
Aside from HDMI, the biggest feature of the
Xbox 360 Elite is undoubtedly the 120 gigabyte hard drive. Much to the relief of 360 owners everywhere, we now know that the 120GB drive will come with a transfer cable allowing users to transfer data from the 20GB drive to the 120GB drive. Sounds great, right? Don't answer that yet, because Joystiq has uncovered a few caveats to Microsoft's transfer solution. Do you have two 20GB hard drives? You'd better pick a favorite then, because the transfer software allows
only one 20GB drive to be transferred to the 120GB drive. Maybe you have data on your 120 GB drive you'd like to stick on the 20GB. Too bad, because you can only transfer from the 20GB to the 120GB. Any other combination -- transferring 20GB to 20GB for example -- won't work.
As if all that wasn't bad enough, transferring data automatically deletes any data already stored on the 120GB drive, and all files transfered will be deleted from the 20GB. Finally, data cannot be transfered back to the 20GB from which it originally came. Of course, some of these issues can be nullified by purchasing a
memory card -- a financial fact of which we're sure Microsoft is aware -- but the data transfer cable seems unnecessarily restrictive. Essentially, it will only be useful one time, unless you really want to format your 120GB HDD for some reason.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-28-2007 @ 1:37PM
Tony said...
There's people out there with two?
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3-28-2007 @ 1:40PM
Curtis said...
That is pretty cheap of M$. Yet another way they screw us over. I bet there has to be a way around it though.
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3-28-2007 @ 1:43PM
Toph said...
None of this sounds surprising whatsoever, and all of it makes perfect sense. In plans to swap out your 20 for the 120, you dump your info from the old to the new, and leave it at that.
if people have two 20 GB 360's odds are that each would have purchased or downloaded his or her chosen content to begin with, and 'transferring' that info from one 20 to another is piracy I'd have to believe..isn't it? Two accounts for Live, two Microsoft Points accounts..things like that. Nobody gets stuff for free!
One thing is for sure: come this Holiday season if you've purchased a Core console, be looking for a cheap used 20GB HDD to upgrade from your memory units!
(In a way, this whole Elite BS may perhaps put more 360's with HDs in homes than ever before.)
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3-28-2007 @ 1:47PM
Drdre74 said...
this is crap. I'm not buying this crap, then I'll have a 20GB PAPER WEIGHT. MS is giving people the screw job. It would be nice to be able to use one as a external HD and make it so you have 140 GB with both. Thats alot of money to have a damn paper weight for a HD.
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3-28-2007 @ 1:59PM
Nick Spacek said...
I have a question: when I had to return my 360 for repair, I got a different one back and now my profile is the only one that can play the games I've purchased in full mode. Is there any workaround for this?
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3-28-2007 @ 2:00PM
Ayo Jube said...
Im passing on both this and the Elite xbox. 180 bucks for 120GB Harddrive whose only use is to store Xbox Live arcade games, Movies I BUY off Live and demos that I download before I Buy more games. I think MS should have taken a hit or something on the HD since its only use it to have more space to buy more Live stuff.
Pass for me
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3-28-2007 @ 2:01PM
Josh said...
"I have a question: when I had to return my 360 for repair, I got a different one back and now my profile is the only one that can play the games I've purchased in full mode. Is there any workaround for this?"
Yes. Complain to customer service, and they will give you enough MS points to re-buy all of your stuff.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:03PM
Lucipher said...
meh, no big deal. i have no need for 120Gb. when the price of the 20Gb drops or when people go to trade theirs in, i'll pick it up on the cheap. use one for xbl arcade games and demos and one for game saves and trailers. 120 is only gonna be good for tv shows and movies, of which i have no need for.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:04PM
DeadPlasmaCell said...
@ Drdre74,
Believe it or not you could trade it in or you could sell it on eBay for cash money. If you get stuck with a 20gb paper weight, then it's your own fault.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:06PM
SAGExSDX said...
i agree with Toph. these restrictions make sense.
in terms of end user complexity, having the ability to transfer from a 120gb to a 20gb would be hell with users being asked to specify which files to copy and which ones not to with error messages saying there isn't enough space. and then trying to merge multiple hard drives into a single one would have all these questions of overwrite and priority.
i guess it does suck if you have a lot of content split between two 20gb hard drives (for example, in the case of someone who's actively using video marketplace) but at least you're able to redownload it again (hassle? yes. end of the world? no) since it's linked to the gamertag.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:07PM
DeadPlasmaCell said...
I was ready to take a small $$ hit and sell my current 360 setup and get this one.. But after finding out it doesn't have the newer & smaller CPU nor Quieter DVD drive, I think I'm going to have to pass on it. I could just buy the 120GB HDD and spend a few bucks on a black skin for it.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:11PM
T Ghost said...
This is the most ridiculous thing M$ could do about the 120GB HD.
Stupid, stupid and stupid. Period.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:15PM
Midlife Crysis said...
I would guess that MS will say that the restrictions are necessary to prevent friends from sharing bootleg copies of video marketplace files. Plus, I think that Panello already said MS needs to have a "closed system" so that content providers will be willing to put stuff on marketplace. I haven't decided whether I think that's B.S. just yet.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:24PM
Eric said...
The absolute worst of these is that it overwrites the 120. The press release stated it will come preloaded with content. WTF is the point of that when you'll have to overwrite it pretty much as soon as you open the box? WTG MS... Not to mention $180 is simply too much money. It should have been $150, at most. I really want a larger hard drive, but I'm seriously reconsidering that after the price point reveal. Bad move all around. Not to mention that this should have been released 5 months ago when video marketplace first went live. I guess they didn't have much confidence in their own product...
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3-28-2007 @ 2:25PM
JJZee said...
The reason that for consoles is to CONTROL how things work on them. Hacking/Modding/Cheating is not only unethical but we agree not to do it. I get sick of hearing about ways around thing. Of course Microsoft is in business to make money so they are protecting rightfully so there intellectual property.
Hopefully they have the sense to not make the other 20mb a paperweight.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:30PM
Scott said...
#1 - I thought the same thing.
I think the price on the Elite stinks (should be $400 with the Premium dropping down to $300) but these "conditions" really aren't that big of a deal IMHO.
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3-28-2007 @ 2:50PM
JJdoglegg said...
agreed with #6, way to expensive to store stuff you are buying from marketplace anyways. Make the drive a lot cheaper, then we'd be encouraged to pay for content to fill it up. I'll pass, 20gb has been fine for me so far.
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3-28-2007 @ 3:01PM
Darko said...
Im going to just wait until someone finds a way to use your own 120 Gig drive.... im sorry but I refuse to pay anything more than 50 cents a GB. M$ needs to just man up and allow USB storage drives...
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3-28-2007 @ 3:07PM
Jonah Falcon said...
All this whining. I think the only people upset are
1. pirates
2. modders
3. thieves
All of whom I could give a rat's ass about (laugh)
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3-28-2007 @ 3:30PM
Nick said...
I don't understand how MS keeps pulling this shit off and you fan boys keep lapping it up while you laugh at Sony as they pass you in sales figures every month.
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