The Datel Xport 360 showed up at Best Buy un-announced and caused some confusion with Datel's other data transfer solutions. Xbox-Scene has a forum post with details on the new device, which should let you back up your 360 hard drive with ease. Datel does come up with some decent stuff and I'd like to thank them for not bombarding us with a stream of press releases and viral ads. But it would help sales if they let people know when they have a new product.
Reader Hot Zizzy spotted the Datel Xport 360 at Best Buy for $39:99. Here's the feature list:
Transfer data between your Xbox 360 hard drive, memory cards and PC quickly and easily
Bonus Xbox memory card adapter lets you transfer original Xbox game saves to your Xbox 360
High-speed USB 2.0 transfer rate won't keep you waiting for data to transfer
Docking station plugs into your PC for fast, flawless data transfers
Simply drag and drop files while you're connected to your PC
Is this the same device as the Datel XSATA (pictured at right) under a different name? They are both the same price. Note that the description is also nearly identical to the Datel Transfer Kit, making things even more confusing when comes to this company usually interesting products.
Halo.bungie.org reports that Plantronics is currently selling the special edition Halo 2 headset for a paltry $14.95 (USD). This headset normally sells for $49.95 so this is a great deal. To make the deal even better, $1.00 of every purchase will be donated to the Plantronics GameCom United Way Katrina Recovery Fund.
Couple the Halo 2 headset with the $8.00 headset adapter from Datel and you've got a steal. It looks like a limited time offer, though. So, go buy one and do some good!
Xboxic points X360F to this Amazon UK listing for the much vaunted Datel Bluetooth headset. Amazon currently has the item available for pre-order, with a release date of June 30th. I'd take this release with a grain of salt though: the original date from Datel was March 17th. Datel's awful website still makes no mention of the product at all.
Of course, let's not forget that it's still awfully pricey at about $105 US for the adapter/headset package. Hopefully, Datel will get a clue and realize that some people already have a headset and just need the Bluetooth adapter.
I mean, it's not like people have been making adapters themselves...
If someone doesn't stop them, and their practice of releasing myriad Xbox 360 add-ons continues unabated, it's only a matter of time before Datel releases a knock-off Xbox 360 console (presumably titled the Xmaxx 720) that looks and works just like the 360.
You can now add this $15 (that's $5 below Microsoft's) Play and Charge kit that promises 30 hours of wireless gaming (that's five more than Microsoft's...cause you know battery runtimes is an exact science) to the list. What was that list again?
After month's of whining, there's finally a product that does the simplest of things: lets you use your regular headsets with the Xbox 360 and maintain mute and volume control.
Datel has introduced yet another product to their growing stable of Xbox 360 peripherals (Bluetooth headset, 4GB HDD, Serial ATA HDD adapter, Memory Unit transfer kit), the humbly titled "Headset Adapter," which humbly performs that one simple task for the humble price of $10. Nice!
You could spend $20 on a bare PCB that requires you to remove the hard drive if you want to access what's inside, or you could spend $40 and get Datel's XSATA device. It sits between the hard drive and the console, allowing the 360 and your PC to "share" the hard drive using a simple high-speed USB 2.0 port.
It's a pretty slick looking solution, but I'd be hot-dogged if I added glowing blue-LEDs to my 360! How about a model that matches the 360's white plastic?
No more velcro'ed hacks necessary, Amazon.co.uk has a listing for the elusive, though now proven real, Bluetooth adapter for the 360! There is one problem though: if you just want the adapter, it comes bundled with a (potentially redundant) headset. Unfortunately, the manufacturer's really crappy website doesn't list the product, and Amazon's entry is devoid of everything save the price (£59.99 or about $105) and a release date of March 17th.
I don't want to say that Datel's headset is going to terrible, but the reality is many already own Bluetooth headsets and a C note is way high for the adapter. Come on Datel, how about just selling the little adapter? Let's say $30 max, sound good?
