120GB HDD price drop to $149, still too spendy

by Dustin Burg { Sep 12th 2008 at 9:30AM }

Looking to increase the size of your hard drive? You know, swap your Xbox 360's measly 20GB or 60GB hard drive for a whopping 120GB of storage goodness all without having to tap into your 401K? Well, you're sorta in luck, because GameDaily was able to probe Microsoft enough to learn that the 360's standalone 120GB HDD has officially dropped its retail price to $149. That's a $30 price drop from its original $179 price tag.

That said, we don't have to tell you that $149 for a 120GB HDD is very spendy and, as GameDaily was keen to point out, you could technically plop down an extra $50 and buy a brand new 360 Arcade. True, you wouldn't get any additional storage capacity with the Arcade, but you'd have a ~~512MB~~ 256MB memory card and a backup just in case your primary console decides to ring out.

Tags: 120-gb-hdd, 120gb-hdd, 120gbhdd, hdd, peripherals, xbox-360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

JBurton @ Sep 12th 2008 9:38AM

Not that it makes any difference, the Arcade comes with a 256MB, not a 512MB....

007craft @ Sep 12th 2008 9:59AM

im pretty sure its been bumped to 512 now.

but whatever, a 2nd 360 is not the solution to a storage problem. Why not just spend an additional $50 and buy a mini refridgerator instead of a second console? The fact is this hdd is too much $. But this is because of microsofts greedy sku strategy. A 120gb drive is only worth around $50 or less. But MS cant sell the 120gb for $50. If they did that, no1 would ever buy and elite or pro model. There would be no point, as you can just buy an arcade model and a 120gb drive for $50 and it would be the same as getting $150 off an elite.

JBurton @ Sep 12th 2008 10:14AM

I beg to differ...

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/6950/89cda8e9qr3.jpg

haha im bored....

Mike @ Sep 12th 2008 10:41AM

I just got an arcade in august to replace a premium w/ a broken dvd drive (three year warranty my ass) and it only came w/ a 256

Dustin Burg @ Sep 12th 2008 12:00PM

Fine, have it your way! ;)

Grant @ Sep 12th 2008 9:45AM

It's a good thing that this thing has only dropped $30 in the year and a half it's been out. Since then 120gb 2.5" drives have dropped practically in half. It's pretty obvious that they have a ridiculous markup on peripherals since even the 20GB hard drive is obnoxiously high too.

philmcphail @ Sep 12th 2008 1:52PM

LOL, Microsoft, I'm so dissapointed in you.

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 12th 2008 10:03PM

Well the way I look at it, if they dropped the price on it any more than they could lose sales of the Elite.. Arcade 199 + 149 = 348 , so the same basicly, but you get a mem card too. Already the Arcade + 120g drive looks to be a better deal than the Elite.. Only thing missing to my knowledge would be the HDMI cord..

Figure that in and tell me the drive should be less.. Geesh ppl..

lysernix @ Sep 12th 2008 9:58AM

The price point on that was and still is ridiculous.

The price point on the wireless adapter needs to come down too - another component that has always had a ridiculous price.

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 12th 2008 10:06PM

Now that I agree with.. If they would drop the price on that, I would by one for my computer to use my wireless controllers, but yeah that prob wouldnt happen.. How else can they sell off all those wired controllers?? yeah, just sell them to PC users.. :)

Cole Mullenbach @ Sep 12th 2008 10:05AM

or you can just go onto ebay and get a 120 for under 100 like i did

Devin @ Sep 12th 2008 1:20PM

Where did you find this brand new 120GB HDD for $100? I checked ebay and the only thing I find is refurbished models.

I sure as heck wouldn't trust my HDD being thrown around by UPS workers on it's 1000 mile journey from who the heck knows just so I could save a few quid.....it's better/safer to just buy it from the local retail store where it was shipped on a palette and not more than likely mishandled....

Cole Mullenbach @ Sep 12th 2008 1:49PM

Mine was brand new straight from Sam's Club. Im pretty sure the guy i bought it from just waited until the auction was over and ordered it for wholesale price from sams club. I say this because the receipt was in the box and the label said it came straight from them

Gemini Ace @ Sep 12th 2008 10:11AM

Any word on whether you can transfer your data from the 20gig hdd to the 60 if you upgrade? I saw somebody on twitter say that it won't work. Please investigate, X3F!

