I was given the Xbox 360 Slim as a replacement to my old 250gb Elite Call of Duty Console, my fella was working at Gamestation over Christmas and managed to wangle one of these instead of just getting another bog standard 250gb. To be honest, even if he hadn't of worked there, I still would have demanded a newer model for the amount of times we had to take our other consoles back for replacements.

The Geeky Bit:

Kinect Ready
Built in Wi-Fi
5 x USB Ports
250GB Hard Drive

My Experience:

My experience in the 5 months or so that we've had the Xbox 250GB Slim console has been brilliant. First of all, it was Kinect ready, which meant that I could ditch the power adapter for my Kinect unit and just plug it straight into my Slim Xbox. The Kinect set up software is already on the system so no download is required and it goes through the easy set up process to reconfigure the Kinect Sensor with the new console. It looks better than my old chunky elite, although I still wouldn't call it slim. It's smoother and more modern looking than previous models and is super quiet to run. The power button and disc tray button are touch sensitive so little pressure is needed for these to be pressed, a little "ting" sound can be heard when either of these buttons are pressed, I thought this was a pretty cool touch.

The massive hard drive space of 250GB is enough for even the most hardcore of gamers, this means that you can download and save even more content onto your Xbox console, and also means that you can install your Xbox games to the Hard Drive to reduce disc noise and disc damage as the disc won't be constantly spinning the disc tray. The hard drive is internal this time instead of being on the side of the Xbox but it is still removable, I myself have never removed it as it means taking the Xbox apart a bit, which I wouldn't trust myself doing without breaking it! ha-ha!

Built in WiFi meant that I could ditch my old Wireless Adapter that used to be strapped to the back of my Elite console, built in WiFi also means that no leads are needed to be hooked up the Xbox and it's even easier and faster to get online with Xbox Live. For those of you who don't have wireless internet, there is still an Ethernet port on the back of the console a long with the many other ports for the other bits and pieces you may need plugged into the console.

There are more ports on the new Xbox Slim than any other console. There are a total of 5 USB ports, 3 on the back and 2 on the front of the console, means that you can have more gadgets plugged into your console this time. Plugged into mine is my Kinect Sensor (into the back of the console) my external Hard Drive from my laptop also gets plugged into the back of the console as I stream a lot of my TV and movies from that onto my Xbox. Plugged into the front of my console is my boyfriends iPhone charger, and a plug and charge kit to charge up my controllers, that leaves just 1 port free but thats plenty for us, it used to be a pain before having to continuously unplug things to plug something else into on my old Xbox consoles.

Gone are the removable face plates which I kind of liked with the older Xbox consoles, as it meant you could customise your console to look how you wanted. There are still "skins" available to buy for the slim consoles, there are a fair few available on eBay and Amazon but they are just stickers as far as I'm aware so may be a little tricky to get on perfectly and I'm sure they will be even worse of a pain to get off if you ever wanted to get rid of your console, or had to have it replaced. I myself prefer the sleek shiny black gloss finish of the console anyway, although it's a bugger for showing up finger prints and dust!

Microsoft have discontinued the production of all the older models of the Xbox 360, and are now focusing on just producing more of the Slim consoles in both 4GB and 250GB. I've gone from having a basic 20GB console, to a 60GB then to my Elite 250GB console and finally to the Slim 250GB. Along the way I've probably gone through around 8 consoles in total, thanks to numerous disc tray errors and hard drive failures. However, I've never given up on Microsoft and still think that the Xbox is by far the best console around at the moment. I also own a Wii, and a Playstation 3 before people say "how can you say the Xbox is the best if you haven't got the rest", well it's simple, I have. I'm a self proclaimed geek as is my boyfriend and our house is a geeks paradise.

The best thing for me is that it's sleeker, shinier, quieter, has built in wireless and has 5 USB ports, which I'm never going to be able to fill all at once.

Overall:

The Xbox 250GB Slim is an awesome bit of kit, it really has everything you need to get started. There are loads of bundles available with the console depending on where you shop, but all consoles come with the basics like a Black Wireless controller and a Black Headset. There are also some built in Arcade games on the Hard Drive for you to try out. There is also a smaller 4GB console available, but that is just for a light gamer who isn't going to download any content from Xbox Live and just wants to play games. The 250GB console is great value for money and a great bit of kit, you can fit so much onto the massive hard drive, including your Xbox Games as well as tonnes of Xbox Live Content.

Amazon are currently selling the 250GB console at an awesome £149.99, but if you shop around you may be able to find a better deal. Places like Game and Gamestation have deals on for the console with certain games etc.