$336 with a 120GB disk
by
drinkypoo
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Which is unnecessary and/or overkill for most applications. The 8GB disk will fulfill most users' needs because their media library can be stored on their PC (A more logical place for a large expensive disk than a cheapass little piece of consumer trash - I like my Xbox a lot but I don't think I necessarily trust it.)
Make that more like $236, with no disk upgrade, which as I mentioned before is unnecessary. Actually, I think it will cost you a little MORE than that, though. It's $30 for a decent modchip, something that's updatable from a CD. You also have to pay shipping on cables to hook up USB, or you have to make cables out of Xbox extension cables and USB extension cables, which probably ain't much cheaper. Also, to get digital audio out of it you have to spend another $20. (That also gets you S-Video, though, it even comes with an S-Video cable to get you started... it's lousy but it works.)
Then again, you can get an Xbox used for $130. So maybe it's actually not so expensive. Why buy an Xbox with a warranty if you're just going to void it anyway?
-- "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:$336 with a 120GB disk
by
SharpFang
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Why buy an Xbox with a warranty if you're just going to void it anyway?
Maybe because if there IS warranty, you may be pretty sure the box is not broken? But in the other hand, you can buy an used Xbox with a warranty that's about-to-expire and get just enough time to test if you should make use of the warranty and take the xbox to service or void it safely...
The guy's got a point. Wait till Dell runs a sale and you can score a P-4 2.x GHz machine loaded, for about $450, sans monitor. That's just over $100 more than the X-Box, and look at the difference. Of course, that would make this whole 'Hacking the X-Box' appear to be a worthless waste of time...
Wait a second...
USA TODAY "research"
by
Alpha_Nerd
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Just because there's been 150,000 copies donloaded doesn't mean 150,000 XBoxen have been modded. I'm sure there's people who have downloaded it and not installed it(I do that to software often =/)and on the flip side I'm sure there's peopel who DL it and install on multiple. I'd take a guess and say the former is more common than the latter.
And to the idiot that said XBox games look like Quake 2, well you're just that - an idiot. The XBox is the technically superior system. It also IMO has the best controler - too bad it's games suck =/
I believe all of these should fall into the "fair use" catagory. If Microsoft doesn't interfere with any of this alleged "illegal hacking" projects, they could sell those Xboxes like hot cakes. More people would buy them since they'll have more than one use. Since more people would buy an Xbox to say run Linux on them or what not, they could also use it to play games! That way games will be sold and Microsoft would make money of it since the publishers have to pay a royalts to MS.
Also, whatever you do to the Xbox should be considered fair use. When you mess with the hardware, all that MS should be able to do is deny you warrany. Car manufacturers already do this. Think of the people that modify their cars and put in turbos and superchargers. If/when their engine craps out, the dealership or whatever doesn't have to cover anything since what you did to your car has voided your warrany.
My point is MS has no right to take any legal action against any of these "illegal hacking" projects and should just leave them alone. Fair use is fair use.
-video out quality isn't as good (nvidia's video out sucks, ati's is good but not as good as xbox) -it's louder -it's bigger -it doesn't fit in with your other home entertainment stuff -no optical digital output -no rgb output -slower boot time
If you want to spend 5-600$ or so for a loaded shuttle XPC (i got the nforce one) and another 100$ for a scan converter with component output, another 100$ for swank logitech wireless keyboard and optical mouse, then you'll have something worth comparing. This is almost exactly what I have, and it's nice. My only main complaint is the noise of the fan, but I have it hidden under my home entertainment system.
But saying a cheap system will do the same is naive.
Because consoles are not about GFX or Online....
by
Viewsonic
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· Score: 3, Insightful
It's about FUN GAMES. Period. Something which Nitnendo has been dominating Sony and Microsoft since the early 80s. Nothing has ever sold more than Mario and Zelda. You mention HALO, that's fine.. What else is there? Nothing... Thats why! You can give crap games all the online stuff in the world and they'll still be a crap game. In online gaming on the PC where people are used to playing againts thousands of users, 8-24 player deathmatch is simply lacking, they shouldn't even bother. Just my lame opinion, I know.. But yes, Microsoft is the runt of the three, they have no idea what they're doing, so they've gone the route of "hey, lets make this thing JUST like the computer I own already and see if anyone notices!"..
