Which Xbox 360 to purchase?

Hi everyone! Playstation 3 owner here who would like advice on what Xbox to get! I've been enjoying my PS3, but I've seen the lineup this year for Xbox and feel that if I don't get a 360, I'd miss out on Halo 3, Mass Effect, and other great titles ... and that's just plain unacceptable to me!

However, I've been hearing disquieting reports of very high failure rates for the Xbox 360, particularly Xbox 360 Core. Because the core system is so prone to failure I've already eliminated that as a possibility. I'd like an honest opinion of which Xbox 360 I should purchase among the following choices that I'm willing to consider:

Xbox 360 Premium

Pros: it's an Xbox, it'll play all the games I need it to play, and unlike the Core it doesn't break down every two days. Also it's the cheapest of my options.

Cons: there's nothing particularly special about it. It's missing a lot of extras that I'll probably end up buying anyway.

Xbox 360 Elite

Pros: a massive 120gb hard drive, it's black, sleek, and beautiful, and it is probably the least likely among the Xbox 360s to get the red rings of death. It comes with a massive number of extras, all of which are important to me and if it hadn't I'd have had to buy them seperately anyway.

Cons: it's the most expensive of the 360s.

Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition

Pros: it's a limited edition, meaning that it won't be around for very long (bragging rights, mainly, I suppose). Beyond that it's cheaper than the Elite, yet has most of its features except its 120gb hard drive. Most importantly, it is up there with the Elite as the least likely to get the dreaded red rings of death.

Cons: I'm not entirely convinced it's really neccessary to smack down $400 right now just for a green skin. It doesn't even come with Halo 3; I'd have to get that seperately anyway. Money's kind of tight right now, so I have to be reallys sure about the Halo 3 version before I buy it. I'm not really sure if bragging rights about owning a limited edition console is worth $400, when I'd be better served financially if I just wait one more month and buy an Elite at $450.

So there you are, there are my 3 choices. Like I said, the ONLY reason I'd get the Halo 3 version is for bragging rights; in my opinion the Elite is a better console overall (it'd better be, it's $50 more expensive!). But as I said money's tight right now and I may be stretching myself if I get the Halo 3 version when it comes out (which is pretty much the ONLY time I can get one). I'm shaky about that, what do you guys think? Is it worth it? Or should I just say, "screw the bragging rights, lemme just wait until my finances rebalance and then get an Elite, green's an ugly color anyway"?

Just get the elite. It's a good deal, really. Large HDD and the HDMI kicks ASS. It also has much quieter fans.

So do it. Go elite.

yet another which to purchase thread.....and by the way your post reads, you already made up your mind on the elite, but just want reassurance.

the new premiums and elites have no dicernable differences performance wise - the elite has an extra sinc fan which isnt really going to do much, they both have same processor and the new premiums have hdmi output.

the only major difference is the 120gb HD for only 100.00 more, whereas seperate, it's about 180.00.

who cares about the color, people on xbl wont care if your xbox is black, pink, white or whatever while faces are being melted.

if you plan to download movies or a ton of content and never delete it, go elite - if you plan to use it for basic gaming and just downloading demo's here and there, then deleting when done, or getting arcade games - go with premium, then you can buy 2 360 games with the other 100 bucks.

obviously the elite is the better choice seeing as how you get 6 times the amount of storage as the premium, the fan is quieter and I believe the chip is smaller so there is a lowered probability of the ring of death (or is that only the Falcon?)

BTW, has anyone noticed the new systems are being named after things from halo 3? Such as elite and falcon.

i am perhaps picking up a xbox around christmas time...i am pretty set on the premium edition, but i was curious...how much does the gold service cost? can you pay for only a few months or are you stuck with buying a year's subscription?redknight80

You canbuy1 month, 3 months, 6 months or a full year..