thinking about buying a 360 need some advice

hello, thinking of buying a 360 here and have some questions.

first, i hear many people are getting Red ring of death on their 360s. Should i geta 360 nowor wait a few months until microsoft can fix this? I heard of new "falcon" systems being produced which run cooler. Do these still have a high chance of getting a RRoD? As i take good care of all my consoles and games, i would like the 360 to last at least ~4 years like all my other consoles have.

second, i am on a budget, and would like to know if it is possible to play online multiplayer on a game such as halo 3 with an Xbox 360 arcade system (comes with 256mb memory unit)? Please do not tell me something like "get a pro", unless its absolutely not possible to play online games that iwould want to buy.(NOT meaning downloading addons/DLC/map packsor arcade games).

finally, does the xbox 360 arcade come with any type of xbox live gold trial? or do i have to buy a gold card the same time as when i buy my 360?

thanks.

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