DBoyFlex @ Sep 12th 2008 10:47AM

Yes, the directions that came with the 120 I bought said it could be used to transfer from a smaller to a larger, or between HDDs of the same size, so 20 to 60 would be from smaller to larger. I might shoot an email to MS first, but I would be it can be done with the cable.

vidGuy @ Sep 12th 2008 10:11AM

The harddrives are expensive, but they are expensive so that MS can justify the prices of the console models. If the 120GB HDD was, say, $75, why would anyone buy an Elite at $400 instead of an Arcade+120GB HDD at $275? The rest of the differences are trivial.

Deezul @ Sep 12th 2008 10:25AM

Once you go black, you never go back.

Mike @ Sep 12th 2008 10:43AM

The elite is overpriced as well - the prices are what they are because M$ likes money.

Darth Cheney @ Sep 12th 2008 11:57AM

Reply to Mike:
The prices are what they are because people keep buying at those prices.

Neuromancer @ Sep 12th 2008 10:14AM

Ah screw the money, I'm going to have to pick one up. I'm very interested in seeing how much faster HDD installs are going to work and I happen to have a birthday coming up (or Christmas in September as I like to call it).

joeybeast @ Sep 12th 2008 10:16AM

I Think the only reason the stand alone HDD is so expensive is because they need to keep the illusion of Elite's Value.

Deezul @ Sep 12th 2008 10:27AM

That HDMI cable is easily worth $50. It's a Monster cable. :-D

vidGuy @ Sep 12th 2008 10:37AM

I wish someone would explain to me the difference in HDMI cables. There's definitely a question of quality when you are passing analog signals, but digital? The HDMI cables I got from monoprice for $5 are working great.

DBoyFlex @ Sep 12th 2008 10:53AM

@Vidguy

I too bought from there and have loved my $0.97 HDMI cable. The quality is great. They are the latest revision and all, so there is not quality difference except the quality of life since you saved yourself 49.03 and can now buy something worth that money rather than flushing it down the toilet right into the big yellow price tag store's wallet.

guidedbyvoip @ Sep 12th 2008 12:10PM

I bought my HDMIs from cablesforless. Not $0.97, but still a lot cheaper ~5$.

joeybeast @ Sep 12th 2008 5:21PM

Digital signal means 0s and 1s.
So the signal either gets transmitted or nor, there's really no quality differences between brands.
Why the hell would anyone buy an overpriced MONSTER cable is beyond me.
I'd like to think the people read X3F is a little more savvy than that.
Seriously, cheap ass HDMI cable FOR THE WIN.

Rick @ Sep 12th 2008 10:37AM

Hey, they have to pay for that warranty extension somehow, right?

Grrrrrr....

borandi @ Sep 12th 2008 10:40AM

Hey, in the UK, the 120GB HDD is still £120 - thats $230!!! Hence why I just went and bought an Elite and hoping to sell my Premium.

bugatti23007 @ Sep 12th 2008 11:07AM

correct if I'm wrong but isn't the price supposed to be like .80 cents per GB?So it should come out to $96 I heard that its something like that when you buy an HDD.

vidGuy @ Sep 12th 2008 11:20AM

It really depends on what form factor you are buying. Thumb drives (flash) can be $13/GB, while a 3.5" terrabyte drive can be $0.20/GB. Also remember that as time goes on the average price will go down, too. But the 360 drives can't really be compared to standard harddrives prices because they are proprietary.

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 12th 2008 10:12PM

Yeah like he said, it varies, mth to mth, year to year.. I remember when you got a good deal at $1 per Mb.. So yeah, Its really hard to base it anymore, esp, now with the SSD drives..

iChris @ Sep 12th 2008 11:35AM

Xbox support "stole" my hard drive when I sent it in by mistake - they won't give it or any hard drive back to me! I've been calling their support for the last few days and can't get anywhere. Has anyone else had this issue?

http://www.mennoboy.com/farawaysoclose/2008/09/11/xbox-360-support-or-lack-thereof/ - my sad, sad story. :)

And before anyone says "Just follow the instructions they send you in the box" I wasn't given instructions or a box - I was told to send it via UPS in my own box. The lady I talked to at xbox support didn't tell me to not send the hard drive, just not the cables/controllers.

