it's not scary. If you can play bioshock, fallout3 will not pose a problem

horizontal is the way to go! look at the vents on the xbox. If you put it vertical, it covers the largest vent.

I have mine horizontal on a laptop cooler (which is plugged into a nearby computer so it doesn't draw its power from the xbox)

The air blowing out the back doesn't even feel warm anymore...

Don't buy into all the hype.

Unless you have a 47 inch TV or bigger I seriously doubt you will be able to tell the difference between 720p or 1080p (providing you have a tv capable of 1080p, which many people think they do, but they really don't)

720p is just fine and is the standard used for xbox. However, most do 1080p too. It's all just pointless really. The biggest difference is not the resolution but things such as response time, color gamut, etc on your tv that will really either make a game look great or not

Under the link you posted for your tv, if you click 'full specifications' it says the tv has a resolution of 1366x768 ...meaning it is a 720p TV. It physically cannot display 1080p which is a resolution of 1920x1080...

this is not necessarily a bad thing. Many great TVs only do as high as 720p. And, most under 42 inches are 720p because it just isn't really necessary to have 1080p on TVs that size

(yes, some people will argue, but they'll probably be the same people that say if your tv has an hdmi input then it does 1080p - simply not true)

You only need to use the component cables that came with your xbox. Don't even bother getting an HDMI cable...there is simply no point. It will still all look awesome via component cables displaying 720p (and if you must get an HDMI cable, grab one from a computer shop for $8, don't pay $60 at bestbuy or somewhere similar)

First, the arcade model CAN be connected with an ethernet cable, you DO NOT need wireless. I just connected one last night.

Second, you technically do not need a HDD to play online...but it'd be pretty crappy without one. If you buy an arcade, microsoft has a deal where you get a 20gb HDD (plenty of space really) and 3 months of gold subscription (a gold subscription is required for online play) for $30

As for the headset, you don't have to have one. If you want one for free, find a friend who bought the keypad add-on. It comes with a headset and then the original headset isn't compatible with the keypad...so maybe they'll give you the headset.

I personally find disc drives pretty useless already and I'd be very excited to see them disappear.

Playing from a HDD is much better, and I haven't rented a movie in years. It's far better to stream them from my mac (yes, I have a mac and a 360, go figure...)

In 2 or 3 years flash drives and usb sticks will be so much cheaper...when will we start to see games/software on those? I remember 2 years ago grabbing a 1gb usb stick for $40. The other week I saw them for $1.99. Maybe 2 years from now a 20-40hb stick will only be $2...why not sell games on those?

I think all Xbox 360s after Summer of 2007 (or what is 2006?) have hdmi

For sure any xbox made in 2008 will have hdmi (if you want to know how to check when it was made, google it...it's simple)

And yes, any HDMI cable will do. Despite the fact that you can buy one at BestBuy for $50-$150, they are the same as the cables you get at a local computer store for $5

Cables of any kind are always a HUGE ripoff if you go to bigbox stores (at least in Canada...) For example, you can pay $40 for 25 feet of network cable, or get the same for $4.99 at a 'dollar store' no joke