480°

Hey Microsoft, How About an Xbox 360 Hard Drive Upgrade?

Matt Peckham writes,

"That's it, my Xbox 360's out of gas. I've officially tottered Over The Edge. The formerly formidable 120GB hard drive clapped on top of my vertically oriented unit's finally shuffled past the point of practical capacity. I've migrated my MP3s to external drives, scrubbed the video files and demos and superfluous cosmetic downloads, and dropped all the full-install games I can stand to live without down the rabbit hole. It's not enough. Not even close. Grand Theft Auto IV's eating up 9GB. Oblivion and Fable 2 have 8 a piece earmarked. Mass Effect and Sacred 2 are pushing 6 or 7 each. Lost Odyssey's first two discs alone are holding 11-plus in reserve. And yes, I really am actively chipping away at another dozen besides.

This, despite sacrificing an arm, a leg, and a pile of good ol' common sense to get my hands on Microsoft's $150 (that's $1.25 per gigabyte) Xbox 360 hard drive upgrade late last year--just in time for the company's New Xbox Experience."
Boldy - contributor
Published: 180 days 23 hours ago | Article | Xbox 360
 
 

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condorstrike - 180 days 23 hours ago
1 -
talk about a fanboy, question to the author...
is a console really worth $600?

yes, the HD is expensive, but unless you're saving all your games in it, then 120G is more than enough for what the X360 needs.

" I dropped a 160GB 5400RPM hard drive in my PS3 last summer and it's been cooking along like a champ since"
rightttt.......

install 3 blue-ray games on there and you run out of space.
this guy is a schmuck, writing the same story that dozens have written in the last 2 years.
1.1 Jack Klugman | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
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crck - 180 days 22 hours ago
1.2 -
I've never seen a ps3 game install more then 5gb. So wtf are you talking about? Plus if he does run out of space on his ps3 hard drive he can buy a 320gb 7200 rpm drive for $70 or buy a 500gb hard drive for $90 (yes 500gb with a 3 to 5 year warranty and still 40% cheaper then the 360 120gb drive). Quit being a stupid fanboy and admit MS needs to add a bigger hard drive option and drop the ridiculous prices. That way all gamers benefit.
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gaffyh - 180 days 21 hours ago
1.3 -
@1.2 - Exactly. When MS announced the full retail downloadable games and installing games to the HDD, they must have thought about the fact that 120GB is not enough for an entire library of games?

I'm sure they'll release a new SKU soon, but it would have been much better if they simply allowed 3rd parties to also build HDDs for 360. That way there would be cheap HDDs and no MS ripoff pricing. I'm sticking with my 20GB until the pricing get's a LOT cheaper.
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thereapersson - 180 days 21 hours ago
1.4 - "install 3 blue-ray games on there and you run out of space. "
Do you even know what the hell you are talking about? 3 blu-ray games at an average of 5 GB an install (and that's being generous does not equal 160 GB.

It's obvious that your trolling ways don't allow you to think properly. But please, do us a favor and TRY rational thought for once.
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a_squirrel - 180 days 19 hours ago
1.5 -
Personally, I'd rather depend on Sony than Microsoft....

So why do i have and xbox360?
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Arnon - 180 days 13 hours ago
1.6 -
Lol you guys are too literal. The point he's trying to get at, is that the PS3 uses a lot more HDD space than a 360 does, hence the reason why they allow you to upgrade it. 120gb on a 360 is MORE than enough space. a game, at max, on a single disc, is only 9gb. And most of them are only 7.5 at the most.
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edgeofblade - 180 days 10 hours ago
1.7 -
Shmuck indeed. How do you load your console up with 3 year old game installs and say "I can't free any more space.... oh noes"?

Start with the games you aren't playing...
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AAACE5 - 180 days 8 hours ago
1.8 - MS does need to make a bigger HDD!
I don't feel so bad because I just bought a 120 Gb Hdd for my 360 for $25 from Craigslist a couple months ago, but if you want to put all of your games on there... you need more space!

