Microsoft kicks out $50 rebate for $299 Xbox 360 Elite
By Darren Murph 
posted Sep 22nd 2009 3:19PM
posted Sep 22nd 2009 3:19PM
[Via Major Nelson, thanks Logan]
Read - Rebate page
Read - Microsoft release
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Are all 360s Jaspers now? Mine (not a jasper) crapped out 3 times and then I got rid of it because I was done putting up with it. If these are the new chips then this is kinda tempting.
zomgwtf this is amzing news.
All Elite XBOX in the white packing are Jaspers.
Yes, they are now Jaspers. All you have to do is look into the hole on the back of the box to check. There was a thread at Overclock.net about it.
Sony's price drop has definitely had an effect.
Please folks, don't call it an Elite, it's missing half the crap the real Elite used to come with.
Jasper, crapper, it don't matter, they all burn up...it's part of the refresh cycle.
everything but the Pro (if you can still find one) has the Jasper revision now.
Still too expensive for the xbox360 imo fair price would be
PS3 299 $
XBOX Elite 199$ (Or 249$ if they give us built in wireless and free online play)
Wii 99$-149$
sign the petition to get Microsoft to extend the rebate to all purchases made after the price drop.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/xboxrebate/
The same old chipset AFAIK. So the Red Ring of Death persists I'm afraid.
It's not a PlaySation no one will buy it in europe or japan.
Only same old people who got red light of death will keep buying it lol, pathetic
To tell if the systems are Jasper units, all you have to do is jiggle the console through the breakaway. Look above the line of text that says "Made in China".....if you see a 12,1 listed, then it is a Jasper. Also, pretty much all Elite systems made after June 2009 are Jasper systems but to be extra sure, look for the 12,1 in the line of text. If it says 14,2, then it is the older Falcon chip.
I bet there will be people commenting that it still lacks Blu-ray support.
This is a great deal PS3 fanboys. Leave the old comments in the shadow.
Wait to start the fanboy comments Jasper.
Hrm.. Nice pricepoint, but I wonder what they'll do for Christmas...
2 game bundle with elite---
Pure and Lego Batman
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/09/the-250-elite-microsofts-50-rebate-begins-now.ars
I assume the rebate program might also be a test to work out the kinks so they can turn it on during the holidays is they need too.
Lego Batman. Ehh...
Would rather a bundle where you can choose between a varity of set-priced titles. I'd rather choose 1st gen of 360 released titles than Lego Batman.
Hmm... still lacks Blu Ray support. (sorry Leonardo - couldn't resist). Gotta love a price war, though. Consumers win, at least in the short term.
Exactly! So nice "Crazy Eddie" move MS, but us Tech savvy shoppers won't bite!... 360 Elite + Blueray player + WiFi adapter + online subscription fee + risk of disc scratch or RRO + (oooh, enough already)! See where this is going? For $299 the PS3 is a downright steal (sorry Sony if you are taking a hit on each. Sorry early adopters for paying $700+). Your sacrifice and Sony's pain is our $299 loving gain ;^)... Now bring on the Uncharted 2 and GOW 3 already. Oh, and what's the story with Heavenly Sword 2 anyways?
I'm with FrankenBlack, no Blu-ray player, $50 for XBL, $100 for wifi (which EVERY other console including handhelds have), not to mention the batteries to keep the controllers going. Sure you could buy a charger but yeah, you'd have to BUY a charger.
Still, you have to give MS credit for what they've accomplished: Release a crappy, overpriced product but create a great online experience that'll keep them coming back for more and more punishment.
they need to integrated the hdd inside the sysem to you dont see the HDD humping your console.
It needs to do what, with who?
is there really any reason to buy a Wii now?
its got """"""""fun games""""""""""
i aded extra to empahsize the """""fun""""" games
NOT NOW, they will have wii at $199.99 starting 9/27
wonderful, thanks for screwing over the people who actually went out the first week of pricedrops and picked one. awesome.
i'm with you, man. i just bought a 360 elite for 250....i would take it back but ebay doesn't work that way. :///
Welcome to life, Ryan.
oh shit, someone call the waaaaaamulance!
