New Xbox 360 120GB HDD comes with a lot of conditions

by Kevin Kelly { Mar 28th 2007 at 12:57PM }

So, a much bigger Xbox 360 hard drive is a good thing, right? Well ... not when it comes with some fairly crippling conditions. Wired has the skinny on some of the small print on Microsoft's new little "Elite" storage device:

You cannot put the data from two or more 20 GB hard disks onto one 120 GB hard disk. If you attempt to move multiple drives, only the last one you move will be stored.
You can only move data from the 20GB Hard Disk to the 120 GB Hard Disk. Transferring data in the other direction, or any other combination, is not possible.
Any data stored on the 120 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted.
Any data stored on the 20 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted after it is moved over.
Once you move the data over, it cannot be placed back on the original hard disk.

That first bullet point sticking out at ya, just a bit? It might rub a lot of people the wrong way, especially since Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told everyone to buy two 20GB HDDs back when they released all of the TV and movie content, and people were worried storing everything. Zoinks.

It's hard to think about people not getting just a bit cheesed about this. If you have two hard drives, that Microsoft told you to buy, and then when they finally release the new bigger drive and then tell you that you can only put one drive's worth of good on it, that's a pretty bitter pill they're asking you to swallow.

We've contacted Microsoft to get some answers on how that data cable does its business.

Tags: 120GB, 20GB, Elite, HDD, Microsoft, movies, television, Xbox 360, Xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Erik Novak @ Mar 28th 2007 2:58PM

Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

RD @ Mar 28th 2007 1:03PM

"Any data stored on the 120 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted."

Huh?

Spitkicker @ Mar 28th 2007 1:04PM

All right that is bullshit. MS, you're gonna delete all my content on my 20 gb? WTF?! I have been begging since launch day for a bigger hdd, finally it arrives and this is the fine print. They had better find a way around this. Plus put the 65 nm chip in the Elite and I'll bite, until then I'll stick with my launch system.

Ryan @ Apr 8th 2007 7:37PM

Microsoft's

paranoia

sucks.

Get a clue, guys.

Now, where are the haxxzors at?

Andrew @ Mar 28th 2007 2:00PM

How long before somebody hacks the 360 so you can put your own HDD on it?

Phranctoast @ Mar 28th 2007 1:06PM

I guess theyre afraid people will get their friends downloadable games and put it on their new 120gig HDD.

what a difference from what Sony lets you do with being able to share downloadables with five different consoles.

Intentless @ Mar 28th 2007 1:06PM

I think it refers to the use of the cable. There shouldn't be an issue when going from Hard Drive to Memery Unit to Hard Drive. If I buy the Elite I am giving my girl my old 360 so after doing the primary transfer I would manually with memory unit put her GT and saved games on there... Unless that will somehow be blocked too... If that is the case I call Bull...

Ryan Smith @ Mar 28th 2007 2:02PM

This sounds like a big deal over nothing, does anyone actually use two hard drives. And if you do, what could possibly be on there that you couldn't just redownload.

mgs0lid @ Mar 30th 2007 10:59AM

you might want to check major nelsons mid week podcast... I belive they mention the whole data cable thing... and on that note I like that the old hdd info will be deleated so I can trade it in :)

BadVermin @ Mar 28th 2007 1:07PM

Understandable if you can only have your Xbox live profile on one device at a time, which is how I thought it worked.

silkylove @ Mar 28th 2007 1:08PM

Meh. No built in wi fi, no built in hd-dvd, and no built in 65nm chip means I wasn't going to buy this "elite" 360 anyway.

craig @ Mar 28th 2007 1:08PM

Those conditions defnitely suck, but I don't see it really affecting many people. How many existing 360 owners are even going to pony up for extra hard drive space?

konajinx @ Mar 28th 2007 1:09PM

Couldn't care less. The price for the drive alone is too high, and I've yet to even get below 10.8 gigs on my original, so if/when I do ever get the drive, hopefully the price will have come down on them. But I won't be surprised if it doesn't.

Todd H. @ Mar 28th 2007 1:12PM

What's the need for a 120gb drive? You can't store movies, MP3s can be streamed from your PC, etc.

I guess if you download every XBL arcade game I can seem some point in this, but I really don't see the need for a 120gb drive that limits me on what I can store on it.

