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What To Do With a Free Xbox 360 Pro?
OzPeter writes "Last week I won an Xbox 360 Pro. However, I am not a gamer, and after looking at the current MS offerings, I am not tempted to become one. But I am in the market for a Media Center PC that I can use for streaming TV shows off the 'net as well as general web browsing and displaying video through the HDMI port. With that in mind, I again looked at MS and saw they seemed to have positioned the Xbox as an adjunct to a separate Windows Media Center PC and not as a stand alone unit (which is not what I want). So, once again, I did some more research into the Xbox homebrew scene and discovered things like Xbox Linux. But after reading that site, it is apparent that MS is trying to beat down the homebrewers, and I am left wondering how much hassle it would be to go down that path. So my question is: how should I re-purpose my Xbox? Is it worthwhile doing the Homebrew/Linux option (and can anyone share any experiences)? Are there other ways of re-purposing the device that I haven't considered? Or should I just keep it boxed up as a Christmas present for a favorite nephew?"
Why let yourself in for a world of hurt for a device which will likely never operate in the way you require.
Best to give it as a gift, or sell it on eBay and pocket the cash, and invest that in your stand alone box.
Frankly, I can't believe you are even contemplating it.
How many escape pods are there? "NONE,SIR!" You counted them? "TWICE, SIR!"
I like the 'giveittome' tag.
Though, Xbox Linux is probably the way to go if you want that kind of thing.
Sell it as new and put the money towards something that's built for the purpose you want it for. Bit easier than spending hours messing about with it.
"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
Offer it as a bribe, perhaps if he does well in school or the like. It sounds like you already have made up your mind about the product not meeting your needs. Certainly things like the linux project would be at best pure hack value, and not much for practical use. If you want to do that, find the right ps3 and relish in a vendor that doesn't actively fight alternate os's and lets you install Linux without all the hassle.
Penny-arcade.com has a charity called "Child's Play" which provides hospitalized children with toys and electronic entertainment. If I were at a loss for what to do with a new video game console, that would be the way to go for me.
Congratulations on your good fortune.
If you don't want it and won't use it, sell it on eBay and move on. This isn't a complicated thing. For centuries, people have won random shiat they don't care about in lotteries. Sell the useful shiat, profit, live happy, and let whatever minor player who buys (thing you won) manage it. Sure, they might do better than you might have. Yet, say, 20 Million now, vs. 40 million if you guess right, well, I'm with the $20M right now crowd of thinking. You should see our datacenter. Holy crap, how could anyone do better?
Seriously, you're trying to use a proverbial hammer to saw a tree. An XBox 360 is the wrong tool for anything but gaming, which is what it was built for. Therefore trying to run Linux on it or do other cool stuff is a waste of the machine UNLESS you're into that cool stuff to start with and THAT is the game. Given that you're still wondering how to use it, the answer is simple. Use it for gaming. Or sell it and let someone use it for gaming. Or give it away and let someone use it for gaming. As a media center, there are better options - if you sell it put the money towards buying one. As a linux PC, an XBox isn't the best solution. Sell it and buy a nice Intel or AMD based machine.
The world's full of interesting geeky stuff to do. One of the least interesting things you can do is to waste time forcing a machine to do something it's not designed for. Especially since you'll be using it not writing the software to do it in the first place. Life's too short.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
HTPC/Media centers are a pain in the a$$ and streaming video is for kids with 22" screens and huge pipes. Get a PS3, it's not perfect but it's an excellent blu-ray player, will stream stuff, and you won't have to spend an hour fiddling with it every other time you use it. Use it with TVersity or the like for more flexibility on streaming. Or if you do have just a small screen, keep the 360 and stream all you want.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
Give it to a local children's hospital. Cheer up some kids that could use it.
You can either A) Use it to play games and some media B) Sell it C) Donate it/give it away. I have no doubt that a local children's hospital would be eternally greatful for the gift. You could always donate it to some guy like Ben Heck (http://benheck.com/) to use in a mod to help a gamer with disabilities (or just to look pretty cool as a mod), or if worse comes to worse, keep it in its box and save it for a few years and sell it then in mint condition.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
If you were dishonest you could "return" it to best buy or other store, say you lost your receipt and use the store credit towards what you want
ebay
Is this really a situation that you can't figure out on your own? Are you even capable of dressing yourself without help? For that matter, how did this make the front page of Slashdot? Is this a common occurrence that perplexes a large portion of the readership? I eagerly await the day when I see the headline "Ask Slashdot: What Should I Have for Breakfast?"
Give it to your local childrens' hospital. Be a gent and throw in extra controllers and an E for everyone game like Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Star Wars, or Viva Pinata.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
With games at 50-60 bucks a pop the actual 'box' part of the XBox is only the beginning of the expense of owning a console.
No sig today...
Eventually every 360 that is actively used will RROD
Every 360 that is used will eventually stop working if given enough time (you have no basis for "rapidly"), but the "red ring of death" is an indicator for a specific hardware malfunction that not every 360 will fall victim to. It's a bit like saying "Eventually, everyone will die of a heart attack." Everyone will die eventually, but not necessarily of a heart attack.
Also, "desperate M$ fanboi"? Seriously? Am I on /. or am I on the gameFAQs boards?