Want an Xbox 360? Prepare to pay through the nose
I’m looking forward to replacing at least one of my first-generation Media Center Extenders with an Xbox 360. I’m not a gamer, though, and at $399 for the Premium console (in the comments to an earlier post, Peter Near makes a strong case that this is the right choice for an HD-ready extender), I’m already feeling pinched.
I’ve been using the Xbox 360 Tracker at Ben’s Bargains to spot when hardware is available for sale. And for the last few weeks anyone who wants to buy an Xbox has to buy it as part of a bundle, at prices ranging from $600 and up. In some cases, way up. (A week before Christmas, Target.com was selling the Xbox 360 Platinum Ultra Bundle for a mind-boggling $2180!)
Am I ready to pay a premium of several hundred dollars for something that will probably be available at a slight discount from its retail price once the initial wave of hype wears off? No way. My target price is $360, and I bet I see that price by the end of April.
Anyone else want to place their bets?
If you can get your hands on the NON-premimum version ($299), you can use your old media center extender remote. The non-premium version also isn’t as popular so more likely to find. A $299 extender that supports Hi-Def and games is great. I assume any new extenders cannot compete as this price point. I’ve demo’d a wired setup and it’s great. TV, pictures, music and it’s quite. Even at $200 for an older extender is robbery. Good luck…
I really doubt prices will drop by April. It will probably be more near end of the year before prices drop to try to beat out PS3.
In CY’06 I bet the price will not fall below the initial $399. If you can get a 10% coupon and a store that will honor it on a 360, big if, you could hit $370. Nothing lower before 2007.
Ed this is where I give the shameless plug for winning the one I’m giving away. #1 referrer to my site in January 06 gets a core system and a live subscription. I know it’s not the premium version, but it’s an Extender and either way you want the retail remote, not that shorty they put in the box.
Details: http://www.jakeludington.com/5xbox360.phtml
Ed, I did place my bet: I bought a premium system as part of a bundle before Christmas; I was able to return the things I didn’t want. I also sold a second Xbox on eBay, making my net cost for the one I kept (with 4 games, 4 controllers, and some extra fixins) about $100. To me, that price premium is well worth it for the play value; my three young sons and I have had a blast playing with it. Money well spent.
No real price drop for a while, but I do think they’re getting somewhat easier to find. My neighbor walked into BestBuy and saw them stocking the shelves so he bought one. No line of teenagers or people trying to get them to sell on Ebay. My take is that by March you can just go get one at straight retail price.
Keith: The Core doesn’t come with the component cables, which you need for HD. The cable alone costs $40. Considering the rest of what the $399 package gets you, the Core is silly even for a non-gamer.
Ed: I’d be very, very surprised if you were able to find it at that price in that timeframe. Stores don’t discount consoles, because they sell them at razor-thin margins, and obviously Microsoft won’t be lowering the price in a few months. I’d expect that by April it won’t be hard to find a 360, but you’ll still be paying $399 for it.
(Also, a lot of those bundles are returnable. I bought a $1000 bundle from walmart.com that came with some ridiculous 5.1 speaker system, and returned the speakers for a refund.)
Also, I’d like to just say that the 360 isn’t as great a media device as I’d hoped it would be. Yes, the Media Center integration is smooth and works very well; yes, even the WMC client UI is pretty decent, and capable of playing PFS DRMed music. No complaints about the software.
But it’s loud. It’s got fans that are loud by mainstream PC standards (and insanely loud by the standards of anyone who’s built a PC with noise in mind). It’s pretty comparable to the SFF PC that I got rid of because the fan noise drove me crazy.
For an HD photo slideshow, not a problem. For playing music at a party (which the subscription services would be great for), not a problem. But for relaxing on your couch, listening to Bach, absolutely unacceptable.
I’d hoped to consolidate my source devices — a DVD player, a Squeezebox 2 digital music player, and a stupid Motorola DVR cable box — into one with the 360, but at this point, I’m resigned to keeping the Squeezebox and DVD player indefinitely (the 360′s DVD player is terrible, by all accounts). The Motorola’s still going to go, once Vista and CableCard support get here, because the 360 isn’t capable of being as bad as that stupid, stupid box.
Mike:
You’re right. Component cables for HD playback are not included.
As far as noise, I don’t have any noise when using media extender functionality. I agree when you have a game in the system, the noise is un-bearable (too loud even 4 some game play). Remove the disc and run the media center appl. and no noise. As far as the DVD playback I’ll have to try. The only complaint I have with media center extender functionality is text is not as legible when compared with the PC; using component for XBOX 360.
If your reading this and want an xbox 360 i am selling one, brand new, and am open for negotiation, e-mail me and we can chat about it……… thanks
abandonedcause@hotmail.com
-sorry