RedSonRising @ Sep 12th 2008 3:58PM

im pretty sure they should have told you to remove your hard drive before shipping your 360 for repairs.. i just shipped a second 360 back to m$ and both times they told me to remove the hard drive and they weren't responsible for it if i didnt..

plus the 'coffin' my last 360 was returned in doesnt leave room for the hard drive in the packaging.. either way, im not saying it doesnt suck that its gone, but im pretty sure they warned you..

iChris @ Sep 12th 2008 4:30PM

I understand what you're saying - the lady I talked to didn't say that, and if she did I couldn't understand her because her english wasn't very good. I heard her say controllers and power cables, but nothing about a hard drive.

Even if I did send it in, one xbox support person told me that the technicians are supposed to send it back right away if they find one. My issue is that they're saying I didn't send it, I say I did and now I'm screwed.

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 12th 2008 10:17PM

Not to sound like Im attacking you but, where have you been.. You do read this site, yes.. You cant tell us you havent heard a horror story like yours b4.. And, no, MS doesnt have to do anything for you either.. If you look at fine print, Im sure I can find it on their website, they are not responsible for lost data, & unreturned items other than the Box itself.. Same goes for any RMA.. Ive RMA'd many computer parts and its been the same their, I even had a motherboard returned with out the CMOS battery cuz I didnt think they meant to send ONLY the motherboard.. Yeah I had to buy one.. So even thou I feel your pain, I dont at the same time..

>

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 12th 2008 10:19PM

Great it cut the last line in my post.. Guess I shouldnt use ">" & "

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 12th 2008 10:21PM

Grrrrr.. Last post, now I look like a Troll..

----SORRY----

There, I will never, never use Greater/Less than in a post here ever again.. I know its the whole Code thing.. HTML or whatever, but Im rusty on that stuff.. GRRR

Doll @ Sep 14th 2008 11:50AM

You're not too bright if you send your hard drive to them. You never stopped to think that all that precious data may never return? Regardless of what customer support said, if you don't have an issue with the hard drive, you should have never sent it to them. I wouldn't send my 360 if there was an issue with the power adapter, would i?

IgnorantTechie @ Sep 12th 2008 12:28PM

Only the plastic case that connects the harddrive to the XBOX is proprietary. The HDD is a Western Digital that can be found on Newegg...

vidGuy @ Sep 12th 2008 12:34PM

Sure, but my point was that the hard drive you get online for cheap isn't going to do you any good without the proprietary casing and connection. And if the 360 harddrive is anything like the XBOX drive, the drive has a special XBOX file system that you wouldn't get from a Western Digital drive, too.

IgnorantTechie @ Sep 12th 2008 5:05PM

Quick internet search will tell you how to "hack" the drive (albeit if you have the proprietary...such as a 20GB drive already) to allow you to use said 120gb drive for ~$60. PC Magazine had an article on how to do it...so it's pretty mainstream now.

Jason @ Sep 12th 2008 12:29PM

I'm not getting rid of my 360, but with that said, Microsoft can kiss my ass.

They should be giving these hard drives away FOR FREE just like Live should be free. Both enable microtransactions, and of course M$ gets a cut of each and every one of those. Marketplace is a success, but think about how much more of a success it could be if storage options were more customer friendly. M$ is shooting themselves in the foot, and it's pathetic.

iChris @ Sep 12th 2008 12:45PM

That's exactly why it's so frustrating to me that they won't send me back my hard drive. They are, in effect, saying that over a $160 hard drive they're willing to call a customer a liar ("you must have lost the hard drive, there's no way our support people could have") and lose said customer from ever purchasing more games, more movies, more xbox live arcade games, more M$ points. Grrr.

Urza @ Sep 12th 2008 1:37PM

Needs to be $99 before I think about getting it. I hate how microsoft only replaces hardware, they don't make old hardware cheaper.

R_Fusion @ Sep 12th 2008 3:07PM

I can barely fill those 100 GB :S They should of made an 80 GB instead and sell them for 70 bucks

Krownz @ Sep 12th 2008 8:30PM

The used 120GB Hard Drives are $99.99 at GameStop since the price drop. Plus, the EDGE card stacks on that, so you save $10. So... technically $89.99 for 120GB of tasty. I say it's a good deal. :)

mike @ Sep 12th 2008 9:18PM

You know, you could always just go nerdy with your 20GB, since its a SATA model HDD, buy any size HDD you want, learn the formatting for an xbox one first, take all the data and copy it to the new HDD, and there you go, brand new whatever size hard drive you want.

I havnt tried it though, but in theory its possible.