Ave,

So I walked into Toys R Us at Wolf Road in Albany, NY, at around 8.50 PM on Friday Night, 10 minutes before closing time, with my wife, to get an XBOX 360 Go Pro Bundle.

He started pulling out the Go Pro Bundles, and they were all Falcon's (I saw Team: FDOU & 175W Stickers on all of them - at least 6 of them). But none of them had the 2 Free Games in them. In the corner there was this one Last Elite left. So I asked him if I could check that out. It was a "Go Big" Bundle with the 2 Free Games (Forza2 & Marvel Ultimate Alliance). It had a conspicuous Team: TMEM sticker on it with no Lot # or Power info. I looked at the Mfg Date on the side under the Flap: 10/25/07 - and then I looked closely at the Sticker - I could see the old sticker underneath and it read "Lot #742". Two indications that it was Falcon.

He told me it's the last Elite he has, and they won't be getting anymore. My wife loved it's Black Color and immediately jumped "Get this one!". It was $100 more expensive then the Go Pro - but she liked it better so I Got It!

Walked home with the Go Big Elite Bundle with 2 Free Games, and a Falcon. Opened it up and sure enough, Power Brick said "175W", and it's the new design with 2 Prongs instead of 3.

The damn thing is awesome! Came with the $50 MS HDMI AV Cable that solves my 5.1 problem - hooked it up to the 5.1 Receiver and HDMI to my Plasma TV.

This is awesome. Thanks guys in this other thread where I was talking about getting a Falcon (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=977869)

Here's some pictures I took:

http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X1.jpg
http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X2.jpg

http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X4.jpg

Look closely under the "WO" Number, next to "Team: TMEM" - and you can see "Lot #742" Underneath on the old sticker...
http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X5.jpg


http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X6.jpg

Power brick says "175W" ...
http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X8.jpg


http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X10.jpg
http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X11.jpg

http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X13.jpg
http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X14.jpg

Congrats.. nice setup!

We welcome a new Brother into the fellowship of Elite owners! You will love it, and it looks like you have a sweet TV, plus a nice airy spot for it to breathe.

so a lower power brick does that mean its faster or something or does it respond faster??? whats the benefits?

Welcome to the Elite club, mickey. :)

so a lower power brick does that mean its faster or something or does it respond faster??? whats the benefits?

Yes, the "lower power brick" means it is at least 7x faster than the PS3.

No it means that the Falcon uses less power so therefore the new 360's are less powerful than the old 90 nm processor units ;)

Damn, that is beautiful

I just got my Elite yesterday at BB Montreal.

Team:CSON
Lot# 748
Manufacture Date: Dec 4, 2007.

Sticker says 203w on the box, but 175W Max on the PSU. :D

Falcon chip
Nidec Fans
BenQ Drive

What a beauty :D

rwings

WOW! A Falcon chip! :eek:

Now you don't ever have to worry about RROD, having to pay taxes, or even getting cancer. :rolleyes:

Psst... The stickers in the upper right corner of your TV are meant to come off. :) Nice looking stand that that panel is on.

Psst... The stickers in the upper right corner of your TV are meant to come off. :) Nice looking stand that that panel is on.

:D :p

Hehehe ... Can't believe you noticed that!

Anyhow - thanks guys! loving the new setup myself. That elite is no undoubtedly awesome. Love it!

don't understand the whole big deal with the falcon. I replaced my old pro, Benq isn't any quieter and so are the fans. Actually prefer the old dvd drive because the benq at idle makes a high pitch whine.

don't understand the whole big deal with the falcon. I replaced my old pro, Benq isn't any quieter so are the fans. Actually prefer the old dvd drive because the benq at idle makes a high pitch whine.

Single digit failure rates vs. the notorious older board designs.

Single digit failure rates vs. the notorious older board designs.

Spot on!

Falcon's is not about BenQ, and make no mistake - Falcon's aren't infallible either. It's about percentage, like lovebuzz pointed out - Single digit failure vs. notorious older board design. What would you rather have, something that has a "lessor" chance of breaking or something that has a "higher" chance of breaking - for the same price?

This is not even counting the 65nm CPU vs 90nm CPU, the 175W power brick which means "less" power consumption, which in turn does lead to reduced heating.

Like I said, Falcon's have reported RROD, they are not infallible - but the chances are a lot less, that's all.

Single digit failure rates vs. the notorious older board designs.

SO FAR!

I thought getting a replacement plan was mandatory, I had a 3year replacement on my old xbox. 70dollars seems fair for a piece of mind. Had it for over a year and never redrings on me though.

Just picked up my Elite as well.
Team:CSON
Lot# 748
Manufacture Date: Nov 25 2007.

The box said 203W but I bought it anyway because it was the only one I found in a Metropolitan area of around 500,000 people.

When I got it home I did not open it for almost a week (hoping to still find a 175W) after looking at every XBOX retailer twice during the 5 days, no one had Elites. So I decided that since I bought the replacement plan I would go ahead and open it and get it replaced if anything ever went wrong with it. And much to my happiness, when I unwrapped the power supply it read "175W" woohoooo.

All I can say is this thing is beautiful. I like the black so much better, I just wish is was more like the PS3 with its high gloss finish.

There are 2 problems I have discovered though,

(1) when turning on the 360, the welcoming screen would lose the sound half way through the 360 music part. So I swithed it to output PCM on the Audio and that corrected the issue.

(2) The black wired headset has a short in it....

