Xbox 360 4GB Console Review. The new Xbox 360® 4GB Console. Here today, ready for tomorrow with a brand new, leaner machine. Wi-Fi is built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE, where HD movies and TV stream in an instant. It’s ready for the controller-free experiences of Kinect — you don’t just play the game, you are the game. Xbox 360 is more games, entertainment and fun. What’s In The Box? • Xbox 360 4GB S Console • Xbox 360 Black Wireless Controller • Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable (standard definition) • One Month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership • 1 year limited warranty on console...
"New features at a great price!" 2010-08-09
By FTP (Silicon Valley, CA)
The xbox 360 slim with 4 GB. is what the original arcade version should have been, and is definitely worth its $200 price tag.
10 new features of this model are:
1. New Valhalla chip - hopefully improved design to prevent RRoD issue, but tech. reviews noted that the Jasper chip in the older Elite model runs cooler
2. WiFi N - this is the newest wifi standard that is 12X faster (up to 600 Mbits/ sec) than wifi G; you'll need a Wifi N router to get the max. speed
3. digital optical audio port (if your sound system is separate from your TV, then you'll need this to get full 5.1 surround sound)
4. 4 GB of flash memory (although 1.1 GB is used by the game system, but 0.3 GB can be reclaimed by deleting 4 game demos)
5. 5 USB ports (2 in front & 3 in back)
6. slimmer design with side vents (to prevent overheating)
7. dedicated Kinect port (just a convenience feature)
8. only 1 year of warranty (the only negative; older Elite models had 3 yrs.)
9. USB flash drive support (this was a xbox software update released in April 2010)
10. ESPN video streaming (will be included if you are a Gold member, $50/ yr.; should be available about Dec. 2010)
Slim 4 GB vs. 250 GB hard drive:
I bought the 4 GB system over the model with 250 GB hard drive because the xbox now supports game saves/ installs/ downloads and pic/ audio/ video downloads to USB flash drives. It supports 1-2 USB flash drives with 1-16 GB memory (using a 16 GB drive, 1.6 GB is used for formatting). Saving games and media to the USB drives is recommended since loading games and media will be much faster (reading memory is faster than reading hard drive) and more reliable (flash memory rarely fails, unlike hard drives); even the xbox live director recommended using USB drives for storage. If you have such a huge appetite for videos downloads and game demos that 32 GB can not accomodate, then you can always upgrade later with the 250 GB hard drive that will be sold in November; note that the older xbox hard drives are NOT compatible with the slim models. Installing xbox 360 games and game demos on the flash drives is no problem; xbox will ask you which drive to install the game. However, I can not verify if you can install older xbox games like Halo on the flash drive. The only xbox game I have is Halo 2, which does not install on flash. This problem may be specific to Halo 2 because even xbox live does not have Halo 2 for sale, which means Halo 2 is not supported without a xbox hard drive. I'm suspecting that any older games listed on xbox live is enabled for flash installation, but if they're not listed then you'll need a xbox hard drive. This is annoying but not a big issue since there are only a few older xbox games that you may want to play.
XBOX vs. PS3:
I am originally a PS3 and Wii gamer, but finally bought the xbox when the slim 4 GB model was released. To be competitive with the PS3, the xbox had to have the built-in wifi, optical audio port, and USB flash drive support. I was deciding whether to buy another PS3 for $300 since many games require 2 consoles for coop and multiplayer gaming, regardless of what system you choose. However, with this xbox priced at $200, I decided to choose the xbox since it has better coop games, more online gaming, and their video library blows away the PS3 online videos. Xbox music and music videos library needs to expand to the size of their TV and movies selection to be comparable with iTunes. The PS3 has better graphics though not significantly better (expected since PS3 has a better processor), but the XBOX has better coop and multiplayer games. The PS3 controller is better designed, better constructed, and has a rechargeable battery; the D-pad on the included xbox controller creaked without even playing a single game. Also, the PS3 has a Blu-Ray player, but is $100 more than the xbox slim 4 GB model. The xbox Kinect has more features and better specs. than the PS3 Move. With my Wii collecting dust, I decided to wait to see if games for the Kinect are a flop, similar to how many games for the Wii flopped. Anyways by June 2011, Kinect games should be 1/2 price with better selection.
Halo Reach Update:
You can not play Halo Reach coop online without a hard drive; using a USB flash drive does not fix the problem. Microsoft has confirmed this problem, so don't buy this system if coop online is a critical feature for you. The official XBOX FAQ is: "One or more players do not have a certified Xbox 360 hard drive attached to their Xbox 360 console. Some multiplayer aspects of Halo: Reach require an Xbox 360 certified hard drive." Microsoft said they are working on a fix, but Halo ODST had the same problem and that wasn't fixed!