I think they will release a bigger HDD along with a new SKU later this year. If they don't, we could see something happen in the later part of 2010.
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CrazedFiend - 180 days 3 hours ago
1.9 -
My PS3 sports a 500GB internal HD that I got for about $80 when I lived in Japan (Softmap Nagoya). I've got about 20Gigs left on it, but I also have 1TB hooked up to it externally for my media archives and more drives I can move to it if I ever need to.

That's why my X360 is (and until MS rethinks their propriety HD pricing, ALWAYS will be) without a HD.
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Marcelles25 - 180 days 1 hour ago
1.10 - hard drives is one place the 360 lacks
its not upgradeable with third parties which hurts to buy a 60g one let alone a hundred and 20

and developers like hard drives so they can do mandatory installs sometimes they are a good thing

and the only reason sony lets you buy external harddrives is because the whole playstations os is DESIGNED that way. to let import movies music photos and its a universal system you can install linux on it which is a plus, for me at least.
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Poopface the 2nd - 180 days ago
1.11 - Ths guy could just uninstall some of the games since instals on 360 are optional
But he hates the lound noise. why doesnt he turn up the volume. My old 360 was noisy but with even a little volume I couldn't hear it. Maybe he sits close to his 360. Hes a pc guy, so he should be used to loud comps, as they are usually louder and are usually closer to you.

I think microsoft is keeping the HDs too expensive, probably because they need a reason to charge more for the pro and elite. Im waiting for the prices to go down before I upgrade my 360 HD. Id probably be ok wiht a 60 gig though as I wouldnt install many games, and probably only really use it for some DLC, which I could delete when Im done.

Microsoft would have to be really stupid not to release bigger and cheaper HDs, as now they are trying for DD. not to mention all the crap that they have for DL now. Its pretty obvious they would make more in the long run cause people would actualy be able to DL stuff.
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Arnon - 179 days 11 hours ago
1.12 -
Exactly... the only reason the man who is writing this ran out of HDD space is because he tried to from the sound of it.
2 rodrz34 | 180 days 23 hours ago - deleted by mod -
2.1 Jack Klugman | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
2.2 rodrz34 | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
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ApocalyPS3 - 180 days 22 hours ago
2.3 -
You said standard SATA. Wrong, you need a 2.5" laptop SATA drive :\ People shouldn't talk when they don't have all the facts.

edit: i like you rodz34 whatever, i think you'll live today :)
2.4 rodrz34 | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
2.5 kratos123 | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
2.6 Jack Klugman | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
2.7 rodrz34 | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
2.8 kratos123 | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
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Kushan - 180 days 22 hours ago
2.9 -
A PS3 install is not the full game, only a small part of the game. A 360 install is the FULL game. In other words, you can't compare them directly. Apples > Oranges.
2.10 Jack Klugman | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
2.11 rodrz34 | 180 days 22 hours ago - deleted by mod -
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kaveti6616 - 180 days 23 hours ago
3 -
Microsoft is using a specific kind of Hard Drive rather than a general SATA hard drive. I don't know why they did this, but it's the reason why the hard drive costs so much. Sony's PS3 allows for normal laptop SATA drives of any size. It's just another flaw of the 360, I suppose. Microsoft probably didn't anticipate how much space gamers would need for all their games, their pictures, their music, their game files, their demos, the arcade downloads, and so on. Next generation Microsoft better have a large harddrive, standard. I'm thinking 500 GB to 1TB. If they go for more digital distribution, 2 TB to 4TB.
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ApocalyPS3 - 180 days 22 hours ago
3.1 -
There's nothing special about it, they just have a special lock to prevent drives that aren't authorized by Microsoft.

