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1024 of 1100 people found the following review helpful.
Spring for a hard drive!
By S. Hammack
Don't make the same mistake I did -- the 4 GB version may seem like a good deal if you don't think you'll need a lot of space, but what they don't tell you is that some features REQUIRE an actual hard drive. You might think that a gig is a gig and it shouldn't make any difference whether it's on a disk or flash memory, but to the Xbox, they are not equivalent.This means that unless you buy a hard drive (and it has to be one of the new 250 GB hard drives because the old ones are not compatible), you get no backwards compatibility with Xbox games, and some 360 games will arbitrarily block you from some features such as playing online or even installing updates or DLC, regardless of how much free space you have available. Basically, you can only use the internal storage (or a flash drive) to store full games, saves, or other media, but it's not the same as having a 4 GB hard drive. I wish someone had told me this before I bought mine; I foolishly assumed that the features would be identical and the only difference would be the amount of space, but now I have to buy a hard drive separately, adding up to more than it would have cost if I'd just bought the 250 GB model in the first place. Caveat emptor, indeed.
632 of 691 people found the following review helpful.
New features at a great price!
By FTP
The xbox 360 slim with 4 GB is what the original arcade version should have been.10 new features of this model are:1. New Valhalla chip - hopefully improved design to prevent RRoD issue, but tech. reviews noted that the Jasper chip in the older Elite model runs cooler2. WiFi N - this is the newest wifi standard that is 12X faster (up to 600 Mbits/ sec) than wifi G; you'll need a Wifi N router to get the max. speed3. digital optical audio port (IF your sound system is separate from your TV, then you'll need this to get full 5.1 surround sound)4. 4 GB of flash memory (although 1.1 GB is used by the game system, but 0.3 GB can be reclaimed by deleting 4 game demos)5. 5 USB ports (2 in front & 3 in back)6. slimmer design with side vents (to prevent overheating)7. dedicated Kinect port (just a convenience feature)8. only 1 year of warranty (the only negative; older Elite models had 3 yrs.)9. USB flash drive support (this was a xbox software update released in April 2010)10. ESPN video streaming (will be included if you are a Gold member, $50/ yr)Slim 4 GB memory vs. 250 GB hard drive:I bought the 4 GB system over the model with 250 GB hard drive because the xbox now supports game saves/ installs/ downloads and pic/ audio/ video downloads to USB flash drives. It supports 1-2 USB flash drives with 1-16 GB memory (using a 16 GB drive, 1.6 GB is used for formatting). 2 advantages of USB drives: loading games and media is 3x faster with USB drives than disc reading and more reliable (flash memory rarely fails, while discs can get scratched). 2 disadvantages of USB drives: you can not install old xbox games on USB drives and certain games, like Halo Reach and Halo ODST, will not support online coop without a hard drive (having a USB drive will not help). If you have a big appetite for video downloads and game demos that 32 GB can not accommodate, then you can always upgrade later with a 360 GB hard drive. The original model's hard drive is not compatible with the slim model without modification - you would need to remove the original hard drive and insert it into a slim hard-drive case (non-Microsoft, sold separately). You can find a non-Microsoft 120 GB drive for 1/2 the price of the Microsoft drives, but you would need to manually install the "partition 2" xbox emulator (search google) to play old xbox games.XBOX vs. PS3:I am originally a PS3 and Wii gamer, but finally bought the xbox when the slim 4 GB model was released. To be competitive with the PS3, the xbox had to have the built-in wifi, optical audio port, and USB flash drive support. I was deciding whether to buy another PS3 since many games require 2 consoles for coop and multiplayer gaming, regardless of what system you choose. With this xbox priced at $200, I decided to choose the xbox since it has better coop games and more online gaming. However, Netflix on xbox requires gold membership and starting a movie is a lot slower than the PS3 even though the xbox has faster wifi. Xbox music and music videos library needs to expand to the size of their TV and movies selection to be comparable with iTunes. The PS3 has better graphics though not significantly better (expected since PS3 has a better processor), but the xbox has better coop and multiplayer games. The PS3 controller is better designed, better constructed, and has a rechargeable battery; the D-pad on the included xbox controller creaked without even playing a single game. Also the PS3 has a Blu-Ray player, which accounts for the small cost difference. The button to open the disc tray on the xbox is too sensitive and not recessed, so slightly brushing it with your clothes will activate it.Speed Comparison Update:The Witcher 2 game, which is highly recommended, inspired me to write this update. For the Slim 4 GB model, most game discs can not be installed to the internal memory due to insufficient space. The internal memory is 3x faster than hard drives, which is 3x faster than USB drives, which is 3x faster than disc reading. The approximate speeds are: 270 MB/s internal memory > 90 MB/s hard drive > 30 MB/s USB drives > 10 MB/s disc reading. NOTE: USB drives vary a lot in speed; check the speed and cost before buying - you get what you pay for. So loading a game installed on a USB drive is faster than loading it from the disc, but can be potentially 9x faster if installed to internal memory. The Slim model should be updated with at least 16 GB memory since a game DVD holds up to 8.5 GB of data, 1.5 GB is needed for system files, and 6 GB should be reserved for game saves and updates. With flash memory so cheap these days, Microsoft has no excuse to not increase the internal memory to at least 16 GB. I originally gave the Slim model 5 stars, but docked it 1 star for this issue since it's been more than 2 years since this model was released.Online Gaming & Media Sharing Update:I originally didn't mind paying for xbox gold membership since it included Last FM music and ESPN video streaming, but now there are better music streaming service (Sony's definitely better) and the videos within each sports category are disorganized and poorly label so it's hard to find specific clips. So when I discontinued my xbox gold memberships, I found out that you can not play online coop games, even privately hosted ones, without at least one person having gold membership. Microsoft should at least allow privately hosted, online coop games to account for the lack of LAN support by most games. Also, the xbox's support of DLNA media streaming from your computer is poor; you can not save your media, only stream it. DLNA media streaming and sharing is flawless with the PS3. Microsoft's greed is evident in these 2 issues so I docked the xbox another star to give it only 3 stars.
139 of 160 people found the following review helpful.
The best yet!
By Mikey
The best Xbox so far. The matte finish, price, 4GB internal is plenty for game saves and some add-ons. If you want more memory, just add 1-2 16GB USB flash sticks. I use USB drives for game saves and full game installs. This way I never have to worry about IF the system breaks on me. I'll always have my personal saves on the flash sticks. I never trust hard drives as they are more prone to fail over a flash stick. Thats why I didn't keep the 250GB version. Plus I don't do demos so I don't need that kind of space. Matte finish does not collect dust and hair like the gloss version does which drove me crazy as I did own the 250GB version for a short time until this version came out. VERY HAPPY with the arcade.
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