Console buying guide: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Let’s try an exercise in restraint: put down the fanboy flamethrowers long enough to take a constructive look at one of the most significant issues in the console battle — price. You’ve got PS3s coming in at different prices, 3 completely different 360 setups at varying price points; at which price point are you getting the best product available?

As you know if you’ve read any of my earlier Blorge articles on the console war, I’m a big proponent of choosing whatever console fits you best — and ignoring others who don’t agree with you. With that said, I want to highlight the different price points and configurations of consoles so we can evaluate which setups are the best value.

The Xbox 360 is quite an interesting bird; Microsoft, profit seeker extraordinaire, has built 3 different consoles to appeal to different customers. Apparently selling 8,082 versions of Windows has proven successful enough to justify a similar scheme for the 360.

First up, you’ve got the Xbox 360 Arcade. A succinct little package, the Arcade comes in at $279.99 U.S. and includes 5 arcade games, a wireless controller, as well as an HDMI output. Though you aren’t getting an HDMI cable right out of the box, that means you do get better quality capabilities than, say, the Pro (at least what used to be known as the Pro).

What you aren’t getting is a hard drive — and believe it or not, that’s kind of a big deal. No hard drive means no game saves (without a memory card), no downloads from Xbox Live…generally limited capability. However, if you really are just looking for an arcade system, the Arcade package is cute, and did I mention cheap?

Next up is the standard 360, or what used to be known as the Pro before someone decided having an Elite console means there aren’t really any pros worth having around. The “standard” 360 now comes with a 20 Gb hard drive, component cables, wireless controller and headset for a tidy $349.99 U.S.

The hard drive is great for testing a couple demos, making some saves and downloading extra game content…but don’t bank on storing everything you ever download. The hard drive runs out quickly.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Xbox 360 Elite. The ‘lite is the alpha male (excuse the sexism) of the pack; it quite literally is big and black (no, no sexual or racial inferences there either). The entire system is white, not black, and the Elite comes with a substantially bigger 120 Gb hard drive. Size does matter for consoles.

You also get HDMI capabilities and the cable to use it; headset comes standard along with wireless controller. I haven’t mentioned the Xbox Live Silver membership that comes standard to all 360s, mainly because it is worthless if you want to do any online gaming. But there ’tis.

Analysis – alright, it would seem that features are the only things differentiating the different console builds, right? Well, maybe not. Considering Xbox’s track record for console construction and longevity, my first instinct is to tell you stay as far away from the cheapest 360 console as you can.

Really, if you want to be up to par with modern gaming (ala participating in online gaming and downloads, which is the way many games are going today), you need either the standard or Elite system — because of the hard drive.

The biggest thing any new 360 buyer needs to keep in mind is the track records of 360s – older console builds have a 33% failure rate, whereas the newer consoles (supposedly constructed with better disc drives, more efficient heat sinks and processors) have a failure rate under 15%. Though you might be getting the new chipsets in whatever console you buy off the shelf, some older builds are still lingering.

Now, if you don’t mind dealing with sending your console and possibly damaged game discs back to Microsoft, then go buy what you like. If it were me (and this is coming from someone who has suffered multiple console failures and game issues), I would go the safe route and purchase the Elite if you are buying a 360. There’s talk of Netflix movie rentals on Xbox Live, so the bigger hard drive is a good investment…also, you are guaranteed the newer chipsets and better quality construction that some of the standard 360s still don’t have.

On to the Playstation 3. The PS3 has had quite a few setups since its inception. Since launch, there have been 20, 40, 60 and 80 Gb setups, all boasting slight differences.

The launch 20Gb and 60Gb systems were different in that the 60 Gb had 4 USB ports, WiFi, chrome trim (can you say bling?), flash card reader, Super Audio CD Support, and PS2 Hardware (for playing PS2 games, duh). The base 20 Gb model had no WiFi, no flash card reader, no chrome (oh noes!), and obviously a smaller hard drive.

A few other noteworthy things about the PS3: every one comes standard with a Blu-ray player, Bluetooth 2.0, and HDMI; however, you won’t be getting an HDMI cable with your PS3 straight up, and you’re stuck with a lame AV cable setup — not even component. The Sixaxis controller comes standard…motion sensing is all the craze nowadays…but you get no rumble.

Then the launch 60 Gb model got a slight twist; instead of having the hardware for playing PS2 games, Sony cut costs by only including emulation software. After that, an 80 Gb system hit — same as the newer 60 Gb, but with a larger hard drive.

Now the main model of the PS3 in circulation is a 40 Gb version. Though the prices have dropped substantially since launch (the 40 Gb comes in at $399.99), if you’re a PS2 fan, watch out: the 40 Gb version has no backwards compatibility, so you better count on trading in your PS2 favorites.

Analysis – The nice thing about having all those different models of PS3 on the market at various points of time is that you can usually find the system best to your liking somewhere. One thing worth noting is that, whenever there’s a price cut, generally the quality goes down. The PS3 didn’t just spontaneously become cheaper to manufacturer…less expensive parts are used in the less expensive consoles (go figure).

Though the Playstation 3 has hugely lower failure rates than the 360 (think 1% vs. 15-33%), there are more reported issues with the newer models like the 40 Gb than there were with the launch 60 Gb. If you’re wanting backwards compatibility, or are a stickler for the best construction and quality available, go with the 60 Gb. I myself don’t care about backwards compatibility and am the happy owner of a 40 Gb Playstation 3.

Generally speaking, regardless of which (or both) consoles you choose, the more you are able to spend, the less hassle you will have later if the console decides to go screwy on you. Though you might save money up front on buying a cheaper console, I would definitely recommend getting the best quality you can up front to save yourself the hassle (and repair costs) that sometimes accompany more cheaply manufactured consoles.

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