Yeah, silly I know :\ Jeez, if Dell, HP, Gateway, IBM, Alienware, and Toshiba don't mind letting you upgrade you HDD I don't see why Microsoft should. But then again consoles have generally been closed architecture machines.

edit:

I'm all for HUGE reform over at Microsoft. For instance, have you guys checked out the "Xbox Live Terms of Use and Privacy Statement"?

Let me tell you something, "statement" isn't the right word. More like 12 page college term paper :\
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dirthurts - 180 days 22 hours ago
3.2 - Not true
I've had one open and played with it. Standard laptop drive. Sure it has a funky adapter hooked to it, so it can plug into the 360. But other than that, very standard 5400rpm drive. Just like Sony. That's why I refuse to upgrade mine.
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Kushan - 180 days 22 hours ago
3.3 -
Microsoft doesn't use specific drives at all, they use a variety of 2.5" Laptop Hard drives, the difference is they have a special security sector on them so that the 360 will use them. It's not needed, it's a bit like DRM for Hard Drives. Other than that, the drive is just a standard drive.
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Traveler - 180 days 22 hours ago
3.4 -
The hard drive isn't a custom drive at all. It is a standard 2.5" SATA HDD that is the standard for every laptop in the world. Microsoft charges you $100 above market value for their "custom" HDD.
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ApocalyPS3 - 180 days 21 hours ago
3.5 -
Traveler, you can always just buy the Arcade console and find an old 20GB on ebay. Or find someone who's planning on upgrading to the 120 and buy their old 20GB or 60GB.

For me, I personally don't need 500GB on my console. I have a home network, a laptop, a desktop, external hard drives, and USB memory sticks and SD cards. Plenty of storage in my house :)

Not too mention the vast archives of CD and DVD stacks in the garage.
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kaveti6616 - 180 days 19 hours ago
3.6 -
I had read that the drive was from HP or something. I meant specific as in you cannot add every available SATA drive you want. I don't know why they made it that way.
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KionicWarlord222 - 180 days 22 hours ago
4 -
I think Microsoft should at least cut the costs of the current drives and bring out a 320 drive.
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ASSASSYN 36o - 180 days 22 hours ago
4.1 -
Why not a 360 drive.
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KionicWarlord222 - 180 days 22 hours ago
4.2 -
Thats....what i meant.
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phosphor112 - 180 days 13 hours ago
4.3 - I know its sort of a joke
or maybe not? They don't make 360 gigs...also. As of current, the Xbox 360 won't read anything larger than a 120..so they'd need to update their firmware for a larger HDD support.
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Fishy Fingers - 180 days 22 hours ago
5 -
He's moaning that he's burnt up 120GB? Hardly anyone juggles that many games at one time. Delete a few. The installs are optional, how about using the disc.

I guess it's down to Western Digital that I've used up all my PC HDD space to.
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divideby0 - 180 days 22 hours ago
6 -
I refuse to pay MS a rip off price to upgrade my 3rd 360s 20G drive.
Meanwhile my PS3 has a 120G drive, which I got for like 70 bucks and I have an external 250G drive.....
open hardware ownz....MS look and learn.
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Kushan - 180 days 22 hours ago
6.1 -
Open Hardware doesn't make Sony any money. Closed hardware does, however, make Microsoft a LOT of money. I hate it as much as you, I find the prices of most 360 hardware absolutely disgraceful, but I completely get why Microsoft does it: It's just good business.

