Xbox General discussion **No Order Chat Here**

theteal

theteal wrote: »

So are people getting dedicated external SSD thingies (I've not looked but assume they exist)? Or a standard "internal" SSD connected via a USB3 to SATA adapter do the job? I would guess the hodge-podge approach would save a few quid. Any real down-sides?

An external SSD will boost the loading speed of back-compat titles, however not to the extent of the internal SSD. Digital Foundry compared.

Personally I would only use an external SSD if I had one lying around already. I wouldn't buy one because you're better waiting for the expansion card prices to drop.

Until you are ready to buy the official expansion card, the best bet is a cheap external HDD for "storing" games. Move them onto the internal SSD when you want to play, and off again when you need to free up room. If you have very fast internet you might decide that storing games on HDD is unnecessary. Just download when you want them and delete when you're finished.

Probes

[Deleted User] wrote: »

An external SSD will boost the loading speed of back-compat titles, however not to the extent of the internal SSD. Digital Foundry compared.

Personally I would only use an external SSD if I had one lying around already. I wouldn't buy one because you're better waiting for the expansion card prices to drop.

Until you are ready to buy the official expansion card, the best bet is a cheap external HDD for "storing" games. Move them onto the internal SSD when you want to play, and off again when you need to free up room. If you have very fast internet you might decide that storing games on HDD is unnecessary. Just download when you want them and delete when you're finished.

I dunno, 1TB of SSD is less than half the price of the official expansion and it performs just as well with back compat games. It also means you can keep more space for your next gen games.

TitianGerm

Mr.S wrote: »

Yeah I'd say the price of the expandable drives will drop considerably in price after the first year. Reminds me of the memory cards on the Sony PSP

A 1TB SSD from the likes of WD is pretty cheap - https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Elements-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B06VVS7S94/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=SSD+2gb+western+digital+usb&qid=1603733790&sr=8-3, perfect to Archive games you aren't using on the main SSD.

You've linked to an external HDD not an SSD.

Mr.S

Mr.S wrote: »

Yeah I'd say the price of the expandable drives will drop considerably in price after the first year. Reminds me of the memory cards on the Sony PSP

We will have to cross our fingers. The proprietary nature gives me some caution, ultimately Microsoft have the final control over prices.

So far I have been impressed by their attitude so I am hopeful they don't pull any nonsense (with the expansion card prices). I would hate to think 1TB will still be €250 this time next year or beyond. We will have to wait and see.

murpho999

Deleted User wrote: »

We will have to cross our fingers. The proprietary nature gives me some caution, ultimately Microsoft have the final control over prices.

So far I have been impressed by their attitude so I am hopeful they don't pull any nonsense (with the expansion card prices). I would hate to think 1TB will still be €250 this time next year or beyond. We will have to wait and see.

Based on below I'd say there will be other options for SSD storage in the future after Seagate have had first bite.

Xbox Wire: Will all Storage Expansion Cards come from Seagate or could we see them from other companies as well?

Jason Ronald: Seagate, with a storied history as a critical innovator in the storage industry, was our first choice to collaborate with to provide expandable storage solutions for the Xbox Velocity Architecture. Xbox is continuing to invest in the Expandable Storage category on Xbox Series X|S with goal of offering choice for Xbox fans, including additional capacities and implementations in the future.

Link

murpho999

murpho999 wrote: »

Based on below I'd say there will be other options for SSD storage in the future after Seagate have had first bite.

There will be other options but I believe they'll still be proprietary. Meaning they have to collaborate with Microsoft, who will take a license fee and control the price and distribution. And it will be locked down to prevent random companies making them. Under these circumstances we are reliant on Microsoft to drop the price over time, if and when they choose to do so.

I'm speculating of course, and I hope i'm wrong. But that's my read on it currently.

murpho999

Deleted User wrote: »

There will be other options but I believe they'll still be proprietary. Meaning they have to collaborate with Microsoft, who will take a license fee and control the price and distribution. And it will be locked down to prevent random companies making them. Under these circumstances we are reliant on Microsoft to drop the price over time, if and when they choose to do so.

I'm speculating of course, and I hope i'm wrong. But that's my read on it currently.

Well proprietary. I think to avail of the architecture of new SSD and Velocity Architecture then it will have to be proprietary and go into that new SSD slot.

I don't think it will be USB.

Does it matter if it's opened up to more manufacturers and becomes cheaper?

I think let them make their money in the first year or so and then it will open up. I'll just manage the internal drive in the meantime.

murpho999

murpho999 wrote: »

Does it matter if it's opened up to more manufacturers and becomes cheaper?

