I sold my older model Xbox and purchased this Reach bundle as a replacement. After unboxing and testing it out, I have to say its a huge upgrade from my previous model. It runs quieter and cooler since the "Slims" are built on the new 45nm "Valhalla" motherboard architecture which also require less power. Finally some built-in Wi-Fi too.
It looks beautiful...Bungie's custom artwork really sets this thing apart from the rest....work of art. The custom Reach controllers also look great and compliment the Xbox's Reach design theme. Not to mention you get "two" of them in this bundle....in my case I have a brand new spare now to store away for later.
The custom sounds when powering up this Xbox and opening the disc tray were neat, I liked them. Further adds to the Halo theme.
Also included as a bonus with the Reach Xbox bundle were codes for: Falcon Avatar accessory, Elite officer armor, Spartan Recon helmet, an episode of Halo Legends called "The Package", and a 2-day Xbox Live Gold trial. The console is also Kinect-ready.
5-stars, anything less would be absurd.
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**This review is for the console itself, not the game.**
My Pro was getting old, slow, and loud. Having to reallocate memory as DLC, arcade games, and save files accumulate on the 20 GB HDD was getting old, too. So my love for the Halo universe convinced me that things had lined up such that I could upgrade in style with the new Halo: Reach bundle.
Overall, fantastic console.
LOOKS:
Stylish silver matte coating with gray and black Halo-themed decorations sprinkled over it. Does not retain finger prints (know this was a big issue a lot of people over-exaggerated with the other 360-S's -though why you're fondling your 360 after you get it set up is unclear to me). Controllers look very nice, too I love the new look. New power block (downsized from the clunky original "brick") is black and more aesthetically streamlined.
PERFORMANCE:
Loads quickly, smoothly, and without problems. Does exactly what it's supposed to. Have not tried the wireless yet, as I used a wired connection. Controllers respond very well (though it might just be that I'm used to old/worn controllers). Standard headset mic still requires you to yell into it, but if you don't have to worry about keeping your voice down, it works just fine.
HEAT MANAGEMENT:
Console itself stays pretty cool for such a device. The S's new heat sink system appears to whisk away most of the heat from the internal components and out the vents, presumably keeping the CPU, GPU, and other chipsets cooler.
**NOTE: I've read a lot of reviews complaining the S runs hotter than the original. This is not accurate. The air coming out of the console is hotter. This means more heat is being expelled and that less heat is trapped inside the console, meaning what matters the temp of your hardware is staying cooler.
NOISE:
Runs whisper-quiet. I played it for 7-8 hours straight (judge if you will I was just, you know, testing the hardware =P), stayed consistently quiet the entire time.
Overall, again, great console. I'm quite happy with this purchase.
Plus the game made it that much better. Quite simply the best Halo game since Halo: CE (Reach is now the king of the Halo games, offering the most gameplay features, co-op opportunities, fearsome and unpredictable AI, game options/customization, sexy visual/audio experience, replayability, character variety, and overall value ever in a Halo game).
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Well, a week or so before Halo: Reach came out, my 360 decided it would be a great time to start freezing up for no reason, and I wasn't going to pay to get it fixed when I got a replacement refurbished console just 9 months ago (finally got RROD'd but fell under the seemingly unlimited extended warranty for the 3 flashing lights). So I decided to go ahead and get the Halo: Reach bundle as a replacement. I fixed the old console anyway (unsurprisingly, the shoddy X-Clamps were the culprit), but figured it would be a nice upgrade to have regardless since my old one is the original model.
The bundle is pretty nice for the $400 price tag. You get two controllers, a copy of Reach (with some extras thrown in for good measure) and of course, the console itself. Being an owner of an original Xbox 360, it's easy to notice the advantages the 360 S has over the old model. The biggest improvement is ventilation; you'll notice a lot of hot air coming out of the console and might worry it's overheating as a result, but it's actually doing a better job of pushing more air out (unlike the old console, which had terrible overheating problems). I haven't cracked open the console itself to see what they changed on the inside since I just got it and don't feel like voiding my brand new warranty (here's to hoping they got rid of the horribly cheap X-Clamps in the old model and replaced them with actual screws this time) but overall it seems like it does a much better job of dissipating heat so it seems like everything inside should work fine. There's numerous other improvements as well; built in Wireless N (which works great and takes almost no time to set up), touch sensitive buttons (which make cool Halo noises when used), and a sleeker, more angular design than the original 360 model. Oh, and one of the best parts of the new design? The console no longer sounds like a freight train! I wouldn't say it's "whisper quiet" like it's advertised as, but it is definitely quieter. The disc drive no longer makes your console sound like your Xbox is blasting off into space when in use. And if you install your games (which you should, with 250g of space to spare) it's even quieter. It still makes some noise, but at least it doesn't sound like your Xbox is trying to calculate the true value of Pi anymore. As for the design of the console, the console in this package is Halo-themed; it's silver and has the ONI logo on it and is labeled as an "Archive Reader." The Silver finish is great looking, so it will fit in well with the rest of your electronics so you won't have to be embarrassed to have it in your entertainment center.
The two wireless controllers are also themed in a similar fashion to the console (again, a nice silver finish with black used for the shoulder buttons and the bottom part). Everything else about the controllers is the same, they just look cooler.
The new Xbox also comes with a smaller power brick (albeit, there still is one). No, it isn't Reach themed (that would be sort of weird anyway) but it's smaller and the console itself uses less power overall.
