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View Full Version : Right, so I've got an Xbox 360 core...


Feek
15-06-2007, 18:08
Following on from this (http://www.boat-drinks.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4591) thread, I paid the man one hundred of my English pounds and now I've got this...

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/9537/360ou4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

What do I need to buy to make it usable? I know I need a hard drive, can I just put any drive in or is it a specific item? Does it go internal, is it external, what?

Will my old xbox controllers work? Do I need to buy new ones? I think the one it has is wired so I guess for uberness I'm going to want wireless.

Talking of wireless, does the box come with any Live subscription? And does it have built in wi-fi to talk to my home network?

And TV connections - My xbox goes in via scart, does this thing come with cables, what's the score, etc etc.

Basically please educate me in the ways of the Xbox360!

I thank you.

Feek
15-06-2007, 18:19
Oh and something else, I had a live account on my xbox which expired quite a while ago, I think I know the details, is there a website somewhere I can go to log in and see if it's all still there?

Haly
15-06-2007, 18:23
You need the official 360 hard drive, it won't accept just any old drive. It goes externally on the left hand side of the disc tray.
http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/productpage.asp?productcode=XT0042&title=xbox_360_hard_drive_(20_gb) is the thing you need. But it will almost certainly be cheaper elsewhere so I'll have a look around for you :) Just a rough guide of what you need!
Your old xbox controllers won't work so you'll need to buy new ones. Wireless ones tend to cost £20-£25 for the official ones.

Re Live, I think (But may well be wrong as I've not had a core 360) it comes with a month's free Gold subscription if you create a new tag on the 360. If not, it comes with silver membership anyhow which means you can download most game demoes, just can't play online without a gold membership.
Ebay's a good source for 12 month gold subs in my experience. :)
It doesn't come with built in wireless, you need an adaptor for that again. They're about £55. Or just stick with wired network, it's what I do :D
Should work fine through scart, that's how I used to do it :)

I'm probably being a bit crap at explaining so others may do much better :embarassed:

Feek
15-06-2007, 18:31
OK, I'll find a drive from somewhere, will have a hunt around over the weekend.

With the old xbox, I had a netgear Wireless Ethernet Bridge that I plugged into it and that talked to the network OK, I wonder if that will still work. I'll have to have a lookie at it.

Daz
15-06-2007, 18:41
That should work fine Feek.

If you get a Wireless controller (which you probably will eventually), then get a play and charge kit with it, it's essential.

The cables you get with the core are standard-def ones, composite video and RCA audio, not sure if it has a scart adapter.

Haly
15-06-2007, 18:41
It won't :( Much like the hard drive, it only likes the official stuff.

Feek
15-06-2007, 19:22
I don't see why the bridge won't work, I've just tested it with my laptop and once I updated it with the security settings on the LAN it worked fine - It just plugs in the ethernet port on the back and looks like a wired network to the device.

That price for the hard drive seems pretty typical :(

Haly
15-06-2007, 19:25
I don't know from experience, just things I've read on a few xbox forums have shown quite a few people have had problems with anything other than the official one. Worth a go though.

Mark
15-06-2007, 19:36
Think you're thinking of a wireless adapter Jen. Wireless bridges and wireless adapters are different. For a wireless adapter (plugs into USB port) I have no reason to doubt your statement. For a wireless bridge (plugs into Ethernet port) any should do as it's just the same as plugging into a wired network as far as the Xbox 360 is concerned.

PS - Microsoft don't make any wireless bridges. :)

Daz
15-06-2007, 19:48
The bridge will work fine if you know it's reliable. Just takes an extra plug socket and is arguably more fiddly.

leowyatt
15-06-2007, 20:23
Late to the table :p but your bridge should be fine I use one with mine now and it's been grand no trouble at all :D

Haly
15-06-2007, 21:04
Meh, I've read threads about both tbh although you're right that more are for the adaptor. But it may just be down to poor configuration then. Don't really pay attention to it admittedly.