Re:Meanwhile, a LEGAL and FUNCTIONAL PC
by
Twister002
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· Score: 4, Insightful
and you'll have a point once you are able to run Xbox games natively in Linux.
Right now, the biggest complaint about Linux is "not enough games" (ok, maybe not the biggest, but one of the reasons that a lot of people are dual-booting). Once you can install Linux on your gaming console (PS2 or Xbox) you remove that reason for dual-booting. Now you've got a functioning Linux PC that you can reboot and use to play games with.
What's the difference between that and dual-booting? Well for one thing you only have to maintain one OS installation instead of 2.
-- "For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
Hacking the XBox can hardly be called "a worthless waste of time." Anytime a person has enough curiousity and know-how to crack open the case of a computer/appliance/gadget; ESPECIALLY one manufactured by such a hated company as Microsoft; and tinker around with it to gain a better understanding of the device or to improve/change its function is NOT A WASTE OF TIME.
We need more curious minded people if we are ever going to grow as a society. We need to understand the computers and devices that we depend on in the 21st century. Otherwise we be just as better off in the Dark Ages.
But it does highlight the complexity of Microsoft's struggles to make its products more secure. Because Xbox has so much capability...
You'd think that MS would embrace this community and use thier advances as a selling point for the X-Box. Maybe they could make software of this type an official release. The whole idea of the media hub seems to be what most companies are moving towards today, so you would think that MS would want software of this type running on its system.
-- SIGFAULT
Re:Here's a wacked out idea...
by
demonbug
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Great idea. Lets waste our money so MS might lose some. Of course, considering they have $40 billion odd in cash lying around (at least, I think I remember hearing something like that), we're going to have to buy a hell of a lot of X-boxes. Lets see, something like 400,000,000 of them I think (assuming they lose $100 a console). Somehow I don't think that is going to work.
Re:Meanwhile, a LEGAL and FUNCTIONAL PC
by
Tenebrious1
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· Score: 4, Insightful
which runs the Linux OS can be had from wal-mart for >$100 less.
I'm sorry, I don't see the appeal of this?
Not that we haven't gone over this a thousand times on/., but:
XBox- Great graphics to a TV (which most people already have). Great stereo output.
WalMart PC- crappy video, crappy sound, cheap components all around. Still need to buy a monitor. Only available through mail order, that's at least $30 shipping (plus tax since Wal-Mart has a physical presence in your state). Doesn't fit in TV console, doesn't look good sitting on top of VCR. Doesn't play DVDs. Doesn't play xbox games. Doesn't play many games at all. Need to get IR mouse/kb or you can't use it from the couch.
You're probably too young to remember this, but the reasons the Commodore 64 sold so well was it was much cheaper than other computers, but mostly because you could plug it right into the TV. The IBM PCjr selling for $1000 was too expensive for most people, but a C64 and tape drive could be had for $200 (or less!) and plugged right into the TV. That's what introduced millions of us to computers- the fact we didn't need to buy an expensive monitor. And the awesome COLOR graphics, sound, the the sheer number of games available, put the C64 into many homes. Oh, and most retailers were willing to sell the C64 at a loss to get customers in to buy the accessories and games.
If MS were to market a "game" that consisted of Windows, Word and Excel, with a cheap xbox printer, I think it could create a HUGE market for the xbox, similar what happened with the C64.
-- -- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
Re:X-Box Troll Handbook
by
blincoln
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· Score: 3, Insightful
#8 - The only good games for the XBox are out for the other systems,
No. Steel Battalion is reason enough to own an XBox, and it will never be released for anything else.
-- "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
Re:The Most Interesting Quote...
by
Babbster
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· Score: 3, Insightful
"Could" it happen? Sure. Is it going to happen? I don't know and neither does the person quoted. Every argument like this smacks to me of someone who simply wants to justify doing whatever s/he wants to do. It's like people arguing that they download MP3s because CDs are too expensive - if a CD is too expensive to purchase, how does that give you the right to steal it (yes, I use the word "steal" despite all the arguments about copyright being civil law and that copying supposedly isn't the same as stealing).
