Microsoft recently announced the price of Kinect and a 4GB model of their popular new Xbox (slim) model. The model itself is very sleek looking like its big brother counterpart but why such the small internal hard drive? So again I ask, why would Microsoft choose such a small internal memory where every good downloadable title is about a half a gig (500+ MB).
For Casuals
Maybe they are doing it for the casual audience, but even the casual audience will need more than 4 gigs if they have a few downloadable Kinect titles (it’s bound to happen) and a few disc based Kinect games and maybe one or two hardcore games thrown in like Halo Reach or Gears 3. It will force the gamer to go out and buy another one or look for an external solution to the problem. Maybe they are trying to put a console on every TV. A 4GB model would be great for your bedroom or casual living room, while you have a main 120/250 for hardcore gaming elsewhere. That sounds plausible but how many families can afford that in this economy?
For Gain
Simply put, they are in the business to make money. $199 USD for a 4GB model is pretty bad in my opinion. The fact there is a HDD ability is great but there is no official Hard drive released or announced by Microsoft. Yet it seems to be having great sales so far. I think Microsoft is preparing themselves to make even more money in the future by putting this console out for $199. I believe they will announce an Official Microsoft Hard-Drive internal or external. They could go two ways, the safe bet of 250 GB HDD or go for the big profit and do a 300+ or even the Terrabyte which would annihilate the competition. Does Microsoft have it up their sleeves to do so? Yes. As for why…
To Prolong The LifeSpan Of The 360
They would simply go through all this trouble just to prolong the life of the 360. Of course, why not? Why introduce another system when EVERY time they release a new system SKU it sells like hotcakes. Lets remember they just announced a SKU roughly a month ago..and already they announce another one, just to mess with consumers. RAGE looks amazing, we can all agree to this. However, the power it is getting out of the 360 looks tapped. Gears 3 looks like Gears 2 with women, Halo Reach so far looks like Halo 3.5. RAGE is the only great thing coming to their console that is eye-popping. However must we forget it is multiplatform? It will be interesting to see the comparison screens/video to that.
Think Before You Buy
So in the end, think about why you want to purchase a 4GB Xbox before you go ahead and do so. Just be prepared to purchase a HDD in the future. If you want Kinect, its cheaper to go alone than the holiday bundle. As for the additionall HDD, we shall see when and if that comes to fruition. They key of that is the price.
This being the replacement for the existing arcade, I imagine that the 4GB is an upgrade to the internal memory and not referring to a HDD. The HDD slot is likely empty, to accommodate the 250GB HDD that comes in the 360-S and will soon be available at retail. There would be no need for a branded external HDD. Have a great week!
What a load of rubbish, it’s 4Gb of flash internal memory not a hard drive and they have upped it because Kinect and the dash require more than the 256Mb in the original systems.
You do know that Xbox 360 can now use USB sticks for memory, right? I saw 16GB flash memory sticks on ebay for £15.56 only yesterday.
It’s just like the old ‘Arcade’ SKU, except now you aren’t forced to buy M$’s proprietary, overpriced memory cards and harddrives.
So if you’re gonna ask “why?” then why didn’t you ask it in 2005 about the original ‘Arcade’? LOL, you’re nearly 5 years late to the table. Is this supposed to be news?
compare the price on a usb flash memory stick to the big brick hdd.
I think when the pric on the usb sticks went down microsoft probably noticed their hdd sales drop significantly so they moved with the times, upped the usb slots, dropped the external hard drive, and threw in some more relevant things.
what if you have internet
also the 4GB model comes with a built in wifi adapter.. so you can knock $70+tax off the cost of your system if you play online.
So with the built in wifi I can go out and get some USB disk space for relatively cheaper than a $70 proprietary wifi card… hmm….
4GB doesn’t seem like much space
Seems to me you would have to delete games often even if you don’t want to so you can download more :\
I bought a 4gb xbox360.
Why?
Because I bought it to play only 1 or 2 games. 199 was a lot easier to shell out for the xbox, vs 299 when I really just wanted to play Reach. If I really feel like it, I’ll get the HDD extension down later.
The truth is, Microsoft made a great move here. They are selling tons of these for 200. People who already had xboxes are willing to pay that just to have the latest and greatest device. Plus if you are willing to sacrafice some time, people with the previous HDD can mod it just by taking it apart and with a little effort, can add that, keeping all their previous material. To be honest, its a great buy. And the built in wifi is a major bonus point. Its the perfect replacement for the more prone to the RROD previous model.