Well you get to buy another one when this one burns-up.
Way to kick Sony while they're down....
(I just bought a PS3 :D)
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1570773
Ordered one through this deal. Should come to $204 if everything goes smoothly. 10/8 arrival date.
Hey, look well drop it another $50 if you buy it now.
(secretly in back)
These idiots will buy anything. We will sell all these crappy 360's and (since we have already maxed out the processors with odst) we'll come out in a few months with something new (not backwards nor forwards compatible), but they will buy it anyways.
(insert evil laugh here)
Man, can have a sense of humor here can you. All I wanted to say was they already maxed out their processors. Whats next? Do we really think they will continue to sell these if the games wont get any better than ODST? Man really...
Yes
Wii Porn and Wiibrator
http://www.wiispin.com/?p=331
that is totally unrelated and from 2007. wtf
"is there really any reason to buy a Wii now?"
I'm sorry that Engadget's commenting system is full of fail.
Or....maybe just you
whats a rebate?
i live in the uk so im not sure we get those
its not fair
that would make the xbox 360 elite 150 pounds
You do not need to live in the US to know what a rebate is. But I'm pretty sure you won't get one of these.
Sold. Picking one up tonight after class. Thank you Microsoft.
Still not quite worth the sale for me, what with yearly Gold subscription fees, not to mention the (possible $70 to) $100 wi-fi adapter to get the thing working in my home.
You can do much better, Microsoft.
you should do what I did. If you have an old linksys router, use dd-wrt custom firmware and turn it into a client bridge. It's pretty much a wireless adapter for your entertainment center as it has 4 ethernet links.
*scoff*
who the hell is going to hook up an HD console, or anything capable of displaying HD via wireless? It flat-out doesn't work on 1080p content, and most of the time won't even work with 720p.
Run a wire people, it's easy.
@scrapmaker - wireless is capable of streaming HD content - see quote from sept2nd.
The bandwidth ranges are:
SD 480p: 1 Mbps (Broadcast quality) to 2 Mbps (DVD quality)
HD 720p: 2.25 Mbps (Broadcast quality) to 4.5 Mbps (Near transparent with original)
HDX 1080p: 4.5 Mbps (Broadcast quality) to 9 Mbps (Near Blu-Ray quality)
Depending on the actual bandwidth available to the user, a corresponding quality level is used for the resolution. The more bandwidth you have, the higher the quality.
So, you can stream HDX at broadcast quality with just 4.5Mbps of bandwidth, but you would need 9Mbps to get the highest-quality near-Blu Ray HDX.
Prasanna Ganesan
CTO, VUDU Inc.
Damn. I just bought a Pro two weeks ago.
So basically, they are matching the PS3's price for those who want to play online. Not only that, but it's a MIR, which is a hassle and saves MS money because not everyone actually bothers ending it in properly. Hm, no thanks. I'll take the PS3 with free online, integrated wifi and blu-ray for the same price.
It's a MIR because Netflix is paying you the $50, not Microsoft.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/360eliterebate/default.htm
Hm, no thanks. I'll take the PS3 with free *crappy* online, integrated wifi and blu-ray for the same price.
There, fixed it for ya
Can you tell me what's so "crappy" about it? You go online, your friends are there, you play games, you chat, you send messages, and there is no lag. What are you paying the extra $5 a month for? And for the record I used to pay that before the PS3 came out and thought it was fine but now that there is a free alternative that basically works the same way I normally play anyways I see no reason to ever go back.
not for me, I have two PS3s at my house and don't really care for any of the exclusives or having to pay monthly for internet access
This is one reason why it doesn't pay to be an early adopter. I thought I was good getting the Pro bundle for $250 around Christmas.
I wouldn't call last Christmas 'early'.
Hence the "I thought I was good..." part. In other words, I thought I waited long enough (as in, the opposite of 'early').
