Thinking of getting an Xbox - should i? Costs of entire system

rossyl · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:43

Hi,

It's been years since i had a games console (last one was the N64!) but given that they can now do so much more, and are effectively entertainment centers...i thought why not!

I'm thinking of getting an Xbox, but it seems that the basic Xbox doesn't give you anything you need - there seems to be ones with hard drives, ones without, no internet functions etc... I wat all of this.

SO...

What would be the rough cost of getting everything i want out of my Xbox, in comparison to a PS3?

I'd want
- x2 wireless controllers
- the ability to play games online (i have a laptop with wireless)
- a hard drive
- the ability to put games on that hard drive
- the ability to stream youtube
- the ability to put music on the hard drive and play directly off it.

What am i looking at in terms of costs for the Xbox vs. a PS3?

Thanks,
Ross

Kreeeee · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:45

You can't stream youtube on a 360.

You just need:

360 pro 60GB (£150)
XBL Gold subscription (£28 for 13 months)
second pad (£25)

rossyl said:
I'd want
- x2 wireless controllers
- the ability to play games online (i have a laptop with wireless)
- a hard drive
- the ability to put games on that hard drive
- the ability to stream youtube
- the ability to put music on the hard drive and play directly off it.

check
check
check
check
nope
check

Noel Gallagher · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:45

I'd go for the 60gb pro model..

you can put games on the hdd, u can stream youtube with tversity i think, u CANT put music onto hdd or films but u can stream again either with tversity or windows media player

Twentymac · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:46

Xboxs are mega cheap now

You can pick up a 60gb package with 3 games for £160-£180

Shamikebab · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:49

What Kreeeee said.

Nismo · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:50

Noel Gallagher said:
u CANT put music onto hdd

You can rip CDs to the HDD, however it makes more sense to stream music from a PC.

Kreeeee · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:50

Noel Gallagher said:
I'd go for the 60gb pro model..

u CANT put music onto hddr

False information.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906498

As stated, streaming music and video from a PC (no need for TVersity, just enable file sharing/WMP sharing) is a much more intelligent choice.

Noel Gallagher · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:51

Nismo said:
You can rip CDs to the HDD, however it makes more sense to stream music from a PC.

Oh yeah, I was assuming he ment MP3s.. who buys CDs anymore?

rossyl · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:51

Noel Gallagher said:
u CANT put music onto hdd or films but u can stream again either with tversity or windows media player

is that for sure?

Kreeeee · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:52

No, he's wrong, read my post #7

Tunney · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:53

You probably want to invest in a rechargeable battery and charging lead (~£13) too. I wish Nintendo did something similar to Microsoft's Play & Charge kit. :/

Naffa · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:53

You can stream YouTube through TVersity as well, by the way.

Kreeeee · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:56

naffa said:
You can stream YouTube through TVersity as well, by the way.

Awesome, I never knew that

rp2000 · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:56

rossyl said:
Hi,

It's been years since i had a games console (last one was the N64!) but given that they can now do so much more, and are effectively entertainment centers...i thought why not!

I'm thinking of getting an Xbox, but it seems that the basic Xbox doesn't give you anything you need - there seems to be ones with hard drives, ones without, no internet functions etc... I wat all of this.

SO...

What would be the rough cost of getting everything i want out of my Xbox, in comparison to a PS3?

I'd want
- x2 wireless controllers
- the ability to play games online (i have a laptop with wireless)
- a hard drive
- the ability to put games on that hard drive
- the ability to stream youtube
- the ability to put music on the hard drive and play directly off it.

What am i looking at in terms of costs for the Xbox vs. a PS3?

Thanks,
Ross

Whilst I can list the costs involved for buying a 360 with the extras you have listed, a couple of things you have listed are not possible (or I have not come across them)

PS3 costs
PS3 80GB ~ £280
Extra Controller ~ £30

You can copy music from a network, USB media, optical media etc to teh internal HDD.
YouTube works through the web browser.
You CAN'T play retail games from the HDD (some PS3games copy data to your HDD for speed reasons but it is not the same as running the whole game from HDD).

Xbox360 Costs
Premium 60GB ~ £150
Extra Controller ~ £25
1 Yr Live sub ~ £30
Wifi Adaptor ~ £55

You can ONLY copy music from CDs. You place them in the 360 and it rips them to the HDD etc. No copying existing music files in anyway.
You can play ANY 360 game from HDD, due to the NXE (you get this free).
You CAN'T stream youtube content (I don't know if you can use some sort of Media Centre extension etc, but it is not doable on the machine on it's own).

So on a price comparison it is no contest really. But on features you are stuck as neither machine does exactly what you have listed, you need.

Edit: loads of answers and edits since I typed my reply

rp2000

rossyl · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:56

thanks Guys - must say I'm excited!

Operating Sytem
One question, not sure if it's allowed or not. But I remember that on the old xbox you could change the operating system to allow you to do all the things I've written I want to do above.

Would I have to install a new operating system, or would Xbox 360 standard operating system be set up for this?

Streaming/Web Access
YOUTUBE and general Internet on xBox
Is tversity an add on?
Will Tversity allow me to stream anything/view any webpage?

Music
Is there any application that would allow me to copy my entire music collection to the Xbox?
Or could i access my mp3's via a netowkr on the xbox?

WiFi
That adaptor seems like a rip-off is there a cheaper way?

Thanks again guys. Much appreciated.

Kreeeee · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:58

rp2000 said:
Wifi Adaptor ~ £55

He said he has a wireless laptop, so why buy that?

Kreeeee · 12 Jan 2009 at 18:58

rossyl said:
thanks Guys - must say I'm excited!

One question, not sure if it's allowed or not. But I remember that on the old xbox you could change the operating system to allow you to do all the things I've written I want to do above.

Would I have to install a new operating system, or would Xbox 360 standard operating system be set up for this?

Also is tversity an add on?

Thanks again guys. Much appreciated.

You can't install a new OS on the 360, everything mentioned in this thread is with the standard OS. TVersity is a program for streaming media from a PC: http://tversity.com/about/

rp2000 · 12 Jan 2009 at 19:00

Kreeeee said:
He said he has a wireless laptop, so why buy that?

I have no idea what he meant by having a wireless laptop. I have interpreted as meaning he uses wifi in his house and wants wifi on his console.

I assume you are suggesting he bridges a connection using his existing wireless laptop in some way. Certainly a possible alternative/interpretation.

rp2000

SDK^ · 12 Jan 2009 at 19:08

Kreeeee said:
He said he has a wireless laptop, so why buy that?

rp2000 said:
I assume you are suggesting he bridges a connection using his existing wireless laptop in some way. Certainly a possible alternative/interpretation.

I also have a wireless laptop and was planning to use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) with the Xbox but Vista won't let me

I keep getting an error when trying to enable ICS and a search on the internet shows many other people are having the same peoblems.

I've ordered a 20m ethernet cable (£9) and plan to run it through a couple of walls to downstairs.

The plus side to this is that I won't suffer any wireless lag.

Kreeeee · 12 Jan 2009 at 19:09

Wired is definitely the best bet.