backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 63 comment(s) - last by Clauzii.. on Nov 11 at 6:57 PM
Not enough space on that HDD of yours -- just buy another one and throw in a memory card while you're at it.

The first thing on everyone's mind when Microsoft announced its new Xbox Live Video service was how long the measly 20GB HDD would hold out. For most Xbox 360 users out there, the 20GB drive included with Xbox 360 Platinum has already been bombarded with game demos, music videos, movie and game trailers, save games and various other odds and ends. The prospects of adding high-definition movies and television shows to the mix would be enough to make the drive burst at the seams.

While Microsoft won't confirm the rumors of a possible 80GB HDD launch in the near future to give users more space for downloadable content, Aaron Greenberg, Group Product Marketing Manager for the Xbox, offers this bit of advice for those looking for more storage space:

You know what, I don’t know. At this point we’re not ready yet to roll out a bigger hard drive. I can tell you what people tell me they do to get around this. What they do is they put their Live account on a memory unit and then they have one hard drive that they put their games or related content on, and then they have another drive that they put their movies and TV on. So you know, this isn’t ideal, but there’s some ways to work around that today. If you download the content on one hard drive, and save your Live account on the memory unit, you can still have your hard drives hold all the content. That’s not a perfect workaround, but there’s some flexibility that people can do.

So Microsoft's solution is for users to buy another $99 20GB Xbox 360 hard drive and to use a $40 memory card to store your gamer profile. The simple alternative would be to just allow gamers to use their own external hard drives and USB thumb drives for downloads, but that isn't likely to happen...at...all.

But for the adventurous folks out there, you can always perform open heart surgery on your existing hard drive enclosure and add a larger drive.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By aos007 on 11/8/2006 9:28:18 PM , Rating: 5
That solution makes sense for him, since it's likely the people that gave him that suggestion are his Microsoft coworkers. But one has to remember that

- their employees are VERY well paid
- even those that aren't, still qualify to buy stuff from Microsoft employee store. Where the HDD add-on costs, well, probably much less than in a retail store.




RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By tuteja1986 on 11/8/2006 10:23:57 PM , Rating: 3
Just do the mod like i did , i have a 200GB sata drive for my 360.


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By bambamboom on 11/8/2006 10:32:10 PM , Rating: 3
Won't that violate the terms of use for XBL?


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By tuteja1986 on 11/9/2006 12:02:18 AM , Rating: 2
I don't know but i can still play my games online ;( , i have used up about 35GB of space already by downloading demoes , Red vs Blue episode and Arcade games.


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By XtremeM3 on 11/9/2006 12:46:10 AM , Rating: 5
As could original xbox modders...until XBL started looking for unlocked HDDs and then...HDD size. MACs were banned, accounts were banned, dogs and cats - living together...mass hysteria!!

I agree that is should be Microsoft that should offer a solution, buying multiple HDDs is not a solution. Even capability to store to USB, although not ideal, would be something. I think ideal is add the "copy to external HDD" option as well as offering a larger HDD. IMO it's win/win for MS/customer. They will get more customers for TV shows, they will be selling the larger HDDs. Customers can enjoy the service. I do not see MS saying "hey guys, crack your $h!t open and mod it up however you want" It's just not a blessing they can give, because then they get calls like, "Hey you said to do this, now my box is broke...it's your fault" they can't even put themselves in the position for that to happen.

I hope that MS will get this solved. I've been impressed with the 360 so far, and I loved the xbox. A great box with tons of functionality ;)

Jeff


By Scabies on 11/9/2006 1:11:07 AM , Rating: 1
I hadnt thought of the win-win-win thing. Consumers buy a new, larger drive. Sale for MS, and the customer has the satisfaction of having the new, larger drive. Then, with the extra space, the consumer has the freedom to buy more online content from MS. Again, another sale for MS, and added value to the drive that the consumer purchased.
so, DO IT!


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By glennpratt on 11/9/2006 1:29:17 AM , Rating: 2
Screenshot please... thanks.

If you can do this, I'd love to know how... I honestly cannot believe if this were possible, it wouln't be proven fact all over the net... I would absolutely LOVE to be proven wrong.