There are a few disappointments with the system (specifically related to all Xbox 360S'es, not the Halo: Reach one in particular since they're the same anyway). There's no memory card slot, so if you overpaid for one of those years ago (like I did) so you could carry your profile to your friend's house, well, you can basically throw it out since now you'll have to use USB drives. Also, the package doesn't come with an HDMI cable or a component HD AV cable, even though they had no issues packing one in with the Pro models almost 5 years ago. Guess Microsoft is trying to squeeze a few extra dollars out of purchasers. I had a spare HDMI cable anyway, so it didn't matter to me, but make sure you get some sort of HD capable cable if you buy this bundle and have an HDTV because otherwise you're stuck with standard def (and don't go and buy MS's overpriced cables, you can get an HDMI cable that's just as good for way less here on Amazon).
I won't review Halo: Reach in depth here since there's already a ton of reviews about the game, but it is a potential Game of the Year candidate. It can definitely keep you entertained until the next generation of consoles, and probably even longer (after all, Halo 2 was more popular than any Xbox 360 game till Gears of War came out about a year later). It's worth buying a 360 for in my opinion, or more specifically, this bundle.
In addition to Halo: Reach, you get some extras as well. You get a code for a Recon helmet variant (normally in any pre-order or launch day copy), a code for the Elite Officer armor permutation (Limited/Legendary edition normally), a Falcon for your Avatar (better than nothing I guess, although if you really like Avatars, I guess it's cool) and an episode of Halo: Legends. Some nice extras that certainly aren't going to make or break the package, but are nice extras nonetheless.
Overall, you get a great value here. If you don't own a 360 but are interested in getting one so you can play Reach, this bundle is excellent and sports some cool looking controllers and a sexy console. If you're looking to upgrade and have the cash to spare, it's also worth the price (can always sell any extra stuff you don't need anyway). Aside from a few complaints about the console (complaints which apply to all 360 S consoles, not just the Reach one) the package is excellent.
Honest reviews on Xbox 360 250GB Halo Reach Console Bundle
System is worth the money. Like I already mentioned, when you start up the xbox, it sounds like your shields recharging and when you power down, the same. The disc drive has cool non button button that open and closes it. The two controllers are very sharp and seem a bit heavier, better quality than standard wireless controllers. This package includes two of them which is nice. There are going to be a million reviews on halo reach, so I am just going to comment on the system package, which I personally am very happy with.
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Let me preface this by saying that I have been lucky to own a launch edition Pro model that never died. However, right before getting this one, that one was starting to act up. It did ok, as long as I installed games to the hard drive. But when playing games from the game discs themselves, more often than not, the console would give a disc unreadable error, often accompanied by a terrible grinding noise and sudden halt from the drive itself. It was becoming tiresome to install games with the limited HD space of the Pro model. The last nail was that my controller broke. The left trigger quit working properly. Thankfully my wife had bought this package for me as a Christmas gift. When she saw me trying to repair the controller, she went ahead and gave it to me early. Ahh, some guys are so lucky.
Now for the meat and potatoes. This console is slick. It finally went on a diet. It runs very quiet. With my old box I had to install games to the hard drive. This one runs quieter when running a game from the disc than the old one did playing from the hard drive. Of course, I still install the games, I recommend that everyone do that. I believe it adds life to the system by saving wear and tear on the DVD drive. I guess one could say that it is adding wear and tear to the hard drive, so it is a trade off. But it has been my experience over the years that hard drives are a little more robust when it comes to longevity as compared to a DVD drive spinning 100mph.
Speaking of the hard drive. I have never been happy with Microsoft's choice to not let you use other hard drives with the 360. The PS3 is much better in that regard. That wouldn't have been so bad if Microsoft hadn't also been gouging so much on the price of their hard drives. $130 for a 120 GB hard drive is ridiculous. Thankfully, this one is plenty large enough for my needs. You can install 20-25 normal games and still have room.
The other nicety is the console finally has wi-fi built in. Again, this is another area that was completely silly before. I know it was for cost cutting at the time when the systems first launched, but that doesn't explain the abnormally high price of the network adapter if you bought it separately before. In the end though, it never was an issue for me. I have a wired/wireless router. Since my 360 doesn't get moved too often in the house, using ethernet was never a problem, and I still use it with this model. I did test the wi-fi for functionality. It worked very well and was easy to setup. But since this model sits in the same place as my old box, I am continuing to use the "wire".
As mentioned before, the 360 Slim is just that. It has lost a lot of weight and bulk in the redesign. This particular version is quite attractive as well. I like the "touch" sensitive buttons on the console. Just place your finger over the disc eject button or the power button. No need to press anything. It's a small thing, but it is a nice touch, no pun intended. The accompanying sound effects are cool. However, I mostly use the controller for everything. When I want to play another game, I use the controller to open the disc tray.
The inclusion of two controllers was a nice bonus. They share the same paint scheme as the unit itself. For a Halo fanatic, this would be the ultimate. I enjoy Halo, but with perspective. It is a great series, but I like many other games, some much more. One thing of note though is that despite that manual saying otherwise, there were no batteries for the controllers in the box that I received. Surely a mixup at the factory, as I know others have stated theirs came with batteries.
One glaring omission that must be mentioned though is the lack of any HD cables. The only AV cable included is a composite cable with Left and Right audio. When paying $400 for a new system, some option for HD output should have been included. I didn't have any spare HDMI cables either. Thankfully, the HD AV cable from my old Pro model fit this one, so I am able to use component as before. Still this is silly, this is their "Best of the Best" and they didn't accommodate owners of HD televisions? (quite a few people these days)
But then again, that allows them to make money selling cables at inflated prices. If you need cables, I suggest alternatives. I am definitely a fan of the 360, I am not however, a fan of Microsoft's pricing scheme for accessories.
Hopefully this review didn't seem too harsh. The system overall is exactly what I mentioned in the title. This is the package that we should have been offered all along--sans the HD cables. It is a slick looking unit that functions very well. It is also very quiet and runs very cool. Compared to buying a new slim and all the included goodies, it is a very good value.
