For years I’ve resisted getting an Xbox, I’m now on the verge after pressure from the kids.

Don’t want to spend a great deal but at the same time I don’t want to buy something that fails on Xmas day and ends up with crying children, especially in front of the in-laws.

Is it a false economy buying second hand or are there some reputable places to get one from??

Also, do I need a HDD of significant size or will the 4GB one do?

Kids want it for Minecraft (and I’ve always fancied playing Call of Duty but don’t tell them that)

Used to be much easier when it was either a Spectrum or an Atari!

We taking Xbox, Xbox 360, or Xbox one?

If you’re talking about an xbox one I personally would go new, the techs new and you never know what issues May raise their heads as the mobo’s wear in / break. If you’re looking at a 360 you would be fine with a second hand one they are well developed and built and any issues are truly ironed out.

Go as big a hard drive as possible games are taking up way more space than they ever used too so you can quickly much space.

If I was looking at a new console I would consider the extra cash on the xbox one its new tech and if you do play it ever you know it will still be current in 3/4 years, sort of.

Would never get a 360 second hand, the failure rate is stupidly high, if you shop around ive seen the 360 new for £100 and a game chucked in, the asda black Friday deal was great 2 new games and a 360 for £100 that was yesterday only.

I think Xbox 360 – Xbox one is gonna be out of the price range.

Don’t get a 4GB XBox 360 the memory is very limiting, get the 250gb.

Game give a better warranty than Xbox on the 360’s. Two in my house, 1 preowned 1 new.
Both fine and you couldn’t tell them apart.

Been looking at Game, might pop in there and see what’s what.

Just bought a second hand 4gb one from Game for £80 with a 12 month warranty and Minecraft (new) for £14, for my 8 year old girl for Christmas. Few minor scratches on it, otherwise looks good. My friend has a 4gb one for his 9 year old daughter and says the memory has never been an issue
Obviously, had to test it out one night with my friend’s Call of Duty and it seems superb!

Been looking at Game, might pop in there and see what’s what.

Probably a decent compromise. I am 99% sure they gave me a year warranty on my preowned PS3. Just remember, if you open the box and it’s too tatty/controller manky, just return it and say you want one in better nick.

Currently £109 for a pre-owned Matt black 250GB model at Game. Bit pricey, but it’s the time of year.

Edit:

Preowned games and consoles. Previously owned, previously loved, but sold good as new.

All our preowned products have been traded in by fellow gamers, but you can be assured that the quality of all our preowned games and consoles will meet the standards you would expect when buying from us.

For starters, we only accept trade-ins of an acceptable quality, and both games and consoles are meticulously checked and made good as new in our reclamation centre before being re-sold. Plus, all our preowned products come with a 12 Month Quality Guarantee and, as with our new products, are also covered under GAME’s 28 Day Returns Guarantee.

-Sauce.

My son has a 360 to play minecraft.We swapped his first one after just 6 months,due to failure,fortunately covered under warranty.Id buy new for peace of mind particularly given the deals available.

I got a two year warranty on the game one. Ask for that. And also ask the guys for one of the later models. I couldn’t believe how helpful the lads were in there.
Don’t go 4gb tho, go 250 or they’re a total pain!

Exactly same predicament as my son wants a xbox 360 for Christmas. I checked out secondhand but seemed too risky as to what youd end up with particularly off ebay so i went new and bought from Argos: £160 for 250gb with 2 games…That wasn’t easy though as stock was zero in most stores and i had to drive a fair distance to get one and that was the last in stock so my best advice, certainly if buying new, is hurry!

The other danger with a used 360 (other than a stupidly high mortality rate on the really old ones) is that they may have been chipped and blacklisted on Xbox Live.

I’d get a nice new 360 slim. Don’t get the 4Gb one, you’ll only have to upgrade later and it’ll cost you more that way.

Given there is only £40 between new and preowned, I’ll agree with cougar.

Maybe get it from Tesco Direct where they give out £10 off vouchers for new customers etc

I have a 360 that I am happy to sell at 20% below going second hand rate to anyone near Leeds that want one. Not chipped or blacklisted and barely used as I prefer PS3.

+1 avoid non-HD models

Second hand is much cheaper but there are risks – one we bought scratched a few discs until we realised -apparently a common fault one one particular variant.