Other than those 2 annoyances, all is good!

Awesome! Enjoy!

@Goatse: I don't think the 3 year replacement plan is mandatory to purchase! I didn't! But anyhow, Microsoft offers 3 year extended warranty specifically for the RROD problems without any additional cost.

SO FAR!

YEP

Single digit failure rates vs. the notorious older board designs.

Exactly

nice setup

(1) when turning on the 360, the welcoming screen would lose the sound half way through the 360 music part. So I swithed it to output PCM on the Audio and that corrected the issue.



I cold be wrong, but I think it will only do 2 ch over PCM.

I cold be wrong, but I think it will only do 2 ch over PCM.


I have it running through my Onkyo SR605 and it supports 5.1 and DTS through PCM. I am just at a loss as to why it drops audio when not on PCM

I have it running through my Onkyo SR605 and it supports 5.1 and DTS through PCM. I am just at a loss as to why it drops audio when not on PCM

Are you only able to select DTS on the Elite? I tried changing the audio for my Premium with an SR805 but all it let me do was Dolby Digital.

Ah, I love unboxing new electronics. SEeing the pics makes me want to buy another ; ) Unboxing my launch day 360 was very exciting. The PS3 was pretty neat too.

Are you only able to select DTS on the Elite? I tried changing the audio for my Premium with an SR805 but all it let me do was Dolby Digital.

i believe it is auto sensing. I will have to check when I get home. Do you have your Audio setting on the XBOX set to Dolby Digital or PCM?

I have it running through my Onkyo SR605 and it supports 5.1 and DTS through PCM. I am just at a loss as to why it drops audio when not on PCM

Right, I was just saying that I believe the 360 defaults to 2 ch when in PCM mode.

I sense some of jealousy and fat angry nerds.

That's a nice setup. Enjoy the elite.

http://www.rahulsjohari.com/GC/IMAGES/ELITE/X13.jpg



Congrats on the score..... the Elite's are super sharp IMO.

Question for you..... I'm REALLY digging that components stand on the left in the picture above- can you give me some info on it?
:cool:

I sense some of jealousy and fat angry nerds...

:confused: "some of jealousy" :confused:

I sense some (of) judgment and ignorance. :(

Right, I was just saying that I believe the 360 defaults to 2 ch when in PCM mode.
That may be the case. I am not sure. Wasn't trying to say you were wrong, just explaining my scenatio. Thank you for your input.

Congrats on the score..... the Elite's are super sharp IMO.

Question for you..... I'm REALLY digging that components stand on the left in the picture above- can you give me some info on it?
:cool:

Beezdeez, Ramsrule, and all others - Thanks for the compliments! Truly enjoying the setup and my new Elite.

I picked up that media stand at the local Wal-Mart, and quite honestly, I don't believe it was any more then $75 or so. But it was about at least 13 - 14 months ago, around Christmas '06. Check your local Wal-Mart if you're interested.

Thanks!

i believe it is auto sensing. I will have to check when I get home. Do you have your Audio setting on the XBOX set to Dolby Digital or PCM?

It gives me the choice between digital stereo, dolby digital 5.1, and dolby digital w/ wma pro. I choose 5.1.

SO FAR!Extended out, the life expectancy for anything drops to zero. For those of us who send back the returns, the difference is readily apparent.

Extended out, the life expectancy for anything drops to zero. For those of us who send back the returns, the difference is readily apparent.

:confused:

The Falcon mobos haven't even been out long enough for that statement to be viable in any way. We can talk about how the Falcon unit is the end-all, beat-all, most reliable machine ever built in a year when these "repaired units" start rolling in at the same astronomical death rate. (We can also discuss how a Falcon mobo; extends men's potency, helps women lose weight, and is guaranteed to increase your income at the same time. All hail the mighty Falcon Elixer!) :rolleyes:

If someone can tell me how a Falcon mobo magically removes the X-Clamps, I'll cave.

I'm on my second 360, and I'm starting to see some of the symptoms that foretold the death of my first console. I'm thinking about trading it into EB and getting a Arcade version. Hopefully I get the Falcon.

BTW, no, I don't want to sell it on Craigslist because I don't want to screw the person who bought it if it goes under. If someone buys my old one from EB and it craps out, they can always return it.

If someone can tell me how a Falcon mobo magically removes the X-Clamps, I'll cave.

Falcon is *not* the magic-all, and nobody's saying it is. I personally know someone who got 3RLOD about 24 days after he bought a brand new Falcon. Although, suggestively, his problem was not the overheating/x-clamp issue - 24 days of moderate to minimal usage is not enough for that. It was some other defect pre-existent in that system.

Anyhow, whole point is - if there is something 'better', with a 'lessor' chance of breaking, at the same exact cost as one that isn't - then simply put, why not?

No-one is saying Falcon is infallible. I think they are working on 'Jasper' which is supposed to finally fix the 3RLOD - and I'm quite sure by then it will have some other problem come up.

The differences are not on a magnificent scale, but for one who had his old xbox 360 burn out to the 3RLOD in front of his eyes - the differences do matter. The fact that they did learn about the X-Clamp problem and at least tried to forge a possible workaround by removing the X-Clamp, adding a different design Heatsink, introducing the 65nm CPU, lowering Power Consumption, introducing the 175W Power Brick, and redesigning the motherboard 'slightly' to possibly 'avoid' the overheating 3RLOD problem, is good enough for me to not only put my money on a Falcon, but be excited about it too.

That's really all.