Contest: You decide the most pathetic 360 setup!

Once the entries in our "Most Pathetic 360 Setup" contest started coming in, it was clear there would be no way we could decide who was more deserving of the Turtle Beach Ear Force X2 headphones I reviewed.

Who's more deserving of some nice looking wireless headphones? The guy with his Xbox 360 shoved in the laundry room? Or maybe the guy playing Tomb Raider on a black-and-white Sony Watchman? Either way, if seeing the Xbox 360 connected through RF makes you sick in the mouth, then proceed with caution! However, if you're curious how hardcore some of your fellow fanboys are, continue reading and cast your vote for the most pathetic Xbox 360 setup!
Select the most pathetic Xbox 360 setup, and click the "Vote" button on the bottom of the post. Good luck everyone!

Mike's
The speakers work fine, but it does have bunny ears. The TV has served me well for around 4 years. As you can see I only have 2 A/V input things, it's approximately 10". Please excuse the broken mirror, the messy room, and pretty much everything else. I have only bought two games with my own money, PGR3 and GRAW (course I paid for the system too). Everything else I've got is just rented or was a gift from friends. Also, none of my sockets even have a hole for the third prong ...

Bryan's
This is my worst Xbox 360 setup. It is hooked up to a TV that used to be my parents and is now almost 30 years old. Right now the color on the TV doesn't work, and I have missplaced my 360 faceplate.

Cody's
This is my really-really-need-to-be wireless setup; I don't have enough money for the wireless network adapter nor do I have enough money for a proper headset.

Nick's
So my parents are pretty much against the whole using there 40" TV upstairs for my 360 and really won't shoot over the cash for a new one at least with some RCA inputs. Since playing the 360 on RF is pretty much a joke, I kinda force myself to play on this 7" screen. I can say it's sweet playing it at friend's houses and really seeing some HD but at least with this sucker I can at least see some clear images.

Jeremy's
Right now I’ve got a 13” Orion TV, about 15 years old, hooked up to a Sony VCR through coax cable, and the 360 is connected to the VCR through the inputs in the front. See, the Orion doesn’t have any RCA jacks, so I gotta use the VCR as a poh man’s coax to RCA convertor ... Anyway, I would buy a nicer rig, but I moved down to New York City to live with my girlfriend a little while ago, and we don’t have much money (rent here is $1600 a month for a one bedroom apartment), so we can’t afford a big TV or a stand to put it on. Not yet anyway. I guess a moving box will have to do for now, keeps my neck from strainin’ too much. But I love that girl, and I love my 360, so whatever it takes, right?

Reuben's
I'm from New Zealand and we're waiting to get HDTV's here. Plus, I don't really have much space to put anything much bigger, maybe I could do a 20" LCD. The 360 keeps me pretty warm, so I can game into the night. All good, also the lamp keeps things warmed as well.

Mike S.'s
I saved up for 4 months just to buy the 360, but my house is very small and the only functioning TV I have now is this sweet 9" Broksonic and antanae. The speakers on the TV suck so I went out and bought a $2.00 set of Altec Lansing computer speakers to rock out with. I switch between the 360 and NES so you can still see the Super Mario Bros. 3 box next to the GRAW case. My favorite part of the setup is the clay bowl I made way back in the day to hold my original xbox headphones. You can see I just fixed the wall behind the 360 because I put a hole through it after horsing around with someone who beat my high score on Geometry wars.

Thomas'
I have a 9" TV on the floor (with scratches in screen), wired controller, and a copy of Dead or Alive 4.

Jack's
I feel that I should preface this video, perhaps to my detriment. You see, this isn’t actually my setup, but my friend Jack. Like many 360 fanboys, Jack couldn’t find an Xbox 360 “real system” at launch and had the choice of paying the rent or going on Ebay and getting a 360. Even though Jack has to rest his 5" TV on the seat of a rusted out tricycle, sit in a beach chair he found in his landlord’s basement and mooch power with a 60 foot extension cord; Jack has the hard drive and therefore is happy.

See the video here (.wmv).

