If you are planning to buy one of the Xbox 360 slim console and cannot decide between the 4GB and the 250GB version this review is for you. I highlight in this article the differences between the two version of the consoles and what you should put into consideration when comparing 4GB vs 250GB.

Size: This is the main difference between 4GB and 250GB versions of the systems. The 250GB console allows you more space to download and save contents than the 4GB console, you can however add two 16GB external hard drives to the box (external drives must be FAT32 formatted).

Because of the size limitation of the 4GB console you are likely to face the following problems:

1. You cannot install video games that requires more than one discs to play because of the 4GB limitation.

2. Downloading DLC content overtime would become impossible (DLC contents are Xbox live contents that can be downloaded like Game demos, full video games and are usually large in size).

3. Playing games from disc are prone to scratches which overtime eventually causes them freeze.

4. You might also have problem storing your media files with time.

5. Regular updates released by Microsoft to patch the box will reduce the amount of hard drive space available for use.

Design: If you are more particular about the design of the box then the slim 250GB built-in hard drive has a smooth shinny, black finish on the other hand the 4GB version is a matte black case. Perfectionist would most likely opt for the matte black case finishing because of the ease with which the 250GB version can be smeared with dirt.

Both of these systems have built-in Wifi and are Kinect ready. You will still be able to stream video, music, play Xbox 360 games without installing to the disk.

Summary

When comparing 4GB vs 250GB, buying 4GB version of the console will be a nice idea if you are a casual user of Xbox live. Downloading DLC contents or installing games to your hard drive will be a problem. Apart from these there is not much difference between the 4GB and 250GB version of the consoles. You can compare 4GB and 250GB Kinect bundle prices here

You can find some simple and quick ways to deal with the Ring of Death. These methods are for those who desperately want to get rid of 3 red flash lights.

The three red light repair guides helps us to rectify the problems just sitting at home without wasting time, money and energy to get it fixed by the service center. So for starting to repair at home you would need to know the root cause of the problem. And then try to fix it with the help of guide. The 3 red light fix repair guide helps in knowing all the problems and its related solution in an instant so that you can get the Xbox well running minus the ring of death problem.

There are many sites where you can find solutions to the fixing of the Xbox 360 console. Some even suggest applying the towel trick method. This method is very dangerous method for repairing the console which should be avoided strictly. This method tells us to wrap a hot towel around the Xbox 360 which will help in solving the over heating problem. But the wrapping of hot towel around a hot console will make it hotter. Then there would a high risk of starting a fire. Do this would be unwise to follow such type of advice as it will damage your console permanently.

Repair guides include various solutions to respective issues. Firstly there is solution to DVD repair. Disk errors can be resolved using a standard CD/DVD cleaner which helps in cleaning lenses. Then you have to adjust the pot on the laser. If all these problems do not help in solving the problem then you will have to get a new drive as the old one do get damaged a lot. Repair guides also instruct how to open a Xbox. But this should be done with precaution as one mistake may lead to total damage of the console. You should also check with the version you are using which is very important.

Here are some pointers on Xbox 360 repair guide before purchasing the guide. The guide should include the list as below:

· Xbox 360 Red Lights Fix Guide which is a full video tutorial which tells us how to repair your Xbox when the Red light flashes.

· Xbox 360 Disc Scratching Fix tells us about the details of how the disc gets scratched and how to avoid that. There are simple and easy fixing steps too.

· How to Open Your Xbox 360 Case – Complete Dis assembly gives detailed description of opening of the metal case.

· Disassemble Your HD DVD Drive on Your Xbox helps in guiding you to handle the HD DVD drive.

· Hitachi DVD Drive Dis assembly

· Toshiba DVD Drive Dis assembly

· Xbox 360 Wired Controller Dis assembly

· Xbox 360 Error Code Messages

· Determine Your DVD Drive

Xbox 360 Manual DVD Eject

imgBurn is a freeware tool which allows you to burn all sorts of CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. It works for PC CDs, music CDs and even Xbox 360 games, and here's how to burn your 360 games with it.

Before you can burn any Xbox 360 game, you first need to get the ISO and DVD files that will be used to burn the disc. These files are critical and can either be ripped off your game CD or downloaded from the Internet. After you have the ISO and .DVD file for the game you want to burn, you then need to install imgBurn on your system. This is pretty simple and the software can be downloaded from imgburn.com.

