today, and it was considerably choppy, not really playable at all.
 
I guess I'll do like everyone here & give my opinion about it.

555
I'm thinking of getting a 360 (maybe for my birhtday) but am still not sure.
Have all the problems been sorted?? Cause i remember reading and hearing of many problems with them.
Click to expand...
Yeah most problem is solved now.

555
Has the backwards compatablity been sorted properly?? (i dont care about Halo have been there and done that when i used to own a n XBox). Am really interested in Half-life 2.
What about all those crashes, over-heating & having to send consoles back to Microsoft. Has that all been resolved??
Click to expand...

Backwards compatibility is an extra. You're buying a XBOX 360 & not a XBOX. If you browse about crash & overheating, you don't hear about it in most forum now.

555
Also i dont have a HDTV or Broadband, is it really worth me getting a 360?? Is the quality noticably worse when you dont have HD??
And when you cant use Live.
Click to expand...


Playing on a HDTV is noticable when you have a screen bigger than 26inch it won't change your gameplay experience.

About Online service. Most of the games will be crippled, cause the biggest feature of the XBOX 360 is not the graphic, but the online service. There's a tons of downloadable contenant at the marketplace; demos, gameplay, trailers, themes, gamer picture & the arcade game.
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Question, is the online fine for XB games as well on the XB360. Say I got an XB360 and Forza motorsport, would it play fine online on the XB360's service?
 
XBOX Live for XB1 and 360 are essentially the same, and you can play the same game online between the two consoles (I still play Halo with my friends with their 360s and my XB1).
 
Yea, Forza works on Live on a 360. The Live service is the same, so if the game is supported by the backwards compatibility on the 360, it'll work online if you have the Gold live service.

However, be warned, Forza does not run well at all on 360. It runs choppy (under 30fps, more like 20-25fps), so it's not really playable.
 
Hmm, well I was thinking, Forza AND PGR3 might have just, just been enough for me to get an XB360 but I guess not if Forza is unplayable. All the other games coming out for the 360 are gmaes I'm not really interested in, or games that will be available for the PC of PS3 as well.
 
Well, with my experience on Forza on the 360, it isn't "unplayable". It does slow down, but it doesn't put me off that much. Slow frames usually put me off, but in this case it doesn't.
 
I just realised, TV runs at 25fps, and wasn't it only meant to be 30fps on the X-Box? Is it pretty consistent, ofris it changing a lot, because I can cope with a game that's consistently, 25-30fps, it's when the fps rates chanigng all the time it really bad and noticable.
 
I have no HDTV, but (according to some test mags here in Germany) one of the best normal TV's concerning picture quality, a Sony Triniton TV from 2004 for about 1500 USD together with an MS Advanced scart cable (=RGB) and I have to say that the grafics look great; I've seen 360's running on HDTV's and at least on normal systems it doesn't really look that much better than on my screen. Then again my TV is not that big (82 cm from left down to upper right corner) and I'm sitting about 3 m away. So no HDTV should be no reason not to buy a 360. Don't forget that high resolution is about the only thing that is actually better on normal priced HDTV's than on normal TV's within the same price range : Everything else is worse, the plasma/lcd technology is not as far yet, for example you have problems with colors( esp. black) etc. Unless you get a 4000$+ HDTV of course.
Hell I also still play Super Nintendo and PSX every now and then, it's about the gameplay not (only) about the grafics imo.

Well, you have no broadband, which is negative on the one hand, on the other you are not used to online gaming, so if you had fun offline with PS2 or other consoles, you won't have less fun with the 360.

Go for it !
 
Well pretty soon i am going to get an Xbox 360, looking forward to getting it, i have played the 360 on 1080 and normal TV and to be honest there is a difference in textures, colour depth and clarity - but it didn't effect the gameplay at all (for me). i could easily play it on either without being too bothered, but it would be nice to have HD but not all of us are made of money!

So when i get my 360 i think i will go buy a nice LCD Widescreen at a nice price as i havent found a decent priced HDTV.

As for broadband for Live - i have broadband and i will be buying a Gold account but only because i can - i have never had online gaming apart from my PSP and to be honest if i didnt have broadband it wouldnt stop me getting the 360 as its the gaming that i go for as i love gaming - having broadband for Live is just another extra! (i'm sure you will think about getting broadband one day, and if you do - you will have your 360 waiting for online gaming!)
 
