Microsoft defends 120GB Xbox HDD price

by Tony Carnevale { Apr 4th 2007 at 12:09PM }

Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's group product manager, told Game Theory yesterday that the 120GB external drive for the Xbox 360 is not overpriced at $179. Said Greenberg, "If you compare what we are offering with a real plug-and-play drive the closest thing would be to take a 120-gig self-powered external PC drive, and in that case we are seeing those retail at anywhere from $160 to $200 for comparable laptop-sized external hard drives."

Greenberg probably doesn't want you to know that he's wrong, but he's wrong. Sure, you can pay $200 for a 120GB drive if you really want to, but as with most products, there are plenty of deals to be had; unless you're locked into buying peripherals from a single manufacturer that controls its monopolistic pricing with a proprietary vice-grip. Which, in the case of the Xbox 360 ... you are. Though if Greenberg had said, "We own you. Deal with it," that might not have been as good for PR.

They own you. Deal with it.

Tags: 120gb, 360, hard drive, HardDrive, hd, hdd, overpriced, xbox

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Dolla Dolla @ Apr 4th 2007 12:14PM

Get a clue, Microsoft. It's too expensive as a stand-alone accessory. Drop the price of the 20gb to $50 and make the 120gb, oh, I don't know ... maybe 120 MAX. Even 150 is too pricey.

Jeff @ Apr 4th 2007 12:14PM

They don't own me yet, because I haven't bought an Xbox 360. And crap like this is a big reason why.

They should think about the fact that they have two competitors on the market right now. They need to watch their attitude. (And their pricing.)

JayDiggler @ Apr 4th 2007 12:17PM

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8200902&st=120+gb+external+laptop&type=product&id=1165610071902

120gb external small hd for $109...nowhere do I see one for $179+

Lubags @ Apr 4th 2007 12:17PM

I am Glad that you guys can acknowledge microsofts monopilistic nature too.

i only mention this b/c of all the bad press sony has been getting for their pricing.

CD @ Apr 4th 2007 12:18PM

"Though if Greenberg had said, "We own you. Deal with it," that might not have been as good for PR."

Like when Sony said "Just work more hours", "People would buy it even without games." etc? Yeah, comments like that usually don't turn out well.

JayDiggler @ Apr 4th 2007 12:20PM

I think Microsoft made a huge mistake with this, they have a great media service for downloading HD movies and tv shows. It is currently number 2 behind itunes for this kind of content...you essentially need this larger hard drive to really use the service. Charging anything higher than $100 for this add-on will hurt the expansion of their service. Microsoft you WANT people to use your media service right?

Eli 05 @ Apr 4th 2007 12:21PM

They don't own me. What they do own is a hard drive and they will continue to own it because I'm not going to buying it.

matthew lesko @ Apr 4th 2007 12:21PM

then don't buy the shit. I'm perfectly fine with my 20 gig that came with the premium. I'll never have any reason to buy this.

joke's on them.

Neal @ Apr 4th 2007 12:22PM

“I know it sounds expensive to a lot of consumers but we are comparable to those types of drives and also we have to go through a lot more testing and security. When we buy from suppliers we require a lot more spec reports and tests because that drive has to be able to perform at specific speeds all the time in order to support our environment and our gameplay experiences. Those are not the same specs that they are able to deliver to with off-the-shelf drives."

lol, apparently they didn't do to many tests on the Xbox 360 itself to test for reliability, only the hard drive.

madcaliban @ Apr 4th 2007 12:23PM

Author: you do realize that that MyBook external is a 3.5" drive right?

xbox 360's hdd are 2.5" and at the current prices, MS' price is high but not absurd.

Jake @ Apr 4th 2007 12:25PM

Instead of making this a mindless fanboy rant, how about people post links to legitimate places you can get a Samsung 2.5" 120Gb external drive. Add $20 for the work MS does to the drive

After a couple of hours, I'll average all the legitimate sites together, add $25 (MS has to make something, and they are modifying the drive with a case and plug and snap fit), and see how bad we are getting "ripped".