Once you have the software installed, you then need to open up the .dvd file for your game. In there, there will be a LAYER BREAK number, which you need to copy to your clip board with CRTL + C. Copy it and then open up imgBurn and find the "options" panel at the top of the screen. Open up the options Window and then find the "layer break" setting, where you will then need to paste that number with CRTL + V.

After you've pasted the layer break number into the settings, you can close them and return to the imgburn main screen (the layer break is where the burner stops burning one layer and moves onto the next layer of the dual layer DVD). On the main screen, you then need to click the "Burn From Image" button, which will then open a new screen, which will prompt you to open an ISO file. Open the game file that you have and then proceed to change the 'write speed' of the program to 4X. This will give the highest success rate. After that, you just need to click on the big button on the bottom left of the screen to get it to burn.

Most computers will take around 40 minutes to burn the game, but if you've done it right, it should end and be successful. This means that you now have an Xbox game burnt onto a blank DVD, congratulations! However, in order to play the game, you need to do some other things to your PC and console which are not much, but are crucial.

Xbox 360 is a very popular gaming console by Microsoft which has won the hearts of many gamers all around the world. On the surface this machine appears to be an awesome gaming console, but there are so many hidden problems in it. This machine has sparked an interest in an enormous amount of people all around the world. Not only gamers like this system, but also programmers, hackers, electronic engineers and so many others like xbox and they have their unique reason to like it. Every great console has its own disadvantages. None of the consoles is an exception. Xbox 360 has also come across these situation. The main reason for this is the “Xbox 360 3 Red light error” also called as “Xbox 360 3 Red Rings of Death Error”. This article will guide you to fix the “Three Red Light Error” also called as “Red rings of death error” permanently.

Some failures are very easy to fix. Red rings of death can also be fixed easily in less than an hour. You don’t need to send your xbox all the way to Microsoft to fix it. Thousands of people all around the world have fixed their xbox with this proven method. You don’t need to waste money or time to get your xbox fixed.

Know the Xbox 360 error Lights – Identify yours

Error lights can be as cryptic as error codes. When an error light flashes then it means that there is a problem with the xbox console. I have listed all the possible error lights which used to occur in the xbox 360 console. I am listing out all the error just to make sure that yours is “red rings of death error” or “Three red light fix error”.

1. Green / Red Light – Unit will usually Restart twice then flash red and green

2. Solid Green w/no audio/video/eject – Unit will boot to a black screen with no video, audio or eject. When the eject button is pressed, unit will flash green.

3. Solid Green w/no audio/video – Unit will boot to a black screen with no video or audio, but will eject the dvd drive

4. Orange/ Green flashing – Missing or bad audio/video pack

5. Orange flashing – Reset Signal is not making contact on the LPC bus

6. Orange/ Red Flashing – Unit will reboot twice then flash red and orange

7. Green flashing or green then red flashing – Corrupt or missing eeprom

8. Solid Red – System failure

9. Power supply light alone is red or orange – Poor power supply to the Xbox

10. Three Flashing Red Lights – Red Rings of Death Error also called Three red light error

Red rings of death error is the most commonly occurring error in xbox. Other error were very rarely reported.

Different types of error codes in xbox 360 – Applicable only if there is no problem with your error lights

Error codes are displayed in the upper left or right hand corner of your screen. These codes are very much useful in finding the kind of problem which xbox has experienced. Majority of these errors can be easily rectified. So don’t be worried if you receive anyone of them.

01 Bootldr – Motherboard Related Error

02 Bootldr – Eeprom check failed

03 Bootldr – Unknown

04 Bootldr – RAM check failed

05 Kernel – HDD not locked ( Required to be locked by default bios)

06 Kernel – Cannot unlock HDD

07 Kernel – HDD Timeout

08 Kernel – HDD not found

09 Kernel – HDD parameters (PIO/DMA/ or side (debug), certain size minimum is required for debug)

10 Kernel – DVD timeout

11 Kernel – No DVD found

12 Kernel – DVD parameters (PIO/DMA)

13 Kernel – Dashboard launch fail (due to missing/bad key, or anything else that would prevent it from running) and the dashboard did not specify why it failed

14 Dashboard – Error loading dashboard (dashboard generic error)

15 Unknown -??/not used

16 Dashboad – Other files to do with dashboard / dashboard settings (specific dashboard error)

17 Unknown -??/not used

18 Unknown -??/not used

19 Unknown -??/not used

20 The dashboard was attempted to load and failed; it was a cold boot, and the dashboard did not specify why it failed, but it (for some reason) needed to be noted that the dvd passed the challenge/response authentication

21 Unknown – This error says that the machine was booted to display a error, basically someone told the machine to reboot(or launch a xbe) with this flag and the error code just means itsbeen rebooted by the flag.

