360’s 120GB HDD worth only US$ 100?

Is the Microsoft-branded 120 GB HDD worth only a hundred bucks? That seems to be the assertion over at the Shindakun blog, which points to some interesting facts about Microsoft’s Elite add-on and asks readers whether or not the sum of the parts is equal to its current value.

When the Xbox 360 Elite was recently dissected, the Elite 120GB HDD was revealed to be a Fujitsu MHW2120BH drive with a special Microsoft-issued casing. Shindakun notes that the actual drive-in question costs around US$ 100. As you can see, there’s a big 80 dollar difference between the Fujitsu drive and HDD, so what justifies the increase in price?

Well, one of the original draws of this new device was how it was comparable to a self-powered external drive. Shindakun asserts that the Elite drive isn’t actually self-powered, since you have to turn off the 360 before you can plug it in. As noted in the blog entry,

What Microsoft has created is simply a proprietary SATA to 360 connector, which is housed in a plastic shell with the hard drive. They then tried to convinced everyone that itÂ’s the equivalent of an actual external hard drive. Which itÂ’s not.

So, we leave it up to you to make a decision: Does the sum of the parts equal the price of this new-fangled gadgetry? We suppose the public will choose for themselves once the Elite goes live in stores everywhere. Still, for the hardcore gamers out there who really want to know more about what they’re getting into, this does make one pause and think.

Is the Microsoft-branded 120 GB HDD worth only a hundred bucks? That seems to be the assertion over at the Shindakun blog, which points to some interesting facts about Microsoft’s Elite add-on and asks readers whether or not the sum of the parts is equal to its current value.

When the Xbox 360 Elite was recently dissected, the Elite 120GB HDD was revealed to be a Fujitsu MHW2120BH drive with a special Microsoft-issued casing. Shindakun notes that the actual drive-in question costs around US$ 100. As you can see, there’s a big 80 dollar difference between the Fujitsu drive and HDD, so what justifies the increase in price?

Well, one of the original draws of this new device was how it was comparable to a self-powered external drive. Shindakun asserts that the Elite drive isn’t actually self-powered, since you have to turn off the 360 before you can plug it in. As noted in the blog entry,

What Microsoft has created is simply a proprietary SATA to 360 connector, which is housed in a plastic shell with the hard drive. They then tried to convinced everyone that itÂ’s the equivalent of an actual external hard drive. Which itÂ’s not.

So, we leave it up to you to make a decision: Does the sum of the parts equal the price of this new-fangled gadgetry? We suppose the public will choose for themselves once the Elite goes live in stores everywhere. Still, for the hardcore gamers out there who really want to know more about what they’re getting into, this does make one pause and think.