I purchased an xbox 360 20gb in 2008 for £150. At the time i did not own xbox live so i will first give you a bit of a review on the non-live side of things.
XBOX 360 OFFLINE MODE
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So you have just set up the xbox 360, all connected first thing you do is pick up the controller and turn it on obviously.
You will now notice that the xbox 360 wireless controller is rather large but when grasped properly and with a little getting used to it becomes very naturally fitting to your hand, or more your hand get's used to the controller. The controls alter between games but the buttons go like this :
Trigger left : LT
Trigger right : RT
Button on top left known as the left bumper : LB
Button on top right known as the right bumper :RB
Left analouge stick : the left joy stick
Right analouge stick : the right joy stick
Up, down, left, right : directional pad below LB
Select : small button on the left of the home button
Home : large raised X in the middle
Start : small button on the right of the home button
Y, X, A, B : self explanatory
Now it loads up an you are given the chance to create what is called a gamertag, this is basically your name on the xbox set it as whatever you want, names such as xx(name)xx and xo(name)xo are very common for some reason. After creating a gamertag you will be told to create your avatar which is basically a moving 3d character of you however you can create him how you wish.
Now this has been done you have what is known as a gamer card with all your information. This shows your achievements and gamer points also which is the points you are awarded when you complete special challenges on each game with 1000points up for grabs on each game.
The dashboard is basically your home menu scrolling up will take you to a new panel showing the game marketplace( xbox live section covers this) etc etc and you can view the different panels.
With the xbox 360 there are 2 front usb ports, if you wish to insert a memory stick then you can play music, watch movies and view images. Also the xbox 360 drive accepts dvd's and you can rip music from cd's if you wish to store them on the xbox 360.
The xbox 360 allows you to use hd if you have a hd tv to do this you will need to go to the scart adaptor in the back(or front maybe), for those of you who do not know what this is it is the little thing with the red yellow white cables in, and take this cables out and put the other 3 colours in and switch the small black button to hd, this will allow you to play your games and watch your movies in FULL hd providing you have the correct television.

XBOX 360 ONLINE MODE
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This is the gem of the xbox 360 it is microsofts main focus for the xbox 360, although it costs money it is very cheap. £39.99 is normal which relates to aproxamatly 10p a day! For anyone who says this is expensive 10p a day is all you need there really is no exuse to not have it.
To connect to xbox live you need broadband in the home and you can either opt to use an ethernet cable or use the wireless adaptor which is very expensive.
When you connect to xbox live you will be able to use all the online multi player functions of every game with them! Aswell as this, you have acess to msn and a very good few applications.
Game maketplace :
This is where you can download demos for most new games : FREE
Also you can download additonal game content such as map packs for call of duty : some of these are free the majorty of additonal content however does cost
You can also buy arcade games which are very cheap time wasting games basically but some are rather entertaining to be fair.
Video marketplace :
You can buy rent and stream instantly full hd movies from ZUNE
You can use, providing you have a subscrition to sky already, the very popular sky player to watch your favourite shows you missed
Watch all the latest movie trailers
Music marketplace :
Listen to unlimited music with no ads using ZUNE
Personalized last fm radion channel : FREE
My friends :
View all your current friends on xbox live maximum of 100 friends
Join parties where you can speak to a number of people
Add new friends
My community :
Use video chat if you have the kinect motion sensor
You can use facebook and twitter very easily
So as you can clearly see the xbox 360 is brilliant ... however compared to the playstation 3 ....
live psn
£39.99 £00.00
no internet full internet use
strong security weak security
excellent online gameplay average online gamplay
So as you can see it does match up to the PS3 with the downside being price and no internet but those shouldnt bother you too much as the console is brilliant!

The xbox 360 for me is by far the best console to buy it is cheap, easy to use, has the best online gameplay and in full makes for a better gaming experience.
Useability 8/10
Online usage 9/10
Gameplay 7.5/10
Graphics 9/10(depending on the tv)
Overall 8.5/10 a brilliant console with many good factors about it.

Anyone considering purchasing a gaming console this is by far the one to go for!!

Please comment rate and trust me im new to this site so please comment how you think i did etc thank you :)