With the already released ToV and upcoming games I've caved in an planning to get an xbox BUT I'm in Europe. Vesperia itself is still not out here, and most titles come months later or just never come to PAL. I've had my modded ps2, Japanese Wii and the ps3 is not region locked for games, but as for the xbox, I don't want an European one.

Since my brother lives in the US I can easily get him to bring me one from there. But if it dies on me it will still be a hassle to get it to and back from service (along with some ~$40 shipping per direction). And I was never prepared to go through that with the rumoured ~30% failure rate. Then with the newer consoles it was ~10% and from what I've read there will be (or already is) a new chipset.

I can wait some more.. until a low failure rate is finally reported. Or maybe if they end up anouncing a slim version.. but how are things right now? Is there a guaranteed way to get a console with the jasper chipset (if it's out), is it better? Google is bad at this research since it spews out so much about previous chipsets as well.

I don't know which version would be the best for me either... not going for an elite, maybe one of the premiums. On the other hand even the arcade has hdmi now, and I'm not really interested in online multiplayer... basically it's really just the JRPGs as of now, does an arcade sound enough for that?

As long as you can get the games you want anytime now is a good time to buy one. Jasper is out and much better and the price isn't going to drop again anytime soon.

Price won't drop, so "now is the time to buy" in that regard.

Falcon units (which launched a year ago) helped fix the failure issues. Jaspers, if there was any issues left, fixed it even more so.

If I were you I would buy it at 12 PM. You avoid the morning and afternoon rushes, plus any rushes that occur from lunch breaks. I feel that's the best time to buy a 360. If you mean online, any time is fine as long as you're not tired. You wouldn't want to mess up the address or credit card sections. I hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies, the price is not really a problem... I'm used to the euro, even the old prices were still fine, after the pricedrop it's cheap, more so in USD.

So basically, since it seems the new ones are more robust - going to the actual store seems the better bet than ordering online (power supply doesn't differ for the Jasper, I gathered?), is there any kind of identifyable product release/bundle guaranteed to get you the Jasper (a la msg bundle ps3 guaranteeing the console configuration), and lastly, arcade good enough for someone who'll never play a shooter or a racing game and certainly won't get movies off Live (probably not even enough value in it for me to get the paid membership)?

May as well pick it up now. jasper is out, price dropped already, and you get two free games if you go core or premium. Lego Indy is a very fun game

You should be fine now. All current ones sold now should be Jasper. Also remember Microsoft has extended the warranty for 3 years.

If your in the UK you should pick it up at that retailer that is discounting the 360 even beyond the price cut rate.

Even though you don't think you need a HDD I would at least pick up the Pro, because you may want it in the future, I don't do much online gaming but it is convenient for downloading LIVE games and demos.

The first year. If you buy know you're looking at less than a year and a half of use before the the 360 (HD console) that is running on a non-HD format (DVD)can't release anymore thus will be put on the chopping block after just 4 years like it's predessecor.

if your waiting for a price drop... next october will be good

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