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$179.99 for this!? Are you kidding me!?
It's our way or the highway. Pay up or stick with 20GB.

Microsoft has listened to the negative response that it has gotten from the press and gamers regarding its 120GB external hard drive for the Xbox 360. The company contends that the price is justified and that consumers shouldn't compare the price of the 120GB Xbox 360 hard drive to a standalone 120GB 2.5" notebook hard drive.

"What we have done is release a smaller laptop size drive. If you compare what we are offering with a real plug-and-play drive the closest thing would be to take a 120 gig self-powered external PC drive," said Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg. "In that case we are seeing those retail at anywhere from $160 to $200 for comparable laptop sized external hard drives"

I decided to take Greenberg up on that offer and do a quick search over at Newegg for 2.5" 120GB 5400RPM USB 2.0 hard drives. In less than a minute, I found 4 units that were less than $100 before any rebates were even taken into consideration. The cheapest was the Aluratek AHDUB250120 which rings up at $79.99 after a $10 mail-in rebate.

Now I know what some of you may be thinking. "That's some no name company, no wonder it's so cheap." Right you may be, but not far off the Aluratek's price is a Seagate unit for $93.99 and a Western Digital Passport for $94.99.

So at the most we're looking at around an $80 to $100 price differential between a credible USB 2.0 hard drive and Microsoft's 120GB Xbox 360 hard drive. So what gives with the price difference?

"I know it sounds expensive to a lot of consumers but we are comparable to those types of drives and also we have to go through a lot more testing and security," Greenberg continued. "When we buy from suppliers we require a lot more spec reports and tests because that drive has to be able to perform at specific speeds all the time in order to support our environment and our gameplay experiences. Those are not the same specs that they are able to deliver to with off-the-shelf drives."

Is the security and testing worth $80 to $100? In my opinion, it’s probably not. But it's not like we have a choice. Microsoft has locked down the Xbox 360 so tightly in comparison to Sony's relatively open PS3 that it's their way or the highway. You're either forced to buy their expensive hard drive if you need the extra space or hack your existing enclosure and void your warranty.

Note to Microsoft: Just give us the option to use external USB hard drives and all we be forgiven.

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Compare apples to apples...
By masher2 (blog) on 4/5/2007 10:47:00 AM , Rating: 2
To make a fair comparison, you shouldn't compare discount Newegg pricing to suggested MSRPs. An 120GB external 2.5 hard drive at a place like BestBuy is around $130, I believe....still less expensive than Microsoft's suggested price, but by a considerably smaller margin.




RE: Compare apples to apples...
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/5/2007 11:19:24 AM , Rating: 4
Xbox 360 on Newegg: $399

Microsoft isn't allowing Newegg to budge on the 360's price, but that doesn't mean that consumers have to be forced to buy everything else at MSRP.

And I just checked, the western digital hard drive that you mentioned (and that I listed in the article) is $109 at Best Buy. Still a $70 difference.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7955...


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By masher2 (blog) on 4/5/07, Rating: 0
RE: Compare apples to apples...
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/5/2007 2:34:00 PM , Rating: 3
I'm sorry masher2, but the drive is a 2.5" unit. Passports are WD's 2.5" external drives powered by the USB port :-)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By masher2 (blog) on 4/5/07, Rating: 0
RE: Compare apples to apples...
By Aikouka on 4/5/2007 2:50:33 PM , Rating: 5
The furor, in my opinion, comes from the fact that this is little more than a hard drive in a box. Microsoft's other peripherals for the XBOX 360 (wired controller, wireless controller, wireless adapter and semi-wireless racing wheel) are all specialized devices which cannot be simplified in such an easy manner. Being so easy to simplify, the peripheral is easily subjected to people's "what should I have to pay for this" mentality. Their mentality is reporting a value significantly lower than what Microsoft expects them to pay, hence why people are outraged over it.


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By xphile on 4/5/2007 9:27:43 PM , Rating: 4
You're dead right about what this is as a peripheral in comparison to controllers, mem cards etc. It does immediately have a definitive "value" to a consumer because of what it is.

There's another angle to the "unjustness" of the scenario that I'll throw in for 2c too. Anyone can go to Newegg and buy whatever 2.5 inch drive they have at whatever their best price is. Previous customer or not, you get the benefit of good discounts.

Here is Microsoft selling a device that immediately dictates just in the buyer purchasing it, that the buyer is already a previous customer of the company. In a show of great appreciation for return business and continued support of the platform, Microsoft slaps the biggest margin on that they feel they can get away with, knowing full well it's a monopoly they hold on the device anyway; the choice is pay or dont get the space.

Yes, accessories are always profitable, and yes in a physical sense this is an accessory. But in a usability and future-proofing sense this is a needed hardware component, way more so than an HD-Dvd drive for example. And to keep the platform alive and well it could be considered that selling it at cost plus a couple of percent would have been a much better business decision.

Makes me feel like if they could, they'd sell you an external HDMI port for the 360 too for another hundred and fifty as well. Enough bits and you'd just say stuff it and buy an Elite, and I'm sure they'd love their well regarded customers to all buy a second console inside 18 months.


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By AbelIAN on 4/23/2007 2:01:33 PM , Rating: 2
360s are being sold at a loss, you know


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By Aikouka on 4/5/2007 1:09:18 PM , Rating: 2
Isn't the XBOX 360 HDD also a SATA hard drive? Which in this case, the Microsoft HDD is nothing more than a SATA HDD in an eSATA enclosure.

