To elite or not to elite

lafors

So if you've read my DVD woe thread you've guessed what this is about already.

So I want a new 360 grrrrr...but I want a bigger HD, the 20gb IS too small as far as I'm concerned. I want HDMI so I can keep my VGA port free for my laptop, which I hook up regularly. And lastly and most importantly, I want a better (and quieter) DVD drive!

So I've a few questions.
What DVD drive is currently in the elite?
If its not the same in every one, can I figure it out before I buy it?
Whats the most reliable/quiet DVD drive?

Any idea when the elites will start using the 65nm CPU?
Does the elite have the "ANA" chip I've been reading about a lot.
Does the elite have the newer cooling for the GPU etc.?

Really I shouldn't have to ask all these questions, it goes to show MS don't care what they're throwing out to the customers. (btw that goes as much for Sony....just in case you think I'm a fanboy of some sort.)

Cheers

edit: forgot another big question.....

Can my profile & save games be transferred from my present 360 to my new 360?

Nailz

That is the question...

xanthor

If hard drive size is the only concern, it's not that hard to fit a new HDD.

lafors wrote:

So I've a few questions.
What DVD drive is currently in the elite?

IIRC it's between Ben-Q and one other, the name of which escapes me.

lafors wrote:

If its not the same in every one, can I figure it out before I buy it?

I don't think there's any correlation between the serial number and what DVD drive is in the unit(?)

lafors wrote:

Any idea when the elites will start using the 65nm CPU?

Late this year...... at the earliest.

lafors wrote:

Does the elite have the newer cooling for the GPU etc.?

It has new heatsink. It's not necessarily any quieter... they're using two different fans at the moment, the DC Brushless is allegedly quieter, but there seems to be no solid way of telling which unit has what fan.
t.)

Can my profile & save games be transferred from my present 360 to my new 360?

If you use recover gamertag you can (re)download you profile including points, but it won't download the saves. IIRC, not all saves are transferable by memory card(?)

Scruff

i think you need to buy the elite then contact Micro$oft and request the data transfer kit to transfer yer data from yer 20gb hd to the new 120gb hd on the elite.

vasch_ro

would there be any image quality difference between the hdmi and component outputs or would it be the same ??

monomaniac

Having upgraded to an elite I might be able to help with some of these. You can determine your dvd drive if you can get looking at the disc tray as seen here:
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/Xbox_360_DVD_Drive_Comparison.htm

I have the Samsung drive and I find it massively more quiet and faster. Loads games much quicker. Though a lot of people on the official xbox forums seem to think the BenQ is the best.

You can order a data transfer cable from microsoft support however it will wipe everything on the elite drive before transferring the data from your old 360.
Therefore if you have the elite for a couple of weeks, by the time you receive the transfer cable you'll probably have chocked up a few save games. You'll lose these when you do the transfer. I decided to just fork out for the memory card.
And yes - not all save games can be transferred. I lost my Viva Pinata gardens :mad:

I notice the difference between HDMI and component on my samsung TV but I know a lot of people can barely tell the diffference on their sets. For me it was a great advantage as I can now have the Wii plugged into component and 360 into the HDMI.

lafors

monomaniac wrote:

Having upgraded to an elite I might be able to help with some of these. You can determine your dvd drive if you can get looking at the disc tray as seen here:
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/Xbox_360_DVD_Drive_Comparison.htm

I have the Samsung drive and I find it massively more quiet and faster. Loads games much quicker. Though a lot of people on the official xbox forums seem to think the BenQ is the best.

You can order a data transfer cable from microsoft support however it will wipe everything on the elite drive before transferring the data from your old 360.
Therefore if you have the elite for a couple of weeks, by the time you receive the transfer cable you'll probably have chocked up a few save games. You'll lose these when you do the transfer. I decided to just fork out for the memory card.
And yes - not all save games can be transferred. I lost my Viva Pinata gardens :mad:

I notice the difference between HDMI and component on my samsung TV but I know a lot of people can barely tell the diffference on their sets. For me it was a great advantage as I can now have the Wii plugged into component and 360 into the HDMI.

Cool thanks for the drive link, though I doubt I'll be able to get them to let me open the box and have a look?
I actually have a samsung in my present one....its causing the trouble I think I'll try get a benq one so.

What size memory card is needed?
Did you do the recover you gamertag thing to get it onto the elite?
You said you saw a difference between the hdmi & component, better or worse?
Does a hdmi cable come with it? If so how long is it?
How do I get my sound to my bose from it now?
I use an optical a present?

Sorry for all the questions

monomaniac

Unless you know an employee of a shop that sells 360s doubt you'll get a look in.

I got the 512MB card - if you go to your settings on your 360 and look at memory management you should be able to determine how much space your save games are taking up. However - you could always get the smaller card (128MB isn't it?) and do a couple of transfers.

Yeah did the profile recovery -you just log into your new 360 and it will download all your arcade games etc. Took longer than I expected though - about half an hour.

HDMI looked better - brighter colours and slightly sharper image. The average joe wouldn't really notice but I was definitely happy. Unfortunately my TV doesn't do 1080p so I'm still on 1080i - shame.

The HDMI cable (comes with it) plugs into an attachment which goes into your 360. That attachment has an optical cable plug - which is what I use. Remember to mute your TV's internal speaker as HDMI transfers sound and video and I noticed a very slight echo between my external speakers and the tv speaker.
It's about the same length as the component cable - can't remember how long exactly.

In terms of the DVD drive again - regardless of which one you get I'd say you'll notice a big difference froom your old 360. I assume that they are using newer models in the elite. Don't know what drive my old 360 used but it was incredibly loud, sluggish and eventually broke down after 4-5 months. The new one seems much better... so far!!!!

I could be on this forum in 6 months time complaining about how my elite is a piece of sh*t unreliable hardward. Time will tell.

The official support forums would be the place to look for more accurate answers I'd say.

lafors

monomaniac wrote:

I could be on this forum in 6 months time complaining about how my elite is a piece of sh*t unreliable hardward. Time will tell.

The official support forums would be the place to look for more accurate answers I'd say.

Legend, thanks