Having already owned an playstaion three since its release i thought that would be all i would need. But soon the seeds of advertising were sown and i felt empty without an xbox underneath my playstation three. I bought it and couldnt wait to set it up. Things were great and i found my playstaion gather dust as I used my Xbox non-stop for then next three weeks. But this was the calm before the storm.

Before i get into my experience allow me to describe the hardware that comes with it.

First and foremost the console it-self. Its a sleek and slim design thats whick with patchs of grey and silver that work nicely. The buttons on the front glow a neon green to form the iconic Xbox symbol thats know for the "red ring of death". For anyone who doesnt own a console this is basically the melt down of your xbox due to a problem with the solder. Once this has been experienced there is no way that your xbox will ever work again. While there are some "cures" they are well know for sorting it out for a few hours of play but in the long run making things worse. This is a huge problem and if your xbox isnt insured your going to have to buy a new one. And just to show how big this problem is i have around 40 friends who have experienced the red ring in some way.

Now onto the controller. It is alot bigger then the sony controller and takes some getting use to but soon feels alot more comftable to use for long periods without discomfort. The 2 triggers on the back feel much smoother then anything else on the market and are soon a joy to use however, i have had three controllers for the xbox and have found two of them had a bad problem with the triggers sticking or locking.

The headset that is included is a one ear model with a bendy mic. Its plugs into the base of the controller ( a brilliant idea ) and has volume controls at the base of the plug. Whilst being very clear it can be at times very quiet and even the slightest of backround noises tends to drown out every thing that is said.

Ok so now ive plugged in the xbox and ive set myself up a profile. But to all those expecting to go online make sure you pick up a 12 month sub-scription to xbox live or you can kiss online play good buy. I found this to be a huge draw back as I was used to sharing a Playstation three console with three online profiles. At around £35 a year it would cost all of us a staggering £105 a year for all three of us to use the xbox online that almost as much as i paid for it. But hidden costs aside the xbox is really easy to use with bright menus clearly labeled and easy to navigate. When it come it connecting to the internet the xbox does it all for you even with my tempermental router.

Now on to using the console. The first thing about the look of the games is that the graphics are always alot flatter on the xbox compared to the ps3. Just to test this i borrowed Gta on Ps3 and bought it on xbox and i noticed an extreme difference despite what xbox fan boys will tell you. Oh and talking about fans the xbox fan makes a noise like grinding steel and twice as loud. This is the most annoying and loud sound ive ever had to enjore and it seems pointless as the xbox is always boiling hot to the touch and after a an hour or two your bound to really be feeling the heat.

Now onto the multi media side of the xbox. Well first of all it doesnt have an optical out. If your a bit of a high fi buff then youll know this means that if youve (like myself) forked out the £300 for an external dac to go with your amp youll know that you cant use it with the xbox meaning that youll have to have the sound going through the tv. That just doesnt cut it. Now i found that there are very few types of file that the xbox will play so after buying a film of itunes i had to take it off my ipod and go through hoop after hoop to convert it to a type that the xbox can play. However when it comes to audio files your able to play them over a game which is just awsome however you cant rip from your music cds like you can on ps3 and also with no use of your amp or speakers listening to music is pointless.

What started off a dream soon became a nightmare as i uncovered more of its failings and i had it for around 4 months of not using it before i traded it in. Let someone else deal with it now.