Current Xbox360 in the market (as of aug 31, 2007)

[kin0kin]

Hi guys, I'd like to confirm the current 360s in the market now:

Elite USA/Canada

-Mostly Hitachi 79 drives, some are 78 and benq drives
-79 drives can only be flashed with a chip on it
-benq drives can't be flashed yet
-There's still the risk of red light of death

AFAIK, the elites come with zephyr mobo and cpu, so those are still 90nm processors.

Premium 20gb no hdmi
-TS/Hitachi 47DJ drives
-easily flashable
-TS drives have single layer dvdr support (can the hitachi work with single layer dvdr?)
-There's still the risk of red light of death

Premium 20gb hdmi
-All comes with Hitachi 79 drives

what mobo do they have?

Halo Edition HDMI
-drive = unknown yet
-90nm

basically the elite model with a smaller drive, and doesnt come with the audio adapter.

Did I summarize them correctly? I am thinking of picking up a 360 soon since I just sold my Wii. I want to get the premium hdmi model but they all come with hitachi 79 which is a real PITA, the cost of adding the adapter and getting the chip already warrants me to get an elite instead. But the elite seems to have mostly 79 drives as well. The premium 20gb is the safest bet, but there's the ring of death problem to worry about. Is this a good time to get an xbox? should I wait and see what drive comes with the Halo edition or wait for the 65nm ones?

[Marinz]

Where did you get that information from? I may need to buy a new 360 as I don't think M$ repaired mine.

Based on that premium seems to be the best choice, but what about cores?

I do know someone that bought a core about a month ago and it has the BenQ drive in it.

So is it certain that no premiums (without HDMI) have the BenQ or H79?

[kin0kin]

I concluded those findings from looking at 360drives.com and after googling a little. I did not bother looking at the core versions. Im hoping to get the 65nm but not sure when they will be out and chances are, they will most likely have hitachi/benq drives :(

[Marinz]

Thanks! That helps. M$ just got my 360 today and already said it was repaired and shipped back. No way they could have that turnaround time so I am expecting my broken 360 to be returned so trying to figure out my options.

[kin0kin]

Perhaps they are giving you a new unit ;)

[Marinz]

Perhaps they are giving you a new unit ;)

Well, that would be better then my broken unit, but also a crap shoot as far as the drive, but being realistic and considering the turnaround time people have been seeing lately (I'm in the US and it's been weeks) I doubt it, but who knows.

What I am thinking is heading out tomorrow and trying to find one with a TS drive. I can easily buy one, bring it home, power it one and check the drive without opening it, and returning if possible. Of course if it's a Hitachi drive I would need to open it to know the exact drive, but we have a 3 day weekend here so plenty of time to try to find a TS 360. If I find one, I can hold onto it until I get mine back and if by some chance mine was repaired and/or replaced with a hackable drive I can just return the one I bought.

Who knows, I'll sleep on it and figure it out tomorrow.

[kin0kin]

That sounds feasible. Do you think it's a good idea if I grab an xbox from costco now, then search for a TS, swap it to the costco unit and return the non costco one. Wait for the 65nm to come out, swap the drive and return the costco unit? :D yeah i know, not the most ethical means to getting the drive but what the heck. The only problem is where to hunt for a TS unit, walmart/BB are both pretty damn anal about returning consoles. :(

[Marinz]

Well to be honest, when my first 4 360s died, I basically did the same thing. I found a store that didn't scan the serial, bought a new one, returned my old (broken) old one.

The fact is, first, it is wrong, and I do feel bad about it, but I am assuming M$ is the one that pays in the end, and they should. Second, there aren't really any close stores now that I can do that with. And with the banning happening, I am not sure if they really will check anything on a return, so don't want to try to return an old / broken 360 and have them find out. I did register all of them, and the fact that all flat out died, I did have local network settings, etc. and were registered so I am sure if M$ really checked, the could find out it was an old console and that I had owned them.

I don't want to tell you what you should do, that's your choice, but if you happen to go that route, I would love to hear how it all works out.

PM me if you want to discuss further. I can tell you stores (at least locally) that don't (or at least didn't) scan serial numbers.

[darkvokhens]

I think you got the mobo code name wrong, i believe the elite/hdmi premium are the 'zephyr' boards, also the halo 360 is also the same board IIRC, its just the hdmi premium 'limited' edition

[kin0kin]

I think you got the mobo code name wrong, i believe the elite/hdmi premium are the 'zephyr' boards, also the halo 360 is also the same board IIRC, its just the hdmi premium 'limited' edition

you are absolutely right. Thanks for correcting the mistake. :o

[nighcore]

Hey, just to give a heads up. I recently bought a Premium 360 with HDMI port from a local Wal-Mart and it came with the latest BenQ drive. Might want to update the list. And I am getting my Halo 3 system today so I will re-post later to let you know what drive that one has. I'm going to guess a BenQ :(

[darkvokhens]

Hey, just to give a heads up. I recently bought a Premium 360 with HDMI port from a local Wal-Mart and it came with the latest BenQ drive. Might want to update the list. And I am getting my Halo 3 system today so I will re-post later to let you know what drive that one has. I'm going to guess a BenQ :(

reportedly some have hitachi's, some have benq's