A fairly decent console but you may as well buy the more expensive one (Microsoft Xbox 360 Arcade)

Member Name: tomo359

Product:	Microsoft Xbox 360 Arcade
Date:	14/11/08 (706 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good price, included games, wireless controller

Disadvantages: Not high definition, too noisy, don't get hard drive, not wireless

I recently purchased the Xbox 360 Arcade console mainly so i could play some games that are not available on other consoles. I bought mine from a seller on Amazon.co.uk and used a £15 voucher bringing the price to about £85 so i got a great deal.
The console arrived a couple of days later. The console was used when i got it but i knew it was, it was only used a couple of times though and this shows as it was in perfect condition, everything was with it. Infact it didn't look used at all, the only thing that showed me that it had been used was there was a users account still saved on the console.

OK, i opened the box and found the console itself. The Arcade console is nearly all white, including the disk tray (unlike the other console which has a silver disk tray. Apart from that, the console is basically the same.
On the front you have a large power button with four lights round it. You have the disk tray and eject button, two memory card slots and a flap that you push open to reveal two USB ports.
On the top of the console (when stood vertically) is a plastic grey cover that can be removed if you want to attach an official Xbox 360 hard drive (you do not get one with this console).
On the back on the console is the socket for the power cable, the socket for the tv cable and an ethernet port to connect the console to the internet. This is another difference from the other consoles. This console is not wireless so to connect the Xbox to the internet to use Xbox Live then you either need to connect an ethernet cable to your modem, or buy a separate wireless adaptor, but these can be a little expensive.
The cables you get with this are a power cable and a large power brick about half way through the cable. You then get tv cable. I'm not sure what this sort of cable is called but its the one where you get the 3 coloured connectors (red, yellow and white)
This console cannot produce high definition as it does not have an HDMI port in the back unlike the other consoles but the picture quality is still good.

Also in the box you get lots of different books and instructions, warranty etc but one thing i was a bit puzzled about was the fact none of these books explained what everything on the console does. I was expecting a diagram of the console labelling everything on it, but luckily most of the things you will figure out easily enough. Except i am puzzled with one small round button below the memory card slot. It does not say anything on the console itself but when you press it the lights on the console start to flash for a while, but nothing happens on the tv screen.

Also in the box is one wireless controller. This was nice as it means you have more freedom when playing. The controller is easy enough to use. It takes two AA batteries in the back compartment and you get two batteries included. You slide the batteries into this holder thing which then slots into the controller. This is good but when you have to replace the batteries they can be hard to get out as the holder is a bit stiff and you really have to try hard to get the batteries out.

Because the console does not have a hard drive with it, you get a 256MB memory card which slots in one of the slots. This does get you going but you will soon need something bigger.
OK i think thats about it for what you get included, except the included game of course.
Another thing you get with the Arcade version is a disk with 5 mini arcade games on to get you started playing.
The 5 games you get are Uno, Pac Man, Luxor 2, Boom Boom Rocket and Feeding Frenzy. I haven't actually played all the games on the Xbox but the ones i have played are all good fun. Everyone knows Pac Man. The classic arcade game. Now this is one of the games i haven't actually played on the console. I'm sure most people know about Uno as well. A classic card game and this game can be played online using Xbox Live.
Luxor 2 is a game that many people download on their computers. It is quite a simple game where you have to fire coloured balls into a trail of moving balls and get rid of all the balls before they get to the end.
Boom Boom Rocket is a game where you have to set off fireworks in time to music. And finally Feeding Frenzy is a game where you are a little fish and you have to eat smaller fish to get bigger until you complete the level.

Once you load up the console, as long as you don't have a disk in, you will be shown a screen with tabs on. Each tab is a different section. I can't remember each tab but you have one for Xbox Live, one for games, one for media etc. You switch between the tabs to access the different information. I can't talk about Xbox Live much as i have not got my console connected to the internet yet.

You can play music on your console either from a CD, you can also connect a USB device with music on, and i think you can upload music to the hard drive but i'm not too sure about this. You can also watch DVDs on the console but the disk drive does not play HD DVDs or Blu Ray disks. You can buy a seperate HD disk drive but i wouldn't bother as we all know blu ray has won in the high definition market and fewer and fewer HD DVDs are available so you wouldn't get your moneys worth.

One bad thing with the console is the noise. When you first power it up its quite noisy when the fans power up but you soon get used to this, but when you put a disk in its another matter. When you put any disk in the drive and it starts spinning it gets really noisy. I think its just the noise of the disk itself but it is really bad and i've never heard anything like it. You have to turn your tv volume up so block out the noise. Don't play this console at night if you do not want to disturb other people in the house sleeping. I know this is not just a problem with my console as everyone i have asked have all said it is very noisy with disks in.

Another fault with all Xbox 360 consoles is the 'red ring of death'
This has never happened to me, but again i have heard of this happened a lot. I think the cause is the console over heating, then the console fails and on the front, the little lights round the power button go from green to red and if 3 of the lights all light red it usually means your console is dead and you have to get it sent away to be repaired or just buy another.

I hope i have written enough. I haven't had the console that long so i can't talk about everything but overall i have been quite pleased. But i wouldn't have liked to have bought this console as my main console. I also have a PS3 and a Wii and i prefer both these over the 360.

For the money though its not a bad console. The Arcade version retails around £130 and with that you do get the 5 games disk so its ok, but you spend more money on buying a hard drive and wireless adaptor so really you may as well by the next console up for something like £170.

I am going to this the console only 3 stars though because firstly the noise is just awful, and also because you don't get a big enough memory card, don't get wireless and don't get high definition. Also also because of the red ring of death (i know this hasn't happened to me but it puts me off playing for long periods at a time as that is usually when it will happen)

Summary: I am glad i saved money on it as i don't think i would have liked to have paid the full price.