If you're new to xbox, here are my recommended Top 10 coop games: Halo 1,3; Gears of War 1,2; Fable 2,3; HAWX 1,2; Halo Wars & Halo Reach (note: Halo 2 is not supported wo. a hard drive). Happy Gaming!
"The best yet!" 2010-08-06
By Mikey (NC, USA)
The best Xbox so far. The matte finish, price, 4GB internal is plenty for game saves and some add-ons. If you want more memory, just add 1-2 16GB USB flash sticks. I use USB drives for game saves and full game installs. This way I never have to worry about IF the system breaks on me. I'll always have my personal saves on the flash sticks. I never trust hard drives as they are more prone to fail over a flash stick. Thats why I didn't keep the 250GB version. Plus I don't do demos so I don't need that kind of space. Matte finish does not collect dust and hair like the gloss version does which drove me crazy as I did own the 250GB version for a short time until this version came out. VERY HAPPY with the arcade.
"Xbox 360 S 4gb" 2010-08-14
By Drew Mohatt
While this is my first Xbox 360, I have used older versions as well. This one tops them all. It gives the most bang for your buck. That's all there is to it. For 200 dollars you get the new Xbox 360 S which has more features then it's predecessors, is smaller, quieter, and runs cooler.
Pros:
-Built in Wifi allows me to connect to my computer hard drive to play music pictures and videos from my PC's hard drive
-Small size makes it convenient and out of the way
-Kinect ready if I every feel ambitious enough to get it.
-extra USB ports for wired controllers/flash drives
-Optical audio out ports
Cons
-not really any.
The 4gb flash memory may be considered a con to some people, but the Xbox 360 S hard drive will soon be sold separately (I'd estimate by the holiday season, and I'm never online so I don't download demos or dlcs. And with the built in
Wifi to read my PC's hard drive why would I need memory? And you can indeed save games to a flash drive.
All in all, this was the best $200 I've ever spent. Great product. Keep it up Microsoft!
"WHOA WHOA WHOA CALMMMM DOWN HALO FREAKS" 2010-10-24
By Craig M. Wayman
This XBOX 360 is perfect for me. But a lot of people are complaining because the Halo nerds can't play certain levels on Halo Reach because of there isn't enough room on the Hard Drive... take a deep breath, count to ten, and listen to me.
Alright This XBOX 360 only has 4 GB of space right???? Right, BUTTTTTTT YOU CAN USE FLASH DRIVES! I personnally have 2 16 GB Flash drives do the math that's 32GB + 4GB= 36GB of space plenty for me. Not to mention you can delete and reinstall all you want on these flash drives. Oh and by the way 16GB is the maximum amount of memory per flash drive and you are only allowed 2 flash drives plugged in at anytime. But again that's plenty for me.
For instance. I play Call of Duty. Now game saves take about couple hundred KB or so and even map packs take about 500 MB so that's not that much memory. The real chunk of memory get taken up by installing games which makes the XBOX perform smoother and better.
Now me being a Call of Duty player. I am playing with one 16GB Flash Drive. I have COD MW2 installed on it along with some games saves from it and other games, and my map packs and it has 6.9 GB of space left on it. When Black Ops comes out alls I am going to do is delete Modern Warfare 2 off the Flash Drive. Install Black Ops and go take a shower or something while I am waiting for it to install and when i get back Whaaaa Laaaa! and still plenty of room to boot. For those who like to buy games off of XBOX live you can get them just as cheap if not cheaper used from Game Stop or used from Amazon. So don't waste your money on the marketplace have the disk. But it's up to you.
Anyway just real quick you can't just plug your USB Flash drive in and go. You HAVE TO FORMAT IT! Which will render it dedicated to the XBOX 360 and it will erase what ever is on it. That's fine for me because I don't use my flash drives anymore I have an external hard drive.
So with that said you insert your flash drive, go to "System Settings" go to "Memory" you will see the flash drive go to it and format it. After that you are good to go to use it! Done end of story I am out!
"Just about perfect" 2010-09-20
By Matt Bolea
The 4gb new "slim" xbox is awesome. Despite not having the gloss finish and of course 250 gb hd, its got everything else. I have 2 games right now, Halo Reach and Dantes Inferno, i have rented movies, downloaded avatar accessories, zune, etc... and i still have 3.2 gb of space free, Halo taking up 11mb, and dante a whopping 1mb. Also is you didnt know you can now use any external hard drive to save games as well. So say you got a 8gb flash drive for your pc, you can store games on it! From how it looks so far 4gb can hold alot more games than what most people think..i dont see the need in spending $100 extra for the 250gb..unless you got that money to throw away. It would be nice to have a gloss finish, but its not that big of a deal if you ask me, especially when its all the same thing. Someone else did point out though in Halo Reach, you CANNOT play online co-op for some reason on the 4gb, but remember, just plug in a external and you should be fine! Other little side notes the new xbox is ALOT more quite, all touch no more buttons, a huge vent so it shouldn't have those old overheating RROD problems anymore (i know more than a big vent fixed that problem, but I'm not that tech savy) Overall, i LOVE this new xbox! OH and of course kinect ready! can't wait to see what that's going to be like.