Todd
http://www.proxbox360.com

saboola @ Mar 28th 2007 2:12PM

If nothing else, since the internal limit is being lifted to 120 gigs in the dashboard software, I imagine that you may be able to crack open your old 20 gig and swap it with a 120, if your not scared of voiding the warranty that is.

IslandLife @ Mar 28th 2007 1:17PM

Wow. the news just keeps getting better and better!
MS, you really have outdone yourself this time, you truly have. BRAVO.

Judd @ Mar 28th 2007 1:17PM

I'm with RD (#1) on this one. Maybe I misunderstood what they said but "Any data stored on the 120 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted," doesn't make any sense to me.

PhrawzT @ Mar 28th 2007 1:28PM

If you read the fine print you will see that once you are done transferring data off your 20 GB hard drive it will explode.

Liqwid @ Mar 28th 2007 3:09PM

You all say it sucks now, but you're all going to cope later. It's because all of your stuff is locked to your Xbox, and when you transfer it probably takes your Xbox's registration information and carries it along, thus making the other HDD of stuff ineligible of use.

Plus, what's the point in taking a HDD off and re-attaching another one, unless it's a friends, in which case you have to migrate your Live account back and forth.

Migrate to a 120GB and sell the 20GB. Let the Core users get in the loop for a cheaper price, I more than likely will.

aegies @ Mar 28th 2007 1:20PM

This means that the software they're releasing essentially takes the info from your old drive and overwrites the info on the new drive, and then extends the partition. Which would theoretically mean that you could take the data off your 20gb hard drive, crack open the enclosure, put in your own 120gb hard drive, and then write to it. No worries about third party apps to make a third party 2.5 inch sata drive have the right file system or anything like that, it would seem. Which is awesome.

http://eat-sleep-game.com/news

Frankenstein Black @ Mar 28th 2007 1:21PM

Here, here #6 "silkylove". When will the Fanboys learn that M$ DON'T LOVE YOU HO'S! ;^)...

Neal @ Mar 28th 2007 1:21PM

Tough to Call a next Gen system "Elite" With no Wifi or HD movie player.

Dracula Jones @ Mar 28th 2007 2:28PM

"Any data stored on the 120 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted" probably means anything on the 120 will be overwritten by transferred data from the 20.

Am I the only one who things MS should be giving these things away? All we can do with either HDD is store things we purchase through MS, so each and every unit is a guaranteed continued revenue stream for them. Like how they give away the cell phone when you sign a carrier contract...

jsn @ Mar 28th 2007 1:24PM

who cares, this is completely reasonable and understandable. They go to great lengths to shield the system from exploitation and this is simply another step in making sure someone doesn't take advantage of things. There not doing anything that anyone should cry about and anyone with even a small amount of drive imaging experience should understand why they won't let you copy two 20gb drives onto one 120gb. It's simply stupid of anyone to think it's possible, which makes me wonder what dumbass at joystiq felt that was such an issue that it warrants mention in the first place.

Some of you tards need to understand that the purpose of this drive and the Elite system in general is for IPTV and HD movie downloads. If you don't plan on using those things, you don't need the damned drive. It sure as hell isn't for saved games and it isn't meant to be used as your sole music storage. So remove head from ass and get over it already.

Roger Rees @ Mar 28th 2007 1:25PM

Basically all this means is that you're going to have to download your content again, am I right?

If I had previously bought a second hard drive, I'd use one only for media and the main one for games saves and media. The only one you need to transfer is the one with the game saves. You can download all the stuff on the media drive again, and sure, it's a pain, but whatever.

It doesn't effect me though, because I don't have any more HDMI ports available on my TV and I don't have a need for the larger hard drive. Movies are deleted as soon as they are watched.

baby sea tuna @ Mar 28th 2007 1:25PM

h4XX0rz, get h4XXin!

And SDF, the only thing last-gen around here is your tired ass cut-and-paste bullshit comments.

Wort @ Mar 28th 2007 1:30PM

Hey M$, give a 5kb patch that enables USB HDD; problem solved.

You guys are getting raped so bad it aint funny.

Relay @ Mar 28th 2007 2:25PM

I was looking forward to the new 360, but the more I hear about it, the less enticing it sounds. No HD-DVD. No 65 nm chips. And it doesn't sound like there is a guarantee that the RRoD issues have been ironed out considering the components are the same as the old 360. I mean, c'mon MS! I'll probably wait around and see what else comes down the pipeline.

