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Ben Heckendorn's Xbox 360 Elite laptop


Modding wunderkind Benjamin Heckendorn has unveiled his latest invention: The Xbox 360 Elite laptop. If this seems vaguely familiar it's probably because you're remembering Heck's Xbox 360 laptop how-to design guides from last spring. The difference here is that this one is a modded Elite with built-in camera and other upgrades (video after the break).

If you're just hearing Heckendorn's name for the first time here, please feel free to take a trip down memory lane. Other mods of interest created last year include the Wii laptop and the freaky PS360 gamepad.

[Via Engadget]

Continued →

Australia gets Xbox 360 Elite on August 30th

Microsoft just announced that our friends in the land down under will be getting the Xbox 360 Elite later this month. August 30th Australian gamers will be able to purchase the 120GB HDD Xbox 360 Elite (with HDMI) for the suggested retail price of $729.95. The Elite will join the recently price reduced Core and Premium to be the third option for gamers who need a little more storage or just want to go black. Long live the Australian Elite!

360 Elite, HD DVD player and 7 movies for $599

Over on Amazon.com they're offering the complete HD Xbox 360 media experience, bundling together an Xbox 360 Elite, HD DVD player and seven HD DVD movies for the discounted bundle price of $599. The offer's seven free movies are calculated by adding together the five HD DVDs from the "Perfect Offer", King Kong HD DVD that's included in the box and the 300 HD DVD. In the end, you'd be saving around $50 over purchasing everything separately. And we can't help but make a Xbox 360 versus PS3 comparison; buy an Xbox 360 Elite with 120GB HDD and HDMI cable, HD DVD player, and seven HD DVD movies for $599 or a PS3 with 80GB HDD with no cables included, Motorstorm, Blu-Ray player, and five Blu-Ray movies for $599. Decisions, decisions.

[Via Fat Wallet]

Win an Xbox 360 Elite from Achievement Junkie

Our friends at Achievement Junkie are giving away a brand new Xbox 360 Elite, You know, that newfangled Xbox with a 120GB hard drive and the HDMI port (which is also in Premiums now)? If you'd like to get in on the action, you can head to the official contest thread right here. Entry requires that you open a Goozex account. Goozex, if you don't know, is a game trading network that allows users to trade their games with other users in exchange for points that can be redeemed for more games. We're not familiar with the system -- and we're not vouching for it -- so you'll have to gauge whether or not the Elite is worth it.

Oh, and by the way, Nelson of Achievement Junkie informs us that the odds off winning are fairly decent, as similar promotions typically only a few hundred entries. The contest runs until August 20th.

Win a signed 300 themed Elite or just buy one

Our chums over at Engadget got their hands on one of only twenty Comic Con exclusive 300 themed Xbox 360s that we mentioned last week and they're giving it away! Oh, did we mention the 300 Elite comes with a copy of 300 on HD DVD and is signed by both comic book legend Frank Miller and director Zach Snyder? Well now we did and it makes this giveaway all the sweeter. To enter, simply head over to Engadget and comment on their post telling them what your favorite 300 scene was, that's it! You can enter once from now through August 12th when they'll select the lucky lad who'll walk away with this uber rare 360. Or, if you don't win, you could always buy one off eBay. It'll leave you broke, but at least you'll be in the possession of one sexy 360.

We want a bloody 300 themed Elite!

A Bringing it Home Comic-Con press release just hit our inbox (viewable after the break) officially detailing all the Comic-Con XBLM goodness and talking about some special 300 themed Xbox 360 Elites. That's right, Microsoft and Warner Bros. have partnered to create 300 (total) Xbox 360 Elites themed with 300 style blood splatter. Yup, they're hot. But before you get too excited know that these Elites will only be given away during a special movie screening at Petco field during Comic-Con, which means we have no chance at winning one of these. Oh well ... they are still sort of pretty, so feel free to check out additional pictures of the 300 themed Elite as well as the official Comic-Con Bringing it Home press release after the break. THIS. IS. A 300 THEMED ELITE!

Continued →

Retailers reveal UK Xbox 360 Elite pricing

Even though Microsoft has yet to officially announce any pricing details for the Xbox 360 Elite in the UK, a few retailers have already priced the console and are taking preorders. HMV, Play and GAME stores in the UK are all pricing the Xbox 360 Elite at the gotta-have-it price of 329.99 GBP (roughly $675 US) for its August 24th debut. Like we said, Microsoft hasn't officially announced the retail price for the UK Elite, but with three major retailers all taking preorders for the same price you'd be silly not to think it's pretty much confirmed.

