The kid gets a new xbox.

[theWacoKid]

While this comes under the who the hell cares category, I thought I'd chip in anyway. As certain people know, I complained rather loudly about the objectionable noise level of my translucent green xbox purchased back in may. It was loud, and the noise had a very irritating metalic edge to it. Well, I used my EB warranty to replace the sucker, and lo and behold, wonder of wonders, this new plain vanilla edition is much quieter with only a typical whoosing fan noise. Noise is way down, and what I do hear, doesn't bother me. I'd rate the new xbox unit slightly quieter than my old ps2. Noise just isn't a factor now, anymore.

However, there's more. Drive noise is down as well, and the audio is improved. I noted immediately clearer separation in the surround sound. Also, the audio has been boosted. My previous xbox units always required me to crank up my receiver past 60 on my dial. The new xbox delivers the same volume at about 45.

M$ needs to standardize their parts, instead of this variable parts BS. Buying a console shouldn't be a crapshoot as to whether you'll luck out and get the version with the good parts stuck in it.

[Darwin]

M$ needs to standardize their parts, instead of this variable parts BS. Buying a console shouldn't be a crapshoot as to whether you'll luck out and get the version with the good parts stuck in it.

I agree with that. There have also been some problems with certain games not working properly with certain DVD drives. Apparently your Xbox can come with one of three differently manufacturered DVD drives. And one of them, the Thompson drive, has been the source of most of these problems. (I wonder if there is a way to look at the packaging box to see which DVD drive is in that console, before you buy it?)

The main reason I ditched PC gaming is because of the heterogenous nature of the hardware. Each person's PC is like a unique mix-and-match of different parts, and has its own unique set of quirks. This is cool if you know a lot about PC's or want to customize your PC to do a particular set of tasks. But a console needs to do one thing: play games. Therefore, a console's main advantage is that it is a homogenous piece of standardized equipment ... my Xbox is made from the same parts as your, as the same parts as the guy's making the games for it. I fear the day that I start seeing Xbox Live updates for consoles that have the Thompson drive only. I can just see it happening.

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PC gaming: The gaming for gamers who don't actually play games because their games won't play.

[theWacoKid]

I agree with that. There have also been some problems with certain games not working properly with certain DVD drives. Apparently your Xbox can come with one of three differently manufacturered DVD drives. And one of them, the Thompson drive, has been the source of most of these problems. (I wonder if there is a way to look at the packaging box to see which DVD drive is in that console, before you buy it?)

The main reason I ditched PC gaming is because of the heterogenous nature of the hardware. Each person's PC is like a unique mix-and-match of different parts, and has its own unique set of quirks. This is cool if you know a lot about PC's or want to customize your PC to do a particular set of tasks. But a console needs to do one thing: play games. Therefore, a console's main advantage is that it is a homogenous piece of standardized equipment ... my Xbox is made from the same parts as your, as the same parts as the guy's making the games for it. I fear the day that I start seeing Xbox Live updates for consoles that have the Thompson drive only. I can just see it happening.

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PC gaming: The gaming for gamers who don't actually play games because their games won't play.

There's no way to tell what drive you're getting. People have tried corresponding serial nos with the drives in the xbox, but it doesn't work. However, if I'm not mistaken, I don't think M$ uses Thomson anymore. My old xbox was a Philips. I haven't bothered checking the current one. It works and works quietly, that's all I care about. I suspect it's a samsung. You can tell which is which from the cd tray. I know some guys have gone to extreme lengths to get a samsung, such as returning multiple xbox units to a store claiming they were defective until they got a samsung unit.

The differrence in noise level is night and day. Should've taken it back in the first month. The difference in audio quality is what suprised me. I went, woah, I didn't hear that from my rear speakers before. Well, I probably did, but not as clearly separated.

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

I'm surprised you even have an Xbox. I thought you were a PS2-only fanboy for sure.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

I know we are kinda enemies on this board, but damn that, we just happen to have different opinions, strong different opinion. But hell, if you got an XBOX, come online and use it. You can see kinda how we play games, maybe see things from our perspective, you might even have a little bit of fun. Don't worry about System Wars or PS2 bashing, on LIVE we don't even talk about this stuff.

Anyway, I just can't figure out why we can post and talk about games, not just you, but VGR as a group, but we can't get together with regularity and actually play the games together. You got some two month free memberships, you got broadband, do the damn thing man.

[Superior Beatslayer]

M$ needs to standardize their parts, instead of this variable parts BS. Buying a console shouldn't be a crapshoot as to whether you'll luck out and get the version with the good parts stuck in it.

I also agree with this, I got the shaft when it comes to the DVD drives, I have the thomson one, you know, the ****ty one. My buddy who also has an Xbox has a Samsung drive and he can burn with any type of CD and rip ALL his songs on to his Xbox, where I can't get any of my Memorex CD's to come close to being read on my Xbox, its a pain in the ass, especially when the Xbox manual says that the Xbox can read any CD, and it even shows you that logo.