I'm thinking of getting a 360, but a HD screen is expensive to use just for a 360 as mine would be, so I'm thinking of getting a Dell LCD monitor (probably the 24" and having it connected to the console and my computer and switching between the two). Anyone else have a Dell FPW2405 screen connected to their console?
 
ajprice
I'm thinking of getting a 360, but a HD screen is expensive to use just for a 360 as mine would be, so I'm thinking of getting a Dell LCD monitor (probably the 24" and having it connected to the console and my computer and switching between the two). Anyone else have a Dell FPW2405 screen connected to their console?
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I know a magazine has recommended that monitor to use for the 360 - I think it was the official Xbox 360 magazine, one of the first issues. They said it was well worth the buy. 👍 We were even looking for one, but it's a bit expensive for what you get. We got a 26" Samsung LCD TV instead for just £670, the exact same TV used to demostrate the 360 in game stores, just bigger. Awesome. :)
 
So no HDTV should be no reason not to buy a 360. Don't forget that high resolution is about the only thing that is actually better on normal priced HDTV's than on normal TV's within the same price range : Everything else is worse, the plasma/lcd technology is not as far yet, for example you have problems with colors( esp. black) etc. Unless you get a 4000$+ HDTV of course.
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I would have to disagree here. What is your definition of a "normal" TV? All you're saying is comparing CRT tv's (tubes) to LCD, Plasma, etc. Anyway, your comparison isn't really backed. There is a BIG difference between HDTV and non-HD. Even if your TV has 480p support, and let's say you play in widescreen 480p which is 852x480 (this is what I play Forza on my Xbox1 at), there's still a huge difference with HD. It's not just a bit bigger resolution, we're talking from 480i, so 720x480 interlaced, to 1280x720p. The increase in pixel number is 2.6 times, you're getting 2.6 times more pixels, so in other words, a 2.6 times "denser" picture. That makes a big difference. Whoever says that HD isn't really all that, well you haven't played X360 on a real HDTV then at 720p.

As for comparing CRT tv's to LCD, Plasma, etc., I'm not gonna talk about Plasma because Plasma isn't really all that great, but your average HDTV that costs around $2000, i.e. a 50" DLP or around the $1500 to $2000 mark, you can get a really nice 32" LCD or 37" LCD. These TV's are way way better than any regular tube TV that you talk about. I have a CRT HDTV myself which technically offers the best image quality, and it's a Sony XBR 36", and even with that TV, I'm still quite impressed when I see HD on my neighbours Samsung 50" DLP. So don't say you need $4000 to buy a real HD, you need $4000 to buy one of those 1080p TV's from Toshiba or JVC, but a 720p capable TV with a natve/max resolution of around 1280x720 to 1366x768 should be found for between $1000 to $2000 nowadays (talking about LCD projection, DLP projection, LCD) from 27" (LCD) to 50" (lcd/dlp projection). Just look for a deal at BestBuy or CircuitCity or whatever. Costco has some nice deals too.
 
Well, let me put it that way. My main point was, that Pgr3 is Pgr3, high resolution or not. The fun doesn't really increase by 50% etc. Of course I understand the importance of grafics to create atmosphere. But if you are not used to high def ( because you played PS2 before ), it is no reason not to buy a 360.
Well have a look at independant test magazines. LCD screens /plasmas don't get good scores in picture quality in comparison to CRT. They can compensate with high def, but they don't have intense black, tend to suck at normal resolutions (TV etc), "blurr" at high speed movements on the screen and other stuff I can hardly explain in English. It's getting better every few months of course, and I don't say that I won't buy one, but espceially cheap hdtv's are not that great.
 
I just realised, I should be able to plug an XB360 into my PC monitor, it's HDMI.
 
Well have a look at independant test magazines. LCD screens /plasmas don't get good scores in picture quality in comparison to CRT. They can compensate with high def, but they don't have intense black, tend to suck at normal resolutions (TV etc), "blurr" at high speed movements on the screen and other stuff I can hardly explain in English. It's getting better every few months of course, and I don't say that I won't buy one, but espceially cheap hdtv's are not that great.
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I have to disagree with ya again.

Like I said, the CRT HDTV's are few and far in between nowadays, the truly good ones you're talking about anyway, like the Sony WEGA and Sony WEGA XBR line, and some Panasonics maybe. As the owner of a 36" Sony XBR, this thing is HUGE, and ridiculously heavy (how does like 150kg sound to you). Trust me, you do NOT want to buy a CRT HDTV nowadays. Why would you want a 32" to 36" Crt that weighs a ton and is freakin big, when you could have a 37" LCD with 720p native, or a 50" LCD/DLP projection.

The only thing I agree with is that DLP and LCD porjection technologies aren't that great. They're slim, not too heavy, and they don't cost THAT much, you can get a 50" to 60" for reasonable price nowadays, but the viewing angle on them still sucks, and brightness isn't too great. True LCD on the other hand, one with 720p native anyway, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages greatly compared to a CRT HDTV. It's not THAT cheap for a 37" LCD, but a good one like a Panasonic Viera or one of those Samsungs or Toshibas, or the SHARP Aquos, those TV's own if you ask me.

