Xbox 360 Slim vs. Xbox 360 E vs. Echo

[staknhalo]

I'm just curious if the recent Echo news changes the math here for anyone? I already have a hardware investment in an InfiniTV and my HTPC, so I'll be riding this horse until MS finally kills it (or the guide data turns to s**t). Given that, would I be better with an Xbox 360 Slim, or a Ceton Echo??? I'm leaning toward waiting for the Xbox One to release, then scooping up a Slim on Ebay when the price drops...

If you want to go Windows 8/8.1 then you only have a choice of the Xbox. If not - you haven't purchased it yet, so wait to see what (if any, before other forum goers start bashing ) changes/updates come for the Echo. Then decide at the time of purchase.

[mdavej]

Echo technically works on Win 8 (I'm using it right now), but only using Ceton's phone app. There is no WMC GUI on the Echo. Not a good long term solution though. I plan to sell my Echos and get Xboxes (again) when the One comes out and the bottom falls out of the 360 market. My target price is $50. We're almost there.

[staknhalo]

I would't call it working - more like a work-around. I wouldn't give it to my GF or any friends who come over to use like that.

[Embiggens]

I think I'm bailing on my Echo and switching to an E because small performance issues in the Echo are starting to get to me. Picture quality is not as good, RecordedTV HD add-in doesn't work quite right, preview window bug, and local media playback is not nearly as good with my content (H264, AAC, MP4). I was hopeful that Ceton would give some indication that they are at least going to fix these basic issues but it's not looking like it.

My Echo is stable, I love the form factor, and ramping up my power usage is going to eat at me but I'm just happier with the xbox experience. OTOH if there is a quality Echo v2 I'd switch back in a heartbeat.

[mdavej]

I would't call it working - more like a work-around. I wouldn't give it to my GF or any friends who come over to use like that.

I agree. That's why I said "technically". Basically, I'm the only one in the house who can use Echo now. When I replaced my HTPC with one running Win 8, I was counting on Echo eventually working, and have been limping along with the Ceton app several weeks now. It really sucks having to sell them since I love the form factor and silence, but I guess that's my easiest option. I don't have the time or patience (or license) to set up my HTPC again from scratch on Win 7.

[woodchuck]

Thanks for the info gents. I do have time on my side, as I won't be purchasing another TV for a few months yet.

[blueiedgod]

Echo technically works on Win 8 (I'm using it right now), but only using Ceton's phone app. There is no WMC GUI on the Echo. Not a good long term solution though. I plan to sell my Echos and get Xboxes (again) when the One comes out and the bottom falls out of the 360 market. My target price is $50. We're almost there.

$50 for slims or the old white?

I have the old white ones in "for sale" section very close to your target.

[mdavej]

Echo technically works on Win 8 (I'm using it right now), but only using Ceton's phone app. There is no WMC GUI on the Echo. Not a good long term solution though. I plan to sell my Echos and get Xboxes (again) when the One comes out and the bottom falls out of the 360 market. My target price is $50. We're almost there.

$50 for slims or the old white?

I have the old white ones in "for sale" section very close to your target.

Slims, sorry. Thanks for the offer though. Anyway, I changed my mind and decided to go back to Win 7 and keep my Echos.

Have you tried Craigslist? Last time I got rid of all my Xboxes on Craigslist I was able to sell a few for a good price and work out some trades on others. That also happens to be where I bought all of them in the first place.

[Embiggens]

Ha, I changed my mind and am keeping my Echo as well. I actually bought a 360E but I'm sending it back tomorrow, much to my wife's amusement. On a slight side note, I'm surprised MS couldn't get the 360 any slimmer when they went from S to E.

[staknhalo]

Ha, I changed my mind and am keeping my Echo as well. I actually bought a 360E but I'm sending it back tomorrow, much to my wife's amusement. On a slight side note, I'm surprised MS couldn't get the 360 any slimmer when they went from S to E.

They probably could have; just cheaper for them not to.

[Embiggens]

Plus it was really important for them to make it look like the xbox one.

[Embiggens]

So I ended up keeping my 360E. It was a pretty unscientific comparison, but the boot time into WMC (from power off state) appears to be noticeably faster than on my other unit (white, purchased 2009). On the E, I'm into WMC in less than 30 seconds; on the old unit, it is pretty close to 40 seconds. I haven't done really thorough testing to this point but it seems the time spent on the XBOX splash screen is quite a bit lower on the E. Also the 'connecting' to WMC screen maybe goes a *little* quicker, maybe.
I did plenty of search engine-ing and didn't see any reference to performance improvements in boot time on the S model, which lined up with an earlier response I got in this thread. On the E model, basically there's no information on the internets at all. I will probably take another look at it this weekend.

[Sergio526]

I'm hopping to get a 360 E for the bedroom, but I can't find any tangible info about how quite it is. All I can come across is "it's quieter than the S" which really doesn't help me. Is anyone else using it in a dead silent room? I'm sure my wife and I would be fine with a very low rumble, but I'd like to hear from other who are using it the same way.

For reference, I currently run the DMA2200 in there. I tried running the Echo, but after months, they never made it compatible with VC-1/wma WMV files, so I returned it. I know those are silent, but if the E is close, I'd really like that.

[RogerX]

I'm hopping to get a 360 E for the bedroom, but I can't find any tangible info about how quite it is. All I can come across is "it's quieter than the S" which really doesn't help me. Is anyone else using it in a dead silent room? I'm sure my wife and I would be fine with a very low rumble, but I'd like to hear from other who are using it the same way.

For reference, I currently run the DMA2200 in there. I tried running the Echo, but after months, they never made it compatible with VC-1/wma WMV files, so I returned it. I know those are silent, but if the E is close, I'd really like that.

Our bedroom is fairly quiet with nothing running... we have a new 360 E running as an MCE and it's extremely quiet. You can't tell that it is on with any level of volume on the TV.

[oldpueblo]

I was considering buying another 360 for my office, and after researching it looks like they removed the optical audio port on the new E revision. Just an FYI, I don't see a lot of reviews calling that out and that might be a dealbreaker for some.