Capitalism, eh?
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Traveler - 180 days 22 hours ago
6.2 -
Yep, and capitalism also means that the buyers have a choice of what to buy. I haven't upgraded my 20GB HDD on my 360 because I refuse to pay those kinds of exorbitant prices. Sony should be rewarded for their more consumer-friendly approach.
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Kushan - 180 days 21 hours ago
6.3 -
Ahhh but there we are, Capitalism works on an open market, but when the market is closed, people can easily take advantage of it. This is why you don't want a "one-console generation". This is why no matter what console you prefer, you should always support the competition and not just be a sad fanboy. Do you think the PS3 would be as open as it was if it wasn't for the 360 coming out a year before it? Do you think the NXE would have even existed had it not been for the Nintendo Wii? Do you think that either the PS3 or the 360 would have received the firmware updates they have had it not been for the other?
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waltercross - 180 days 20 hours ago
6.4 - @Kushan
+Bubbles, good comment, that should sum everything up.
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Sleebs - 180 days 22 hours ago
7 -
I have a 20GB still and it's just a matter of what you make most of your time on the 360. I only copy games to my hard drive because I don't like the loud spinning disc tray or causing any trouble to it in the future. If I play one game, I'll delete something else I don't currently play, it's not that troubling. And again, I'm using a 20GB.
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ApocalyPS3 - 180 days 22 hours ago
7.1 -
I go with the "logical" approach: you can only actually PLAY one game at time, hence you only need to INSTALL one game at a time. And even multidisc games can be played that way as well on a 20GB HDD, just install the disc you need.
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supaflypriest1 - 180 days 8 hours ago
7.2 -
You are exactly right. I do the same thing with the 20 gig. I also have a home network, so I stream all of my media, movies, MP3's, and pictures. It would be nice to have more space, but I can work with 20 gigs...
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Kushan - 180 days 22 hours ago
8 -
I've got a better suggestion: Microsoft, release a 360 HDD drive shell and let those with a tiny bit of technical knowledge use their own Hard Drives.
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Jack Klugman - 180 days 22 hours ago
8.1 -
this is what they should do. but if this guy really has 120gigs of crap on his drive he has some data management issues.
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Kushan - 180 days 22 hours ago
8.2 -
Indeed he does, I don't buy this article at all, I've had a 120Gb HDD since September last year and I've barely used half of it - and I install a lot of games.
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condorstrike - 180 days 21 hours ago
9 -
Microsoft did it good with their HD, only 1 after-market hd can be used and that's risking getting banned, and no I'm not knocking the ps3, actually I think all consoles should be able to accept all types of HD's, shoot even the Wii will take hard-drives over 1-terrabyte, that's with Homebrew and Loader, not OEM.

I'm just saying this is a stupid article and this guys is just re-writing an old story, Microsoft has no need to bring in a new hard-drive in the same manner the Nintendo screwed everyone with the SD-cards, once again, the guy is a Schmuck...LOL...love that word.
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DailyAddict - 180 days 21 hours ago
10 -
one thing i never understood about the 360 and it's "full game" installs... if it's the full game, why does the disk still have to be inserted to play the game? If the full game is installed, it makes little sense that the disk needs to be inserted to play. I'm assuming that the read parameters on the disk are not installing to the drive (perhaps to prevent piracy) and that portion needs to be read on the disk.

Anyway, unless you're an idiot, MS needs bigger and cheaper drives. Perhaps your own PERSONAL preferences you don't see it necessary (because maybe you don't actually use the hard drive like other do), but for those that do use the drive (like myself) Microsoft's current business model is a joke. The drives are too small and are triple the price in comparison to what a standalone drive would cost. MS's claim of it being a special drive has also been debunked in the past when people cracked open the casing to see that it was just a standard laptop hard drive that Microsoft surrounded in cheaply built plastic and added a triple increased price tag on.

I bought my 360 with the 120gb hard drive (the elite model) but I won't be investing in a $200 hard drive from MS that's overpriced and small in stature.

MS will of course release a new drive when Games on Demand hits. My guess is either a 250gb or 320gb. If they go by their current pricing, they will release a 250gb at the same $199.99 price tag. Still overly expensive. Even a 320gb at $199.99 is a ripoff when that drive is less than $100 for PS3. Either way, they need to get over the whole $1.00+ per GB model and get with the program.

But then, apparently there are plenty of stupid people that think it's fine or just don't know how much they are getting ripped off.
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