I loved my Xbox. Like a son. Then it got the red ring of death. Now I hate it. How could it do that to me?

Seriously though, the Xbox is brilliant, although I am a little disappointed that after almost 3 years together it's decided to pack up on me.

When considering a console just before christmas, I had a choice between going for either the 360, playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii. In the end I decided against the last two as the ps3 is twice the money of the 360 and also people I have spoken to say that the games haven't really reached their full potential for it yet. The Wii is something a bit different in terms of consoles but from what I could see the Wii is aimed more at a family market with games being played between friends in the same room. Also it seems to be aimed more at a female market.

Anyway, I decided to opt for the 360 as for £130 I got the Arcade console plus two games. Also for an extra £10 I got a re-chargeable battery pack (which is very useful as otherwise you'll get through normal AA type batteries pretty quick).
Whilst I had head about the 'red ring of death' problem with these consoles, I had researched online and found that the later 360's (allegedly) are now much improved and have a new gel in them to prevent overheating.
The first time I played on the 360 though after 5 mins into the game it would cut out and two red lights would appear on the console. For a brand new product I found this to be very disappointing.
The replacement console I got so far does appear to work ok, although the fan noise from the console does seem quite loud. When playing a game where there is a cut scene such as in Grand theft auto 4 the noise can get pretty irritating as you have to really turn the volume up to hear what the characters are saying.
With regards to internet capability I have yet to find out how good this is as there seems to be connection problems with the ethernet cable I am using. There is also the option of buying a wireless adapter but these, to me, seem fairly pricey at £40 plus (the cheapest I have seen them is on Amazon for about £42!). Why the wireless adapter couldn't have been built into the unit itself is beyond me and I kinda wonder if it is so you spend another

Beats ps3 online etc.
Great hd console, buy pro or elite for online.
These days consoles are for on-line you need it!
Well recommend Microsoft Xbox 360.

Good sleak design, good graphics, great choice of games, great value, good online capability... The noise it makes is horrible and annoying I find, I can hear more from the console than the TV, accessories are expensive. The console is brilliant no doubt, but it could be quieter. I would rather have a ps3 than have a 360 ever again.

Live is the Best you can get for online gaming, bottom line.
the large amount of games released helps the console as well.
but the 360 has only hardware, very old. DVD is 7 years old and was in PS2. 360 should of had HD-DVD inside. Hardware failure is massive issue with the 360 with a 1/3 of 360 getting RRoDs.

360 may have a lot of games but i only own 11 titles, i'm selling 4 on friday for some wii games. i only 11 titles because there not many AAA games on the 360 & all 360 exclusives are released on PC as well. my PC is 2 X better than my 360. in Graphics (9800 GTX), RAM (4Ghz) and processing (Quad core). what i'm saying is, the 360 is old and xbox live is saving the 360 for its death.

It's a nice console when it works, and can be great fun when playing online. And has a lot of great games, the Marketplace is great to download all kinds of stuff, from videos to extra maps for your games. But the Xbox 360 is brought way too early on the market, and has many malfunctioning things. I have the Xbox 360 for almost 2 years now, and it had scratched many discs now, and even scratched discs so badly they don't even work any more. The disc tray seems to get damaged too by playing games, as I find fine grey powder from the hatch in my Xbox 360. My disc hatch wont even open normally any more, so I have to punch my Xbox 360 to open it. My Xbox 360 gets so hot that it makes a cracking sounds after it's turned off, which makes me guess the plastic can't handle the heat. My brothers Xbox 360 sometimes doesn't work at all and often freezes when playing games, and he bought it about 6 months ago.

I heard Microsoft is going to spend $1 billion to fix the malfunctioning Xbox 360's.

Let me start off by saying that the Xbox 360 is an ok piece of machinery and has a lot of potential.

The biggest downer about the 360 is this - the range of games available is very restricted and has little variation. There are a few orignal ideas such as Dead Rising, which looks very entertaining, and of course there are good online games like Gears of War and the Ghost Recon series.

I also have an issue about pricing. The console alone will set you back a lot of money - the basic option doesn't even include a controller or hard drive. The games are even more rediculously priced - we are expected to cough up an average of about £45 for new games - when the same game can be found available for the PC at half the price, offering better performance and more features.

I have not used Xbox Live with my 360 as I don't see the point in paying for a service that is available completely free of charge with the PC versions of Xbox games.

My final point is about the console itself. The performance is ok, and depending on which game you're playing, the performance isn't bad. Before I got my 360, I had a Playstation 2, which, after playing the 360, I actually like more.

So to conclude, I think that the 360 is trying too hard to be a PC. For a third generation console, the graphics are a let down and somewhat disappointing. Owning a 360 is an expensive hobby - once you have your console, you will also have to buy a hard drive, controller, and games seperately, all at a high cost.

I can see the appeal of the 360 and I appreciate it's huge potential. It's just that for the moment, owning an Xbox isn't worth it.

