Originally Posted by
jarrod
If Microsoft cedided to do an Xbox Mini, they'd likely have to go for an IBM microdrive or something similar.
Which are horribly expensive. You beat me to the punch on a reply to Bacon, but here's what I was gonna say:
Originally Posted by
Bacon McShig
Once more, I think that the best solution is for the XBN to still have a small hard drive in the actual unit, I mean if it were even only the space of what the current Xbox denotes as "+" (as in "50,000+ blocks"), it would be more than adequate for most users' needs*. Then just have an expansion slot for the bigger HD; the XBN HD comes with it already installed, the XBN Basic doesn't but it's available for purchase if people need it. If a big game that comes out that needs the HD, have it come in two versions, one standalone and one bundled with the HD.
The thing is, smaller hard drives (2~4GB vs 10GB) aren't cheaper. Are you talking about including a 2~4GB drive instead of a 10~20GB drive? You might want to do some digging, cause from what I can find, you'll pay the same price for a 2GB drive (if you can find them) as you would for a 20GB drive. Once you start comparing 20GB to 40GB and up, then you see a price difference. There is no call for hard drives that small these days, so manufacturers would charge MS just as much for a small drive as they do for a 20~40 since it would be a custom product at that point. USB storage is still more expensive then a comparable IDE drive as well. MS could go to a store that sells on thin margins and pick up a MDT 20GB 5400RPM drive for $33. If they went directly to MDT, they might be able to get it for $15 or less. If they went USB Flash, they'd get 256MB (MAYBE 512MB) for the same price direct from the manufacturer.
If you're talking 20GB vs 40GB, then yeah, you'll see a price difference that will affect the consumer, but I don't know what they would use that much space for (yet). The amount of saves, custom soundtracks, DL content, MAME/Genny stuff I have on my XB HD is pretty significant, but I still have plenty of room left on my standard 8GB drive. If MS wants to turn it into a true media center, allowing you to use the XB2 as a DVR amongst other things, I can see the need for a HD bigger than 20GB.
Never under any circumstance scrutinize the mastication orifice of a gratuitous herbivorous quadruped.
Bookmarks