To the above reply: If this is just a 1:1 copy, I don't see this as a DMCA violation since you aren't cracking the encryption, though it may be a EULA violation... which is probably legal anyway.


By otispunkmeyer on 11/9/2006 7:26:10 AM , Rating: 2
its really not hard, theres a guide somewhere on the net and its goes a little something like this

take out xbox hdd, get bigger hdd (since they are just 2.5inch laptop drives) attach both via sata to your computer, ghost the original on to the new, put the new back in the xbox enclosure, pop back on the xbox, and thats it.

nothing more to it than that really


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By glennpratt on 11/9/2006 11:24:33 AM , Rating: 2
I know the process, but I want to see proof. A picture of your free space from the dashboard with your moms webcam will suffice. Everything I've read on the modding forums says it's BS. If it's not GREAT! I will buy a 160 GB SATA drive today.

But for such a simple mod, I've seen shockingly little evidence it works.


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By bobsmith1492 on 11/9/2006 12:01:54 PM , Rating: 2
Read the freakin' post....

and I quote:

"But for the adventurous folks out there, you can always perform open heart surgery on your existing hard drive enclosure and add a larger drive."

It's the very last line and includes a link.


By glennpratt on 11/9/2006 1:57:01 PM , Rating: 2
I've read that, as I said I know the process. I've also never seen any proof it works and I've seen several people post on modding forums that it's total BS. Seriously, try to find some evidence on google that it works.


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By Aeneas on 11/8/2006 11:28:42 PM , Rating: 2
Microsoft Employee Store price for 20GB HDD: $75


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By Clauzii on 11/8/2006 11:30:52 PM , Rating: 1
That's a ripoff!


By Clauzii on 11/11/2006 10:22:04 AM , Rating: 2
It's a ripoff, when the employee can get a 20 GB for approx. $30 on the free market.


RE: Easy to say if you're a Microsoft employee
By Trisped on 11/9/2006 12:57:18 PM , Rating: 2
That is not the point, he even says he doesn't like the work around. The point is that he is saying there is a work around.

As for open heart surgery, it wouldn't be that hard for third party producer to make an enclosure. All it would be is 1-2 pieces of plastic, 8 wires, and 3 connectors, one for power, one for SATA, and one for connecting to the 360. Then you could make it use 2.5" or 3.5" HDD (though 3.5 would probably need to have its own power supply)


By dice1111 on 11/10/2006 10:45:01 AM , Rating: 2
Yes, very easy.
I believe, however, that MS could then sue the pants off them over some sort of product/patient/whatever infringment.


Microsoft Defense and Criticism
By UserDoesNotExist on 11/8/2006 10:37:43 PM , Rating: 2
Wow, someone's pulling a Sony here. At least, in Mircosoft's defense, it's Aaron Greenberg (Group Product Marketing Manager for the Xbox) and not their various regional CEOs that stuck his foot in his mouth. And in the large scheme of things, it is a relatively minor gaffe, not nearly on the level of "The PS3 is underpriced and our competition is overpriced" and "European gamers don't mind waiting." A marketing person giving you the solution to buy more of their product isn't exactly a freak occurance. What is a "Group Product Marketing Manager" anyway?

360 Fanboy that I am, I'm still having a hard time trying to understand why Microsoft is rolling out this service now. It seems like a bad move, given the limited hard drive space and the whole DRM fiasco. The best I've been able to come up with is that they have a 60 GB+ hard drive that's coming out soon, and they just want to do a live real-world test of the delivery mechanism of the Live downloads before they put it into full swing. Then again, I might just be overthinking the situation, and Microsoft's made a strategic blunder. This is the company that released Windows ME, after all.




RE: Microsoft Defense and Criticism
By Clauzii on 11/8/2006 11:14:46 PM , Rating: 1
Regarding waiting: I'm European - I've waited so far ;)


RE: Microsoft Defense and Criticism
By theapparition on 11/9/2006 7:51:12 AM , Rating: 2
What other choice do you have?


RE: Microsoft Defense and Criticism
By Clauzii on 11/9/06, Rating: 0