I agree that it won't make the gameplay 50% better with HD, but it's still much more impressive if you ask me. A game like Fight Night Round 3, and even maybe Oblivion, if they didn't have HD, they would be much less impressive IMO.

I guess it does depend where you come from. I'm very used to high end graphics on my PC, and I also play my Xbox1 in widescreen 480p which looks fairly better than just regular 480i, so maybe I have higher standards, but I'm just saying, the impression and wow factor will be considerably higher with an HD screen.

With all that said, I don't recommend getting a cheap HDTV because it prolly won't be that great.
 
MustangSVT
I have to disagree with ya again.

Like I said, the CRT HDTV's are few and far in between nowadays, the truly good ones you're talking about anyway, like the Sony WEGA and Sony WEGA XBR line, and some Panasonics maybe. As the owner of a 36" Sony XBR, this thing is HUGE, and ridiculously heavy (how does like 150kg sound to you). Trust me, you do NOT want to buy a CRT HDTV nowadays. Why would you want a 32" to 36" Crt that weighs a ton and is freakin big, when you could have a 37" LCD with 720p native, or a 50" LCD/DLP projection.

The only thing I agree with is that DLP and LCD porjection technologies aren't that great. They're slim, not too heavy, and they don't cost THAT much, you can get a 50" to 60" for reasonable price nowadays, but the viewing angle on them still sucks, and brightness isn't too great. True LCD on the other hand, one with 720p native anyway, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages greatly compared to a CRT HDTV. It's not THAT cheap for a 37" LCD, but a good one like a Panasonic Viera or one of those Samsungs or Toshibas, or the SHARP Aquos, those TV's own if you ask me.

I agree that it won't make the gameplay 50% better with HD, but it's still much more impressive if you ask me. A game like Fight Night Round 3, and even maybe Oblivion, if they didn't have HD, they would be much less impressive IMO.

I guess it does depend where you come from. I'm very used to high end graphics on my PC, and I also play my Xbox1 in widescreen 480p which looks fairly better than just regular 480i, so maybe I have higher standards, but I'm just saying, the impression and wow factor will be considerably higher with an HD screen.

With all that said, I don't recommend getting a cheap HDTV because it prolly won't be that great.
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Wait until you'll see those HD movies on those new players(BlueRay & HD-DVD). The improvement over those format will be incredible.(I know, cause I encode a lot of video) All the DVD run at a bandwidth of 5Mb/s. Though the new format run over 30Mb/s. It's 6 times better!!!
 
I've been looking at the Insignia NS-27HTV at Best Buy, which is a 27" 4:3 flat tube HDTV. According to the spec sheet, it can run up to 1080i, and has enough imputs to make me happy (I think, 1 S-video, 1 component video, 3 A/V, 2 RF and 1 HDMI). All together, the package is currently listed for $379.99 on the Best Buy website, and what reviews I have read on the TV, they are good enough for less than $400.

Untill I buy the TV, once I get a 360 a good part of it will be played at my Aunt's house on her 40" 1080i flat screen.
 
Which resolution would look best, 720p or 1080i ?? Trying to work out what would be the best screen, a 720p HDTV like the Xbox 360 Samsung screen, an LCD screen that could do 720p (something like Dell 2005 FPW 20" panel) or an LCD that could do 1080 pixels deep like a Dell 2405FPW.

I know that 720p is 720 actual pixels, and 1080i is interlaced (so thats effectively 540 pixels doubled up, right??), and I'd want something that would double up as a good computer monitor as well as a console screen.
 
Anyone think a 20 inch TV is too small for an HDTV and too small to enjoy gaming?

I've found a decently priced one (£350) it supports 1080 dont know if its proggressive or interlaced tho! but im not sure if 20" is too small! i already have a 25" CRT and going to a 20" Widescreen seems like a step down, even though the picture quality will almost double!
 
barryl85
Anyone think a 20 inch TV is too small for an HDTV and too small to enjoy gaming?

I've found a decently priced one (£350) it supports 1080 dont know if its proggressive or interlaced tho! but im not sure if 20" is too small! i already have a 25" CRT and going to a 20" Widescreen seems like a step down, even though the picture quality will almost double!
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For me, it all depends how far away you are going to sit from it. Our 26" is 'effing HUGE in the tiny room we have - we have to sit pretty close to it. 20" seems fine, and it looks as if it's nicely priced too, so if you want high-def on a budget, I'd say go for it. 👍
 

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