The 2.5" 120GB SATA HDDs are only around $80 to $100 at NewEgg combined with the $20 to $30 for an eSATA enclosure, you get $100 to $130. Note that this still includes NewEgg's profit mark-up.

eSATA enclosure link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub...

120GB 2.5" SATA HDD link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub...


By therealnickdanger on 4/5/2007 11:54:44 AM , Rating: 3
It's completely fair. Microsoft probably pays less or close to Newegg per 1,000 for its HDDs under special contract. No one is asking for free HDDs or for Microsoft to erase its margin, just to tone down the rhetoric and high price of its drives - given that the competition offers consumers much greater choice ... something that Microsoft is commonly so proud of.


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By BMFPitt on 4/5/2007 1:15:55 PM , Rating: 2
Why? The MSRP is completely irrelevant when the street price is significantly less.


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By One43637 on 4/5/2007 8:01:52 PM , Rating: 2
quote:

Compare apples to apples...
By masher2 on 4/5/07, Rating: 3
By masher2 on 4/5/2007 10:47:00 AM , Rating: 3
To make a fair comparison, you shouldn't compare discount Newegg pricing to suggested MSRPs. An 120GB external 2.5 hard drive at a place like BestBuy is around $130, I believe....still less expensive than Microsoft's suggested price, but by a considerably smaller margin.


but wouldn't MS also have a somewhat lower price since they are buying wholesale from whoever manufacturers the HD they use?


RE: Compare apples to apples...
By enzo07 on 4/7/2007 5:19:57 PM , Rating: 2
I agree with masher2.

The online street price is always lower than the MSRP or any price at a retail store.

But regardless, the prices for the drives are still high. Since Microsoft is the only supplier of the drives, they can charge whatever price what they want and the price difference between the online street price and the MSRP will be limited. Ex. The Xbox 360 20 GB hard drive costs $100 MSRP and it sells online for about $90 excluding shipping (10% mark down). So assuming a 10% mark down, you can expect the 120 GB drive to sell for $162 online which is still expensive.


By RaynorWolfcastle on 4/5/2007 5:01:22 PM , Rating: 2
You'll probably be able to just slap in a 120 GB Western Digital 2.5" SATA 120 GB BEVS drive since that's what they use.

They sell for $80 on Newegg and hopefully someone figures out how to format them correctly just like they did with the 20 GB version




By Aikouka on 4/6/2007 12:13:18 PM , Rating: 2
I remember there was an article somewhere about this.. I think on DailyTech actually. But you cannot simply swap drives, because there's a section on the HDD that must coincide with data stored on the XBOX (I think, it may be something on the enclosure itself). So even if you ghost your current data over, you will still be limited to the same size that you had before... 20GB, because that's what the section of memory states it should be.


How dare ....
By fil6786 on 4/5/2007 10:36:55 AM , Rating: 2
They try to sell a $180 hard drive to X360 owners.
I mean if the PS3 had there premium for $400 people would be all over it.
Where has MS been, I mean if money wasn't and issue people would be buying the PS3 right now.
Many people are not going cough up $180 for a hard drive when they could have just bought a PS3 for about the same price. And you also get Blue Ray as a bonus.
Shame on You MS your not getting my $180.




Relatively Open?
By deeznuts on 4/5/2007 1:48:55 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Microsoft has locked down the Xbox 360 so tightly in comparison to Sony's relatively open PS3 that it's their way or the highway.

Relatively open on the Sony? Should be absolutely open, not just relative. Sony didn't lock their HDD one bit. And also allow any external USB devices to be connected for multi-media purposes. How much more open could it be?




Quit your flippin crying
By PAPutzback on 4/6/2007 9:22:02 AM , Rating: 2
If you have the need for the drive and the time then just pay the price and deal with it. Abstinence is free.
The drives too much, it should have this cable, Live is to much, the controller is heavy, the VOIP sucks, its loud, it runs hot, I don't like the color.

Crymore.

Can we get to some tech news or should we just rename Daily Tech to the Daily Whine. Let's talk about technology that's what I expect from this site.




Oh give me a break
By cochy on 4/6/2007 2:08:39 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
"I know it sounds expensive to a lot of consumers but we are comparable to those types of drives and also we have to go through a lot more testing and security," Greenberg continued. "When we buy from suppliers we require a lot more spec reports and tests because that drive has to be able to perform at specific speeds all the time in order to support our environment and our gameplay experiences. Those are not the same specs that they are able to deliver to with off-the-shelf drives."


That's such a load of bs. Why can't he be honest and say something:

"I know it sounds expensive, but console accessories are supposed to be a rip off."

Anyone know what supplier MS is using for these? If they cost MS more than $30 a pop I'll be shocked.




Direct Evidence
By mindless1 on 4/9/2007 5:42:49 AM , Rating: 2
When you read what Greenberg has to say you see without even having to read it, why it costs more. OVERHEAD. He like others at MS who develop, market, etc, have to be paid (if we concede this bloat is necessary to generate and support products).

MS does have a right to charge whatever they like, and people buying their wares should think about that before making the purchase. Yes it is unfair if you ignore that MS was in this to make a profit, but it is the same in every aspect of the market in that if you are buying a specialty item it will always cost a lot more than the mainstream equivalent product.