That sounds better than just having notorious Sony fanboy X just saying, "See, this is why I don't have a 360. Games don't matter, only unnecessarily large HDD prices."

Mat @ Apr 4th 2007 12:27PM

Yes, overpriced indeed! Let us also not forget that if you go for a standard 31/2" drive instead of the laptop drives, you are almost certain to double your drive capacity for the same price. i.e. i have a 250gb drive that i purchased along with a external case...total cost of the whole shi-bang? about $150, and that was over a year ago. So where is the extra money going? the little fancy packaging for the merchandise? the xbox 360 style external case and adapters? I mean i cant imagine that ms would have cut a deal with the manufacturer of these drives so horrible that they grossly overpaid for them, if anything, seeing that they are probably buying them by the thousands, they should cost that much more less correct? Yet another reason that I will not purchase ANY console for another year or so...I'll wait like i usually do until all the consoles are finalized and all the bugs are worked out and you can go buy the super bad ass ultra deluxe version 7.0 that is usually out after the 2nd year of the product for about $2-300 less than before, and all the games that i want now are down around 20 bucks. shop smart, shop s-mart

Virtua Fanboy @ Apr 4th 2007 12:27PM

I REALLY want this thing. But they can just have fun lookin at them in their cute little packages cause I payin that much for something that should've been included since day one.

Loore @ Apr 4th 2007 12:27PM

MS can enable USB HDD, right now, for ZERO dollars.. even if it is for content only... problem solved, nuff said. You guys are getting screwed.

ZenGaijin @ Apr 4th 2007 12:29PM

Coming from someone thats bought a 250GB harddrive for $100 this is complete BS.

matthew @ Apr 4th 2007 12:29PM

The thing that is weird is, the only thing you will use that hard drive for is to stuff it full of content you can ONLY buy from Microsoft.

They should be GIVING these things away.

Lunaclown @ Apr 4th 2007 12:31PM

You don't really need the 120 GB HDD for the Marketplace Video content. Simply watch...delete...then redownload (for free if you purchased a TV Show) and watch again. Not that big a deal. This also works for Arcade games. You don't have to horde everything on your HDD. Simply take advantage of Microsofts servers.

IslandLife @ Apr 4th 2007 12:34PM

@Jake

What you fail to mention is that those "Sony fanboys" have a choice as to the size of drive they want, how much to pay for it and what brand they prefer. Because of different brands competing for your dollar and the drives becoming easier to manufacture, prices will continue to fall quickly. So now tell me where is the "choice" MS always speaks of. The only choice you have is 20gig or 120gig, hmmmmmm.

Nate @ Apr 4th 2007 12:34PM

20 GB is plenty for me....who needs to download TV shows/movies when you have Directv with DVR and Netflix? And as far as uploading music onto my hard drive? Just a waste since I can just plug my Ipod in and get all my music from there.

The only thing I really put on my hard drive is game saves and XBLA arcade games....demos and trailers I usually delete after a little bit.

madcaliban @ Apr 4th 2007 12:35PM

please be more informative before you start yelling "...250gb harddrive for $100."

these drives use 2.5" NOT 3.5". there's a big difference in price and storage.

Neal @ Apr 4th 2007 12:35PM

120 GB 2.5" Hard Drives.

$110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154152

$115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822216010

Harold @ Apr 4th 2007 12:35PM

Disgusting! These people are parasites!

I am beginning to wonder if the red ring of death isn't just one of their scams to suck their consumers dry. How convenient that my 360 broke less than a month out of warranty and had to pay $140 to get it fixed. Does it really cost $140 to repair EVERY 360!? How much money are they making off the misery of their consumers!?

I am not supporting them anymore! As soon as I get my 360 back from MS it is going on Ebay! This has been something that has been building up slowly but I think that this is really the straw that breaks the camels back! How can they justify gouging their consumers to this degree!? Just sickening!

