Lease an Xbox 360 for only $1,917*

*Price includes Tom Clancy's G.R.A.W., NHL '07, Live Arcade Volume 1, three-month Xbox Live Gold membership, 1,250 Microsoft points, a wireless modem, and three years of Sympatico high-speed internet from Bell Canada.

With "next-generation" consoles being released every three to four years nowadays (save for Sony's PlayStation 3, which has a stated 10-year life span), some people (read: parents and spouses) are a little hesitant to throw down upwards of $300 for a system that will probably be gathering dust in the attic even before the wireless controllers need replacing. Well Canadian children will soon have a new angle to work when begging their folks for an Xbox 360, thanks to a package that Bell Canada will be offering from November 5th through sometime next year which includes Microsoft's latest console, a handful of games, and broadband service for CAN$59.95 a month (or CAN$54.95 for you lucky Quebecers). The catch here is that you need to sign up for an unusually long three-year commitment; furthermore, it's unclear if you'll be able to purchase the nearly-worthless console at the end of the contract or be given the opportunity to upgrade to an Xbox 361 once it hits stores. It's also not clear what kind of upload / download speeds you're getting with this offer -- an important piece of the puzzle in deciding whether or not this bundle is a good value. Still, if you're the type who's already renting your apartment, leasing your car, and paying way too much money to Rent-A-Center each month for your home theater gear, this promotion may be right up your alley.

[Via digg and HappyBeggar]

[Whopping Wombat @ Oct 22nd 2006 5:34PM]

Remember remember the fifth of November...

[dov @ Oct 22nd 2006 5:35PM]

xbox sux, ever told?

[roman.kim @ Oct 22nd 2006 5:38PM]

BELL DSL IS TOO SLOW... DONT GET THIS UNLESS YOU ONLY NEED IT TO CHECK YOUR EMAIL AND READ ENGADGET
(STILL CAPS DAY, I THINK)

[Jerome @ Oct 22nd 2006 5:53PM]

Calice de TABARNAK!
HAHHA!

[Will @ Oct 22nd 2006 5:54PM]

engadget is soo dumb sometimes...the ps3 has a stated lifespan of 10 years, just like the ps1 and ps2. sony doesn't mean that they aren't releasing another console for 10 years. geez, use your brains and stop trying to bash the ps3 in every article

[Ben @ Oct 22nd 2006 6:03PM]

can someone help me out here...so 60 bucks canadian is like 53ish US...a 3 year contract would put you at over 1800 US dollars for this...why would someone do this? whats wrong w/ buying everything separately for like 700? what am i missing?

[Raider @ Oct 22nd 2006 6:25PM]

LOL@ Xbox 361

[Jeffler @ Oct 22nd 2006 6:53PM]

You seem to have this wrong.

You get Bell Sympatico High Speed Internet Ultra (5MBPS), which is reglar 5MB DSL with a bunch of extras.

You keep the item in question by the way. They already have this promotion with Dell 19" Monitors.

If only I hadn't subscribed in 2001...

[TonyG @ Oct 22nd 2006 7:27PM]

can someone help me out here...so 60 bucks canadian is like 53ish US...a 3 year contract would put you at over 1800 US dollars for this...why would someone do this? whats wrong w/ buying everything separately for like 700? what am i missing?

Ummm... 700? Maybe I am missing something but...

At 53.23 US Dollars. The console + 1250 points + 3 games is approx equal to -> 400 + 20 + 150 = 570
To get to your 700 dollar mark you'd need dsl at ( 700 - 570 ) / 36 = 3.60 a month, I doubt you pay that.

Looking at this offer though ((53.23 * 36) - 570) / 36 leaves em paying 37.39 a month for DSL. A bit pricey in my opinon. So deal or no deal? I say no deal. But let's not pull numbers out of our butts.

[buccs19 @ Oct 22nd 2006 8:23PM]

the regular price for their service on a contract is $40/month and about $45 without a contract. So you're paying an extra $20/month for 36 months which equals $720 for the system which we can get that 360 package here for $499+ $70 for an additional game. So you'd be paying $720 for $570 worth of stuff.

[Vince Tran @ Oct 22nd 2006 7:39PM]

I know it doesn't really matter much, but you're also paying for 3 months of XBL Gold.

[gymcshoe @ Oct 22nd 2006 9:03PM]

Just one. I need one too

[Jeffler @ Oct 22nd 2006 10:22PM]

Buccs, you are wrong! You get High Speed Ultra, which is $54.99 per month. For the Quebeckers its a free machine, and for everyone else its 5x36...$180 Canadian. The price of a PS2 with NHL 07. Not bad, I think.

