New Xbox 360 Hardware Questions

After watching the Microsoft Press Conference today I was impressed with the hardware refresh, and had some questions about it knowing what I know about Xbox 360 hardware. Reading a bunch of places about it, and found out some information that's useful. The screen captures I have below are taken from the Engadget Xbox 360 S unboxing video, which you should check out here.

1. What is this thing called?

   A: Seemingly, just "Xbox 360", although the unboxing videos show the sticker on the back, which says "Xbox 360 S Console".
   
   

   

2. Is the Arcade SKU getting this kind of stylish upgrade, too?

   A: Officially unknown, but there will still be an arcade unit going forward, so one has to assume that will eventually get the same new design, too.

3. Is the Arcade SKU going away, leaving this new one as the only unit?

   A: No, Arcade will still be sold.

4. What is the chipset/hardware footprint inside here called?

   A: I'm not entirely sure, but I think the new hardware design has a new nickname to followup on the old Zenon/Zephyr, Falcon/Opus, & Jasper footprints.

5. Have the slots for the old memory cards been deleted from the hardware footprint?

   A: Yes

6. What is under that slot in the lower right hand corner of the front?

   A: That cover is where the USB slots on the front are now. They're hidden by default like in the old hardware footprint. Also right next to that is the new controller sync button.
   
   

   

7. Is the 802.11n a full 5Ghz, or a 2.4Ghz (lame) implementation?

   A: It's 2.4Ghz. Fail. That means my 360 (and most people's I take it) will be stuck at Wireless G, as my router only operates 802.11n at 5Ghz. It CAN operate at 2.4Ghz, but then I'd have other problems. This is particularly annoying as the separate wireless-N adapter that Microsoft sells operates at 5Ghz.

8. Are there still going to be detachable faceplates? Obviously the old ones are incompatible, but has that feature been done away with?

   A: Read online tonight from someone at the show that they were done away with, and you can't personalize like that anymore.

9. Is the hard drive built in?

   A: Yes (sort of), but you will be able to swap it out for another larger capacity one. Old style external HD's are not compatible. Additionally, the new 360 swappable drives are a proprietary format, so you can't stick your own 2TB drive in there.
   
   

   
   
   

10. Will you be able to transfer stuff from your current 360 hard drive to the new one?

    A: Yes. $19.99 data transfer cable will be sold around same time as new units go on sale. I still have a data transfer cable from when I upgraded from the original 20Gb HD to a 120Gb HD. Whether I can still use that one or not is unclear. Failing the data transfer cable option, you can also use up to 16GB at a time with a flash drive, as part of the new console featureset. You can also use Xbox LIVE itself to redownload everything, although that won't preserve save games.

11. They claim it's "whisper quiet". What's changed regarding that? Most of the noise came from the DVD drive, what is the DVD drive in use now?

    A: Unknown what hardware is in use for the drive, but they've gone from two internal fans to one large one, which should make things quieter. Hands on reports from right after the MS press conference all indicate it's massively quieter than the old stuff.

12. How will the reliability issue be regarding red rings? They seemed to have solved that with the last hardware footprint (Jasper).

    A: Unknown. There's a rumor the "red rings" will be "green rings" errors, but that's a minor interface issue. One would hope it would get better, as this is now the fourth hardware footprint, and the third one seemingly solved the problem for the most part. However, this is a new hardware footprint, and it could bring it's own new problems to the party. Time will tell, but one has to assume it's at least as reliable as the last footprint, which proved to be the best of the original "white" console's run of hardware.

13. Will this new unit also come with the "built in memory card" like the last models did (had an on board 512Mb memory card that looked like an external memory unit to the OS)?

    Unknown, this may not be an option in the "Elite" unit, it could only be in the new revision of the Arcade machine, whenever that shows up.

14. Will this be able to support 3D games?

    A: Unknown, I read a rumor where it's not possible due to power demands past what the unit can produce, but sounds like total BS.

15. What's new in the new dash? The Joystiq.com unboxing video makes mention of a "new dash" in their unboxing video.

    A: Unknown. Didn't know there was a new dash coming. Have heard squat about that.

16. What's special about this new console and "Kinect Ready"? I thought all 360 consoles are compatible with the Kinect device?

    A: While all 360's can use Kinect, if you have anything other than the "360 S" Console, you'll have to have a separate dongle and a power supply. The "360 S" has a port just for Kinect, and you'll be able to just plug it in and go.

17. What's this Kinect thing supposed to cost?

    A: While Microsoft hasn't announced that formally, Gamestop has pricing for three options. The Kinect by itself is $149, an Arcade machine with a Connect is $299, and an Elite (the new model) with a Kinect is $399. Comes out November 4. Microsoft later issued a statement saying that pricing listed today is still a "rumour", and official pricing and bundling has not been finalized. Linkage.

18. When will this be available?

    MS said that they were shipping it to retailers today, and it should be available by the weekend. Amazon.com is taking pre-orders, although they don't have pricing on it listed yet.

I will continue to update with both updates to the above and with new questions.