Think twice or even thrice before sending your xbox to Microsoft

Sending your xbox to Microsoft is not at all recommended. You need to spend over $140 + Shipping cost to fix your xbox console. Moreover many transportation problems may also arise. Your xbox might even be crushed or some of the parts may be lost while transporting it to Microsoft or while getting it back from Microsoft. Moreover you need to wait for more than 6 weeks to get it fixed. There is no guarantee that this error will be fixed permanently. Ask some of your friends who had already experienced this problem and they will definitely not recommend sending your xbox to Microsoft.

Fix your Xbox 360 Red rings of death Permanently in just one hour from now – This is the best solution

This is possible. Xbox 360 red rings of death can be fixed permanently in just one hour. There is a repair guide available in the market which is designed mainly for this problem which will help you to fix your xbox in just one hour from now. This also come with video tutorials so that you can do it very easily and quickly. The best part is that they come with 100% money back guarantee. Yes, if you can’t fix your xbox then you will completely get your money back. They are bold enough to offer the money back guarantee because they have a proven method using which over 100000 Xbox have been fixed all around the world. The cost of the Red rings of death repair guide is also very very less and hence it can be afforded by all people.

The red Ring of Death shows on almost over 1/5th of all Xbox 360 consoles. The following is a listing of the codes given to the errors caused by the red lights based on how many flash on the console. Find out the problem and read further to find the answers to your problems.

Error codes when two red lights show:

There are no error codes for them as the two appear only as a result of overheating. In this case it is observed that the console works for barely 15 minutes and ceases to continue working thereafter.

Error codes when three red lights show:

0001, 0002: both indicate to having problems with power supply

0010, 0011, 0012, 0013: overheating is the problem

0022: it is the GPU Error also referred to as GPU Overheating

0102: an unknown error

0110: known as Memory Error possibly caused due to overheating

1003, 1010: both are hard Drive errors

1022: the AV cable error

Error codes when 4 red lights show:

There aren’t any codes. This is because the only reason why all the red lights show is when the console is unable to place the AV cables. By ensuring that the cables are properly connected you can treat the problem. If that doesn’t help, then try changing the AV cables to new ones.

How to gather codes:

It is a simple process of just being able to read the signals given by your console while it displays the 3 red lights. Activate your console first and watch till the lights start to flash. Holding the button that syncs, push the eject button. Observe carefully, as the console will give you the first number of your code. If 4 lights are flashing, then the code is 0. 3 lights, the code is 1. 2 lights, the code is 2. When 1 light flashes, the code is 1. Continue the process to get the second, third and fourth numbers to decipher the codes by releasing and re jamming the eject button without letting go of the sync button.

Solving the problem of the Red Ring of Death:

There are many different methods to fix the problem of the 3 red rings. One major approach is to visit the website that shows on the error screen that is if there is one. Or try opening the same page, which is that of the Xbox Support site. This site will guide you in getting your 360 fixed for sure but will charge you around $100 and the process of repair will take not less than a month.

The gaming bug in me has being awakened by the arrival of Xbox 360, my wife got this console as a prize from a campaign her team won in the office, I always used to skip buying my favourite games on my PC since the gaming  configurations keep going up every time, and I find it useless to keep upgrading my PC ram and processor and graphic card for just gaming, so Xbox 360 came as a blessing for me.

Box Content: Xbox 360 Pro console contains Xbox 360 console, a brick charger, Component HD AV Cable, Ethernet cable, A gaming headset, media remote, one wireless controller, 20 GB HDD, manuals, warranty card, alkaline batteries for remote and wireless controller, I also received two free games along with the console, Viva Pinata and Forza Motor racing 2.