The point is that "opening up" is not as clear cut as you suggest. They are open to collaborating with other companies. That does not mean it will be an open standard. Those companies will still be dealing with Microsoft, paying license fees. It is presumably locked down to prevent reverse engineering.

The NVMe solution on PS5 it is an open standard. Anyone can make one, some already do. There will be multiple vendors in competition. Sony are not taking a cut. The price will follow industry trends. For consumers there will also be extra sources of used SSDs in the future - system pulls etc. It's a very different situation, and far better for the consumer.

The risk with the MS solution is the prices are kept artificially high over the life of the console. Like PS Vita. We will have to wait to see if this happens, nobody knows. I hope it doesn't.

mikew1985

Is there any word on what Gaemstop are doing for those with instore pickup but where the store is now closed. They have a vague update on twitter saying they will have a further update but wondering if anyone has heard anything?

-maccer-

If anyone's interested I paid for Gamestop's "Join the Queue" Xbox Series X on October 23rd. Only then decided to purchase the console so very much missed the initial pre-orders timeline!

It is a bit of a blind purchase with no idea how far out the release date is.

My order has now been updated on their site with a release date of 27/12/2020. I may just get an XSX in 2020 yet.

Blanchy90

mikew1985 wrote: »

Is there any word on what Gaemstop are doing for those with instore pickup but where the store is now closed. They have a vague update on twitter saying they will have a further update but wondering if anyone has heard anything?

I thought I saw that they will be delivering but it may take up to 4 days.

They still haven't confirmed who is getting ti on launch day. I had been told that they would start contacting people 2 weeks from launch which is today so hopefully we start hearing soon

Blanchy90

Blanchy90 wrote: »

I thought I saw that they will be delivering but it may take up to 4 days.

They still haven't confirmed who is getting ti on launch day. I had been told that they would start contacting people 2 weeks from launch which is today so hopefully we start hearing soon

They told me I need to opt in to the emails and I will receive an email about it. I've had nothing but Funko Pop marketing junk since.

mikew1985

Blanchy90 wrote: »

I thought I saw that they will be delivering but it may take up to 4 days.

They still haven't confirmed who is getting ti on launch day. I had been told that they would start contacting people 2 weeks from launch which is today so hopefully we start hearing soon

Theres is a vague notice on the site about delvieries in general taking up to 4 days but nothing on the consoles specifically. The site notice seems to be a general notice for all home deliveries.

The exact wording is; "Home delivery is available country wide. Please allow up to 4 working days for delivery due to increased volumes and logistics."

FedoraTheAura

I emailed Curry’s last week about getting my click & collect changed to delivery as I’m way outside the 5k zone.

Received this response today

‘ At this time, this is not an option. We have not yet been briefed with regard to any contingency surrounding the lockdown or travel restrictions. We can confirm, however, that our stores will remain open throughout. Please be assured that as soon as any decision is made, we will be in touch.’

So looks like my XBox will be coming via relay between 3/4 people sounds like they might be looking at options though...

mikew1985

FedoraTheAura wrote: »

I emailed Curry’s last week about getting my click & collect changed to delivery as I’m way outside the 5k zone.

Received this response today

‘ At this time, this is not an option. We have not yet been briefed with regard to any contingency surrounding the lockdown or travel restrictions. We can confirm, however, that our stores will remain open throughout. Please be assured that as soon as any decision is made, we will be in touch.’

So looks like my XBox will be coming via relay between 3/4 people looks like they might be looking into it though...

5km rule not really helping things as intended in that instance if you're basically getting around it by getting 4 people each to come into close contact in order to get it to you.

I'm lucky in that I live in in a large town and have reason to travel to D15 for work once a week but if you are living more rurally or outside a large town there's not many options.

I

Nedved85

I had a S on order with Amazon but it's the X I want so I cancelled it..

The X came up on Amazon.fr this morning but I mised out on it unfortunately

Nedved85

Series S up on amazon.es ....

https://www.amazon.es/Microsoft-RRS-00009-Xbox-Series-S/dp/B087VM5XC6/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=xbox%2Bseries%2Bx&qid=1603816533&sr=8-2&th=1

FedoraTheAura

mikew1985 wrote: »

5km rule not really helping things as intended in that instance if you're basically getting around it by getting 4 people each to come into close contact in order to get it to you.

I'm lucky in that I live in in a large town and have reason to travel to D15 for work once a week but if you are living more rurally or outside a large town there's not many options.

I

Ah no I’m only joking (badly, I know). I’ll be getting one of the parents who work in the city to pick it up.
I know that is still of course not in in line with the rules, you shouldn’t set foot in any non-essential shop that isn’t within 5k of your home, (work doesn’t count as a second home to venture 5km from) but I’m snookered.