LongshotX @ Apr 4th 2007 12:38PM

Yeah they could allow you to use USB but how would that prevent you or anybody else from transfering games or other content to say a friends Xbox 360. That wouldn't be fair. The 120 GB HDD shouldn't even be an issue unless you download massive amounts of TV shows and movies. You guys are complaining because you see something you don't have or need and want it. Just like those people who buy a new iPod each year..."Oh its in aluminum now!".

Kizzle @ Apr 4th 2007 12:40PM

"How can they justify gouging their consumers to this degree!?"

The same way Sony can justify charging $600 for their movie player and Nintendo can charge $250 for a Gamecube with a remote.

Not saying that makes it ok - all three companies dick the customer over.

ShortFuse @ Apr 4th 2007 12:41PM

Xbox 360 uses sata, so don't compare with IDE.
If it's 3.5" SATA, i bought two 500GB 7200RPM server quality hard drives (last longer/less overheating) for $130 each for my server two weeks ago. If it's 2.5" SATA, 5400rpm (because 7200rpm are rare for a 120gb), the price is between $80 and $110.

Don't believe me? Here's a list from froogle of all vendors selling 2.5" sata 5400rpm hard drives with prices next to them:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=sata+120gb+2.5+-40gb+-60gb+-80gb+-%223.5%22&btnG=Search&lmode=online&scoring=p&sa=N&start=0

Neal @ Apr 4th 2007 12:41PM

Harold, as I have said this before, don't send your 360 in for return to MS.

Simply go buy a new one, open the package, take it out, and put the broken one back in. Go back to the store and say "Hi, I bought this 20 minutes ago, and when I got it home, it doesn't work, I don't want it"

Meanwhile you have a new working 360, and the store has a broken one that they will ship back to Microsoft, and then its Microsofts problem. You don't get shafted, the store doesn't get shafted, (other than a little extra work) and Microsoft gets what they shipped out, another broken system.

Farseer @ Apr 4th 2007 12:41PM

20GB works just fine for all my saved games and downloaded XBL Arcade games. That means I don't want to fill it up with videos and such. The 120GB is pricey, so I won't buy it, ergo I won't download videos and such. MS looses twice.

JagerQ @ Apr 4th 2007 12:41PM

So for the notebook HD people:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822334003

Aluratek AHDUB250120 120GB 5400 RPM 2MB Cache USB 2.0 External Hard Drive With Push Button Auto Backup
MSRP: 99.00

So I think a good argument for MS is the part of the article you don't quote,
"""
I know it sounds expensive to a lot of consumers but we are comparable to those types of drives and also we have to go through a lot more testing and security. When we buy from suppliers we require a lot more spec reports and tests because that drive has to be able to perform at specific speeds all the time in order to support our environment and our gameplay experiences. Those are not the same specs that they are able to deliver to with off-the-shelf drives."""

Someone should spec these drives once they come out and let me know if he's still BSing me.

Christopher7xii @ Apr 4th 2007 12:43PM

No sale price or anything, at best buy we have external laptop hard drives (Western Digital) 160gb for $150, all the time. Doesn't take into account the markup we have on them. Ridiculous that they'd flat out lie like that.

lazyboy0172 @ Apr 4th 2007 12:43PM

what makes me mad about the price the most is that I paid $400 on my 360 on day 1, now a year later and they come out with something bigger and better in the elite, and for me to buy the hard drive is $180, thats $580, a cool 100 over the price of the elite, and without hdmi...Thanks microsoft, youre welcome for being an early adopter.

also, I find it the most odd that they have a WIRELESS racing wheel and pedals, WITH force feedback for 150 dollars.

Buckshot @ Apr 4th 2007 12:46PM

I just plan on buying a 2.5 and modding it go into my 20 gig housing, it has been done before but the limit was at 20 gig, all that is needed is the boot signature from the 120 gig microsoft drive.

ShortFuse @ Apr 4th 2007 12:46PM

And I have two USB powered 2.5" hard drive enclosures (i use for my laptop, and carry it around for work) and each. sata ones range from $9 to $35

Again, froogle search:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=2.5%22+hard+drive+usb+sata+enclosure&btnG=Search&lmode=online&scoring=p&sa=N&start=0

$80 HD + $9 Enclosure = at minimum $89. (and you know microsoft is getting discounts for mass quantities hd and manufacturing their own enclosures) okay, i'll say, for quality, $30 more for a better hard drive. $119. no where near $179.

