OK, so the 360 Elite is rumored to have a price drop, right? Well, even if there is one (which I still doubt), you can still save yourself ~$30 by buying an arcade. If there is no price drop, you will literally save yourself ~$130.

Crazy? Actually no, it's actually pretty simple, and really dissapoints me that people pay so much for Elites, and the former pro model. It really pains me to see MS bend people over the table with their pants down as they have with everyone who has ever bought an Elite so far. I made this up a little while ago to convince my friend not to waste money on an elite, and revised it just now and posted it because of all this BS Elite hype, so enjoy!

An arcade costs a total of $200. (I will round all prices to the nearest $)

An Elite costs $400, and a Pro costs $300.

What is so different besides the harddrive? You get Ethernet, HDMI Cables and a Headset.

So I know someone is going to say that all of that is worth so much. Bull:

- XBOX 360 Headset for >$8 shipped
- HDMI Cable for >$5/Component Cable for >$5 shipped(No longer included in Elite)
- Ethernet Cable for >$5 shipped

OK, so so far for ~$212, you're getting everything the elite will have except for the HDD (And for $5 more, the cables of your choice).

Now to cross the big bridge. The truth is: You can make your own 120GB HDD for ~$60, That's $90 less then what they charge for one off of the shelf.

Simply follow this tutorial.

Use eBay for the parts (Search for an XBOX 360 HDD case and a 120GB Scorpio WD1200BEVS Hard Drive to get your parts,

And presto! You have an elite for a grand total of ~$272, only instead of a black paint scheme, you have a free Xbox Live Arcade compilation disc.

You're welcome!

EDIT: If you're not tech-saavy enough to make your own HDD, you can easily get one pre-made for you on ebay for about $8 more. You won't save quite as much, but you'll still save a significant amount:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_BIN=1&LH_IncludeSIF=1&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A4%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A2208&_nkw=120+GB+HDD+XBOX+360&_dmpt=Video_Games_Accessories&_ipg=&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_sop=15&_sc=1

 

It's pointless to have as part of your argument a do-it-yourself section with harddrives. Many people simply don't want to put in the work to build their own harddrive from seperate parts. What would have been more beneficial is to find retailers selling the actual harddrives cheaper than their typical retail price.

In related news, buying a pre-built Dell / HP/ Asus / Apple desktop is a ripoff! You can build it yourself for cheaper!

x_x

Lets say all of the DIY is an hour worth of work. You still save 130 dollars. Unless you make 131 dollars an hour, it'll be worth your time from the looks of it

You do know that if you do that to the HDD MS can possibly ban you from LIVE right?

It is either you use theirs or you go bye-bye.


Don't ask how they find out, but I know they just do.

Most people don't want to screw around with removing/adding hardware...for the fear of screwing something up...and since it is not insured or covered under "I screwed it up myself"...most people don't do it. There have been countless people that have fried something due to the build up of static electricity...because they did not know how to ground themselves properly before handling the hardware.

Onyxmeth said: It's pointless to have as part of your argument a do-it-yourself section with harddrives. Many people simply don't want to put in the work to build their own harddrive from seperate parts. What would have been more beneficial is to find retailers selling the actual harddrives cheaper than their typical retail price.

Adressed in the edit.

Euphoria14 said: You do know that if you do that to the HDD MS can possibly ban you from LIVE right? It is either you use theirs or you go bye-bye. Don't ask how they find out, but I know they just do.

Bullshit. I have countless friends who have done it, and none of them have been banned as of yet. That HDD is the EXACT SAME ONE they use on their conveyor belts. There is no way to tell unless they pick it up and see that the "Microsoft" sticker has been removed.

D_Boy said: Most people don't want to screw around with removing/adding hardware...for the fear of screwing something up...and since it is not insured or covered under "I screwed it up myself"...most people don't do it. There have been countless people that have fried something due to the build up of static electricity...because they did not know how to ground themselves properly before handling the hardware.

As stated before, in the edit and in the thread, you can still get a pre-made one for cheap. It is physically impossible for the HDD to short-circuit the console anyway... only fry the HDD if you maybe yank out the cables...

good read but a bit late considering that MS is rumored to drop the price.

Onyxmeth said: It's pointless to have as part of your argument a do-it-yourself section with harddrives. Many people simply don't want to put in the work to build their own harddrive from seperate parts. What would have been more beneficial is to find retailers selling the actual harddrives cheaper than their typical retail price.

Why is it pointless?

Of all the video game consumer groups, I think the ones who visit gaming websites are among the most likely ones to be into upgrades, case mods, and do-it-yourself stuff.

I would agree if you were talking about the mass public, but this is a thread on vgChartz... not a column in the NYT.