I have a website, I am writing a "Looking Back, Looking Forward" article for each of the consoles.

Many of you know that I have had some bad experiences with the 360.  I try to remain unbiased, but I am having a lot of trouble writing this.

If you could pass me some of the things that you like about 360, as far as games, hardware, online services, pricing,  the malfunctions/warranty extension, etc.  I would really appreciate hearing what you guys have to say out side of the console wars threads.

I may include quotes, or I may just say "after reading what lots of people had to say".

Thanks again. 

Demos for almost every single big game before it's released. That's one of the best things about Xbox Live.

The ability to connect your 360 to a computer monitor which makes you able to experience HD gaming without the need for an HD TV. It's very cost effective.

These are two things I've been verry happy with lately with the 360, there's lots of other stuff but that's two that come to mind.

I do miss the demos. Of course they usually make me want to not buy a game, but I am wierd like that. I am happy playing through one level of most games.

See, I owned a 360, and I didn't know about the monitor. Thanks ckmlb.

I would add that there are quite a few "family friendly" or "casual" games on Xbox Live Arcade. For 10 bucks there are a bunch of games that are quick to pick up and play and are great fun. I think Microsoft has done a terrible job marketing this aspect of the console as it really is one of the cooler aspects. The only thing I DON"T like about it is that they rarely release more than 1 game per week. I'd like to see it stepped up to more like 2-3 per week like Nintendo is doing. (though not so much old crap!)

Other great XBLA games:
Carcassonne
Outpost Kaloki
Band of Bugs
Boom Boom Rocket
Aegis Wing (free!)
Geometry Wars
etc...

I would also like to add that I LOVE the wireless controllers.  They are by far the best controller I've ever used on any console -- period.  They hit it out of the park with the 360 wireless controller...

The included cable with the little switch on the back for component/hidef or standard def is def. a cool gadget since I didn't have to buy a cable and when I finall get an HD set, I'm still good to go. 

This is a really great feature, I´m not getting a HDTV for at least another two or three years but recently got a huge monitor for no cash at all, my questions are

1. how does the sound work when connected to my monitor, I don´t have a dolby system or anything, just my old PC speakers that still so a fine job, can I connect them to a 360 without a problem ????

2. how much better does it look compared to a normal TV or a HDTV, it must be much better than a norma TV but is it better than a HDTV or just as good ??? I always have the feeling HDTVs are not as sharp as Monitors and don´t have as bright colors but this might be dependent on the size and the type of HDTV.

I know I´m getting a 360 as soon as I can lay my hands on a falcon version for about 200-300$ I just hope they will be here soon (europe) and it will be easy to tell which ones have the falcon chips.   

well you can say the XBL in general with XBLA... demos, videos, tv shows movies, the compatibility for online gaming with more and more PC games with windows vista... , the simplicity of navigation.... the compatibility with msn which allows me to talk to my parents at 4000 miles away while playing GOW with no extra cost..... visio conference possibility.... great controller.... which doesn't give me blisters and thumb cramps after 3 hours of gameplay like the PS controller does (to me).... great connectivity for monitors and TV of all kind... as well as sound.... the fact that almost everybody has a headset to play online make it more friendly and great to create clans and stuff.... that's it for now

@El d for the monitor compare to HDTV you shouldn't have any difference if both products are of same quality... meaning pitch, contrast ratio, refreshing rate etc....
for the sound I guess you have a mini jack connection for you PC speakers... well you don't have a jack directly on the XBox but you can find a RCA to jack at most electronic retailers for a couple bucks.... and if you have a any shelf system or receiver amplifier or anything like that close to your XB you can usually plug the RCA connectors on the auxiliary input....

I like the fact that you can stream a slideshow and music at the same time from a PC, we use this feature a lot during parties and people always get a kick out of it, usually the pictures start a lot of "remember that" or "remember him/her" conversations.

The controllers can also be used with your PC, but you have to buy a $20 adapter for the wireless ones, still worth it though I think.

The games speak for themselves.

XBL is a great service, I was appalled at first at the idea of paying for online, but after using it, I can honestly say it's worth it, and I'm a pretty cheap gamer.

Streaming music from your PC/MP3 Player/Hard Drive during a game works very well too.

El Dude -

I can answer the VGA/Monitor question: With the VGA cables, you have VGA input, but also L and R audio inputs as well, so it's a combo. So basically instead of the video input, you have VGA + enough distance on the L and R sterio inputs to hook it up.

IMO, thats one of the X360s most brilliant features. It's not only HDTV ready, but for a few bucks, you can get 720p displays for nothing. I found my X360 monitor in a trash can.

But anyways. My favorite points on the X360:

Games - by far the strongest next-gen library, but current and proposed.

Online - Every game has atleast some measure of online play, which has forced devs to think outside the box, and create some memorable online experiences.

Service - even though some have had problems with MS, I have nothing but praise on how quick I got my X360 back from them.

Demos - every XBLA game has a demo, and I'd say atleast half (and every major title) of the standard games have demos. Some demos are good, some bad, but overall, a great service.

Patches - free online patches that tend to be rather quick in terms of the content that they provide fix game-critical issues (like Oblivion).

Downloadable Content - With GTAIV having exclusive content, and all the great DLC, both free and pay-for on the X360, it's great. I loved buying Shivering Isles. A new game+ for Blue Dragon sounds great. Ect, ect.

Overall, I love my X360. I don't think I've enjoyed videogaming so much since I bought an SNES back in 1992.

Thanx for the help endimion and mrstickball,

since I don´t have a 360 yet it´s hard to say what I will like about it but I must say the game library is getting better every month and there are many games I feel I need to catch up on, 

what I really like (and I feel it´s a very important part of a console) is the controller, as stated before it´s the best (conventional) joypad I´ve ever held, feels like it was melted into your hand, I still can´t belive that Sony only has the one size they´ve always had, even if it works great for many I just can´t use it very long, I have a great PC gamepad that is a PS controller clone but is 10-20% bigger and it works fine with me but its nowhere close to the 360 controller...that one IS hard to improve unlike another....

As stated by others, the quality is 720p so it will be the same whether you have an HD TV or a monitor. The audio is connected to your speakers, so depends on their quality.

I have really nice PC speakers so the audio works great now and the games are in full 720p HD.

If it wasn't for the fact that the PS3 doesn't have this feature, I would have delayed getting an HD TV a while, but since it doesn't I am getting a new HD TV some time this week hopefully.

It is bigger than my monitor so I expect to use it for all 3 consoles, unless I got a friend over or something, then we can each play different consoles at the same time cause I can have my monitor as a back up.

I've stopped playing most PS3 games lately just cause I don't want to till I get an HD TV and get to play it on that.

Edit: Other features that I love about the 360:

I'm also a big fan of the controller, except the D Pad.

The ability to change the faceplate easily or even mod the whole 360 case is great. I have a special Blue Dragon faceplate I imported from Japan and I love it. Really makes the 360 stand out more.