Engadget: New Xbox 360 S 250GB Review

The new Xbox 360 is a sleek, stylish contraption, shiny black from head to cords, but it doesn't offer quite enough to make it an obvious upgrade for those who've bought one before.

[SOAD]

Why does the new 360 heat up to a higher temperature when playing a game than the Elite 360?

[deadreckoning666]

Proly cause it more stuff in it. Wifi etc. Imagine the heat when Kinect is being used on it.. Oh lORD

[Triella]

that's probably the reason why they made sure the console shuts itself off. Anyway the heatsink/fan combination they are using to cool things down will not be enough : the heatsink is too thin and even if the fan might blow enough air into it, everything is so crammed full in this box that I don't see how the heat will be able to dissipate properly. The worst thing is that the only "way out" for the heat generated is the little airvent to the right when the console is lying down. The other airvent to the left being partially blocked by the DVD player (which will also produce heat), and the one on the back is blocked by the Hard drive

[ElementX]

You said "the heatsink is too thin and even if the fan might blow enough air into it, everything is so crammed full in this box that I don't see how the heat will be able to dissipate properly"

That statement is incorrect. If you owned a 360S you'd know that the ventiliation fan is on the top when the unit is laying on it's side, right above the processors. That fan draws air OVER the processors from the side vents. The fan doesn't blow air onto the heatsink. There is no little airvent on the right side (while laying down) that blows out hot air! Try doing some research or talking about a console you own.

The air coming out of my 360 S is pretty warm. I took temperature readings and playing Alan Wake the air blowing out was 119F, or 48C. Playing Fable 2 it was 138F, or 59C. The unit itself was room temparture. I placed my hand over the DVD unit and didn't feel any significant warmth. Only the air coming out was hot. I've left my 360S on for around 18 hours, gaming and idle, and I haven't had any problems.

[WhittO]

You act as though having your 360S on for 18 hours and it not overheating or Red Ringing is some sort of accomplishment ?

I guess that's how bad MS Hardware is for people to be impressed of it not breaking after being on for 18 hours?

One of my mates leaves his PS3 on 24/7!!! It is barely ever turned off and it is NEVER idle! he always leaves a game running, even if he isn't in/not using it (lol I don't know why and have told him not to but he doesn't care). That has been going for over 2 years with no problem.

I'd like to see any 360 model be able to cope with those conditions, can't imagine how loud/hot it would be after running games continuously for a week straight, never mind years lol.

[ElementX]

I was commenting on the ability of the 360 to disapate heat. I'm not talking about your mate's PS3 staying on for 24 hours. Triella's statement about the function of the fan and it's location is incorrect. They also commented on the doubts of the 360S to disapate heat, which I said mine is doing quite well.

I also leave my PS3 on for extended periods of time. This article isn't about the PS3, however! If people would stick to commenting on the topic of the article, then there wouldn't be so much BS in these threads.

[TheXgamerLive]

This particular combination has been tested by ms for over 1 yr. and put through all types of different overload heat testing and it passed very very well. In fact, theirs been no problems with any type of heating issues for well over 18 months.

[Blacktric]

Maybe because it's another design disaster from Microsoft?

[Perjoss]

you're right, but imagine of the 360 was 99% reliable, Sony would not stand a chance and the japanese might even embrace it too. As long as MS learns from this gen, next gen is going to be very tough on Sony.

[Serg]

Provided consumers don't learn anything from this gen, but seeing the 360 still going strong I really doubt people are able to learn anything.

[JoySticksFTW]

Hopefully MS learns a thing about hardware quality for next gen, but I don't think that puts Sony in any trouble.

The main reason is Sony owned IP's. While MS was selling / dismantling studios, Sony was forming / purchasing more 1st party studios and securing new IP's from 2nd parties that you can't play anywhere else

Even if MS launches first again, I really think that there will be those gamers that that won't purchase it right away and will use other early adopters as guinea pigs to see if the system is "bug-free"... especially after all this gen's problems

And one more reason is Sony won't be launching another $600 system, as the next gen blu-ray tech will not be expensive.