I would suggest this system to anyone thinking about a new gaming console.
By FTP (Silicon Valley, CA)
The xbox 360 slim with 4 GB. is what the original arcade version should have been, and is definitely worth its $200 price tag.
10 new features of this model are:
1. New Valhalla chip - hopefully improved design to prevent RRoD issue, but tech. reviews noted that the Jasper chip in the older Elite model runs cooler
2. WiFi N - this is the newest wifi standard that is 12X faster (up to 600 Mbits/ sec) than wifi G; you'll need a Wifi N router to get the max. speed
3. digital optical audio port (if your sound system is separate from your TV, then you'll need this to get full 5.1 surround sound)
4. 4 GB of flash memory (although 1.1 GB is used by the game system, but 0.3 GB can be reclaimed by deleting 4 game demos)
5. 5 USB ports (2 in front & 3 in back)
6. slimmer design with side vents (to prevent overheating)
7. dedicated Kinect port (just a convenience feature)
8. only 1 year of warranty (the only negative; older Elite models had 3 yrs.)
9. USB flash drive support (this was a xbox software update released in April 2010)
10. ESPN video streaming (will be included if you are a Gold member, $50/ yr.; should be available about Dec. 2010)
Slim 4 GB vs. 250 GB hard drive:
I bought the 4 GB system over the model with 250 GB hard drive because the xbox now supports game saves/ installs/ downloads and pic/ audio/ video downloads to USB flash drives. It supports 1-2 USB flash drives with 1-16 GB memory (using a 16 GB drive, 1.6 GB is used for formatting). Saving games and media to the USB drives is recommended since loading games and media will be much faster (reading memory is faster than reading hard drive) and more reliable (flash memory rarely fails, unlike hard drives); even the xbox live director recommended using USB drives for storage. If you have such a huge appetite for videos downloads and game demos that 32 GB can not accomodate, then you can always upgrade later with the 250 GB hard drive that will be sold in November; note that the older xbox hard drives are NOT compatible with the slim models. Installing xbox 360 games and game demos on the flash drives is no problem; xbox will ask you which drive to install the game. However, I can not verify if you can install older xbox games like Halo on the flash drive. The only xbox game I have is Halo 2, which does not install on flash. This problem may be specific to Halo 2 because even xbox live does not have Halo 2 for sale, which means Halo 2 is not supported without a xbox hard drive. I'm suspecting that any older games listed on xbox live is enabled for flash installation, but if they're not listed then you'll need a xbox hard drive. This is annoying but not a big issue since there are only a few older xbox games that you may want to play.
XBOX vs. PS3:
I am originally a PS3 and Wii gamer, but finally bought the xbox when the slim 4 GB model was released. To be competitive with the PS3, the xbox had to have the built-in wifi, optical audio port, and USB flash drive support. I was deciding whether to buy another PS3 for $300 since many games require 2 consoles for coop and multiplayer gaming, regardless of what system you choose. However, with this xbox priced at $200, I decided to choose the xbox since it has better coop games, more online gaming, and their video library blows away the PS3 online videos. Xbox music and music videos library needs to expand to the size of their TV and movies selection to be comparable with iTunes. The PS3 has better graphics though not significantly better (expected since PS3 has a better processor), but the XBOX has better coop and multiplayer games. The PS3 controller is better designed, better constructed, and has a rechargeable battery; the D-pad on the included xbox controller creaked without even playing a single game. Also, the PS3 has a Blu-Ray player, but is $100 more than the xbox slim 4 GB model. The xbox Kinect has more features and better specs. than the PS3 Move. With my Wii collecting dust, I decided to wait to see if games for the Kinect are a flop, similar to how many games for the Wii flopped. Anyways by June 2011, Kinect games should be 1/2 price with better selection.
Halo Reach Update:
You can not play Halo Reach coop online without a hard drive; using a USB flash drive does not fix the problem. Microsoft has confirmed this problem, so don't buy this system if coop online is a critical feature for you. The official XBOX FAQ is: "One or more players do not have a certified Xbox 360 hard drive attached to their Xbox 360 console. Some multiplayer aspects of Halo: Reach require an Xbox 360 certified hard drive." Microsoft said they are working on a fix, but Halo ODST had the same problem and that wasn't fixed!
If you're new to xbox, here are my recommended Top 10 coop games: Halo 1,3; Gears of War 1,2; Fable 2,3; HAWX 1,2; Halo Wars & Halo Reach (note: Halo 2 is not supported wo. a hard drive). Happy Gaming!
