We had been hearing the rumors of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 re-design for a little while prior to this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. In fact, we got confirmation of this re-design thanks to an overseas ad which was released the day before the Xbox 360 Press Briefing (oops!). Our LIVE blog of the press briefing came off without a hitch on June 14th and at the end of the event, you can imagine our shock when Microsoft’s Don Mattrick announced that everyone in the building would be receiving one of the new Xbox 360s, free-of-charge. Well, our free, redesigned Xbox 360 Slim has arrived and our thoughts are overall: very positive.
First thing you will notice about the new Xbox 360 ‘S’ or ‘Slim’ (technically it has no marketing designation aside from Xbox 360) is its re-designed form-factor. Being roughly two inches shorter than the original Xbox 360 model, the new unit also features a more angular concave shape in opposition to the original’s smoother curve. Also of note is the new model’s shiny black exterior which, while seriously prone to fingerprints, looks incredible in your home entertainment cabinet or sitting upright next to your HDTV. Gone is the push-button optical drive tray, no replaced by a touch-sensitive button that does not really depress.
The backside of the new Xbox 360 also has some surprises of its own – first and formost being the AUX port which will be utilized by Microsoft’s Project Natal KINECT, which is scheduled to release later this year. The back panel also has HDMI and TOSLINK S/PDIF output ports as well as the power connector for the new PSU brick design.
Internally, the Xbox 360 is actually more impressive than its already-impressive exterior. The new model features an on-board Wireless-N network interface card, 250GB HDD, as well as a new 45nm XCGPU unified Intel processor. Additionally, the inside of the new Xbox 360 S is well ventilated and features only one, large fan to cool its processor heatsink down. This more efficient, lower-power cooling system is also very quiet and almost eerie when compared to the semi-truck like whale of the console’s previous models.
The internal 250GB HDD is great with its large storage area however, unlike the previous model consoles, this hard drive is not as easily removable and could force an increase in sales of the lackluster-performing Xbox 360 memory cards. The increased space, however, means more room for all your important XBLA titles, not to mention movie rentals, saved games, and optional game installations.
Of course, with this internal drive, you will not be able to insert your old HDDs into this one. You will need to transfer those saved games instead, so that is the largest drawback to an otherwise well-crafted redesign.
Included in this console package was also one black, wireless controller as well as a headset and A/V hook-up cable. The unit did not ship with an HDMI or optical cable, which would have been excellent additions. One of the big draws for owners of original model Xbox 360s is the move to an HDMI interface and having to shell out tons of cash for over-priced cables is not altogether appealing.
Even the power brick has been upgraded to a much less weighty design. Physically, however, it is roughly the same size as the older brick. Thankfully, this new adapter runs much cooler when in-use than its predecessor.
Overall, the new Xbox 360 S redesign is well worth the $299 dollar price point – especially if you are still running a gen 1 unit!
*DISCLOSURE: Microsoft sent us a new Xbox 360 as promised in their E3 Press Briefing.