TeamXbox has the goods on Datel's Xbox360 Transfer Kit available this week:
Datel's Transfer Kit for Xbox 360 allows you to transfer data from your Xbox 360 memory cards to your PC. By using your PC's storage capacity to hold almost unlimited back-up 'images' of your Xbox 360 memory cards, you can archive and restore them at any time – you need never be short of save space again.
Back Up...
Backing up your memory card couldn't be simpler. Using your Transfer Kit PC application and USB dock, you can save the entire contents of your XB360 memory card to your computer's hard drive as an 'image' file. Each image file automatically logs the time and date of backup, and you can add your own descriptions and file names, so you always know what's where.
Restore...
It's just as simple to restore an image file to your memory card too. Again using the PC application, just click on the 'Hard Drive' blade and you're shown a list of backed-up memory card images, replete with the date and time at which they were saved and the name and description entered when you backed up. Just plug in your USB dock and an XB360 memory card, and you can restore the image file to the card and use the saves in your console once more.
Online
When you've archived your memory card, you can email the backed-up image to your friends and share your saves with friends from all over the world. As long as the save or file is not locked to your own console or Xbox Live account, they can then use their own Transfer Kit to unpack it onto a memory card and use it themselves.
A little more mainstream than homebrew Sata connections. How many people (core system owners?) will pick this up for $15?
Our skepticism regarding Datel's 4GB USB HDD appears to have been well-founded. Reputable import shop, Lik-Sang, has gotten their hands on an early unit and confirmed our apprehensions:
"...If you are waiting for a third-party HDD for your core Xbox 360 system because you are pissed at both the high price and low availability of the official Microsoft unit... well, this is not yet what you have been begging for. This new device is connected to the 360 via the USB connection, same as any other portable PC hard drives or USB drives would be, and it does not offer the same range of options as the official HDD does (no game saves, no going online, only media files transfer). It also offers only 4GB of space..."
I think it's best to stay clear of this one, unless your requirements for external storage demand glowing green lights; otherwise, grab an MP3 player and get all the functionality of the Datel unit, and a portable music player to boot!
Datel has announced a 4GB mini hard drive designed for the Xbox 360. Of course, that means it's a standard 4GB USB drive that will work with your PC just as it would your 360, but it has the 360 color scheme thing going for it.
Available for preorder for about $135, the device doesn't replace your 360 HDD or Memory Unit, since you aren't allowed to save games or Live downloads on any other devices -- it only supplements them as storage for pictures and music. As a result, it's hard to recommend when you could, for a small amount more, get a full-blown MP3 player, like the iPod nano, and have it available for your 360 and as a standalone player.
Reader Hot Zizzy spotted the Datel Xport 360 at Best Buy for $39:99. Here's the feature list:
Halo.bungie.org reports that Plantronics is currently selling the special edition Halo 2 headset for a paltry $14.95 (USD). This headset normally sells for $49.95 so this is a great deal. To make the deal even better, $1.00 of every purchase will be donated to the Plantronics GameCom United Way Katrina Recovery Fund.
Xboxic points X360F to this Amazon UK listing for the much vaunted Datel Bluetooth headset. Amazon currently has the item available for pre-order, with a release date of June 30th. I'd take this release with a grain of salt though: the original date from Datel was March 17th. Datel's awful website still makes no mention of the product at all.
No more velcro'ed hacks necessary, Amazon.co.uk has a listing for the elusive, though now proven real, Bluetooth adapter for the 360! There is one problem though: if you just want the adapter, it comes bundled with a (potentially redundant) headset. Unfortunately, the manufacturer's really crappy website doesn't list the product, and Amazon's entry is devoid of everything save the price (£59.99 or about $105) and a release date of March 17th.
TeamXbox has the goods on Datel's Xbox360 Transfer Kit available this week:
Datel has announced a 4GB mini hard drive designed for the Xbox 360. Of course, that means it's a standard 4GB USB drive that will work with your PC just as it would your 360, but it has the 360 color scheme thing going for it.
