Microsoft has announced details on the new Xbox 360 Arcade, the replacement to the initial Xbox 360 Core. The Arcade will retail for $279.99, which will be cheaper than the announced price of several stand alone media center extenders. It makes you wonder how media center extenders are going to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
Microsoft has positioned the Xbox 360 as a media center extender for Vista. This means you can control your Vista PC through your Xbox 360, accessing your content wherever there is a 360. The Arcade has no hard drive, but that does not impact its functions as an extender. Most importantly, it still has a a HDMI port.
If you are looking to pair a 360 with your Vista Media Center, look no further than the Arcade.
January 28th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Personally, I’ve got no need to connect anything to Vista, because I had a major disappointment with this OS. It’s not only slow, but sucks up memory like crazy. You have to add in about 4G onboard RAM in order for the thing to run properly. Even so, the OS still jams up from time to time. I don’t need Vista to spoil my XBox experience!