I do think MS is here to stay though... if they want to, that is.

[HolyOrangeCows]

"the new Xbox 360 has only a set of composite wires that don't support even 480p resolution"
So....out of the box, it only does 480i???

And it gets hotter than older models?

"The Stealthbox is just as "whisper quiet" as Microsoft promised, too -- though it's definitely audible when playing games from DVD, the system's blissfully silent as long as you first install them to the hard drive"
So if you want it to run silently, you have to install your games?
So you either live with the noise like w/older models or you install all of your games and have a severely depleted HDD.

Sort of seems like a "One step forward, one step back" thing here.

[DelbertGrady]

Why play games from the DVD when you have a 250gb HDD? I don't do it on my 120gb Elite and certainly won't on my new 360S.

[insomnium]

the mandatory installs of some of the games on the PS3. That's why you Soda have to play them straight from the DVD.

[Erotic Sheep]

lol Soda, so now its suddenly a good thing to install? When PS3 owners had the chance of installing their games on their 500GB harddrive and STILL got laughed at... now it's suddenly a good thing? :|

[LoydX-mas]

"PS3 owners had the chance of installing games on their harddrive"?????
Since when did the PS3 allow the OPTION of installing a game to the HDD?
I know that some PS3 games have MANDATORY partial installs (which some people look at as a negative),but as far as I know no one can install complete games from disc to HDD.

The 360 has been able to install complete games for about 2 years now. With each disc only holding up roughly 8 gigs, it would take roughly 28-30 games(depending on each games size) to fill the 250gig hard drive.

[insomnium]

"though it's definitely audible when playing games from DVD"

There it is. This is the point. It is mandatory to install the games on x360 unless you want to listen to the DVD-drive of the x360 which is NOISY as hell.

It's all fine and dandy to be able to install full games on the x360 but you really cannot take the whole "most of the install base of the x360 has only 13GB of space" out of the equation.

This is a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" -situation.

Let me explain:

Install games
--> you need a HDD from MS which means you need to bend over backwards twice to get one (the price is ridiculous if you didn't get it).

don't install games
--> you have to listen to the sound of the DVD-drive and get all those lovely pop-ups in games since the data doesn't transfer nearly as fast from the DVD as it does from the HDD.

The thing with PS3s mandatory installs is quite simple. The developers need to take this route since they are unfamiliar with the PS3. It's a shortcut to them and to be honest I don't like them taking it. However this thing can only be blamed on the developers you do know this right? If anyone it's them.

The situation would be totally different if Sony handled their HDDs as MS does and ripped people off with them. However they don't so what does this leave you with? Sad joke of an argument of the PS3 not being powerfull enough? Sad joke of an argument about the BD-drive in PS3 not being fast enough? Good luck with those...-_-

[LoydX-mas]

This post is about the xbox slim, which has a 250gig HDD.

I agree that the Arcade model or the older 20gig gives you limited choices, but that was a choice that the consumer had to make at the time of purchase.
With the new 360S version out now, all accessories will continue to drop in price and become more affordable for people who want to upgrade their memory.

Also, don't jump to conclusions that I would use some other arguments about the PS3. I don't have any problems with the capabilities of the PS3, I was just pointing out a problem with Erotic's post.

[insomnium]

OK I get that.
But still like you said "The 360 has been able to install complete games for about 2 years now" and this goes along the very lines I've always disliked the way MS does things this gen.

They shoot first and only then afterwards ask their questions. It's happened atleast 3 times already and every single time the consumers have been the ones to pay for them.

[militant07]

"The heat issue is not worse. That is temperature outside the console, and since it is higher, it means that a lot more heat is being effectively pushed out from the new Xbox 360." -heSixFive, Engadget

[SixZeroFour]

does it heat up fast even when the game is installed and not spinning in tray?

[EastCoastSB]

They don't say how fast it heats up when played both ways, but it says that it still gets very hot.