Jordan's
Two months ago I underwent a huge down grade from a nice 32" television to a 9" in the laundry room after my sister moved back into the house and reclaimed her TV and the basement. The only other room my ethernet would stretch to was the laundry room. One of these days I'm going to buy a wireless setup for my room upstairs. I get lines through the picture when the washer or dryer is on and the AV input has to be duct-taped into just the right spot in order for the picture to apear. I'm used to it now and don't really mind it.

Spencer's
I have the 360 Platinum with 3 games (thank God for birthdays). From top to bottom: Thompson electronics (?) rabbit ears, plugged into an old RCA VCR someone gave to me (repair tag still attached from God knows when), output into an Emerson DVD/VCR (the VCR portion is broken, hence the RCA). The front inputs are used for the video and white audio plugs from my 360 (the rear inputs don't work since one of my twin 2-year-olds poured milk inside the back). The coax output (somehow still works) plugs into my 13" Orion TV.

The 360 sits next to my broken printer and crappy Compaq. Between the 360 and setup is my wife and I's laundry pile. The power source is neatly tucked under the dresser, and plugs into a 5 outlet power strip which has to balance atop my change jar (VCR chords are not long enough to allow it to sit on the floor).

Carter's
It's a 10" TV and a VCR to convert the signal to coaxial (thats all the TV takes). A core system with hard drive. The old laptop next to it is my wireless adapter. Oh yeah, that's a wired controller. But no headset because core system no come with one. You will see one of the pics with a green screen sometimes the screen goes green mid game so just give it a smack and it should come back.

Sjohn's
I'm playing on this until I get an HDTV, and spent all of my money on the 360. Then it ends up that my TV broke and keeps rolling the picture. In need of some 360 action I visited the local thrift store to buy the cheapest TV they had. So, here are pics of my B&W 5" Sony Watchman! I got Lara in black and white beauty (enlarged, upper right hand corner).

Reader Comments (54)

To anyone with a legit photo up there: You cannot afford an XBox360 and never should've bought one. Period.

It's like this: if you can't afford to fill your tank with Premium Unleaded, than you can't afford to buy a Mercedes. Stop kidding yourself. Along the exact same lines, if all you have a sub-14" screen without RCA inputs (or even color!) than you just aren't ready for a '360 yet. Use that savings to beef up your hardware a bit first and THEN buy a new console. These setups are the most intense examples I've ever seen of a pathetic addiction. Seriously.

That said, Cody, I have a wired ethernet connection from my living room to my bedroom and it's not a problem in the least. You're going to need a REALLY long cable and a staple gun. Follow the wall - whether in and out of doors or over them - and use whatever color (in my case, very light gray) cable will make the installation look as invisible as possible. Get your cable from a hardware store - not an electronics store - and you'll save a bundle, plus have a larger color selection. In my case, that one cable feeds a network switch near the cabinet so it can be used for the XBox, the TiVo, and even provide a place to jack in a notebook for faster connections that the built-in wireless. You'll thank me. ;)

The rest of you: sell your '360 and buy a decent TV. Or maybe a bike. For God's sake, people, go outside.

After reading this segment, I feel pretty damn good about playing my 360 on a 36 inch Sony (non HD) TV. I don't know what I would do without my surround sound system. Honestly, I would not play my 360 on any of these setups, especially the ridculous B&W set. I would get a second job(maybe a first for some of these poor souls) and save up for a decent TV. I mean, c'mon folks, you can get an HDTV (30 inch Flat screen tube)for 500 or less these days. The only reason I have not upgraded to an HDTV is that I have no available space for it right now and my current sets work great. Since a decent color set (at least 20 inches) can be had for less than 100 dollars, I have a hard time believing any of these setups. They were fun to laugh at though. Thank you!

Jack's is pathetic. As I play on a 13 inch screen, you need to be like less than a foot away to be able to see what you are doing. I call shenanigans

Now why doesnt Spencer go out and buy vga cords to play on his monitor oh and yeah the color would be alot better and it looks bigger then his tv

Previous 50 Comments

Contest: You decide the most pathetic 360 setup!

Reader Comments (54)

Posted: May 1st 2006 11:42AM (Unverified) said

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