[phez @ Oct 22nd 2006 11:09PM]

Bell Sympatico is overpriced.
Their tech support is possibly the worst in the world.
The internet service is plagued with problems.
Faster connections are available from other companies.
Their hardware/modems are plagued with problems.

Am I missing anything?

[KYDS3K @ Oct 23rd 2006 12:00AM]

lol, i think gymcshoe is replying to the "win a free xbox" article . . .

[Pete @ Oct 23rd 2006 1:02AM]

This is kind of off topic and may be an "Ask Engadget type question" but here goes anyway ....

I am moving to Vancouver next year from Australia and want to know who is the best ISP there. I have heard some throttle BT traffic which won't suit me.

Any suggestions?

[Matt @ Oct 23rd 2006 2:12AM]

I live in Vancouver and personally have telus' best home package. 2.5 mb/s and they dont throttle nor do they really monitor bandwidth usage (60gb a month) i double it some months and i have never gotten a warning. If i wasn't in a contract i would go with shaw. even there normal package maxes out at 7 mb/s and I think there top package is around 10 mb/s. i also believe they don't monitor there bandwidth. and i know for a fact they don't throttle. Ur gonna love it here!

[Anders @ Oct 23rd 2006 3:05AM]

I hate to break it to you, but Shaw DOES monitor bandwidth - My friend's house has about 5 networks sharing and BTing, and their monthly bandwidth got to around 60GB... they got suspended for a week. :S

[Kenneth @ Oct 23rd 2006 4:13AM]

This is a terrible deal. Awhile back, if you signed up for two years of broadband here(in Singapore) for about the same price each month, you got a free 360 Premium and modem...

[187 - John Doe @ Oct 23rd 2006 8:53AM]

Well now, let's talk a deal that no one wants. I mean who is going to be stupid enough to fall for this?

[-ardcore Canadian @ Oct 23rd 2006 12:46PM]

187 - John Doe @ Oct 23rd 2006 8:53AM

Well now, let's talk a deal that no one wants. I mean who is going to be stupid enough to fall for this?

-----
Ummm... I've never put faith into finding people that actually have intelligence. You, me and some other engadget users are smart enough. But I would say there will be people taking up this offer. Honestly though, someone going with Bell deserves deals like this lol. On the east coast of Canada I have Eastlink cable. $40 for 10 mb connetions. Pretty sweet stuff.

[-ardcore Canadian @ Oct 23rd 2006 12:46PM]

Jerome @ Oct 22nd 2006 5:49PM

Calice de TABARNAK!
HAHHA!
------
Hehe... apparently Engadget's filters aren't very good at French lol

[zach m @ Oct 23rd 2006 3:47PM]

Will, this was actual comments by Sony! what do u think it means, that the console will last lifewise for only 10 years... thats terrible! My SNES and Gensis still plays perfectly! Production-wise... haha 10 years is a joke!

And the PS1 or PS2?

PS1 - came out in 1996? Died in 2000 - 4 years?
PS2 - came out in 2000 died in 2006 - 6 years?
PS3 - came out in 2006 died in 2016? Is sony insane?

haha what a fskin joke.

anyway, this is certainly no deal at all. but of course, you crazy kids will be enticed :)

[Adam @ Oct 23rd 2006 11:42PM]

In Montreal, Videotron (cable) is faster than Sympatico(DSL), and MUCH more reliable.

[HyperGamer @ Oct 27th 2006 1:59AM]

LOL, this article/thread is confusing as hell.. so much misinformation - did any of you guys read the "READ" link at the bottom of this article that gives more info?
I'm a thrifty bugger, so I did some investigating on this.
It's not a bad deal if you can't afford dishing out the big dough for all this stuff up front:

- 36 months of HS Internet @ 5mbps with no bandwidth caps.
COST = $1440 (36x$40/mo) REGULAR = $1690 (36x$46.95/mo)
- Xbox 360 Premium, 3 months of Xbox Live, 1250 Xbox Live points, NHL 07, Ghost Recon A.W., Live Arcade, Wireless Router/Modem
COST = $720 (36x$20) REGULAR = $688 ($499+$25+$20+$65+$79)

Total Cost = $2160 Total Regular Price = $2378

And you do get to keep everything at the end.

[Bill @ Nov 25th 2006 1:53PM]

I wanted to know about this offer. When the 3 year contract ends do you get to keep the xbox 360?