Well since it doesn't cost that much I dont know why he would pay that. Also the fact as he stated before he likes the online experience better I'm sure he will enjoy it. The sony fanboy bashing of paying for xbox live is getting old. Try to be a little more creative and think of something else to bash. As stated by many people previously, if you can't afford a little over $4 a month to play online then you have a problem.

I've had the 20GB 360 for over 3 years now and it is plenty of room. I have Gears of War 2 installed on it and still have a few demos and movies etc. You can always delete stuff, if your looking to save cash then grab the 20 gig over the 120 elite. Also, Live is usually 50 a year but you can find deals on slickdeals quite frequently for $30 or $40 for the 13 month card.

http://www.smartsubs.com/Microsoft-Software-Xbox-360-12-Month-Live-Gold-Card.html?utm_source=nextag&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_campaign=Computer&utm_term=Xbox%20360%2012%20Month%20Live%20Gold%20Card

theres a $34.99 12 month subscription for you

i live in the uk btw, and i found 12 months live for about £30 which is good as its normally £40. and at the previous comment about enjoy paying for online, its worth it for how much better online is, i used to think it wasnt but i now belive it is.

I made a post about the current bundles. Have a look:

http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/post.php?id=2761934

You should find something. If you are into online gaming, Forza 3, Modern Warfare 2 and Halo are simply awesome games for online matches. So pick one of those, get L4D2 and you gonna have so much fun online.

• Harddrive-- while a hard drive is not necessary in any way at all, you want one.  You also probably want one bigger than 20 gigs at some point.  Personally, I love having the 120gig because I can have many games installed at a time while with a 20gig, you can't have any more than 3.  It's perfectly reasonable to start with the 20 and upgrade if you need to.
• Different models-- I forget what comes with what, just read the side of the box.  It's usually just hard drive and cables.  If you plan on using HDMI I wouldn't base your purchase on cables since you can get a good HDMI cable for less than $5, I would only pay attention to the hard drive and wireless headset.
• Warranty-- All new 360's come with a three year warranty that is very good.  Used 360's still have that warranty as long as they have not been refurbished.  Refurbishing the 360 may void the warranty so be careful.

Also, spend some time and search around for deals.  You already found a deal on Live and you can probably find one on the wireless adapter too, especially since a new one is coming out.

Well, if I was you I would go with the Elite that has the 120gb HDD. Of course this is my opinion and when I get the money I will be picking up one myself. I sold my Xbox 360 to my brother-in-law and I regret it since I can't play me some Halo 3 :(.

If your looking to save alot of money, you can also find a used or RRoD model off eBay and find someone who can solder it back to working conditions. I have a friend in the states who bought a RRoD console for $45 and paid $30 to a repair guy who had his own gaurantee that if he couldnt fix the RRoD that he'd pay YOU $30, so really my buddy took a $15 risk and ended up with a working 360 (no HDD) for $75. Still, I'd prefer a new console myself. As for HDD size, 20GB is plenty, but if you end up getting addicted to XBLA like I have, then you'll probably want to eventually upgrade to a larger HDD. Also I have read multiple articles online which discuss the pros vs cons of installing games directly to the HDD and most have stated that because of the large amounts of available internal memory in the 360 that they can actually load faster off disc than off the HDD (I've heard this for Halo 3 for example); granted the disc drives can be loud!

now is a great time to jump in ;)

That's a little misleading and wrong-- Halo 3 is really the only game (there may be one or two others but no other big game) that loads faster, the rest of the game highly benefit from being installed.  The only thing comparable is Mass Effect in that they made the elevators a constant time but installing still helps other issues with that game.

Do you have a link to that article?

Whatever the case, ThatGuy, don't listen to that post.  In 99% of cases you want to install your game.