First off, how are you doing Walt?

What system(s) do you have? I was going to get a XBOX 360 but I have been hearing some bad things about them. The biggest is that they like to go bad very fast, and that if you see three rings or three bars, you need to go and get a new one. I'm going to stick with the PS2 for now then mabye down the road get a PS3. They are alot but if they are backwards compatable then I won't have a problem shelling out the cash for one.

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If you have a PS2 already then I would think it would not matter whether the PS3 was backward compatible since you could still play with your old PS2 games.

I think the newer and less expensive PS3 sacrificed backward compatibility for a lower price, which seems like it might be a decent tradeoff.

XBox 360 does have this problem called the Red Ring of Death. It will probably continue to rear its ugly head, but Microsoft is committed to replacing machines that get it. However, I have also read credible accounts saying that the DVD player sometimes scratches discs, which is a problem Microsoft has not yet acknowledged. I might look for the next recall before I got a 360.

Thoughts?

D

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I did a little research and I found that if you purchase one that has a code of 0723, it was made at a time that they pretty much cured the problem. But in order to keep it running good you need to buy an auxillary cooler for it, they are only between 15-25 dollars. But I have been told that they greatly improve they life span of the machine.

Now as for wich one to buy, the core system is cheap but there is no memory for it, you must either buy a memory card or purchase either a 20gb or a 120 gb hard drive. niether is very cheap but the 20gb one will not hit the wallet as hard as the larger one. The memory cards are only 64 mb, not large enough if , like myself, you like to play alot of games.

The biggest thing is to buy the extended warranty with it. The warranty is only 30-40 dollars but that is a pittance compared to about 400 dollars for a new machine. I haven't heard a whole lot of good about the 360 in regards to reliability and such. Even with the Aux cooler, alot of people have told me it still locks up after an hour or two.

I think that the best buy would be the PS3, you can cool it with the apropriate add-ons and expand the hard-drive if you see fit. And I have heard that the 80gb system price should be about where the 40gb version is, when that will be i'm not sure but I would spend the money on it after hearing all the horror stories about the 360.

Hope what I've been able to find out helps.

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I wonder why a 20gb hard drive is even being sold anymore on the XBox. As far as I know the only drives available are 80gb+. I wonder if you could take apart the unit and put in a larger drive.

I hear the Xbox has the PS3 beat on games - very disappointing because I am (putting it mildly) not a Microsoft fan and so I would rather not see them win this battle, even if it's somewhat of a pyrrhic victory (since they've lost so much money on the Xbox program overall).

D

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I think that for the 360 you only have the 20 or 120 gb hard drive.

The 360 does have them beat as far as a selection of games go, but if you throw in all of the older games then the ps3 has the larger selection. I still play alot of my PS1 game, just for the nostalgia factor. That and the first Resident Evil game is about the best in my opinion.

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Well to answer your first 2 questions Keith, I'm doing well, thank you for asking, and 2nd: I'm a huge Nintendo fan lol
...but I do tamper with other systems here and there.

I have nothing against the playstation [for 1: it's originally American made] I, unfortunately don't have time to play anything anymore (now) not even my Nintendos let alone a PS.

And about the X-Box:
I agree with David about everything, and not just because he has a thing against Bill Gates and his monopoly, but I never hear anything good about the Box from friends.

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The exclusive games like Halo really help the Xbox. But those reliability problems are crippling!

I certainly don't want to buy a device where I need to get a special cooler for it to work. That's ridiculous. A $400 machine should be well enough engineered to not need something like that.

How are PS3 games? The only information I've really heard about them is at introduction, when they were anemic at best. Has the selection improved significantly?

I think Nintendo was wise to leave the horsepower race to the big guys and concentrate on making the games more fun, not necessarily prettier.

D

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I picked up a 360 and must say it is impressive, to say the least! The amount of games is almost astounding, I think the graphics are awesome. I did more research before I purchased it and found that the problems have been worked out of it. I guess if you complain enough they will fix it.

I have played it for up to 4 hours and have had no problems with it at all, the one I bought was the elite. It was a bit more pricey than the other ones but for all that I got with it, money well spent! That 120gb hard drive was the sell point for me at least. I could have bought the arcade system but to get it where I wanted it would have run me at least, with the system, almost 600.00!

All thoughts on microsoft aside, it is an impressive product!

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Congratulations! I hope it will give you many years of trouble-free service.

If it's any consolation for people who are not fond of Microsoft, they sell those things for below cost and hope to make it up in game royalties. It sounds like a dubious strategy to say the least and so far it's led to nothing but horrendous losses for MS.

So don't buy any games and Microsoft will have reason not to like you at all!

D

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