IslandLife @ Mar 28th 2007 1:31PM

So now, if I were to put all 3 SKUs together with power bricks add a Wifi adapter and HD-DVD drive with a play and charge kit, Could I call it VOLTRON!!!

Rob Holiday @ Mar 28th 2007 1:34PM

I remember hearing something about being able to use some SATA 2.5" hard drives with the 360. The "hack" would only let the drive use 20GB though. Does this mean I can buy a 120GB SATA hard drive now and use all 120GB in my 360? I think I remember reading you had to use software on a PC to "mirror" an exsiting drive. Does anyone know anything about this?

John @ Mar 28th 2007 1:37PM

don't care.

Tetranitrocubane @ Mar 28th 2007 1:38PM

Who needs a 120 Gig drive?

Buy an Xbox 360---> PC transfer kit. Clean and painless.

Problem solved.

Except, you know, the whole 'Microsoft hanging themselves, so your 360 will be useless, and will probably get the red ring of death' thing.

Louis @ Mar 28th 2007 2:56PM

So there is a bigger hard drive (which you could buy separately) and HDMI. How is the ELITE?

There is no "deal" here, you are paying the exact MSRP difference of the 20gb ($99) and the 120gb ($179), and they throw in HDMI which should have been included from the beginning.

Oh yeah, you also get a whole lot of new hardware problems.

Shouldn't they have at least made the "ELITE" comparable to the PS3 base model.

Scott @ Mar 28th 2007 2:31PM

I think the price of the "Elite" pretty much stinks but I don't see how any of the bulleted points are that big of a deal.

theDude @ Mar 28th 2007 1:41PM

Microsoft assumes that you are a criminal first. Regardless of whether or not you prove yourself to be a criminal or not, you are still considered to be a criminal.

Lock down beyond measure.

Who wants to pay $180 for a 120GB hard drive anyhow?
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070328-xbox-360-elite-launched-official-details-and-specs.html

That's insane when you can get a faster (7200rpm), larger (500GB) drive with a larger cache (16MB) for less money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136025

Sure, Microsoft is offering a great deal compared to the outrageously overpriced 20GB for $100, but come on Microsoft. Quit trying to sneak behind me to stick that thing in there, please. There I asked nicely.

Too many are acting as if Microsoft is somehow doing them a favor.

Chopperdave2120 @ Mar 28th 2007 1:40PM

I hate to sound like a fanboy. But MS only wants the money they are not going to be open like Sony is, even Nintendo is more open.

BTW if you read closely you'll see that anything copied on the 120gb will be deleted automatically.
*Your game has been saved*
*Your game has been deleted*
JK

Spitkicker @ Mar 28th 2007 1:40PM

Todd H. I do own all the arcade games (with the exception of Outpost Kolaki). While I do hate the fact that I can't store MP3's on my 360 I still put a ton of music on my hdd. I love the fact that all my favorite music is in one place accessible with the push of a button. I have also download at least 10 gb's worth of Tv shows (damn I love Harvey Birdman!)and rent movies from time to time when I can't find them to rent for free from my work. So yeah a bigger hdd is absolutely necessary, and I have been camplaining about it since launch day (this is the one thing Sony got right with their Blu-RayPOS3). By the way this is not an attack on you, just my feelings.

PhrawzT @ Mar 28th 2007 2:31PM

I have heard that you can make a backup of the 360 hard drive on your computer with Norton Ghost and copy the data onto a new SATA notebook drive, which can work with the 360. I haven't tried it yet.

TheHostileDwarf @ Mar 28th 2007 1:42PM

@20 - Yes

razer @ Mar 28th 2007 3:02PM

@theDude: well said.

Go read some of the gushy comments on places like majornelson.com or xbox.com. MS is giving all it's current support base the big 'ol finger and they are thanking them. Some who don't care about HDMI or the bigger HDD I can see why they aren't miffed, but the rest seem to be in denial. The PS3 is the better deal here and you don't have to worry about being left behind with them.. With MS as long as you keep pumping them with $$$$ you can come along for the ride.. I can't wait to see what this does to the trade-in/resale value of the old discontinued Premium. MS won't be getting another penny from me.

umm....hello??? @ Mar 28th 2007 1:51PM

so basically, this is only a good deal for gamers who DON'T have a 360...ie, $79 more for 100gigs extra HD space (vs. $400 for 20gigs), and for those that want HDMI output.

I agree with @9, I just use a USB stick or my computer to stream music. You can only temporarily store movies (rental), and the demos that you download are so you can try out a game, and then delete the demo or rent/buy the game if you like it.