The money is in the fully digital HDMI. Not need for the Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) for hardware. Which, by technical reasons, means less lag (by a few ms) and better quality. 360 CORE and 360 Premium use analog outputs (component/vga) while 360 Elite uses digital for "lossless" quality. Use that for marketing, not rip off hard drive space.

Korova @ Apr 4th 2007 12:47PM

Matthew

By that logic, Apple should be subsidizing iPods too. Instead they milk em.

But who needs a 120gb iPod? I know, I know - everyone wants to become a movie buff and show their gf how cool they and the 360 are. Then you gotta pay, MS in this case.

GD86 @ Apr 4th 2007 12:49PM

I'll even counter with a 2.5 hard drives that aren't for Macs. For a list price of $119 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136059

Not the specific brand asked for, but a name brand for hard drives.

Not sure why anyone is surprised. Mircrosoft thinks that they can pull the "food in a theme park" scam. Assume they can't go anywhere else and then slowly screw them out of every cent they have. Not saying they are the only game company to do, this. Controller prices, for years with memory cards, 10 bucks for a vertical stand? But, they did it with something people can get elsewhere and on people who know how to find it.

Assuming that Microsoft is getting the uber hardcore market, these are people who mod their computer or at least know that the end all for parts isn't just best buy. You can get a comparable product for 50 dollars less or more by simply going online, you can get more space for less if you are willing to go up in size of the physical drive. They are gambling with this addition and I think they are not going to get what they want.

Viridium @ Apr 4th 2007 12:50PM

Wow, Neal is a dick. Have you no scruples?

maylon @ Apr 4th 2007 12:55PM

Just trade in your premium or core and buy the elite, its what I plan on doing.

djSyndrome @ Apr 4th 2007 12:56PM

"Simply go buy a new one, open the package, take it out, and put the broken one back in. Go back to the store and say "Hi, I bought this 20 minutes ago, and when I got it home, it doesn't work, I don't want it"

Wow, do you screw your wife over the same way you screw over retailers?

TTL Jericho @ Apr 4th 2007 1:04PM

Granted, deals can be found, but none of those would have the emulation software needed to play backwards compatible titles. Of course you’re saying “say, well if MS had just stayed with their chip set then there would be no problem with compatibility issues” - even though the new processor and graphics chip set is superior.

Considering the investment that MS has put into the xbox and (actually) doing something right with it, I don’t find myself all that huffed about shilling out the extra bills for a quality product. And unless you are going to be downloading TV content to keep, you don't need the extra storage - the 20 gig will do fine for all the games you care to download - it's just not big enough to keep all those seasons of Star Trek on.

Seems to me you’re making a mountain out of the proverbial mole hill.

matthew @ Apr 4th 2007 1:07PM

@Korova
"By that logic, Apple should be subsidizing iPods too. Instead they milk em."

thats not a good comparison at all. I imagine the vast majority of content on an iPod is NOT from iTunes, but digitized music from people's CD collections (and of course pirated music).

The 360 is a locked environment. There is no content you can use with it that MS does not profit from (aside from promotional material, of course, which still leads to more profit).

I can only speak for myself, but with my hard drive filling up I'm less and less inclined to download demos and Arcade games or buy movies. I'm certainly not going to spend $180 (especially after MS already screwed me with the $100 proprietary, exclusive wireless connector which I need to use Live). And I do not like relying on companies to hold on to my purchases (not to mention the ludicrous download times I don't want to sit through everytime I want to use content I've already paid for and downloaded). MS should sell those things at cost.

I used to defend the 360 as the affordadble alternative to the PS3, but the fact is the 360 absolutely nickle-and-dimes you until they are the same price in the end.