Don’t really care that the space on the new internal flash memory won’t be big enough for some games. For one, I’m a casual gamer who only plays a couple of games OFFLINE with my mates now and then (also don’t care for anything Kinect-related) and secondly I’m not going to shell out 50% more for something that I most probably won’t be taking full use of anyway (if I do need more memory I’ll either get me a USB memory stick or a harddrive). Thank God I waited instead of buying the old Arcade model earlier this year. As soon as my birthday comes in January I’ll be getting me this.
built in wifi you can buy a wifi adapter for £20
Hello! My daughter wants an xbox 360 and I am totally blind to all that is out there. Can anyone help me with what I should get? She does not want any online gaming – just to play games. Thanks!
Tina,
Trust me, your daughter most definitely will want to play on-line with the Xbox – this is where the Xbox really excels!
If your buying new, then forget the 4Gb version and spend the extra forthe 250Gb – it makes sense in the long term. Buy it from a supermarket, eg. ASDA, where you will get the lowest price.
Never pay list price for games. Once they have fallen out of favour (a few months after release), you can generally get top rated games for around £10. Don’t be afraid to buy second hand as most games shops offer such games, again for around £10. eBay is definitely your friend here
Be prepared to search eBay for accessories and cables. The supplied stuff is the barest minimum that Microsoft could get away with. If you can use HDMI, then you should, since this gives the best quality video signal and also does audio – much neater than SCART / RCA.
Hope this helps…
Ok so my brother wants an xbox for christmas but my parents really just want to spend the 199. I’m getting mixed reviews here as to whether the 4gb will do what he wants. He wants to be able to play online with his friends and we have wifi. So if this has built in wifi, is it true here that USBs will work for memory or will he need a huge external hard drive? I’ve heard both ways on here and I’m confused.
I have seen this topic kicked around a few places. The conventional wisdom is that 4 GB is more than enough for the casual gamer. (Am I revising history or did the original XBox fail partly bc an 8GB drive was ridiculously inadequate?) I must be doing something VERY wrong. I consider myself a casual gamer. I have an older version XBox 360 with the 20 gig HDD. It was not long at all before I ran into space issues. I thought – no big deal, I will simply pop an external drive on the unit through the USB port. Then I ran into the 16 GB limitation which frosts my arse considering what I spent for my console – that Microsoft sold with an undersized hard drive. I admit, I have purchased some full sized games on XBL – isn’t that the idea? Am I missing something? Does 4GB in flash drive memory really equal much more, like 400GB HD memory? Or is 4GB just really 4GB? I am confused.
The real question is “Why can they charge so much for extra storage” hdd’s are so cheap? Even retail they are cheap, so for the evil empire they would be a pittance
4GB Flash memory is 4GB’s. It might actually run faster than a HDD but its only 4gbs.
Flash memory is quicker than conventional HDDs. 4GBs is a rather pitiful storage capacity for a gaming console though
I just bought the 4G xBox console. For one, I do not play lots of games. Then, I can use external flash card via USB if I need to, which is faster and getting cheaper, instead of HD. Third, I use it primarily as a media extension between my media server and my TV. It actually replaces those ‘media players’ on the market, which I never found to be satisfactory. I see this is going to be in every one’s living room soon, unless, most of these media player functions being replaced by those built-in network TVs, which may take some years to come.
ok im confused by all this so can some one please help
i dont have wifi (parents wont get it) so i wont be downloading anything and im a casual gamer would the 4gb be enough for me?
That would be fine for you. It’s made for people like you who only play now & then. You may get some space problems later on depending on the amount of games you own.
hi folks, from what’s been said i understand the slim 4gb is internal flash memory but supposedly does not come with any HDD is this correct? if so does that mean the 250gb slim is 250gb HDD with an internal memory so small it isn’t mentioned or is it 250gb flash memory ? in which case they would both be rubbish and MS should surely combine the two features into one powerful machine?
The 4GB model has a 4GB Flash based solid state drive rather than a hard disk drive as I understand it.
RAM, which you are most likely thinking of is not the same as the 4GB Flash Memory being used for storage purposes on the 4GB model.
I bought a 4GB for $199. Just do what I’m going to do. On the bottom side of the Xbox. There is a latch. Open it and there is an open 2.5 SATA slot. Go on Ebay and buy a 500GB 2.5 SATA HDD for like.. $60? Cheaper and you get twice the space as the 250GB.
I want this 4gb Xbox 360. Hopefully I will not need much space for the few games i will be playing shortly after i purchase it.
I also want to know if I will need anything other than the built-in wifi, Xbox Live, and a wireless internet connection to play online.
Thanks
I have a PS3 which i love, but for christmas i am thinking of getting this 4gb model as it seems a good price compared to a PS3. I am planning to only get a few games and use xbox live with friends. Should i get this or a 250 gb model?
Thanks
Hey Drew,
We posted what we think you should get xbox wise here: http://thegamershub.co.uk/christmas-guide-2010/
H.