CinemaGuy45

Nedved85 wrote: »

I had a S on order with Amazon but it's the X I want so I cancelled it..

The X came up on Amazon.fr this morning but I mised out on it unfortunatel

The Series S renders 1440P and upscales to 4k I think that will look very nice for most people not a problem full HD is only 1080P.
It cannot take optical discs again no problem I get everything digital anyway.

512 GB internal SSD is what is putting me off on top of the €300 it costs €250 to add a TB so €550 total.

The Series X has one TB to start with.

I think people are going to be very surprised with the performance of the Series S it is just the cost of the extra storage turning me off.

It will run older game from USB HDDs and SSDs but for the new generation you are looking at fitting maybe 3 games on the internal SSD at a time.

Other drives can store the new games and they can be moved over to the internal drive but this is a pain.

For me if I get the Series X I would put Next Generation games on the internal drive only and run all the older stuff from a USB SSD.

sniper_samurai

FedoraTheAura wrote: »

I emailed Curry’s last week about getting my click & collect changed to delivery as I’m way outside the 5k zone.

Received this response today

‘ At this time, this is not an option. We have not yet been briefed with regard to any contingency surrounding the lockdown or travel restrictions. We can confirm, however, that our stores will remain open throughout. Please be assured that as soon as any decision is made, we will be in touch.’

So looks like my XBox will be coming via relay between 3/4 people sounds like they might be looking at options though...

Afaik home appliances are considered essential retail so you should be able to travel despite being outside your 5km.

CinemaGuy45

Nedved85 wrote: »

I had a S on order with Amazon but it's the X I want so I cancelled it..

The X came up on Amazon.fr this morning but I mised out on it unfortunately

Why did you cancel?:eek:
People will be killing each other for one of these new consoles somebody in your family or a friend might have snapped it up.

The Series S is booked out everywhere also.

CinemaGuy45

Nedved85 wrote: »

Series S up on amazon.es ....

https://www.amazon.es/Microsoft-RRS-00009-Xbox-Series-S/dp/B087VM5XC6/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=xbox%2Bseries%2Bx&qid=1603816533&sr=8-2&th=1

In Spanish that seems a bit dodgy ordering from another country too many things could go wrong.

Akrasia

Nedved85 wrote: »

Series S up on amazon.es ....

https://www.amazon.es/Microsoft-RRS-00009-Xbox-Series-S/dp/B087VM5XC6/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_es_ES=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=xbox%2Bseries%2Bx&qid=1603816533&sr=8-2&th=1

Thanks, ordered just now, be nice to have this before Christmas
Cancelled my gamestop pre-order as their expected shipping date is 27h of December

Akrasia

CinemaGuy45 wrote: »

In Spanish that seems a bit dodgy ordering from another country too many things could go wrong.

Its ordered through Amazon directly so it's as safe as buying it from the UK

Other than the fact that all of the dialogue in any game you play wiil be in spanish, it's all good

CinemaGuy45

Akrasia wrote: »

Its ordered through Amazon directly so it's as safe as buying it from the UK

Other than the fact that all of the dialogue in any game you play wiil be in spanish, it's all good

Sorry I never used Amazon.

Are there more or did you get the last one?

Also did you get an estimated delivery date?

CinemaGuy45

Akrasia wrote: »

Its ordered through Amazon directly so it's as safe as buying it from the UK

Other than the fact that all of the dialogue in any game you play wiil be in spanish, it's all good

I know the bit in bold is a joke but the power cord will need an adapter for use in Ireland.

Akrasia

Still seem to be available at the link above. use google chrome and it will translate everything to english for you
They say dispatched on 10th of November with 5 - 6 days delivery

I'm happy with that cause it won't be opened till christmas (unless it needs a few hours of covert testing beforehand)

Nigzcurran

CinemaGuy45 wrote: »

Why did you cancel?:eek:
People will be killing each other for one of these new consoles somebody in your family or a friend might have snapped it up.

The Series S is booked out everywhere also.

I had an x prebooked on Microsoft and offered it here but got no takers so cancelled it

CinemaGuy45

Nigzcurran wrote: »

I had an x prebooked on Microsoft and offered it here but got no takers so cancelled it

People are stilling thinking they might snap up a console right now not understanding how unlikely getting a new console before Christmas is now.

I have offered up my Series S preorder here also if there are no takers I will just open it and play with it.

I think then Series S looks like a great console it is basically the Series X at 1440P and no optical discs.

Like I already said I am just factoring in the price of adding more high speed storage.

Nedved85

Nigzcurran wrote: »

I had an x prebooked on Microsoft and offered it here but got no takers so cancelled it

Ouch, missed that