Console Details: Xbox 360 pro console is sleek and can be placed horizontally or vertically, its white in look and has chrome finish on sides, on the front panel you have disc loading tray and two slots for memory units (sold separately), a protected slot having 2 USB ports, on the back you have power connection slot, a Ethernet port, extra USB port, HD AV cable connectivity port, Digital output port (used for digital audio cable).

Configuration: I have a Philips 32TA800 LCD TV which is HD ready, setting up the console is easy and I connected the component HD AV cable to my televisions composite video ports, connected audio output to my Artis S6600 5.1 speakers, I set my TV display to 1080i setting (1920 X 1080 resolution = 2,073,600 pixels) then set the cable option to HDTV mode (it has TV mode as well for playing games on normal televisions), I began my console set up after powering it on, created my Gamer tag (gaming profile), the gaming experience was ‘AWESOME’.

Console Navigation: Xbox console has a really cool dashboard which can be customized in terms of colours and you can even keep your preferred images in the dashboard background. It had 5 dashboard blades, Market place, Xbox Live, Games, Media and System these dashboard options are easy to access, you would not require much effort to navigate through them, you also have an option for configuring family settings for games in case you have a child at home and you would not want your child to play certain genre of games.

Console performance: I have begun playing all 6 game titles I have with me ( Viva Pinata, Forza Motorsport racing 2, WWE RAW Vs Smackdown 2008, Army of Two, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Halo 3), game play clarity on HD mode is ‘Amazing’, I checked the visual quality on normal TV mode, where the video quality takes a slight hit, still playable in case one does not have a HDTV or HD ready TV. I did not experience any game lag during the game play and graphics delivered by the console are top notch and flawless, playing with wireless controller is fun, you just need to pair the wireless controller once to the console and controller buttons and joysticks are easy to use, you wont end up paining your fingers once you are done gaming, with a great audio and visual clarity the game play becomes immersive, you can also play your own soundtrack in the background while playing a game, this feature is game based.

Beyond Gaming: Xbox 360 pro does not just play games, it has windows media center connectivity option to connect your windows based pc to Xbox, you can dump your existing DVD player since you can view your favourite movies on Xbox, with the latest software upgrade for Xbox you can also view DivX files on Xbox, it allows mp3 playback and movie playback from USB devices as well, surprisingly it would not play a VCD, you can connect your mp3 player, or Ipod, digital camera to play music or view photographs on Xbox, it also provides song ripping option in case you want to load tracks to Xbox hard drive from a music CD, with the media remote you can operate multimedia features easily and even record live TV in case your PC is equipped with TV tuner card is connected to a set-top box.

Xbox Live service: Microsoft offers free silver membership to online service for Xbox 360 called Xbox Live, I connected to this service by connecting the console to my laptop by sharing my wi-fi connection through my router in my other room, I got 1 month trial Gold membership of Xbox Live service, this feature allows you to watch new game trailers, download game demos and participate in live gaming events, download Xbox arcade games, you can also share your gamer achievement score which you keep scoring in different games as you unlock various challenges in a game.

Support & Warranty: Xbox 360 console has being criticized to be a noisy console, heating up fast and the most famous RRoD (Red ring of death) problem most consoles have reported to encounter, but I have observed that my console has no problems with regards to over-heating or being too noisy as I have played games at a stretch for 4-5 hours, in terms of warranty Microsoft offers 3 years warranty against RRoD problem with console replacement and 1 year warranty for other issues. You can be a part of buzzing Xbox forums on Xbox website which offer lot’s of tips and tricks to play games from members across the globe, other discussion topics on Xbox.

Why Xbox ?:  Its very difficult to choose between two major gaming consoles Xbox 360 & PS3, Nitendo Wii is still not officially released in India, its available through grey market, PS3 is gaining popularity slowly and has less number of game titles as of now which cost mostly near 3000 bucks and above, while Xbox 360 has impressive line up of gaming titles with backward playing compatibility of few Xbox games, apart from that a windows based PC is bound to connect seamlessly with Xbox compared to a PS3, both PS3 and Xbox 360 have their pros and cons, but I am happy with the performance of Xbox which combines features of a gaming and entertainment device. In India Xbox 360 games are available in a range of Rs 999 to Rs 2510.