For those that are complaining about the memory protections that MS has put in place, I have to assume you are the hackers/modders that make playing on XBL suck, and we (or at least I am) are much happier without you. the 360 is a GAMING machine--you want to hack or do whatever you want with your harddrive, stick with your computer and MS/Apple/Linux OS.

yeah it sucks sometimes to be an early adopter, and you HAVE to know by now that the execs are going to say whatever they can in a positive light to sell their product/company. for instance, my 60" sony sxrd tv doesn't accept 1080p input (but resolves to 1080p output). however, my PS3 has PS2 hardware, and not crappy software emulation so hurray for me on early adoption there.

so maybe once my tv craps out in 15 years or so, I'll give some thought to upgrading to the 360-elite, which by then will be the new xbox-next.

Spitkicker @ Mar 28th 2007 1:54PM

I will say though, all in all I don't mind downloading my content again so I suppose it is not a major issue. More of an annoyance.

mike @ Mar 28th 2007 1:58PM

um # 26.. your an idiot. 2.5 inch drives cost more then 3.5 inch because they are SMALLER. You pay for the portibility. I agree that MS is still ripping us off with this $120gb drive price, but dont compare it to standard 3.5 drives. They dont even make laptop drives in 500gb sizes.

xGeneral DEATHx @ Mar 28th 2007 2:13PM

If you don't want the new 120GB HD, don't buy it. I'm still catching my breath from reading that it costs $180 (knocked the wind right outta me), but still, that doesn't mean you have to buy it. Also, to an earlier post: I can't remember all the juicy details of how one exploit allowed us to use cheaper drives as alternatives, but my guess is that the same can be done for the 120GB; you just might have to wait until April 29th (I'd read somewhere that a patch had to be downloaded to enable older systems to use the 120GB). Even though I've been through 2 Xbox360's, I'm still a fan because of the GAMES, not because I can get a bigger HD than Sony's default 60GB. Bottom line: If you're not going to use the IPTV function or download movies/TV shows, then there's no real reason for you to get a larger HD (unless you have a huge music library on your current HD).

Rasta @ Mar 28th 2007 2:03PM

Wow... You Xbots sure are stupid if you are buying this bullshit.

DSR7997 @ Mar 28th 2007 2:04PM

I will get one as a third 360 because I think it looks cool so the this won't really affect me however; I think that this is in really bad form. It smells of the "assume everyone is a criminal" thing that thedude posted in #26.

Justin @ Mar 28th 2007 2:04PM

This thing seems a little thrown together doesn't it? I cant believe that they are already releasing an upgraded model that gives you only a few things. Next year are they going to add wifi and an HD DVD drive? Man, they are screwing people over and people are loving them for it.

I bet the red rings will look better on a black console ;)

adam @ Mar 28th 2007 2:05PM

I personally bought a 160gb portable HDD for $80 4 months ago. It was a Western Digital drive and I bought it at Circuit City. It connects beautifully to my 360, and I can watch any high def videos I've got stored on it on my 360. It only cost me Eighty damn dollars. What MS is trying to charge is disgusting.
I'm an early adopter of the 360, and as I see what MS has done to their customers makes me sick. A 360 Core owner wanting the 120gb HDD will end up paying $600, the same price as a PS3, for essentially less technology. Sony's price on the PS3 makes so much more sense than what they are given credit for. Microsoft has been riding this wave of success since launch, and I'm glad I've woken up. This new "Elite" SKU is bullshit. The PS3 is actually starting to look like a better value. I never thought I'd say that.
Unless, of course, MS offers a trade in program. "Give us your $100 20GB HDD, and we'll give you the 120gb one in exchange. Sorry about the mixup. We originally thought 8gb would be enough. Our mistake."

I won't hold my breath.

oz @ Mar 28th 2007 3:20PM

Vista Marketing team took over Xbox? What is next? XBOX Super Elite Edition with Wifi? XBOX Uber Elite with Wifi and 500GB drive?

MS talked about how Sony's HDMI, Blue Ray and big HDD is not neccessary yet and they practically built their XBOX consensus on these facts and yet they came with and XBOX upgrade within first two years. I would be furious if I was an early adopter.

Sony already started the marketing machine. MS might just gave Sony what they wanted/needed. All Sony has to do now is deliver couple of good games and fix online experince tide might turn.