I took the time to read most of the other reviews before writing this, so I will focus on issues the others have not mentioned or have not experienced themselves

I have been gaming since the 1980's and have owned practically every game machine sold in the UK since the Atari 2600 Woody so I am not new to consoles.

The Xbox360 is an advanced games machine that packs as much high end technology as Microsoft could afford while keeping the machine financially viable. This is all great until you purchase your Xbox360 and quickly come to the realisation that the jump in technology comes at the expense of acceptable reliability.

With the notable advance in each generation of machines, I was alarmed the Xbox360's tendency to randomly crash / freeze despite being new out of the box. Much of this would happen mid-online game so I put it the problem down to connectivity issues and lived with it.

The problems persisted from time to time, but I still managed to get great gaming sessions in both on & off line until recently. Because now I have encountered a second common problem with the Xbox360 that is 'disk error' related.

About two weeks ago I got a casual 'Disk dirty' message while playing my 3 week old copy of Gears of War. The message ends the game session immediately and returns the users to the dash board with orders to clean the disk with a soft cloth.

Ever since, these messages have become so prominent that I can no longer play Gears of War at all. I get the said message and the game aborts within 3-5 mins of start up every single time. Upon inspection of the disk it was 100% clean, however I did notice that a few fine lines had developed on the underside of the disk that could only have been caused by use in the 360 itself, as the game had not been removed from the console since the day of purchase. This has prompted me to question the durability of the disks or the propensity of the disk drive to damage the disk when in use.

*Please note* There is a chapter in the Xbox360 manual that warns against moving the console with a game disk inside. Microsoft suggest the disk may be damaged beyond repair.

So now Ii am 55GBP out of pocket, and I can no longer play Gears of War through no fault of my own. The machine also has a slight tendency to overheat, this has never happened to me but your 360 will alert you by glowing its on/off button Orange instead of Green while barring you from using the machine.

All of the above is annoying, but pales in comparison to the seldom known (outside of Xbox circles) RED LIGHT.

This is the Xbox360 self-diagnostic system taking control again. But unlike the Orange overheating warning and resultant cooling off period, the RED light renders your console completely kaput, permanently. The only cure for this is to have Microsoft send UPS or another carrier to your door to pick up your console in order to return it to them for repair, and then returned to you.

The time scale for the above work varies greatly. I have read on the official Xbox forum of UPS turning up for the console within in one day of notifying Microsoft of the problem, and sent back to the owner within 7 to 10 days.

Closer to home, my own Xbox Live buddies have differing stories. One is currently on his THIRD Red light since his original 360 purchase in Dec 05. The first repair had a total turn around time of 3 weeks, the second 2 months. Currently his Xbox has sat awaiting pick up for the last 3 weeks with no joy.

On top of all this, Microsoft failed to explain that the Xbox360 can also throw up a "I need a service" message also (Similar to a BMW,Audi, Mercedes car in dash service indicator) Which will require the console to take yet another trip back to its makers.

While many who buy a new Xbox360 may enjoy years of problem free gamming, I'm begining to wonder just how extensive the above mentioned problems are. Judging by my own experience, and those of hundreds of other people on the Official Xbox360 forums, I can only conclude that these problems are in fact widespread and thus it is only a matter of time before ALL owners run into problems.

When you consider that Microsoft will only repair the console free of charge for the first 12 months of ownership, I am seriously re-evaluating the validity of Xbox ownership for the foreseeable future. As good as the 'very latest' games are and as superb as Xbox Live is, I find my self having to strongly recommend NOT buying one of these machines at present. £300+ and £40 - £55 a game does not represent good value when the product appears to be fatally flawed.

Iv had my xbox360 for a while now on first impressions i loved it even thought it was better than my cube for a small amount of time. i was surprised at how good the controller was it works like a dream. Graphics were pretty good too. After this the long list of down points kicks in.
first thing i noticed was the huge power pack. Another one of 360s problems is it has hardly any good games which aren't fps (first person shooters) yeah dead rising, forza 2 and saints row are coming out and should be great but apart from them there's nothing. Yeah I do like fps but not all the time. At times the 360 can also be unreliable with problems with freezing during games and heating up too much both of these iv never experienced on another console part form ps2. I have premium pack with 20gb hardrive, which is a substantial amount of memory but compared to ps3s whopping 60gb its nothing.
the build quality is fine apart from the disc tray looks and feels cheap. Prices of games is a tad overpriced for what you get mostly just another man with a gun
I recommend sticking with the original Xbox as it has the best fps ever made- halo 2
but if your looking for a new console i would aim for a Nintendo wii or a PlayStation 3.

I just bought an Xbox 360 at the weekend, so this review is pretty much based on first impressions.

Firstly the box weighs a ton. I got the premium edition of the console, and the combination of wireless controller and power supply really isn't light.
I only bought one game, which was Project Gotham Racing, which I was playing 5 minutes after getting home. First thing I noticed was that the graphics don't look that much better than GT4 on my PS2 (with a component video connection), which surprised me a lot, considering I have a HDTV and the console set to 720p.
Secondly I tried a DVD. The playback is awful. In dark areas of a scene you can see terrible quantizing artifacts everywhere. If you're planning to use the machine to watch DVD's, don't bother, as it's going to really annoy you.