Why gaming consoles:  We all like to play games and spending money on a PC to upgrade graphic card, memory and storage turns out to be an expensive affair which is not affordable every time, Sony PS2 is the largest selling console till date and is still alive and kicking with a huge library of game titles and new games still being churned out for this console, it also happens to be the largest sold console in India, so consoles stand to gain a upper hand due to extended shelf life they enjoy, the flip side to console gaming is expensive game titles, unlike cheaper PC games and pirated game CDs available for PCs, Sony PS2 gained popularity in India because PS2 has a slew of pirated games and this console has being cracked long back, whereas Xbox 360 also has being hacked, the hardware has to be modded, but it voids the warranty, PS3 is still not cracked.(I personally would not encourage hacking your console to play pirated games), so with gaming consoles extending their capabilities to become a complete multimedia device, it makes sense to invest in a gaming console.

One of the problems that has hounded the XBOX line of video game consoles almost since their inception has been cooling. The XBOX generates a great deal of heat due to the central processor of the XBOX and the graphics processor that is running as well. When you put that much processing speed in one small box you are bound to get heating issues.

When the XBOX was first released this heating issue was addressed by putting large openings in the chassis that would allow air to circulate a cool the processors. But if you put your XBOX in any position that would cover those holes in some way you would get heating issues and damage to your XBOX. People began to complain so Microsoft developed some XBOX 360 cooling accessories that are designed to address the problem.

Just like anything else Microsoft does there was instantly dozens of companies creating cheap XBOX 360 accessories that were designed to handle the cooling problem but at a fraction of the cost. It is up to you if you decide to invest in these cheap XBOX 360 accessories. Just remember that Microsoft will void your XBOX warranty if you use cheap XBOX 360 accessories instead of Microsoft accessories and something goes wrong.

These cheap XBOX 360 accessories are indeed very inexpensive and they are designed to fit in and around your XBOX 360 and offer the cooling that it needs to avoid locking up or getting damaged. Many of these cheap XBOX 360 accessories are under $30 and if you can find one that you are certain will work then you just solved a very large XBOX 360 issue with an inexpensive piece of equipment. If you get really creative then you can take your quest for cheap XBOX 360 accessories to the next level and really save some dollars.

A Dollar And A Dream

Even the cheap XBOX 360 accessories will try and capitalize on the XBOX name and add a few dollars to their price. But what you could do to save yourself some real dollars and still solve your XBOX 360 cooling problem is just invest in a little table fan for your XBOX. That is all you need. If you need to put the fan someplace that does not have a shelf then you can get one with a clip for a base that allows it to be put in a variety of situations.

Sometimes all you need to do to solve a problem is think in the simplest terms and remember that it does not need to say Microsoft on it for it to be effective.

The Xbox 360 is a video game manufactured by Microsoft and its predecessor is the Xbox. The unique features of Xbox 360 include an Xbox Live Service which enables players to play online, get access to arcade games, game demos, trailers, films and the Windows Media Center multimedia capabilities. The Xbox 360 was first introduced in 2005.

The Xbox 360 now comes in two standard models namely the Xbox 360 Arcade and the Xbox Elite. Let us briefly examine the features of these two models.

Xbox 360 Arcade – This is the entry level for Xbox 360. This model is the successor of the Xbox 360 Dual Core and costs 279.99 dollars. This system comes with a wireless controller, HDMI 1.2 unit, composite Av cable, an internal Memory chip of 512 MB and a 5box Live Arcade. But it does not possess a hard disk drive.

Xbox 360 Elite – This version is the next most costly model of the Xbox 360. This model is equipped with a hard drive of 120 GB and a matte black color. They also come with a controller and head set which perfectly matches the black finish of the system. The system costs 299.99 dollars. There is also another version of this model called the Xbox 360 250 GB Elite which comes with a 250 GB hard disc drive and a pair of wireless controllers on some editions. The price of this model is 399.99 dollars.

The Xbox 360 has a lot of accessories that can be bought along with the set if you want. They include wired or wireless controllers, face plates for adaptation, head sets in order to chat, a web camera if you are interested in video chatting, dance mats and Gamercize for exercise, memory cards that are available in three sizes and four different sizes of hard drives.