Markham @ Apr 4th 2007 1:08PM

I can get a 250gb SATA 2 drive for $90. That drive is a complete rip-off.

madcaliban @ Apr 4th 2007 1:09PM

w00t..you found a great deal. $99 to 120 for 120gb 2.5" drives at newegg. now go to a best buy store and look for the same thing.

i don't think greenberg was including people like us when he mentioned prices.

like i said before, the prices are high but not absurd. they still need to make a profit at the end of the day.

Virtua Fanboy @ Apr 4th 2007 1:10PM

Like I said I really want this thing, I wonder if the price will go down after a while w/low sales?

Virtua Fanboy @ Apr 4th 2007 1:15PM

I guess everyone could email their PR dept. w/links to HDDs for sale at reasonable prices. Let them know what's up. MS seems to listen to thier customers the most out of the big three. (Dashboard updates, BC, ect...) Who knows maybe in the long run it'll have some effect.

Neal @ Apr 4th 2007 1:17PM

To those who replied to me seemingly angry.

The retailers hardly get hurt from my strategy. You think they just take a loss on the system? No, they ship it back to the manufacturer. In this case, its Microsoft. Its just a simple way of screwing the company that screwed you... however, you find it as if its fair to pay 400 dollars for a system, only to have it break, and have to pay 140 for repairs?

540 dollars for a system with no HD DVD, a 20 GBHD, and no WiFi... and they make fun of Sony being a ripoff... lol.

By the way, I don't have a wife, just a GF of 2 years... I don't see how this strategy is in any way connected to being a bad Boyfriend.

Wii FTW.

And lastly, F-off.

LoneRanger17 @ Apr 4th 2007 1:18PM

In the recent Major Nelson podcast they talk about the price. Their argument was that the drives are self powered. They have to meet a minimum specification for read access time. Apparently, drives you buy off the shelf can have a wide range of performance stats. Meaning one drive may not be as good as the other. So all of their drives, since they are used for gaming have to meet a higher standard. Then the drives are sold to Microsoft where they undergo more processing. Such as Microsoft adding security to the drive to prevent hacking and the what not. That increases the amount of costs.
I believe they also stated that is why they will not allow third party drives in the future because they have to have this layer of security added. So their content partners will feel secure in releasing content for the 360.
So...self powered...higher yield drives...and then extra layers of security added on net the $179 price tag.
Not saying I agree with it...but that is their reasoning from his podcasts.

shase @ Apr 4th 2007 1:19PM

The fact of the matter is... if you are one of the people who downloads a lot of movies/tvshows etc. on the HD and cant stay under 20gigs you will have to buy the 120gig hd. Sure there are some people who says "f it" and stops downloading but there are others who will have to get ripped off perhaps knowing full well he/she can get a better deal on the HD. I think MS is betting on that. If MS followed Sony's route and didnt have proprietary HD then they wouldnt price their HD that way since it will collect dust for all eternity.

Vidikron @ Apr 4th 2007 1:21PM

I can't believe some of you are attempting to defend the price, even after people have posted many links showing much better RETAIL prices on 120 GB laptop drives. Now factor in that MS is buying these in BULK and likely gets a nice price break. The $180 price is absurd. There is no other way to look at it. Just like the $100 wireless adapter is absurd. I really love the 360, but I can't see any rational way to defend the wireless adapter or this new hard drive.

The 84th @ Apr 4th 2007 1:21PM

im pretty sure im bowing out of console gaming with this generation. overpriced, unreliable, nothing new (and when it is new, nothing else sells it for me...wii...) consoles are just as much of a joke as pc's are now. why cant they just make a standard $200 console anymore, a la PSX, Saturn, Dreamcast, and all those before them? They all worked, and were reasonably priced (maybe after a year and one price drop...saturn). I want nothing to do with the three out now, i guess i will go back to pc gaming and hanging on to my xbox as long as it doesnt die.

shase @ Apr 4th 2007 1:21PM

@neal

I never tried what you said but at least i know in stores here they check the system's id and all(i had to return a broken device)... dont they check the numbers on yours when you returned it? Wouldnt that raise a red flag? Anyways, i think its just not worth the fine i will get if they find out what i did.