Wow, that was quick. However, I rather see MS simply drop the price to $249. Oh, and please get rid of the arcade and simply price the 60GB pro at $199. Really, is 60GB hard-drive that expensive? (I don't think you can even buy 60GB hard-drive retail anymore). For the $299 price point, have the Elite with the wireless adapter and HDMI cable in the box.
I've never really had the desire to have a 360, but I might be picking one up now.
Only if they ship it with an HD-AV cable :)
are you iClap?
You don't have to return it. Those stores will give you the $50 if you bring your original receipt back.
I believe that the xbox 360 will be the first console to reach $150. In fact, the Arcade version may have a price cut very soon in response to a drop of the Wii to $199
@kjb434,
Since this is a mail-in rebate from Microsoft and not a price drop, stores don't have to credit the difference. Some might do it, you never know.
Great, but i'll stick with the PS3
BAI!
@ZuneSucks: I hope your moms boyfriend buys you a zune.
Looks like those PS3 slim sales hurt someone's feelings
I love video games. Pure and simple. I have a PS3 and a Wii. An XBox360 would complete my trifecta. Does anyone have any recent failure rate data on the latest batch of Xbox360s?
@digitalcowboy99,
Asking for failure rate data is opening yourself to get all sorts of fanboy/non-fanboy statistics. Rest assured that the hardware got better over time and the failure rate is less now than what it used to be. Also, you get a good warranty with the 360.
I know how rebates work. Drop the price, already!
I don't get this rebate thing its never caught on in the UK .why not just reduce the price, do they hope half the people will forget to mail in their rebate ?
Yes.
I started a petition to convince Microsoft to offer the rebate to all who bought after the price drop.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/xboxrebate/
You really should have an adult check the grammer on your petition.
If you are just trying to insult thats great, I am 24 and not an english major. If you would like to help, why don't you fix it and post the fix here and I will copy it over. Thank you.
never mind you cant change it, but I did append an apology for dumb-asses like you.
Mark - you should have an adult check both your grammAr and your spelling before you post online.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
So...Microsoft is stupid because they dropped the price after you bought your xbox? interesting logic.
You have got to be freaking kidding me. I bought an Elite SUNDAY NIGHT. I am going to try and e-mail them to complain and see if they will honor it, if not I will just return it and buy a new one. This is such BS.
Oh I feel ya man. Mine is less than two weeks old. But I wouldn't hold my breath with Microsoft. I think you might have a better chance to get a nice discount at whatever store you bought it at. (even though I would still call those chances kinda slim). So we got to grin and bear it, return our consoles, buy a new one, and send in rebate. I prefer this option as it kinda screws over either Microsoft and/ or the retailer if their not willing to be reasonable.
Luckily Microsoft has made it easy to transfer licenses: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/licensemigration/ That way if you've bought any downloaded games you can transfer them over. I still agree it's complete BS.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/xboxrebate/
good luck with that `:-)
As I slowly watch my 20GB HDD get filled, I am getting more and more pissed. I love my Xbox and I have no problem paying for live every year, but I just won’t buy a 60GB HDD for $100, nor will I buy another system just for a bigger HDD.
It never really bothered me before but now I’ve been buying a lot more DLC and have been downloading demos and this 20GB is just not enough. Plus I haven’t even thought about ripping games or music.
You can fight all you want about Blu-Ray (not everyone one needs/wants it or wants to spend that much more $ per movie), wireless (I prefer wired, wireless works for some and not for others) and now the lack of HD cables. The main problem Xbox has and the only thing that PS3 beats them at is the ability to swap HDD’s. Not everyone needs wireless, but almost every Xbox user would benefit from a bigger HDD.
Micro$oft: These stupid price cuts may sell you some more consoles at the end of the week, but you are upsetting all of your users with these ridiculous HDD prices. Sell a stupid empty HDD cage that we can throw our own HDD’s in for like $20 (so it won’t void warranties of the HDD’s that people actually did go out and buy for $100) and release the stupid update so our Xbox’s will read our HDD’s. Then you can make all your money back up because everyone will have more room to buy more DLC.
