Questions for the Owners of XBOX360!

[Hanwei0725]

After months and months of suggesting what to buy with the 360 and having to deal with questions that customers have about the units, I finally got one myself. Yah! I'm a huge fan of the 360, just couldnt bring myself to drop the $$ for it. Hooray for girlfriends!

My questions are:
-Are the play and charge kits worth the money?
-For those that are using the Play and Charge, how soon does it die out on you prior to charging it fully?
-For those that are using the batteries, how often do you switch them out?
-Are the original xbox games that are backward compatible worse, the same, or better on the 360 graphic-wise? (excluding the TV/HD componet factors. Assume the games are playing side by side one another, Regular Xbox next to X360)
-Do I have to get a X360 DVD controller to watch DVDs? (I heard you can use the controller for that, similar to the PS2)
-I have a regular XBOX LIVE account, when i transfer it to my 360, does it turn it into a XBOX GOLD? or do I have to pay some charges to turn it into the GOLD?

Of course I have read the packaging of the products but I wanted to get first hand experience answers from those who have the systems. It's sad that I sell these at work and don't really know the answer to them, but hopefully, I will soon enough.

Thanks to all who helped!

[IrishSS]

-Are the play and charge kits worth the money?
I think so. I have two controllers and one kit. I just swap it out as the need arises.

-For those that are using the Play and Charge, how soon does it die out on you prior to charging it fully?
I used my wireless controller (with rumble) for upwards of 30 hours and it still was going strong.

-Do I have to get a X360 DVD controller to watch DVDs?
No, you can watch DVD's without the controller... the wireless controller isnt bad for control either...

-I have a regular XBOX LIVE account, when i transfer it to my 360, does it turn it into a XBOX GOLD? or do I have to pay some charges to turn it into the GOLD?
If I'm not mistake there are two levels of Live service... Silver and Gold. You have to pay more for the gold level of service...

[zero2dash]

I don't own a 360 yet but I can answer your questions too.

-Are the original xbox games that are backward compatible worse, the same, or better on the 360 graphic-wise? (excluding the TV/HD componet factors. Assume the games are playing side by side one another, Regular Xbox next to X360)

If you're talking about playing Xbox games on the 360, the graphics are not improved any (AFAIK), it's just for convenience purposes. I think I might've seen something where Gamespot did an article and showed that some games like Halo 2 were more anti-aliased on the 360 than on the regular Xbox, but that's about it.

If you're talking about a game released on both consoles (ie Madden, Gun, Tony Hawk etc) usually the 360 version is *slightly* better (according to the last bundle of multiplatform releases). Since developers this year are more used to the 360 XNA development platform - you'll probably start seeing a much greater increase in graphics/framerate on the 360 as opposed to the regular Xbox version of a game released on both systems.

-I have a regular XBOX LIVE account, when i transfer it to my 360, does it turn it into a XBOX GOLD? or do I have to pay some charges to turn it into the GOLD?

Irish answered this but he may have misunderstood your question.

If you pay for Xbox Live on an Xbox then it's already the Gold service.

Xbox Live Silver (only available on the 360) gives you a gamertag, friends list, chat, and the ability to download content and that's about it...which is why it's free. If you already pay for Live (and can play online against other people), then when you transfer it, it will then be considered a Gold account on the 360. The original Xbox only had one tier of Live - it's just that now on the 360, they call it a Gold account.

The free Silver account does not let you play online against other people, but they do sometimes (apparently) have weekend promotions where Silver players can get in on the fun as well.

[Jane83]

star wars battlefront rocks!!

[LPMiller]

uh...that's nice.

[Jane83]

oh you really dont get it, wheres the family guy fans

[yippiekiyeh]

Have they resolved the "supposed" overheating issues yet?

[zero2dash]

Have they resolved the "supposed" overheating issues yet?

I read a month or so ago that the new hardware revision would have a better solution for cooling; I don't recall what it was but it wasn't anything radical like water cooling or anything. I think they mentioned a larger heatsink internally or something.

There hasn't been coverage of overheating systems that I've seen and I also haven't seen any hard drive failure issues, so, so far so good on them I suppose. I'd still recommend an extended warranty on it (and any other system you purchase)...I've always bought them and always been glad that I spent the extra money on peace of mind. (Had to cash in on a Ps2 one twice.)

The power brick...remains rather ginormous though and there's really no hope for that. The system sucks up power pretty good, so, owners are stuck with "the brick".

[Hanwei0725]

off topic but the newest update for XBOX 360 is great. You can have a Queue for your Downloads! Stack them and go to bed! just make sure you turn off the AUTO OFF after 6 hours of inactivity. woot woot!

[Cheesypuff]

I am a HUGE ping pong fan...and I saw a ping pong game at best buy...I almost dropped the money to buy a 360 just for the ping pong game.

[gear02]

I am a HUGE ping pong fan...and I saw a ping pong game at best buy...I almost dropped the money to buy a 360 just for the ping pong game.

I have it. It's pretty bad in terms of features, but it's ONE HELL of a ping pong game. Seriously.

[hapoo]

I am a HUGE ping pong fan...and I saw a ping pong game at best buy...I almost dropped the money to buy a 360 just for the ping pong game.

you DO realize that for that much money you could buy a ping pong table and hire someone to play against you?

[ProMinx]

I have to say that Table Tennis is the last game that most of us expected from Rockstar Games. Oh well. If it is fun...good for those that enjoy it. It was the first cheap game that apparently started a trend in price drops. So...thank you for that, Rockstar.

[Maarchk]

I have to say that Table Tennis is the last game that most of us expected from Rockstar Games. Oh well. If it is fun...good for those that enjoy it. It was the first cheap game that apparently started a trend in price drops. So...thank you for that, Rockstar.

They lowered expectations do to building more "family orientated games". I thought that was funny. But i guess when you are known for the violence, well, you gotta keep with what got you there.

And if you need a so cal ping pong player, i bet there are only a few dozen people here that would come play with you.