Going to get one of these, my ps3 just died after a couple of yrs very light use, quitting sony now especially at their prices!!!
I bought this xbox 4gb just to play a couple of games and works fine. I have a 120 gb PS3 that I do most of my gaming on. This 4gb is enough for me, I also bought a 8gb flash drive for later. I don’t see me playing this a whole lot, but I have a Wii also, I just like to cover my bases. I play Madden and I have friends with just the exbox so it is nice to use it online and play against my out of town friends, we also play Call of Duty games on it For 200 bucks it’s a good price
I received a 4GB xbox as a gift the other day. I have some idea of what I am doing when it comes to this stuff. I will most likely play each of the major sports games (nhl, nba, tiger woods, madden) and play them online. They suggested that I buy the extra hard drive or I wouldn’t be able to play these games. Is buying the hard drive the right move?
it needs to be able to surf the web, like the ps3, much more sales for some simple coding
Can’t we just use CD’s or do we still need memory storage even when we’re using them?
PLX reply
anyways, if i get 4gb xbox, then once i set it up (right away) will i be able to start playing black ops, missions and onlines no problems, and saving all my game data? and one thing plxxxxxzzzzzz stressing this alot answer this is 4gb the memory storage or the flash drive plxxx tell me clearly no confusing crap :p thx tell me if it worth getting and i wanna play like 3 games on it maybe 5max will it be enough? thnx plz response 
Today I saw some great deals on the xbox 360 4GB system at our local game stop. I’m only looking to play the Call of Duty games and possibly a few others. I have wifi at my house (if that matters) but am wondering if the 4GB will work for what I want. I don’t want to buy the more expensive xbox but if the 4GB is only going to work for a little while I don’t want to waste my money. Help me please!
I recived the xbox 360 4gb for xmas.
Yes it was great apart from when it scratched my disc.
*Tip* (Don’t move the xbox while the disc is running)
Everything is great, from graphics to the speed.
I guees the only down side was the memory, when i downloaded demos I to delete some to conserve space. I got a 4gb memory stick from my Dad so It’s good for me.
I got the Xbox with Mw2 (Yes I didn;t get Black ops).
So i do recommend this to everyone, this is a great console.
To try to put it simply for everyone who asked the 4gb is plenty for game saves which you can expand if you want by simply adding a usb stick max 16gb. You will be able to play Black Ops straight out the box as it comes with 1 month trial of Xbox live hope that helps!
I only really want to get the 4GB to play Black-Ops and a couple other games like FF XIII and Dragon’s Age. Is the memory going to be enough to play these games and if not, I have a 150g external memory block that uses USB 2.0….would that work to help with the memory?
Hi Corey I bought one today and have played Black Ops all day and downloaded a couple of demos no probs still got nearly 2 gig left. You cant use your drive as it only accepts usb upto 16gb hope this helps
Hi, recently my ps3 broke, and i don’t want to spend alot on another console. Im only wanting to play Call of Duty Black Ops, as all my friends go on it. Should i get a 4gb xbox, 20gb or a 250gp.
Thanks for your help
If your only wanting to play one game theres no doubt about it. Go for the 4gb. You can always slip a 16gb card in or use external memory if you change your mind.
The 4gb is cheap and cheerful!
Admin.
How mch is the 16gb card?
You can get the official one for about £50 / $60.
how much is 20gb lol?
The thing is, if your planning on playing just blackops. You won’t need the space (1gb for DLC at most). You could get a external HD and a 4gb Xbox and be set. You can get a 1TB for dead cheap these days, some are about £50.
Oops, i said 250gp i ment 250gb :O
Thanks admin for your help, Mattyy
hi everyone
i want to get an xbox simply because thats all my freinds talk about. I mainly want it for xbox live but i dont know which would be the best and cheapest option. I dont know wether to buy a new 4gb console and risk spending more for more memory or to buy a 250 gb. could anyone help me please!
Hey Shorn, Its down to the amount of games your planning on getting if your mates are proper gamers, I would go straight into getting a 250gb. The 4gb is only really for people who want to use Kinect and a few games.
The 4gb slim Xbox with Kinect bundle even with a 16gb flash drive in will not let you play Burnout Paradise online as the update is 1.2gb and after installing needs another 3.2gb. I tried installing on the flash memory but the game will not run.
Reading around there are other games that this console will not play.