Xbox 360 Elite debuts in Europe Aug 24

After a longstanding silence on the subject, an official European release date for the Xbox 360 Elite has been confirmed by Microsoft. The information was revealed during Microsoft's E3 press briefing. Microsoft's Shane Kim announced that the Xbox 360 Elite will finally be touching down in Europe on August 24. A price has not yet been confirmed by Microsoft.

European Xbox 360 Elite coming August 24

The Xbox 360 Elite model is coming to Europe on August 24, according to Shane Kim at the Microsoft E3 2007 press conference that recently ended. No price was mentioned, but we're expecting the sales tag to be similar to the US Elite model.

See Also: Xbox 360 Elite Q&A

Analysts expecting a Xbox 360 price cut

If you didn't already know, today Sony announced that they've trimmed the fat on their Playsation 3 by dropping the price by $100. Surprising isn't it? Now the obvious question is whether Microsoft will retaliate with a price cut of their own or keep things the way they are. Industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks a price cut will happen and has gone on record to say that Microsoft will announce a Xbox 360 price drop sometime during E3. How Mr. Pachter sees it is that they'll knock of $50 from the Core and Premium and take $80 off the Elite making the price points $249, $349 and $399. This is of course entirely possible seeing that Sony is stepping on Microsoft's price point territory. Also, we're thinking a price cut is overdue seeing that the console has been out for nearly two years at the same price. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow night to see what surprises Microsoft has up their sleeves and if our 360 will get a fat trimming too.

Elite to be priced cheaper in Japan

This morning, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 Elite bundle will make its way to the Japanese market October 11th and will be priced cheaper than in the US. The black 360 will cost 47,800 yen which translates to roughly $390 US, making it $90 cheaper in Japan. Man, do we want ourselves some cheap Elite love too. Microsoft's reasoning pretty much revolves around the fact that the Xbox 360's performance in Japan lacks stating that "the decision on the pricing was based on the situation in the Japanese market" and that "we are not satisfied with our position in Japan and working to improve it". So, if Americans quit buying Xbox 360 Elites then we too would get cheaper hardware ... we'll have to make a note of that one.

Xbox 360 Elite on sale in Japan Oct. 11th for ¥47,800 ($390)


While consumers in North America still aren't sure what to make of Microsoft's muddled Xbox 360 Elite, it hardly matters; the machine has been in short supply since its April 29th launch. Is it selling like crazy or just being short stocked? If the former, who's buying 'em and if the latter, why?

While we were busy pondering these questions, Microsoft went and made plans to distribute the SKU in Japan. Set to launch on October 11th for ¥47,800 (about $390, much lower than the $480 US retail price), we're left thinking that the Elite will have an even harder time finding an audience in Japan than it has here. We'll see what happens to the charts this October, so place your bets now.

[Thanks, Scooby]

Buy Me: Elite featuring airbrushed Halo 3 artwork

Last night, while searching for some cheap Microsoft points on eBay, we stumbled across an Xbox 360 Elite that looked very familiar. Up for auction is a custom airbrushed Elite console featuring the same Halo 3 artwork as the one Bungie autographed for charity and sold for for $20,000+. And from what we can tell, the airbrushed artwork looks spot on. If you're interested, the Halo 3 inspired Elite auction ends in about one day and is currently sitting at around $620 Canadian. We think that we can all agree that airbrushing never looked so good.

PC WORLD: 360 Elite is a product of the year

PC WORLD has named their Top 20 Products of the Year and surprisingly, the Xbox 360 Elite made it on the list. And even though the Xbox community has mixed opinions about the black console, PC WORLD thinks that the Elite's huge HDD, HDMI connectivity, and Xbox Live functionality warranted a #18 place on the list. The Elite beat out two others including Paint.net (#19) and the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 (#20), but was left crying in the corner by Nintendo's Wii which came in at a very respectable #3. So fanboys, has your thoughts, impressions, or feelings about the Xbox 360 Elite changed since its release and would you be more or less likely to pick it up over a Premium?

[Thanks, Serge]

Production costs: PS3 and 360 Elite comparison


Digitimes threw together a comparison in the production of a 60GB Playstation 3 and an Xbox 360 Elite, using the "latest estimates by research firm iSuppli". Upon further investigation, a few of these numbers are a little ... fishy. Sure, we can see that the DVD Drive is significantly less expensive than a Blu-ray optical drive, but the 120 GB HDD being $11 cheaper for double the drive space? Would the Blu-ray drive ramp up the Assembly to more the six times the comparative cost as well? Finally, since when did the Elite retail for $399 USD?

Somebody made a couple "miscalculations" somewhere along the way, which in turn brings into question the validity of the PS3's production costs. Still, an interesting comparison, like how much the Wi-Fi connectivity costs to be built in for the PS3 compared to the $99 accessory for the 360. So what's your take on this, fanboys? Did they actually look at a Premium or is it all a bunch of bullspit anyway?

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