By Mikey (NC, USA)
The best Xbox so far. The matte finish, price, 4GB internal is plenty for game saves and some add-ons. If you want more memory, just add 1-2 16GB USB flash sticks. I use USB drives for game saves and full game installs. This way I never have to worry about IF the system breaks on me. I'll always have my personal saves on the flash sticks. I never trust hard drives as they are more prone to fail over a flash stick. Thats why I didn't keep the 250GB version. Plus I don't do demos so I don't need that kind of space. Matte finish does not collect dust and hair like the gloss version does which drove me crazy as I did own the 250GB version for a short time until this version came out. VERY HAPPY with the arcade.
By Drew Mohatt
While this is my first Xbox 360, I have used older versions as well. This one tops them all. It gives the most bang for your buck. That's all there is to it. For 200 dollars you get the new Xbox 360 S which has more features then it's predecessors, is smaller, quieter, and runs cooler.
Pros:
-Built in Wifi allows me to connect to my computer hard drive to play music pictures and videos from my PC's hard drive
-Small size makes it convenient and out of the way
-Kinect ready if I every feel ambitious enough to get it.
-extra USB ports for wired controllers/flash drives
-Optical audio out ports
Cons
-not really any.
The 4gb flash memory may be considered a con to some people, but the Xbox 360 S hard drive will soon be sold separately (I'd estimate by the holiday season, and I'm never online so I don't download demos or dlcs. And with the built in
Wifi to read my PC's hard drive why would I need memory? And you can indeed save games to a flash drive.
All in all, this was the best $200 I've ever spent. Great product. Keep it up Microsoft!
By Craig M. Wayman
This XBOX 360 is perfect for me. But a lot of people are complaining because the Halo nerds can't play certain levels on Halo Reach because of there isn't enough room on the Hard Drive... take a deep breath, count to ten, and listen to me.
Alright This XBOX 360 only has 4 GB of space right???? Right, BUTTTTTTT YOU CAN USE FLASH DRIVES! I personnally have 2 16 GB Flash drives do the math that's 32GB + 4GB= 36GB of space plenty for me. Not to mention you can delete and reinstall all you want on these flash drives. Oh and by the way 16GB is the maximum amount of memory per flash drive and you are only allowed 2 flash drives plugged in at anytime. But again that's plenty for me.
For instance. I play Call of Duty. Now game saves take about couple hundred KB or so and even map packs take about 500 MB so that's not that much memory. The real chunk of memory get taken up by installing games which makes the XBOX perform smoother and better.
Now me being a Call of Duty player. I am playing with one 16GB Flash Drive. I have COD MW2 installed on it along with some games saves from it and other games, and my map packs and it has 6.9 GB of space left on it. When Black Ops comes out alls I am going to do is delete Modern Warfare 2 off the Flash Drive. Install Black Ops and go take a shower or something while I am waiting for it to install and when i get back Whaaaa Laaaa! and still plenty of room to boot. For those who like to buy games off of XBOX live you can get them just as cheap if not cheaper used from Game Stop or used from Amazon. So don't waste your money on the marketplace have the disk. But it's up to you.
Anyway just real quick you can't just plug your USB Flash drive in and go. You HAVE TO FORMAT IT! Which will render it dedicated to the XBOX 360 and it will erase what ever is on it. That's fine for me because I don't use my flash drives anymore I have an external hard drive.
So with that said you insert your flash drive, go to "System Settings" go to "Memory" you will see the flash drive go to it and format it. After that you are good to go to use it! Done end of story I am out!
By Matt Bolea
The 4gb new "slim" xbox is awesome. Despite not having the gloss finish and of course 250 gb hd, its got everything else. I have 2 games right now, Halo Reach and Dantes Inferno, i have rented movies, downloaded avatar accessories, zune, etc... and i still have 3.2 gb of space free, Halo taking up 11mb, and dante a whopping 1mb. Also is you didnt know you can now use any external hard drive to save games as well. So say you got a 8gb flash drive for your pc, you can store games on it! From how it looks so far 4gb can hold alot more games than what most people think..i dont see the need in spending $100 extra for the 250gb..unless you got that money to throw away. It would be nice to have a gloss finish, but its not that big of a deal if you ask me, especially when its all the same thing. Someone else did point out though in Halo Reach, you CANNOT play online co-op for some reason on the 4gb, but remember, just plug in a external and you should be fine! Other little side notes the new xbox is ALOT more quite, all touch no more buttons, a huge vent so it shouldn't have those old overheating RROD problems anymore (i know more than a big vent fixed that problem, but I'm not that tech savy) Overall, i LOVE this new xbox! OH and of course kinect ready! can't wait to see what that's going to be like.
I would suggest this system to anyone thinking about a new gaming console.
