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The Xbox 360 250GB

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  • Posted 06/14/2010

Xbox 360 250GB

At Microsoft's E3 2010 keynote address, the company unveiled, and released, the new Xbox 360 250GB. The new machine will cost $299 and comes with built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and a 250GB hard drive among its many upgrades. Microsoft also gave the console a glossy black case and a svelter look. New consoles are already en route to stores and should be widely available in a matter of days. A new $199 unit designed to replace the Xbox 360 Arcade is under development at the moment and will be released at a later date.

Upgradable Hard Drive

The internal 250GB hard drive is upgradable via a small user-accessible port. Opening the port will not require the use of tools. The new hard drive casing fits inside the console completely and is not compatible with existing consoles. Older hard drives are similarly incompatible with the new Xbox 360. The new hard drive casing's connector looks to be composed of standard SATA power and data ports, as opposed to the proprietary connector present on the original Xbox 360. Microsoft did not state what RPM the internal hard drive was running at.

Chips

Microsoft updated the internals of the console with a 45nm integrated CPU and GPU. By comparison, the chipset at launch was manufactured on a 90nm process, and was later updated to be manufactured on a 65nm process. Smaller manufacturing processes generally lead to cooler running chips and reduced manufacturing costs.

Sound

Based on our brief encounter with the Xbox 360 250GB, the machine does seem much quieter than the original. Turning on the machine we had to move our ears to within inches of the machine to notice it, but we do have to note that we were in a rather crowded room. A single large fan cools the console. In comparison to smaller fans, large fans are able to move an equivalent amount of air at lower fan speeds, which also reduces noise output. The original Xbox 360 used two smaller fans to get the same job done. Putting a game into the DVD drive raised sound levels slightly but didn't affect acoustics anywhere near as much as the original Xbox 360.

Capacitive Touch Buttons

The new Xbox 360 250GB has touch capacitive power and disk eject buttons. Unlike many touch capacitive buttons, both are highly responsive and emit a slight beep when touched to signal that you actually pushed them. The disk eject button looks quite small but is easy to press.

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368 Comments

  • SkochTape117

    Posted Oct 28, 2010 6:42 am GMT

    Well yesterday my first 360, the Halo 3 limited addition one I've had since launch got the RRoD..... so I'm planning on getting this one. But I've got one question.....how do i get all my game progress, memory, music, videos and all that form my old 360 drive to my new Xbox360-S?? Somebody help me out here.

  • OSaylerO

    Posted Jul 14, 2010 11:06 pm GMT

    Looks great, but it's too late

  • thegreensplash

    Posted Jul 3, 2010 6:32 pm GMT

    It's a great buy by the sound of it. The 360 arcade price plus the price of a 60GB hard drive. I'm gonna get one.

  • DarkBuhamut

    Posted Jun 26, 2010 3:16 am GMT

    i think theyve jus took a good hard look at a ps3 console before thinking about how to upgrade the xbox360

  • karloss01

    Posted Jun 26, 2010 2:57 am GMT

    @ ReaversRevenge
    no it won't as it doesn't have 3 red lights to give, no red LEDs in the ring.

  • karloss01

    Posted Jun 26, 2010 2:56 am GMT

    @ team_steve i actually find the PS pads too small for my hands, the 360 fits better for me.

  • Aventura54

    Posted Jun 25, 2010 4:37 am GMT

    @team_steve - both controllers are as bad as each other - rechargeable and sixaxis sensing for ps3 but rubbish triggers and I find it too small along with underused sixaxis, but the 360 is a better size with better triggers, however isn't rechargeable or motion sensitive in any way.

    On a more general note saying its "kinect ready" on the box is misleading seen as all 360 consoles can are kinect ready.

  • team_steve

    Posted Jun 25, 2010 3:58 am GMT

    Love it, shame that they haven't changed the controller.
    It's never quite matched the sony ps2/3 controller.

  • team_steve

    Posted Jun 25, 2010 3:55 am GMT

    @ReaversRevenge - Yeah, that is a nice carpet.

  • ReaversRevenge

    Posted Jun 25, 2010 2:55 am GMT

    give it a year or so and it will be "3 red lights on new xbox"

  • ReaversRevenge

    Posted Jun 25, 2010 2:53 am GMT

    nice carpet

  • lister82

    Posted Jun 25, 2010 2:10 am GMT

    A little too late for one of these to be honest, almost 5 years after launch date?!?. In the advert explaining it the guy says "The Xbox you've all been waiting for" and yes it is, but I think it's cheeky for them to bring this out after all this time, after everyone on wireless bought their rip off wireless adaptor for £60 that only came down in price not that long ago, and their xbox specific hard drives.

    @Prowly and Tamer-the-Lame, You both have realistic points and people like samanoskay who make assumptions of Sony fanboys (ok your comments were a bit biased) when himself is pretty much a Xbox fanboy from what he said. I myself have both consoles and I like PS3 much more because of it's options, features, customising and exclusives, but I am generally more inclined to play my xbox. It's literally all about which console appeals more to you.

    If my xbox red rings for the 4th time, which i'm sure it will even with a replacement console, I may get this if I have the free cash, but I doubt it. Im sure quite a few die hard xbox owners will buy this, even tho their current console works fine. I see people making the obvious connection between this and PS3, and I think the black glossy finish and the 250gig hard drive is just MS taking digs at Sony more than anything imo, or it could just be a coincidence of course.

  • The_Gaming_Baby

    Posted Jun 24, 2010 6:38 pm GMT

    I already bought a 360...and a wifi. Ratz!

  • ThaDirtySouth

    Posted Jun 24, 2010 3:16 pm GMT

    The 360 hard drive was never proprietary, it was just a laptop hard drive in a plastic case derp derp derp.

  • ITS_ENDOT

    Posted Jun 24, 2010 12:06 pm GMT

    @kenny_gears1.... any size 360 slim proprietry hard drive, but not any hard drive.....

  • ITS_ENDOT

    Posted Jun 24, 2010 12:03 pm GMT

    @kenny_gears1.... if you mean browse the web then no... why would wi-fi mean u can go on the "internet" its the same as using ethernet but without the wire..

  • ITS_ENDOT

    Posted Jun 24, 2010 12:01 pm GMT

    @ wills_b.... xbox 360 have always come with a hard drive lol

  • Asuran_Oberoth

    Posted Jun 22, 2010 3:00 pm GMT

    Wills_b The xbox 360 has always come with a Hard drive with the exception of the discontinued Xbox 360 Core. When the Xbox 360 was released there wasn't really that much to use the Hard drive for and a memory unit was sufficient at the time. All Xbox 360's come with some form of storage whether it is a Hard Drive or onboard storage.