Sorry, bad day at work and this post just made me mad.
I kinda think your missing the boat on the PS3. Yeah you may not need all of the extras that Sony is trying to give you at no additional cost, but at one point your hard drive was empty. Who knew you would eventually need more space with downloads and game installs. Microsoft will solve the problem for a large amount of dollars so you can purchase more DLC, but Sony is trying to give you more space and access for free. Sounds like to me your on the wrong side. I'm pretty sure you they have more than swapable hard drives on Microsoft.
Sony just started recently giving them away for free. I have seen the games, I’ve played the crappy online and trust me, I’m not on the PS3 side.
But I guess that’s just my opinion. The only thing PS3 has that I want is the swappable HDD's. I don’t need the free wireless. And for everyone else there is cheaper ways around the $100 Xbox adapter that require a very low amount of tech skill. That’s why I don’t see lack of wireless as a negative. Some people need it and others don’t.
But everyone I know gets DLC, and could benefit from a bigger HDD. I just think that’s the only thing Micro$oft needs to do in order to win over new consumers AND keep the current ones happy.
Access has always been free for the PSN, nothing worse than getting a game that is 5 hours long and having to be a gold member to get your moneys worth in multiplayer mode (ODST). I'm not going to try to convince you that both have the same online features, but i do own both systems with some of the same games like COD and they are the same in almost every aspect. What i'm saying is that what your asking for is not your companies style. You said it yourself with (Micro$oft). The company your describing at this present moment is Sony.
AWESOME!! I was gonna order one last night, but def doing it now!!
You are a lucky Man! Wow! Congratulations! For one day you saved U$ 50.. you can get a game on that, well probably there will be a bundle soon but at least you can chose the game with U$ 50,00.
What about people like me who bought the pro when it was $349?
Awesome, thanks Microsoft, I finally took the dive and bought an Xbox, and I went with the Elite instead of buying the old Pro SKU, and now you screw me over by doing this. You don't price drop and then do something like this less than a month later. Really makes people who took the dive feel like real tools. Should have waited until November or something, that would make more sense.
This is so smart of Microsoft. They can now say the elite is $249 even though it isn't; most people don't even mail in the rebates.
Looks like Microsoft is trying to adjust the NPD numbers a bit before the month ends. Why else would they lower the price for less then a week period and then raise it again. I have a feeling Sony's NPD numbers are going to tell a very specific story this time around and that story is the that the price drop has or is putting them back in the game.
Clearly Sony has made some very positive moves recently and ones that fanboys simply can't write off any more. The exclusive titles are coming fast now, the price is right, Blu-ray is picking up steam, third parties are coming to grips with the processor and building titles from the ground up for Sony's console and there online gets better with each firmware update.
And just an aside to the complaints about 360's hardrive prices...just wait till the price there new N flavoured Wifi adaptor...up goes the cost again.
Sooo you're saying that Sony is selling consoles now that they dropped their price and MS is responding???????
Breaking some new ground there. Its called a price war. They happen all the time. The products are relatively comparable, so price is making a difference in sales. Both companies realize this and act accordingly. It has nothing to do with the PS3 suddenly becoming better or $100 suddenly making people realize how awesome it is.
The 360 was doing better than the PS3 at a similar price point so it stands to reason that the trend will continue.
@fieldcar
I already have ;)
If I didn't already have a 120 drive, I'd almost think it's worth buying another one just for that, HDMI, and the newer chips.
The new Elites don't come with HDMI, you have to buy it separately. You can get HDMI cables for cheap these days, so it's not that big a deal, but it's still something they took out of the package that they used to include.
I think he meant HDMI OUTPUT. The 1st gen 360 don't have them...
I like how the URL has "young-america" in it haha
ha Microsoft looks like they are a bit scared, looks like they want a small npd bump to make it look good compared to the ps3.
Strange that M$ need to offer a rebate the same time as their ace "HALO 3: ODST" release.....
....and Forza 3.
They could just give you a free Wireless Adapter instead?
agreed. would have been a good deal.