Right, it's an urban legend because it does not matter.  You may have been told that, but that doesn't make it right.  If you go anywhere and ask what is the best way to set your 360 so it doesn't scratch discs  or overheat or whatever you will get a thread filled with answers exactly like you gave for both sides.

If you don't want a scratched disc all you have to do is not much the console while the disc is spinning.  If you do that, your discs will stay squeaky clean.

I don't think you're understanding me. I'm not talking about the console scratching the disc. I'm talking about myself scratching it due to the drive being sideways.

as for games start with GEARS.

as for general upkeep always keep something that blows air handy so you can keep your console free of dust.

i used a cue tip on my PS3 and some big air blowing thing used for blowing up bounce houses?

just happend to have one sitting in a chair cause the AC was broke. talk about being blown away!

If you have a new slim there really is no need to freak out about looking after it, treat it like you would any other entertainment device you have.

it doesnt need any special care just done keep upright and dont move when disk is in (why ppl move thier consoles with disk in is beyond me)

just treat it as any other console i have the phat 360 and keep it the same as my ps3 and wii

I wasn't freaking, I just was asking a simple question. The 360 is new to me I wanted to know if there was anything I should be made aware of concerning the upkeep of the console and the games.

From what I've read here, I will treat it like I do all of my electronic stuff. 

I appreciate all the advice

make sure it doesnt get a rrod!

Make sweet sweet love to it at least once a week.

Congratulations! In addition to the mostly other good advice (don’t move it with a disk inside, make sure it gets good ventilation)

I would say, ‘Get Halo: Reach’ if you like Science Fiction and shoot-em ups.

And yes, follow the other examples.  I unplug it and vacuum or blow out the dust every month or so.  I live in a very dusty place.  And keep it free of ‘pet hair.’

And try everything – Indie Games, Demos, Arcade, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Zune, etc.  There are tons of little gems to discover.

Cheers!

I have a few rules... and note I have 2-3 years with my 360

***I think this rule and the rule below this are the most important....your setup should be, as some have mentioned horizantal... making it easy for the console to "breathe" or make use of the ventalition system because from my understanding this prevents RROD.***

*** Install all games... this will reduce work on your 360 because the game will be read from your harddrive instead of the system actually working to read the disc. It's obvious that this reduceing work on your hardware and well naturally increases the life of your 360 until however long it will last... things don't last forever. ***

- This is just my precaution... not sure if it truly helps. But whenever I turn off my 360 I always make sure that it's on the dashboard, before I turn it off. Thing is, the early days of my ownership of the 360... I didn't know about the feature of installing games so I can hear my games spinning in the disc tray so I "figured" if I turn off my system when its spinning, it may get possibly get scratched, so thats why I do the dashboard first then turn off. I doubt anything will happen if the game is installed... but for me its a habbit now and if you dont like installing games or dont have enough memory to install games...this would be useful information, either way, I think it's something to consider.

- Don't button smash... this rarely has happened to me but sometimes I'd get in hyper mode and button smash in the hopes to get short loading times to go faster... anyways, what rarely has happened was, longer loading times and I think once I froze the dashboard >_> now you know, don't get hyper with the buttons lol I guess its kind of the kid in me...lol but try to keep it real, unlike I did haha