That's not to say that I think people shouldn't be able to mod their Xboxen. As long as the person modding isn't pirating software then I myself don't see the big deal. But that quote from the article reads like the kind of paranoid spouting off that we read every day from posters on Slashdot...to those people, EVERYTHING is a "slippery slope."
The truth is that I think Microsoft wants to "lock down" the Xbox hardware so that people can't play pirated games and not as some sort of diabolical plot that has something to do with Windows, Office and the Illuminati. I consider their stance on this matter reasonable (though maybe not defensible) considering that any money they make from the Xbox comes from software licensing.
. . . that/.'ers who are generally opposed to M$'s monopolistic business tactics rush to buy Xboxes. I know the usual arguments is "M$ loses money for each one sold," but it seems people are actually buying games for their systems too.
I'm guessing you enjoy M$ dominating yet another industry?
Slashdot Mirror
Make that more like $236, with no disk upgrade, which as I mentioned before is unnecessary. Actually, I think it will cost you a little MORE than that, though. It's $30 for a decent modchip, something that's updatable from a CD. You also have to pay shipping on cables to hook up USB, or you have to make cables out of Xbox extension cables and USB extension cables, which probably ain't much cheaper. Also, to get digital audio out of it you have to spend another $20. (That also gets you S-Video, though, it even comes with an S-Video cable to get you started... it's lousy but it works.)
Then again, you can get an Xbox used for $130. So maybe it's actually not so expensive. Why buy an Xbox with a warranty if you're just going to void it anyway?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The guy's got a point. Wait till Dell runs a sale and you can score a P-4 2.x GHz machine loaded, for about $450, sans monitor. That's just over $100 more than the X-Box, and look at the difference. Of course, that would make this whole 'Hacking the X-Box' appear to be a worthless waste of time...
Wait a second...
Just because there's been 150,000 copies donloaded doesn't mean 150,000 XBoxen have been modded. I'm sure there's people who have downloaded it and not installed it(I do that to software often =/)and on the flip side I'm sure there's peopel who DL it and install on multiple. I'd take a guess and say the former is more common than the latter.
And to the idiot that said XBox games look like Quake 2, well you're just that - an idiot. The XBox is the technically superior system. It also IMO has the best controler - too bad it's games suck =/
Also, whatever you do to the Xbox should be considered fair use. When you mess with the hardware, all that MS should be able to do is deny you warrany. Car manufacturers already do this. Think of the people that modify their cars and put in turbos and superchargers. If/when their engine craps out, the dealership or whatever doesn't have to cover anything since what you did to your car has voided your warrany.
My point is MS has no right to take any legal action against any of these "illegal hacking" projects and should just leave them alone. Fair use is fair use.
About that cheap dell:
-video out quality isn't as good (nvidia's video out sucks, ati's is good but not as good as xbox)
-it's louder
-it's bigger
-it doesn't fit in with your other home entertainment stuff
-no optical digital output
-no rgb output
-slower boot time
If you want to spend 5-600$ or so for a loaded shuttle XPC (i got the nforce one) and another 100$ for a scan converter with component output, another 100$ for swank logitech wireless keyboard and optical mouse, then you'll have something worth comparing. This is almost exactly what I have, and it's nice. My only main complaint is the noise of the fan, but I have it hidden under my home entertainment system.
But saying a cheap system will do the same is naive.
It's about FUN GAMES. Period. Something which Nitnendo has been dominating Sony and Microsoft since the early 80s. Nothing has ever sold more than Mario and Zelda. You mention HALO, that's fine.. What else is there? Nothing... Thats why! You can give crap games all the online stuff in the world and they'll still be a crap game. In online gaming on the PC where people are used to playing againts thousands of users, 8-24 player deathmatch is simply lacking, they shouldn't even bother. Just my lame opinion, I know.. But yes, Microsoft is the runt of the three, they have no idea what they're doing, so they've gone the route of "hey, lets make this thing JUST like the computer I own already and see if anyone notices!" ..
and you'll have a point once you are able to run Xbox games natively in Linux.
