Consumer Reports on the Xbox 360

Consumer Reports just wrote up their take on the new 360 console.

Here's a summary of what they thought, with my own thoughts in (parentheses):

What they liked:
Stunning images and sound (The HD generation baby!)
Expanded online capabilities (Yes, Xbox Live is the bomb)
Multimedia versatility (MP3 players, Windows streaming, custom soundtracks, etc.)
Sleek Design (well yeah, she's purty! Controllers are perfection)

What they didn't like:
Limited gaming content (umm, it just launched, so that's expected - but point taken)
Extras that can add up (yep, get the "Premium" bundle to start with, and this won't be so bad)
Short warranty (Very good point here. 3 months? Ridiculous)

The Bottom Line
"The gaming enhancements of the Xbox 360 are too much for some rabid gamers to resist. Despite the unit's drawbacks, including limited content, they or their loved ones are likely to scour stores, online and off, to secure a unit for the holidays. If you're among those aficionados, buy the $400 version of the 360 if you can. Also consider taking the $60 extended warranty. Although we're generally skeptical about such warranties for most products, there are exceptions, and the new Xbox is one of them.

Less gung-ho gamers should probably pause before going 360, at least yet. New (and increasingly advanced) games continue to appear for the old Xbox, albeit without the dazzle of HD or the community coolness of Xbox Live when used with the 360. Also, by some point in 2006, Sony and Nintendo should have introduced their own high-octane competitors.

Of course, you could all but ignore the 360's gaming capabilities and buy it as a DVD player that allows you to access other content elsewhere in your home or from handheld devices. For those uses, you could settle for the $300 version. That's pricey for a new DVD player these days, especially when high-definition DVD is on its way in early 2006. But you'd pay $100 and up for a media receiver that would carry out many of the 360's networking capabilities. The Xbox 360 offers an interesting and fairly simple one-box solution for a household that's interested in networking content. "

A good article, but don't buy into the "buy the $300 version" nonsense. Get all the goods and get them up front, it will save you in the end.

Consumer Reports - Microsoft Xbox 360