Which XBox 360 to get?

[rakosnik]

I'd like to get a less expensive XBox 360 to use almost exclusively as a media center extender. To save money I'm willing to buy a used one, but I want to make sure that I end up getting one that I will be happy with. I was hoping that the price of the 360 would drop more once the XBox One came out, but it didn't plummet the way I was hoping it would. I know that there are different versions of the XBox 360, what I don't know is if any of the differences matter to me and how to tell the difference between the different versions.

Any advice on where or how to buy a used XBox 360? About how much it should cost, etc?

Are certain XBox 360s better as media center extenders than others and if so which ones?

Are certain versions of the XBox 360 not vulnerable or at least less vulnerable to the "red ring of death"?

I think I red that some of the later or maybe just the latest version of the XBox 360 is more energy efficient. Is that true? If so, what the difference in energy consumption?

Anyone want to try and talk me out of getting an XBox 360 as a media center extender and get something else instead?

[werds]

I'd like to get a less expensive XBox 360 to use almost exclusively as a media center extender. To save money I'm willing to buy a used one, but I want to make sure that I end up getting one that I will be happy with. I was hoping that the price of the 360 would drop more once the XBox One came out, but it didn't plummet the way I was hoping it would. I know that there are different versions of the XBox 360, what I don't know is if any of the differences matter to me and how to tell the difference between the different versions.

Any advice on where or how to buy a used XBox 360? About how much it should cost, etc?

Are certain XBox 360s better as media center extenders than others and if so which ones?

Are certain versions of the XBox 360 not vulnerable or at least less vulnerable to the "red ring of death"?

I think I red that some of the later or maybe just the latest version of the XBox 360 is more energy efficient. Is that true? If so, what the difference in energy consumption?

Anyone want to try and talk me out of getting an XBox 360 as a media center extender and get something else instead?

I use a combination of patience, ebay, and xbox 360 slims. I have purchased each of my xbox's for an average cost of between $50 to $65 used on ebay. Whenever I was looking to add I would search ebay for a set price, load up a sniping program and set my max snipe for around $60. You can narrow it down even more by purchasing ones that function correctly but might not have a working dvd for example.

I had at one point purchased an older white xbox for under $50 but comparing to the Slims it is LOUD. Now the slims aren't silent per say but after comparison they are quiet enough to deal with and IMO once you crank the volume up there is no issue - but it is personal preference some peolpe find the fan whine to be unbearable regardless which Xbox 360 you get. I like them because they just flat out work!

[Bryan]

For use just as an extender, I would get a 4GB Slim. I've seen them pretty cheap. The old white ones are cheaper, but they're really pretty noisy. I noticed a big difference when I moved from an original to a slim.

The red ring hasn't been an issue since the slim units came out, and really since before that.

[barnabas1969]

The "S" and "E" models both use about 65 watts when running Media Center. The "E" is the newest one, and the "S" (Slim) is one generation older. I wouldn't go any older than the "S". The older models used a LOT more power, made more noise, and had failure problems (RROD).

[glugglug]

I have a Jasper (the revision before the Slim) and 2 slims.

As long as it is on a level surface, I would honestly say the Jasper is actually quieter than the slims. Sometimes the front of it ends up sitting on top of the plastic cover I have to keep my son from putting things in the VCR, making it unlevel, and the fans can get noisier when unbalanced like that. My Kill-a-Watt tells me it uses a pretty much constant 90W, even when playing games.