[PeterGriffinSays]

But if you have a 20 GB model, then, that sucks for you, because you can basically only install 3 games. If you have at least a 120 GB, then you're good.

[SixZeroFour]

dunno how i got disagrees for asking a question, but in any case, it seems like it DOES apparently heat up according to this article (playing a game through hdd means installed, which was what i was asking :S) thats not an assuring thing to know

[EastCoastSB]

Umm, yes they do. It even says in the article that their model became BURNING HOT to the touch. This is even after they installed the game on the HDD.

[RememberThe357]

Heat was the biggest cause of RROD wasn't it?

[SolidSystem]

Heat isnt the enemy.your graphics card runs about 120 idle in your PC.
the problem is when parts get damaged.

[RememberThe357]

Mine never got RROD so I don't really know what the cause was.

[mrv321]

The problem is never heat, if you can run at 1000 degrees it's no different to 100 but can the parts handle it? In earlier models they may have used cheaper metals etc with a lower melting point or receive more damage, my laptop which is slowly dying a heroes death is running at 75 degrees... instead of the 40 it should be,

[lonix]

They wouldn't have sold as many so breaking is a feature

[tnator]

That article lost all credibility when the writer put in a Savage Garden CD.....

Seriously though; it's been 18 months since my original 360 crapped itself, and i've just bought a new 250g console. It sure is a sleek looking machine, i just hope reliability has improved. It'll be used for 360 exclusives as now most my gaming is done on PS3. Can finally finish Gears 2 as my old machine died half way through.

[whitesoxfalife]

gonna wait for the kinect bundle by that time all the launch consoles is out the way

[Kroganwrex]

You guys have nothing better to do than bash the 360? Notice how you have barely any resistance? There are ps3 fans, who are cool and then the fanboys, who suck dick.

[SolidSystem]

its obvious the slim is the version of the 360 to own, quiet, more power efficent, and a large HDD.

hates gona hate. how any one can disagree is beyond me.

[Games4M - Rob]

well yeah, given the choice between this and the old 360 then this is clearly the one to get.

However given the choice between this and a PS3 then it still looks weak in comparison. Thats why the disagree's.

[redsquad]

Given the choice between getting shot and lethal injection, I'll take the latter. Still rather not choose either though.
360 burned me once (not literally, of course), so I won't give them another chance.

[SolidSystem]

all i said was the 360 version. i didnt even bring the ps3 into this. stop being fanboys.

[EpsilonTeam]

We'll see other models/versions down the road. I'm sure of it. I'm gonna pass on this one.

[oguzsasi]

The S tag means SMALL! Not SLIM!

Even Microsoft dont tell its name Slim! They call it S!

[jazzking2001]

small or slim
does it really matter?

[Wikkid666]

It is slimmer... S means S... means smaller... slimmer.. sleeker.. shiny... what every you wanna call it.

[oguzsasi]

Its the same as old Xbox. Just a little bit smaller then Xbox 360. Xbox 360 is taller thats all.

[pyramid]

When you install a game on the xbox hdd you get worse framerate. I noticed that while playing gta. The developers have also confirmed this is true. Xbox was made to stream off the dvd, it works better that way. This is the lesson for today kids!

[NnT3291]

It depends, some games will have better framerate and loading time, some wont, I've tried with many games. I still prefer to install games, at least my Xbox wont scratch my disc

[Parapraxis]

I've even been installing games I rent onto my elite, it runs quieter and like you said, probably less likely to scratch discs.

[edhe]

Rubbish.

[jneul]

that is not an encouraging sign it gots hotter both when playing from HDD and DVD, an you get no advantage to playing games from HDD, oh dear thsat is not good, what happens if the software does not shutdown the 360 in time I guess it will be RDOD for your 360??

[dizzleK]

i love it and my boyfriend, master chief, loves it too.

[jazzking2001]

good review

[jdktech2010]

As far as the heat issue by the vents....that's a good thing. That means it's getting rid of the heat as much as possible. So that's a GOOD THING and doesn't mean it's overheating.

[insomnium]

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