Also, as I just noticed. If you've already got a tag from your original X-Box you should be able to use it for the 360 too :) You won't get the free month then though.

Feek
15-06-2007, 21:47
I do have a tag, but when I logged into my account it kept asking me to make a new tag.

I don't think I'm going to bother with that, I didn't really use it much so I'll create a new account. I don't seem to have a free month of Gold with the box so will go lookie on eBay.

Daz
15-06-2007, 21:51
You'll get it when you register the tag (do it from the xbox), it'll recognise the console as new.

Also, if you want to use MSN on the xbox, associate your gamertag with the same live account you use for MSN. Its useful if you have a USB keyboard, or buy the controller keyboard add in later in the year. I'll use it more when I buy the keyboard add in, saves me signing in from a PC.

Feek
15-06-2007, 21:54
Oh right, so registering the box always gives a free month of gold?

Not really bothered about using MSN on the xbox itself, any reason to do that?

Daz
15-06-2007, 22:32
Not really. It'll automatically add people on your MSN list who have xbox live, to your xbox friends list. It's convenient if you use the service regularly, put it like that.

I only mention it as a future consideration as, currently, there's no way to sign into an MSN account different from the one associated with your live ID.

RE the month free Gold, that's how I got mine :) Remember Silver will be fine for everything except playing online, which you may not want to do until you actually have a game to take advantage of it.

Somebody has the gamertag feek (http://live.xbox.com/en-GB/profile/profile.aspx?pp=0&GamerTag=Feek), but it looks unused. Is that you per chance?

Feek
15-06-2007, 22:37
no :(

Feek
18-06-2007, 14:00
Went to Currys to pick up my Forza for £30 which I'd ordered online and just thought I'd check for the Hard Drive - The Currys website has them at £54 which is the cheapest I've seen anywhere but says out of stock.

The local shop had two at that price! I was prepared to walk up to Game and get one for £69 so I've saved £15 on that price.

That's £25 saved today between the two items. w00t!

Daz
18-06-2007, 14:02
Played dude :) Assuming you'll be hooking this up to your network, you might want to look at some of the media streaming stuff. Save you burning things to disc all the time like you mentioned in another thread somewhere :)

Feek
18-06-2007, 15:52
I will, but in the meantime I'm going home now to plug it all in. Still got to work out the tag *sigh* :D

Daz
18-06-2007, 15:54
Your hard drive will contain a lot of demo's, and a full version of Hexic in Live Arcade - dont delete it by mistake :)

It's worth queuing up some demo downloads off the marketplace before you start playing, leaving them to download while you lose hours to Forza :D

Feek
18-06-2007, 18:19
Are dashes allowed in tags?

I want STK-S Feek

Daz
18-06-2007, 18:59
" (may consist of Aa-Zz, 0-9, and single spaces, and cannot start with 0-9)"

Sorry dude.

Feek
18-06-2007, 19:19
I went with

STK Feek

YMF is playing Forza now and I've got a couple of demos downloading.

The box is very loud though, I was surprised at how much noise it makes and it's getting pretty warm - Is this normal?

Haly
18-06-2007, 19:29
Yup, sounds normal to me. :)

Daz
18-06-2007, 19:49
The quietest it'll get is when you're watching a DVD from a cold start. Even then its hardly silent :/

It's not a unique problem though, the PS3 is the same.

Feek
19-06-2007, 10:41
How good was that yesterday. Set it up and it's working away downstairs, went upstairs and my PC was saying that it had found a media extender on the network and did I want to configure it.

So I did, and I chose not to automatically share my media directories. I think I *ahem* need to move things around on the drive before I do that!

Haly
19-06-2007, 10:43
It's great how simple it is to do :)

Daz
19-06-2007, 10:45
So I did, and I chose not to automatically share my media directories. I think I *ahem* need to move things around on the drive before I do that!
No family zone settings will protect from that :D:D