I found connecting to XBox live really simple. A bit convoluted, but I connected my laptop to a wifi hotspot, plugged in the Ethernet cable supplied with the XBox, told it to configure itself, and it worked perfectly. Say what you like about Microsoft, but they do know how to integrate their products well.

Lastly, I found some sample videos on the Xbox last night while poking around, the video was simply stunning. That leads me to think that when the games have matured a little and an external HD-DVD drive is released, the console is going to be greatly improved.
In the short term though, if you can't afford both then I'd wait for a PS3. The Xbox looks good, but it's more "existing gen and a half" than truly "next gen".

I like the graphic interface on the Microsoft Xbox 360. It is nice not to have to wait for the game to load for every new scene. The price is a little high, even for what you get, but as always that will come down in a matter of time.

The XBox 360 is a nice gaming system. It has removable face-plates, sleek name-brand wireless controllers, and the jump on Sony and Nintendo.

The graphics on the 360 were noticeably better than the original XBox, but not THAT much better. Think of the best graphics on XBox and add a couple of points to that, and that would be the XBox 360's graphics. Definitely a disappointment because Microsoft talked up the graphics.

There aren't too many games for the 360 either. I have played many of the released games. Some of which include: Need For Speed: Most Wanted, Madden NFL 2006, Perfect Dark Zero, Condemned, and Call of Duty 2. NFS: Most Wanted and Call of Duty 2 were good, but a lot of the games were ported over from the first XBox. The only new titles for the 360 at launch were Condemned, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, and Project Gotham Racing 3.

Even though the XBox 360 costs a bundle, you get a lot in the premium package. You pay 100 USD more to get a hard drive (normally $100), a DVD remote ($30), wireless controller ($10 more than a regular), an XBox Live headset (at least $30), and HDTV cables. You end up saving $60-$80 on the bundle. However, the system itself could be a lot better, so the premium is not the perfect package.

After all that is said, the XBox 360 is nice, but could have been a lot better. It did not quite live up to its hype. However, if you like games like Elder Scrolls, Kameo, and Halo 3, then the XBox 360 might be for you.

Microsoft promised the Xbox 360 before Christmas and succeeded. However, although you'll be really excited if you are lucky enough to find one left in stock before Xmas, once you get home it'll be mixed feelings.

Firstly, if you don't have a HDTV you're out of luck. You'll power it up giggling like a kid, and it'll be like running face first into a brick wall. Without HDTV support the graphics are barely any better than the likes of Far Cry, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2. You'll wonder what's the point when the old XBox can do this? However, if you are lucky enough to afford one you'll be happier, power up the likes of PGR3 and you will be fairly amazed.

Unfortunately there are very few games worth your time at all. Project Gotham Racing 3 is fantastic, and although Perfect Dark 0 isn't as good as it's N64 sequel, it's still good fun, especially on Live. However, that's about all I can recommend.

So many of the games have been rushed. FIFA and Tiger Woods look nice but both have lost many features in the rush to release them; FIFA for example only has one tournament, while Tiger Woods has lost most of it's mini-games and even courses. Call of Duty 2 is put to shame by many PC games already out, and if you've played ANY other WWII game you'll be bored before long. And King Kong, Gun, Tony Hawk's, and Need for Speed are all nice, but you can pick them up cheaper on ANY of the current consoles, and when you're shelling out £50 for a game you really do expect more than half a game that looks pretty.

As for the console itself, it's honestly not too bad, obviously with the mad rush to release it there are teething problems, with many people reporting severe system errors (I'm lucky so far) with games glitching and some refusing to work at all. However these will be sorted in time, and with the initial rush now over, developers have more time to create the games this console badly needs right now.

Despite this the controller is brilliant, no problems with these, they are really easy to hold and use (imagine the old Xbox controller with the comfort of a Gamecube pad) and the wireless feature works just like the Wavebird on Gamecube, so in other words extremely well.

Live is fairly easy to get going and is brilliant fun. The years of tweaking from the Xbox really show through there.

The only other problems are minor really. The cooling fan sounds like something that belongs in a Nuclear Power Plant; Surely it doesn't have to be that noisy! And the external power pack (like the Gamecube's) is huge, but on the plus side, as it's external this time, it means the console isn't huge.

So finally, it's got the making's of a great console, but because Microsoft have rushed it out, it suffers from low quality games and some system problems, and apart from that it is very costly to get the best from it. However, in time HDTV's will come down in price, the games will get better, and more people joining Live is only a good thing. As for now though, you're better off waiting for the price to come down and the games to come out. Go and buy a secondhand Xbox or Gamecube if you haven't got one. You'll find some great games on either, that will keep you going for quite some time, and at only a fraction of the 360's price. With a Gamecube especially, you can pick one up cheaper than most new games now...

It's not to say you won't enjoy your 360 if you do buy one now, just be prepared to wait for it to get better that's all, but the main thing is that it WILL get better.