No one has it yet.  They are lying if they say they have it.gatsbythepig

I'm pretty sure the black xbox 360 elite sitting to my left that I played all last night is in my posession =P You just gotta find a place that either doesn't know or care about release dates.

Speaking as someone who owns an Elite I would say go with the elite. With the number of cables you get and the HD its well worth it, especially if you plan on getting the HD. The HDMI cable makes a surprising difference compared to the Component cables even if you are running below 1080P. I notice a brighter more vibrant screen with the HDMI, which helps in some of the games that are darker. It's always nice having audio/video through one cable as well if you have the setup to use it.

Basically just get the elite or nothing. The HD alone isn't worth it. At least I can't justify it by itself since you can trade in a current console for 250 at EB or Gamestop.

Edit: And don't forget you get an entire year warranty on the new console. Depending on what you have on your current and if you decide to trade in or not that can spice up the deal even more.

I've currenty got a premium 360, 360 elite, and a Wii. I'm not really entertaining a PS3 at the moment since I don't really see very many exclusive games that are worth it to me yet. And I would miss my rumble feature on the controller. If they ever drop the price to an acceptable level and reintroduce rumble to full functionality then I might consider one. I generally like to own all of the consoles from each generation so I don't miss out on the exclusives like Halo, Mario, or MGS.

Would love to play MGS4 but I can't justify $600+ for one game =/

I got my Elite last night over at Kmart. Funny, was just going to buy an Intec Glow Stand for my other 360 but noticed the few they had in their glass case. I inquired and they sold one to me. For anyone trying to decide between the two, if you can trade in your other 360 to Gamestop or something and buy an elite I would highly recommend it.

With all of the cabling and such that you get it's well worth the extra 79 compared to the Premium. For those of you who wanna own two and do system link it's even better. Having a blast with two 360s in the house. One thing to note about the HDMI video connection is that I notice a much brighter screen on my HDTV with that connection compared to the Component cables. I dunno if that also means more vibrant color but in games like Battlefield 2:MC that don't have a brightness slider (At least that I could find) it allows me to actually see in some of the darker areas of the game.

Kmart had a few elites in their glass case against the wall. I inquired as to if they were selling them and they said they were. I bought one without saying another word. Don't know if they understand the whole street date thing but thats their problem. Not mine :)

About the intercoolers though, people need to realize that ALL computer systems generate heat. All of them can handle a certain amount of it before they overheat. All systems will have a different tolerance. There is no set temperature that lockups may occur. Now I really don't recommend the  Nyko Intercooler, but the Intec Glow Stand has done enough for me in the past two days that I decided to buy a second one for my Elite.

Every little bit helps, but you should only buy one if your ambient room temp is above 72 degrees on a regular basis and are having lockup issues. Not to say that you would ever get them without the stand but since it doesn't void your warranty in any way and the fact that it generally has a chance of prolonging the life of your system, why not? If anything it could save you the hassle of sending the 360 back in for repair.. warranty or not.

I have heard a few bad things about the Nyko Intercooler myself. One being the fact that it ends up between your 360 power plug and the 360 recepticle itself. That can cause it to overheat in that general area and actually melt at times. I do believe that Nyko will purchase you a new 360 if their product causes the problem (so I have heard.)

I did some research last night and ended up buying an "Intec Glow Stand with Fan" for the 360. It uses its own AC adapter and plugs into a wall socket so it doesn't take power from the 360. To use it you'll need to have your 360 upright. I own a 360 Elite and 360 Premium console and I stuck the Intec Cooler on the Premium since I figured if anything is new on the Elite it might just run a bit cooler. However, after playing for about 30 minutes I can tell a huge difference between the two temperature wise. The 360 Premium with the Intec cooler felt cold to the touch at the bottom, warm in the middle, and cool on the top. The 360 Elite without cooler felt cool on the bottom, hot in the middle, and slightly warm on the top.

Keep in mind it can get around 75 degrees in the room I play in since we have computers and such heating the place up but for anyone in the same situation I would really reccommend the Intec Glow Stand over the others. Simply because it's not going to break your 360 in any way shape or form, and seems to do the same job the others claim. I found mine at Kmart along with my 360 elite.