XBox 360

[PAH]

I traded my XBox 360 in for a PS3 over the weekend, for the following reasons:

a. don't play many games and got the 360 mainly for the HD-DVD potential, but now Blu-ray has kicked HD-DVDs arse, it makes sense to move over to the PS3.

b. the only game I'm really looking forward to (GTA IV) is out on PS3 as well as the 360, so nothing lost there.

c. the noise of the 360 was ridiculously intrusive and makes it a bit of a joke for watching movies on. The PS3 is much much quieter.

d. the PS3 is currently (afaik) the only blu-ray player that can be updated as the blu-ray standard evolves, and compared to stand-alone players it looks a bit of a bargain if you're into games as well.

So if you get a 360 and decide the PS3 may be a better option, have a look at Cex.co.uk for typical trade-in values! It cost me 100 quid on top of the 360 for the trade in, which is about the same difference as you pay for the two consoles brand new. Comes with 12 months guarantee too. If there isn't a Cex near you, Game/Gamestation will apparently price match their trade in prices.

[Moscow Mule]

I've got one of the older ones - can't remember what they called it, but it wan't the premium.

Bought it from ebay with 4 controllers, a hard disk (you can buy them seperately - it plugs into the side) and about 10 games for close to what they were retailing for at the time.

I mostly use it for watching films /recorded TV - it's a media centre extender so with a bit of jiggery pokery you can get it to look at your itunes library - and for playing old school games downloaded from xbox live.

Bioshock and Halo 3 look lovely on it.

Yes, it is a bit loud - an increase in volume or a nice set of headphones solve that for me.

[Clippy]

Well, finally bought a gaming setup consisting of:

XBox 360 Professional
Halo 3
Gears of War
Samsung SM2032MW LCD

All for about £400.

Just waiting for my HDMI cable to arrive and I'll be joing the true 21st century gaming experience.

BTW, Gears of War seriously rocks.