Best place to buy (a cheap!) xbox?

jacqhale

Hi my son has been on about an Xbox ever since his best friend got one - he loves minecraft! We only have a wii and it's not on there for some reason! Anyway I was not keen until I found out we can put sky go on and use it for watching tv in another room.

But now I am boggled by the different types and feeling overwhelmed. Thought about second hand but that seems to be open to mistakes if they don't have the right bits. Where would be the cheapest place to buy a new console or what should I look for specifically in a second hand one?

Thanks, it's too expensive to make a mistake with

bluenoseam

There's really not much to it, you can probably pick up a relatively cheap 250gb console pre-owned for around £100-130ish or a new one for around the £180 mark. With a pre-owned one I'd maybe suggest going to Game, they're a little more expensive, but they also come with a 12 month warranty & the consoles are tested as they're traded in. You're also guaranteed to get all the proper cables with it and a controller.

Avoid the 4gb model like the plague, it's cheaper initially, but it's a turkey, certain games are unplayable on it & it's not worth saving the few quid. Similarly I'd probably look to avoid any of the original models as they were not only prone to issues concerning the hardware, they're also not wireless by default. (The "slim" models are all WiFi enabled - and it's a piece of cake setting it up!)

To watch Sky as a multi-room box you will need an Xbox Live subscription - in stores for £15/40 for a 3/12 month subscription (keep an eye on sites like Hot Deals UK as they often have discounts). That subscription will also allow him to play online.

DO NOT - and I can't stress this enough DO NOT put your card details into the Xbox, that is the quickest way to run up bills & is totally & wholy avoidable. Similarly dependant on the age of the child I'd also consider looking into the parental control options available on the machine so as to avoid them watching unsuitable content.

Also sit your Xbox horizontally - standing it upright leaves you wide open to laser burning your disc as the smallest movement can lead to a nasty burn around your disc. It can be repaired if it's not too bad, but if it's a proper fall down job yeah, it's gubbed!

Other than that only thing I'd really suggest beyond the Xbox & Xbox Live subscription would be some form of play & charge kit, it'll save you a small fortune in batteries. Granted I'm probably older & thus play it more than your Son will, but I saved £30 annually - which isn't to be sneezed at.

Final bit of good news for you, Minecraft should be relatively cheap, somewhere around the £15-18 mark brand new.

jacqhale

Wow thank you! Will have a look in game tomorrow and definitely avoid the 4gb model. He's only 8 but I am assuming the console will 'grow' with him as he gets older so worth getting it right :-)

DCFC79

jacqhale wrote: »

Wow thank you! Will have a look in game tomorrow and definitely avoid the 4gb model. He's only 8 but I am assuming the console will 'grow' with him as he gets older so worth getting it right :-)

Game did have the 250GB model for about £155 with 2 games the other week but cant see it listed anymore, have a look on tesco.com. But your after a used one hence cheap.

bluenoseam

DCFC79 wrote: »

Game did have the 250GB model for about £155 with 2 games the other week but cant see it listed anymore, have a look on tesco.com. But your after a used one hence cheap.

Problem being that was the holiday pack - the two games involved being Halo 4 (disc) & Tomb Raider (download), neither of which is suitable.

I'd be very surprised if there's no bundles including Minecraft to be fair, probably teamed with something like either FIFA or Lego Marvel right about now.

jacqhale

There is a bundle in smyths or toys r us for about £150-200 . As I have been looking at 2nd hand ones there are lots that say ' not banned' which worries me I may buy something that is without knowing :eek: so I might be best off looking for a bundle in a shop and hopefully can't get the wrong thing!
Will get the best bundle as if the games aren't suitable for my son I am sure my hubby will play them !

bluenoseam

It depends on where you've been looking second hand, if it's ebay/gumtree etc it's highly likely they can run into problems with chipped/modded Xbox's which Microsoft ban on a regular basis. Essentially it's to allow them to run pirate software and when MS discover a console is chipped, it's only a matter of time before they kick it off Xbox Live permanently. This however will never be the case from reputable retailers as they will be tested to ensure they're not mucked about with. (bearing in mind that reputable companies will have working relationships with MS/Sony/Nintendo so any selling of goods promoting piracy will end badly for them!)

What you've just said though further validates the whole 250gb model bit though, there are games currently requiring massive installs (8-9gb), but there's others which require a Hard Drive. If your husband is likely to play some stuff, it's much better to have the bigger HD already, then that way he won't run into any issues should he fancy playing GTA or Battlefield 4 for example.

DCFC79

bluenoseam wrote: »

Problem being that was the holiday pack - the two games involved being Halo 4 (disc) & Tomb Raider (download), neither of which is suitable.

I'd be very surprised if there's no bundles including Minecraft to be fair, probably teamed with something like either FIFA or Lego Marvel right about now.

Yes Im aware of that but could sell the games.

They dont have the console any more anyway.

MadHatterSCFC

Personally I'd go for the 4GB myself (as I have one, no problems and plays game, sky and streams from PC downstairs to TV ustairs)

Get the Console with Minecraft *both brand new* included for £149 from Game.

This gives you more options on price as you can buy the 250GB Harddrive (biggest u can get) for £60 *new* or go from a 1GB USB stick upto the 250.
Get the harddrive from somewhere like CEX and you can bring the cost down even further.

While some games are unplayable without a harddrive 8GB+ these are Call of Duty & GrandTheft Auto, Battlefront so not for an 8 year old anyway.
If you wanted to games from the original Xbox (console before the 360) you would need an original Microsoft harddrive. A 20GB one is £10 in CEX

bluenoseam

GTA will play fine on a USB drive, however EA games will NOT, they require hard drives, also sorry to be a pain but the biggest you can get is actually 320gb.

When you consider the fact you're paying £150 for the 4gb you're better off paying the extra £30 and buying the machine whereby you don't need to worry about it.

MadHatterSCFC

Think you've wires crossed I was talking about HardDrives. You can use either for saving the game but you will need a HardDrives to play the EA games that you have to install 1 of the 2 disks.

Your right the 250gb is the easy option but as OP was looking for cheapest so my point stands, especially if being used by an 8y'old, who might not need a 250 GB HDD