The biggest attraction of the Xbox 360 is that the Xbox Live comes with online gaming for multi players. After you finish the registration procedure, you just need to log in your most loved game and fix it to the service. You also are provided with numerous free downloads from music videos to movie trailers and all the forth coming games for the Xbox 360

The only draw back of the Xbox 360 is that it is mainly headed to all the hardcore games. And therefore not everybody is willing to spend such a big sum that they will not be using every day. But if you can afford it, it is one of the best game consoles that are available in the market today.

Wholesale Xbox 360 games keep becoming part of a breaking sales record for Microsoft Company. In a $10 billion dollar a year industry like video games, Gear of War one of the brightest additions to Microsoft had turned to full success. With its recent released nearly at the end of 2006 Gears of War break records in sales for the very acclaimed Xbox console.

It is not difficult to predict a total success when Epic Games, developer and Microsoft practically bringing a positive outrage of since its release in November 12- it will surely was to become another hit for Microsoft. Better yet, when if you got to see the TV commercial, especially with the song- Mad World, you get to confirm that it was surely going to be a top seller for 06 Christmas.

Whether it was in the wholesale Xbox 360 games arena or in the retail market, Microsoft got to successfully sell over 1 million copies of this extremely hot game and over 2 million copies of Gears of War since its release in November 12. Having a shooting game outsell and compete with hot sellers like Fight Night 3, Halo and Madden for past holidays was not going to be easy, but it turned out to be an exquisite success.

A hot prediction is that shooting games will keep being the number 1 seller for the gaming industry, no matter if its mainly for console outsells or games itself. Games like Halo have been a total mega player since the beginning of the new console launch of Microsoft. Hack many online sellers play the game more than what they sell it for profits.

If you want to become part of a $10 billion industry and reap potential rewards from the sell of wholesale Xbox games, you should start doing full due-diligence on the Internet and with a legal advisor if wanting to go more securely, like you should by the way. You can surely check many authority sites on the Internet that will lay out many of today truth when it comes to the same of wholesale.

Many eBay power sellers get top-notch sales from the sell of merchandise. How many times have you wondered what to sell on eBay? In my total strict experience opinion, you should always sell what you have a passion for and a full strength at. Whether it is selling the top Microsoft launch of a mini mall on the Internet, or whether it is selling the old time wholesale Xbox console for a profit- it is your decision to choose what to sell today.

In short, the gaming industry has been a major player for the US economy today and it wont stop with its profits. Whether it is on retail or selling nearly in clearance prices, it should surely keep going strong in record-breaking sales for the next decades. Either plain bargains or wholesale Xbox 360 games for today, it should always be an adventure for many mini malls today.

The Xbox 360 e74 is one of the many types of Xbox error codes that can affect your console at any given time. Thousands of Xbox 360 consoles worldwide are affected by these various errors, and one of the most common of them is the e74 Xbox error, which is currently affecting your console, as well as preventing you from gaming on it. Today you are going to learn what causes the Xbox e74 problem, as well as whether you can fix it yourself.

The e74 Xbox error’s principal cause is overheating, due to excess heat causing damage to various components, and eventually major malfunctions in the hardware of your console. Why is this heat able to build up and cause damage that leads to the Xbox 360 e74 error? This is actually due to cramped case design and a lack of cooling devices such as fans and heat sinks. Although overheating is usually a problem for all electronic devices, the Xbox 360 does seem to suffer particularly badly from this issue.

Although you could fix your Xbox e74 problem by sending your Xbox 360 back to Microsoft for repair, the best method you can actually employ is to fix your Xbox yourself. Here’s why-

* You will be without an Xbox 360 console for at least a couple of weeks if you send your console away for repair. Why put up with this when you can fix the Xbox 360 e74 issue yourself in a matter of hours?

* If your warranty has expired then you will have to pay to have your console repaired, and although there is a cost involved in purchasing the necessary items for Xbox repair, you will still save around $100 by carrying out the repairs yourself.

If you want to fix the Xbox e74 error yourself, then you will need to invest in a video repair guide. These come in digital download format, and can be purchased online for a reasonable price (you won’t need to spend anything over $30) You really need to buy one if you want to fix your Xbox 360, as written instructions just aren’t detailed enough.

To ensure that you get the best deal, purchase one that covers ALL Xbox error codes (many only offer information about the “red ring of death”, so you need to carefully read the sales page to ensure that it teaches you how to fix any type of Xbox error) Look also for a money-back guarantee, free customer support and free video samples to that you can check the quality of the product.