Xbox 360 Slim (250GB)
The new quieter and sleeker Xbox 360 comes with integrated and a dedicated Kinect port. If you’re looking to buy Kinect, too, you may want to look at Microsoft’s bundles. However, for the starting price of $299, we’re recommending the stand-alone model.
The good: Sleeker design; 17 percent smaller; much quieter operation; better cooling; touch-sensitive power and disc tray; 250GB hard drive; built-in Wi-Fi; five USB ports; dedicated Kinect port; onboard optical digital audio.
The bad: The hard drive is still proprietary; controller on D-pad remains unchanged; cumbersome power block; renders existing faceplates useless; no cables for HD gaming out of the box.
The bottom line: Though the new Xbox 360 certainly addresses most of the concerns we've had with the versions before it, we don't think it warrants a purchase if you already own an Xbox 360 in working order with an HDMI-out port and a hard drive.
November 1, 2011 10:40 PM PDT
Photo by: CNET