To be honest, what does this console have that that an elite doesn’t? Its smaller and compact, and claims cant get RROD but they claimed the elite couldnt get that either. Get an elite….. more bang for your buck
hi there great i dear do you know they have a swapable drive soo the $100 by buying the 4 gb flash drive xbox then i can buy a intel 40 gb ssd from best buy for $99 soo my xbox 360 be the fastest xbox on the planet oh saving up $250 for a 120 gb intel ssd for my ps3 soo i am replacing hard drives with solid state flash drives
hi there today hsn showed halo reach playing on the 4 gb flash drive soo that rumor that 4 gb xbox 360 will not play halo is a flat out lie from hard drive companies that are going extenct
Can you attach any old external hard drive to an xbox 360? I have a spare, self powered 1tb drive, connecting by usb to my pc. Could i use that for additional memory?
You would need to format it. Meaning everything on the HD would be gone, so back-up before doing it!
Same question, what could you hold with a 120gb
alot actually, 120 gbs is more than enough space, i have my 160 gb ps3 slim, and its holding about 50 games, and countless map packs, and i have like 140 gigs left, so 120 is a good amount
What could you hold with a 120GB memory??
In reference to an earlier posting. Home Shopping Network (today) offering 4GB Kinect Bundle with 2 games for $399(plus shipping and handling of course)….I checked at Walmart today…250GB Kinect Bundle (with one game) for $399 (no shipping and handling. Seems like a no-brainer to get the 250GB system….or am I missing something???
I have a ps3 and want an xbox 360 just to play with my xbox friends, im not giving up my ps3, but is this a good idea if i only want to play black ops ?
If your planning on buying just one game, you’ll be fine. Defo the best option.
thanks man!
hi there i checked my xbox 360 there are 2 usb just pick up 2 16 gb usb flash drives with 4 gb that gives you 36 gb flash storage hope this helps oh buy the way 4 gb is flash stoage not a hard drive soo it should load games 4 times faster have reduced lag time useing less energy too
I’m getting one, today or tomorrow. I’m a hardcore gamer, and I’m on my 3rd 360. My Splinter Cell Conviction Elite 250 just went RRoD on me a few weeks ago. Luckily I was already buying a laptop so I got the 360 4gb for free because of the windows 7 student promotion. If you’re like me, and you already have an HDD for xbox, you can just remove the HDD housing and plug it into the HDD port on the 4gb model. It works just fine, sure it voids the warranty for the HDD you opened up but other than that it won’t cause any problems. So if you guys are buying this, or get stuck with it for xmas or something, just try to pick up any old xbox 360 HDD for cheap, at gamestop or amazon or ebay. Then open the case (only has screws) and put it into the 4gb. I found this advice on Amazon and it was a huge relief since I have so many games installed, saved, and tons of DLC.
Hello there! I am currently thinking about getting an xbox and will be using it to play a few games such as FIFA 11 and formula 1. I won’t be getting online to begin with but am still not sure as to what memory to get. All my friends have a 250gb xbox 360 but they use online. What memory should I get? By the way can you please reccomend some games for somone with very strict parents that will only allow up to 12+ age rating (I told you they were strict). Thanks
it is a stupid idea when you consider it, even at launch! but there where deals to be had as you get the 4gb for £135, then get a 250 plug in hard drive for £50, making it £15 cheaper than buyin a 250gb. BUT now the 250gb in the UK is only £159.99, and the cheapest 4gb deal is £135, making it a pretty pointless machine now, why wouldn’t you pay an extra £25 for 250GB od storage!!!!!!!
Best Buy has a deal for students! Beginning May 22, customers with a valid student ID will receive an Xbox 360 4 GB console with the purchase of any Windows 7 laptop priced at $699.99 or more.
Why?
To install 250GB HDD with 7200rpm. That’s why.
hi there bob formula is a fast game and have no clue on FIFA depends on downloads interet gaming and what performance i had both a 250 gb hdd xbox 360 slim and 4 gb xbox 360 slim if you dont need update low capacity with fastest read write speeds go 4 gb with a second drive bay for 250 gb hdd as a hybride faster then pure hard drives slower then the pure flash storage becuase i am the fastest gamer on all games i go for 4 gb ssd flash drive xbox 360 its your decission
I agree, the 4GB is great for the casual gamer but once you start playing Xbox 360 a little more then those that originally purchased the 4GB may run out of hard drive space which would then leave them with the options of adding a larger hard drive or swapping the 4GB model for the 250GB version.
The 250GB is a much wiser investment and with some of the Kinect bundle deals around at the moment the difference can be less than £45.
hi there getting 250 gb you have one storage slot the 4 gb has 2 storagage slots for 500 gb the best drives for capicity and speed are the new ssd/hdd combo like seagate 250 320 500 gb hdd with 4 gb ssd built in too the hdd
hi there what i ment was getting 4 gb xbox 360 with optional 250 gb hdd for hybride porformane
Why bother with the 4bg, if your into gaming this memory would prove usless as you use the xbox more.