Right now, the biggest complaint about Linux is "not enough games" (ok, maybe not the biggest, but one of the reasons that a lot of people are dual-booting). Once you can install Linux on your gaming console (PS2 or Xbox) you remove that reason for dual-booting. Now you've got a functioning Linux PC that you can reboot and use to play games with.
What's the difference between that and dual-booting? Well for one thing you only have to maintain one OS installation instead of 2.
"For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
Hacking the XBox can hardly be called "a worthless waste of time." Anytime a person has enough curiousity and know-how to crack open the case of a computer/appliance/gadget; ESPECIALLY one manufactured by such a hated company as Microsoft; and tinker around with it to gain a better understanding of the device or to improve/change its function is NOT A WASTE OF TIME. We need more curious minded people if we are ever going to grow as a society. We need to understand the computers and devices that we depend on in the 21st century. Otherwise we be just as better off in the Dark Ages.
But it does highlight the complexity of Microsoft's struggles to make its products more secure. Because Xbox has so much capability...
You'd think that MS would embrace this community and use thier advances as a selling point for the X-Box. Maybe they could make software of this type an official release. The whole idea of the media hub seems to be what most companies are moving towards today, so you would think that MS would want software of this type running on its system.
SIGFAULT
Great idea. Lets waste our money so MS might lose some. Of course, considering they have $40 billion odd in cash lying around (at least, I think I remember hearing something like that), we're going to have to buy a hell of a lot of X-boxes. Lets see, something like 400,000,000 of them I think (assuming they lose $100 a console). Somehow I don't think that is going to work.
which runs the Linux OS can be had from wal-mart for >$100 less. I'm sorry, I don't see the appeal of this?
/., but:
Not that we haven't gone over this a thousand times on
XBox- Great graphics to a TV (which most people already have). Great stereo output.
WalMart PC- crappy video, crappy sound, cheap components all around. Still need to buy a monitor. Only available through mail order, that's at least $30 shipping (plus tax since Wal-Mart has a physical presence in your state). Doesn't fit in TV console, doesn't look good sitting on top of VCR. Doesn't play DVDs. Doesn't play xbox games. Doesn't play many games at all. Need to get IR mouse/kb or you can't use it from the couch.
You're probably too young to remember this, but the reasons the Commodore 64 sold so well was it was much cheaper than other computers, but mostly because you could plug it right into the TV. The IBM PCjr selling for $1000 was too expensive for most people, but a C64 and tape drive could be had for $200 (or less!) and plugged right into the TV. That's what introduced millions of us to computers- the fact we didn't need to buy an expensive monitor. And the awesome COLOR graphics, sound, the the sheer number of games available, put the C64 into many homes. Oh, and most retailers were willing to sell the C64 at a loss to get customers in to buy the accessories and games.
If MS were to market a "game" that consisted of Windows, Word and Excel, with a cheap xbox printer, I think it could create a HUGE market for the xbox, similar what happened with the C64.
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
#8 - The only good games for the XBox are out for the other systems,
No. Steel Battalion is reason enough to own an XBox, and it will never be released for anything else.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
That's not to say that I think people shouldn't be able to mod their Xboxen. As long as the person modding isn't pirating software then I myself don't see the big deal. But that quote from the article reads like the kind of paranoid spouting off that we read every day from posters on Slashdot...to those people, EVERYTHING is a "slippery slope."
The truth is that I think Microsoft wants to "lock down" the Xbox hardware so that people can't play pirated games and not as some sort of diabolical plot that has something to do with Windows, Office and the Illuminati. I consider their stance on this matter reasonable (though maybe not defensible) considering that any money they make from the Xbox comes from software licensing.
. . . that /.'ers who are generally opposed to M$'s monopolistic business tactics rush to buy Xboxes. I know the usual arguments is "M$ loses money for each one sold," but it seems people are actually buying games for their systems too.
I'm guessing you enjoy M$ dominating yet another industry?