Product Description

The Xbox 360 comes fully loaded for the ultimate gaming experience, with components and accessories that would cost over £100 if sold separately.

Included in the pack:

Xbox 360 console:
Sexy styling that packs a punch -- three powerful core processors are poised to pump out 720p/1080i output, 16x9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound and DVD playback right out of the box.

Xbox 360 hard drive (20 GB):
The detachable hard drive allows gamers to store their games, music, downloaded trailers, levels, demos and community-created content from Xbox Live Marketplace.

Xbox 360 wireless controller:
Hassle-free high-performance precision wireless gaming features the Xbox Guide Button for quick access to digital movies, music and games libraries. The controller has a range of 30 feet and battery life of up to 30 hours of life on two AA batteries.

Xbox 360 faceplate:
The removable Faceplate comes in stylish white and can be swapped out with custom faceplates to reflect gamers' personalities or room decor.

Xbox 360 headset:
This lets gamers form strategies with team-mates or trade banter with opponents while playing games on Xbox Live.

Xbox 360 component HD-AV cable:
This connects gamers to the world of Xbox 360 games and graphics through high-definition and standard-definition connections.

Xbox Live silver membership:
With this, gamers can chat with friends online, send and receive voice and text messages, and access new content from Xbox Live Marketplace such as trailers, demos and casual games from Xbox Live Arcade.

About the Xbox
The Xbox 360 console will be the first next-gen console released and will fuse powerful hardware, software, and services to provide a dramatic leap forward in high-definition gaming and entertainment experiences.

The key technical specifications of the Xbox 360 console are unlikely to make much sense to any but the most technical. But if a custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU with three symmetrical 3.2GHz cores, a 500MHz custom ATI Graphics Processor with 10MB of embedded DRAM and unified memory architecture of 512MB GDDR3 RAM and 700MHz DDR doesn't mean anything to you just consider this: with specs like that the Xbox 360 is already more powerful than a £2,000+ state-of-the art PC.

The Xbox 360 will also have three USB slots and both HD digital and standard audio visual outputs, which can pump out games in widescreen at 720p and 1080i resolution, complete with anti-aliasing functionality. This will result in much higher resolution games than ever seen before: the beginning of the HD (high definition) era.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2005-12-02
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• ESRB Rating: Kids to Adults
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Dimensions: 5.53" h x 15.00" w x 15.00" l, 14.84 pounds

Features

• Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD
• Ability to stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras and Windows XP-based PCs
• Ability to rip music to the Xbox 360 hard drive
• Built-in Media Center Extender for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
• Interactive, full-screen 3-D visualizers High-Definition Game Support * All games supported at 16:9, 720p, and 1080i, anti-aliasing

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Xbox 360 is Microsoft's successor to the Xbox console, and is the first "next generation" games console to hit the market. It has three powerful core processors which pump out 720p/1080i output (translation: graphics look great), 16x9 cinematic aspect ratio (translation: it's sort of like the cinema), anti-aliasing for smooth textures (translation: characters look less like chimps and more like people), full surround sound and DVD playback right out of the box.

A multi media experience

Xbox 360, shown with levitating wireless controller

In comparison to the Darth Vader inspired design of the original Xbox, the Xbox 360 a thing of (near) wondrous beauty.

In addition to playing games and movies, the Xbox 360 can stream music and video from a wide variety of electronic devices, including iPods and the Sony PSP.

Get Live

The Xbox 360 offers an online gaming experience via Xbox Live. This allows you to play multi-player Xbox 360 games on the internet via your broadband connection. The service also lets you download--and save on the console's hard drive--new missions, characters and vehicles for your favourite games. You can also shout real-time abuse at your opponents using the Xbox 360 headset

Choose the package that's right for you

The Xbox 360 comes in two different packages: the deluxe package includes a wireless controller, 20GB hard drive, and a number of other accessories. Alternatively, the Core System bundle has a standard wired controller and no hard drive.

Which option is right for you will depend largely on your gaming needs--are you a fan of downloadable content? Do controller wires upset the feng shui of your living room? There are pros and cons for each option: for instance, if you do plump for the Core System you will have to buy a separate memory unit if you want to save your games. Likewise, if you opt for the deluxe version you will need a steady supply of AA batteries or a rechargeable battery pack to power the wireless controller.

The Xbox 360 is only backwards compatible with a limited number of original Xbox titles, and a hard drive is required for this function.

Customer Reviews

Very poor console
Oh dear oh dear. I would not recommend that anyone buy a Xbox 360. They are by far the most poorly built console ever made. The Xbox 360 suffers from overheating because of poor design. This is called the Red Rings of Doom. The is because the ring of light shows 3 red lights when it breaks. The Xbox 360 at one point had a fault rate of 43%. This percentage is so high that if it were any other applicance it would be recalled. It is now about 20% error rate. This means 1 in every 5 consoles break with the RROD fault. I know over 20 people who's consoles have broken with this fault. This isnt the only thing wrong with it. The tray style disk drive break a lot too. They either stop working and don't read your games or they scratch the disks and make them unplayable. Just to put it into perspective both the PS3 and Wii have less than 1% error rate.

Microsoft made a huge error in not including a Hard Drive and a high capacity disk drive. This means that games can not be installed to the hard drive and the disk is contantly spinning. This can be very noisy and can sound like the Xbox 360 is turning into a lawnmower. It can be really offputting when playing a atmospheric game. Game developers Id (makers of the award winning games Doom and Quake) have said that the Xbox 360 version of their new game Rage will be very inferior to the PS3 and PC version due to the hardware problems of the Xbox 360.

The PS3 is a vastly superior machine to the Xbox 360. All of the games look much better than the Xbox 360's and the Blu Ray drive is awesome. I would recommend that everyone buy a PS3 and not even concider a Xbox 360.

awsome console
So the xbox 360 a very good console. i have owned mine now for about a year and i havent had any problems. the reason why it probably breaks is because you dont look after it. the only way to get a scratched disk if its vertical and you knock it over.
it also has the most games and who cares if it came out first so what it still has the most games and its getting better games every year im personally looking forward to fable 2 as i like the first one.

It has xbox live also which is the cherry on the cake you can play with your friends online and enjoy gaming and for a 12 month subscrition its like 10p a day. you have msn messenger also so you can talk to your friends while playing. theres also the xbox marketplace where you can buy games with microsoft points and also try out demo's for free. you can also rent movies too in hd and watch game trailers in hd also. there also on the xbox a place called inside xbox where they will talk about games and talk to the developers this can be accessed by silver members which is free if you dont have xbox live same to the downloads. in game play you can talk to your friends if you have a headset or messenger kit which comes with headset and makes the game a bit more fun than just typing all the time.

now music and pictures you can easily transfer files to you xbox through you local network but you need microsft media center edition or windows vista or just use a usb. you can also play music while playing games also.

theres also a new update which will change the 360 improving the look and functionality of the 360 this i found in the magazine. yes they have a magazine too. this update will come this autum you have a choice with the old verson though doesnt cost a thing either.

one more thing about hd tvs you dont need one you can use your old pc moniter as it can work with it. xbox provide a vga cable at like £20 which you plug into you xbox and moniter and screen if you have problem why dont you check youtube. so theres no need for a £400 hd tv.

so the xbox 360 a good console at a good price with all of this and more a must buy.

One day too early
Yes, it's an XBox 360, it is fine. If I had waited one more day, I could have had the 60 Gb version for 10 pounds less, but it was for a just-in-time birthday present. Strange that there was not any obvious announcement that the upgrade was going to be available...