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Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite: Review

Posted to Video Components 2009-10-28

Sitting at the top of the Xbox 360 line, the Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Console integrates high definition video, DVD movie playback, digital music, photos, online content and online gaming into one unit. The Xbox 360 Elite features a custom IBM PowerPC-based processor with multiple cores running at 3.2GHz and a custom ATI graphics processor with 10MB of dedicated memory.

The unit supports HDTV 1080i televisions, widescreen 16:9 format, and features video upscaling of your existing games and DVDs. All Xbox 360 games can be played in standard or high definition. There's a 12X dual-layer DVD drive which plays both the game media and DVD movies. And for saving games and media storage there's a huge 120GB hard drive.

Rating:

3.6 out of 5

Quality

Users have reported some quality issues with the Xbox 360 series, sometimes having to replace the console multiple times. Microsoft covers this while the unit is in warranty, but an extended warranty with exchange might not be a bad idea with the number of problems reported. The overall build quality of the system is seems excellent, but there are apparently quite a few bad apples out there.

Performance

The Xbox 360 Elite delivers an impressive HD gaming experience. While PS3 owners might disagree, the performance of the 360 Elite is at least as good as, if not better than the PS3. The 120GB drive is convenient and allows the unit to be used as a media gateway to your PC. The Xbox 360 features online connectivity, and online games can be played via Microsoft's Xbox Live Silver prescription program. In addition, the Xbox 360 series supports the instant watch feature at Netflix, which allows for viewing thousands of online movie titles instantly (the player accomplishes this by downloading the movies you choose when your not using the unit).

Summary

The Xbox 360 Elite also comes with an improved wireless controller with rechargeable batteries, an HDMI cable and an Ethernet cable. While the ultimate decision on which game console to buy will probably come down to features vs. the games available for the device, the Xbox 360 Elite is an impressive machine. It's a little pricey, but you can't beat the features and the huge number of available (some exclusive to the Xbox 360) games.

Pros

3.2GHz PowerPC-based processor
ATI graphics with 10MB ram
HDTV compatible, video upscaling of existing games and DVDs
12X dual-layer DVD drive
120GB hard drive

Cons

There are no cons for this product