I purchased an Xbox 360 Pro with Gears + UT3 for 299.99.  I had some issues with DVD playback and had the console exchanged only to find out nothing was wrong.  I guess the 360 is picky with older DVD releases cause I made a copy of the movie and it ran smoothly.

I'm originally a Wii owner and decided to get one of the more powerful systems.  Although I found Wii games I own enjoyable I wanted a change of pace (game content wise).

I chose the 360 over the PS3 because of game selection, price and the fact that I didn't have much use for a BR player because I have no intention of purchasing an HDTV anytime soon.

I really like the 360, it offers an excellent selection of games that my girlfriend enjoys (Live Arcade - puzzle games).  It also provides unique game concepts which aren't available on the Wii.  I feel like I have the best of both worlds now and I highly recommend anyone who is remotely interested in the 360 to grab that FutureShop deal I got.

After playing it for a while, I did not understand some of the complaints I've read on forums in general.  The issues I'm referring to are load time and noise.  My 360 barely makes any noise, just a tad bit louder then the Wii.  The loading time in Gears of War is practically none existent which shocked me.  My girlfriend plays Luxor for the Wii and it has longer loading times then Gears *shaking my head and screams why*  I understand loading time is different depending on which game you play.

I'm not really going to get into Gears of War because as all of you know, it's an awesome game.  What really stood out for me is the AI.  There's one part where you have to take out a guy behind a turret and I discovered you can run across to the other side and get a clear shot through a tunnel.  I ended up dying and having to do it over but the second time, his buddy met me up half way and ended my reign LOL  Third time also yielded a different result.

The only thing bad I can say about my experience is that the DVD playback is inferior to a 7 year old DVD player which is sad but minor.  In addition, I really hope that in the future Microsoft improves DVD playback and adds VCR capabilities to record TV shows.

The reason why some simple games take longer to load is because they are programed crappily...

I agree about the noise, I owned a launch 360. I could hear it, it is louder than the PS3 fan and the Wii drive is pretty annoying.

there are some large variations in this.  my original one wasnt too loud, but the one i got back after rrod is pretty noisy.

The noise is only an issue with older systems. I borrowed a friends 360 for a long time before nabbing one for myself and I can tell you the difference is like night and day. The original was very loud.

Glad to hear you are, overall, enjoying your X360 purchase.

Some DVD playback devices on video game consoles (regardless of system) can be a bear - My 360's DVD functionality has never been the greatest, but is far better than my girlfriend's PS2 ever has been.

Of course, if I wanted a DVD player, I'd go out and spend $20 on one...Not a gaming system.

congrats on your purchase.

I think most people who complain about the 360 fan noise and rrod and load times are simply playstation fanboys that generalize everything and go around trolling 360 forums. I have an elite and it doesn't sound that loud, at least, my hdtv is much louder to cover whatever sound it has, and it's certainly not as loud as my pc. RROD, i've never had it.

Interesting, my girlfriends dad just got a PS2 because A) we wanted it B) His DVD player died.  A couple members of this forum said it's not a good idea to use the 360 as a DVD player, should I get him to stop using the PS2 as a DVD player?

Let me qualify my following statement I haven't purchased a new Wii game in over a year. Seeing as most new games are retreads of games I already bought for the GameCube, and the casual games not appealing to me I will probably not have a pressing need until Starfox comes out. That said I have no idea how the more recent Wii titles are doing with load times.

However every Wii game I owned except for Sports and Twilight Princess had unacceptably long load times. Those titles being Red Steel, Scarface, and The Godfather. I have never seen load times on par with it on my 360. The only title I can think of that was even approaching that level of bad was Crackdown.

I haven't seriously thought about this in ages. Are Wii titles generally better about load times now then right after the launch?

Members helped me determine that I have a Falcon with a BenQ drive.  I'm happy I got the new version

i always play movies on my xbox 360..  and i have a  dvd player...