Money-Saving Tips for Buying an Xbox 360 This Christmas: Think Used

If you or your children want an Xbox 360 this Christmas - and who wouldn't, with some of the titles that have come out for it lately - you've probably already gone over to the local GameStop or EB Games, only to be assailed with the number of purchasing options. In any of these gaming stores, you'll see an Xbox 360 Arcade, an Xbox 360 Pro, an Xbox 360 Elite, and most likely an Xbox 360 Halo Edition. In most cases, you'll also see a used Xbox 360, or to really add to the confusion, you'll see two of them at vastly different prices.

In many cases, you don't really know the difference between them, you just know that they're each a different price. After all, each of them, except the used ones, come with free games of some sort, why should someone buy one over the other? Well this is actually very important to know, because if you bargain shop, you may find yourself having to spend even more money later. Therefore, there are some important things to know about each level of purchase.

First and foremost, the prices. You can get the Xbox 360 Arcade version for only $279.99 - and in many ways this is an excellent deal. It comes, naturally, with one control pad and all the adapters necessary to plug it into your television, however it also doesn't come with a hard drive. You can still play all of your games of course, but you won't be able to take advantage of the online features. If you're not interested in playing on Xbox Live, this may seem appealing, however there are a few other points to consider. For example, without connecting to the internet, you won't be able to download the patches necessary to play your old Xbox games, nor will you be able to download future updates for your 360.

In addition, optional content will not be able to be downloaded for some games as was the case with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion when it came out. However, if this is an acceptable sacrifice to you, the Arcade version does come with a memory card. Although this does not hold nearly as much data as a hard drive, it does suit the purpose of allowing save games, if that is all you or your child are interested in. Therefore for $279.99, coming out to roughly $306 you would be able to get your hands on the bare essentials.

You can always pick up a used hard drive later - they are easy to install, and cost only $59.99.

The Xbox 360 pro, in contrast, is $349.99 - however, in addition to coming with Forza Motor Sports 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, it also comes pre-installed with a 20 gigabyte hard drive. This will include everything you need to get online with your 360, and a rather decent amount of space to save with. Usually, however, people who put music or optional content on their 360s run out of their 20 gigs of space relatively quickly.

That's where the Xbox 360 Elite edition comes in - costing $449.99, it's the most expensive of the three, but it also comes with a 120 gigabyte hard drive. Further, it also comes with a wireless controller, saving you the need to have to find one later. These wireless controllers, in addition to being helpful and convenient, are remarkably difficult to find during the holiday season.

Your other option for purchase is the Xbox 360 Halo Edition. Fundamentally the same as the Pro edition in terms of specs, the Halo Edition is really a great gift for Halo fans, especially since it's only a limited time special promotion, much like the old Halo Mountain Dew. It comes with a 20 gigabyte hard drive, and is colored in Halo colors with a similar control pad. This system costs $399.99 - and has the ability to go online, save without a memory card, and everything you need to play, with the added bonus of appealing to gamers aesthetically.

You also have the used option - but you should be careful when picking your used Xbox 360. Simply seeing a $199.99 Xbox 360 may seem tempting, but the truth of the matter is that they do not come with hard drives, these are sold separately. You may also be confused to see that there is one for $249.99, so what could the difference in price be? Is it because one works and one doesn't?

On the contrary - GameStop and EB Games actually sells used XBox 360s with a wireless controller for $249.99, with a wired controller it's $199.99. Rather than get a whole new hard drive, however, it is best to simply get a used hard drive, which would cost only $59.99.

Therefore with taxes, you'll be getting a whole Xbox 360 set up for only $283.38.

In this case, I would personally recommend, for the bargain shopper, finding a used, wired controller Xbox 360, with a used 20 gigabyte hard drive for the best deal this Christmas.