360 elite...

[Jim Bob]

I've currently got a xbox 360 20GB connected via component unit and im thinking of upgrading to either a 60GB with HDMI or the Elite....

Is there a point?

I'm not really a massive user, but do like the odd racing game..

Views?

[n_hudson]

Unless you have a HD TV and are going to play it more often than not... I wouldnt bother... Although, it is a massive difference in picture quality.

[markone]

I don't think theres any major advantage to upgrading to Elite or 60gig 360.

Obviously you get a HDMI port and the Elite also has the adaptor for optical out for 5.1

You could just buy the 60gig xboxlive starter kit which includes a 60gig HDD 3 months xboxlive gold and a headset available HERE
Although can probably be found cheaper elsewhere.

Installing games to your harddrive is one advantage of the larger HDD though as the DVD drive doesnt spin making for silent gaming.

[Big-Pete]

Although, it is a massive difference in picture quality.

Totally agree, i have both of my 360's connected to my 42" plasma (and a ps3 but we don't mention that console as it doesn't get used), and if i split the screen (PiP)and play either cod4 or forza2 on both consoles at the same time the HDMI picture is so much better, its sharper, brighter and clearer, you can instantly tell the difference between Component and HDMi..

[Big-Pete]

You could also just get a new 360 with HDMi & no Hardrive and then upgrade the 20gb HD yourself (info here)
and its not too hard to do...

[Flaninacupboard]

The elite should be the falcon motherboard which runs quieter and is less likely to red ring than the old board. if you have a good quality 1080p screen you may notice a difference upgrading to hdmi (but only when watching 1080p video. no games as yet render in 1080p, they are rendered in a lower resolution and upscaled). if you have a lower end tv then you may see a quality increase over hdmi due to poor analogue circuitry on the component input. on our old 50" pioneer panel both inputs looked identical. on our current 60" kuro we've opted for hdmi to use the pixel matching function (the panel is 1920x1080 and matches the input signal dot for dot with no overscan etc).

[Big-Pete]

if you have a good quality 1080p screen you may notice a difference upgrading to hdmi (but only when watching 1080p video. no games as yet render in 1080p, they are rendered in a lower resolution and upscaled).

PC World are doing brand new Elites for £189 inc vat delivered.. its a web exclusive deal but you should be able to reserve online and collect instore.. the £189 price is until the 13/03/09..



well one way to find out for yourself is to Run 1 console connected via Components and another console connected via HDMi thru the same tv with the screen split in half and you will see exactly how vast an improvement HDMi is over the component connection, you cannot compare by trying to remember what the quality was like when connected via components then change over and connect via HDMi, you'd need to see it side by side for yourself..
I'll see if i can take a picture of my screen with the 2 consoles hooked up, with the screen split in half (using 2 inputs) running the same game of either forza2 or cod4 (as they are the only games i have 2 copies of)
Just need to avoid the flash off from the screen though..

there are a few native 1080p games around, and there are more scheduled for release:-
Wolf of the Battlefield Commando 3
Feeding Frenzy 2
Portal
Boogie Bunnies
Street Home Court
Virtual Tennis 3

[Flaninacupboard]

Ok, i'll amend, there are no games worth worrying about (Feeding frenzy 2!! come on!) that render in 1080p

[markone]

I love the 720/p 1080/i 1080/p thing lol. I know people with 720p tellys that set there xbox360 to output 1080p.

So bassically the game is rendered at 720(more often than not its actually 640p halo3 COD4 for example) then the console upscales via its HANA chip to 1080p then the telly actually downscales back to 720 lol.

Also the difference in picture quality over HDMI is not that much. If your TV is HIdef and your using component(red green blue) then switching to hdmi is not that much better.

The main differences are HDMI is a digital signal where component is analog. Analog signals degrade but over a 3ft cable that wont really matter. Also HDMI has better bandwidth for TRUECOLOUR tv's and HDMI amps,as HDMI also carrys Hidef sound.

I have a 47 inch LCD and if anything the colours seem more vibrant over Component. Although i use HDMI.

[markone]

The elite should be the falcon motherboard which runs quieter and is less likely to red ring than the old board. if you have a good quality 1080p screen you may notice a difference upgrading to hdmi (but only when watching 1080p video. no games as yet render in 1080p, they are rendered in a lower resolution and upscaled). if you have a lower end tv then you may see a quality increase over hdmi due to poor analogue circuitry on the component input. on our old 50" pioneer panel both inputs looked identical. on our current 60" kuro we've opted for hdmi to use the pixel matching function (the panel is 1920x1080 and matches the input signal dot for dot with no overscan etc).

If he plumps for the red Resident Evil Elite it SHOULD have the jasper mother board. With graphics chip and CPU both on 65nm dyes.