Originally Posted by
Ark Baby
@rathb18 - I've been using an XBox 360 for over 5 years. Between gaming and Netflix, it easily averages 4-8 hours of usage a day (I've often fallen asleep with it on the entire night). I had RROD once, but it was handled with convenience and efficiency by Microsoft (I realize the issue itself is inconvenient in the first place, but they responded to the problem admirably; they sent me a shipping box so I could return the damaged product, paid for the shipping, and had a replacement at my door within two weeks). Other than that one instance, I've never had a problem with my console.
A couple years ago I upgrade to a wireless Slim. My roommate inherited my old XBox, and both are going strong with plenty of daily usage. Between the two consoles (and a 250GB hard drive I bought for the Slim), I've spent less than $600 in 5 years. If you don't count the redundancy of buying a Slim, I've only spent about $300 in 5 years.
To me, that is a major pro over PC, since I am not a big fan of monetary splurging. It would be nice to have the graphical capabilities of PC (though really, it doesn't look all that different to me), or access to some of the more exciting looking PC only titles (End of Nations comes to mind!), or to play BF3 at 60 FPS with 64 player PvP, but I can live without those things for the longevity, cost reduction and simple convenience of a plug and play console (and I'm not afraid to admit it, I've been conditioned to have a Pavlovian pleasure response from the sound of an achievement bloop!).
I'm far from computer illiterate, but also nowhere near savvy enough to be secure that I'd have any idea what to do if my computer was my main gaming hub and crashed. Computer speak is like a foreign language to me. I can pick out some phrases here and there, and if I focus really hard for long periods of time, I can even fumble my way to minor solutions, but the more complex stuff just doesn't come naturally, and I tend to view the deeper currents of digital technology from an almost mystical viewpoint (hell, I can't even figure out why the fan on my old laptop won't quit running nonstop. I spent hours doing research, running programs and diagnostics, cleaning memory, etc...and still, WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR).
The last thing I want to deal with is an obscure mysterious computer malfunction compromising my ability to game, forcing me to spend even more money for a computer tech to assess the problem, and possibly having to spend another $500-600 for a new system because mine was irrevocably infected with a super virus I knew nothing about. Sure, if you have extensive computer knowledge you can fortify against such things, but I just want to play games and watch movies, not become my own personal PC expert.
And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Not everyone who uses a computer knows how to fix a computer, not everyone who drives a car knows how to fix a car, not everyone who uses their body for living knows how to fix their health. It's awesome if you enjoy learning the ins and outs of computers and can build a badass gaming system and maintain it to its maximum potential with minimum risk, but not everyone can, or cares to, approach it that way.
But hey, if you're all about PC, more power to you. Maybe someday I'll give it a go and have my mind blown, but as of now Dead Phoenix is right; what may not be cons to you are huge cons to me.
So yeah, to succinctly summarize:
XBox cheap and easy. I like cheap and easy.
PC expensive and complicated. I like cheap and easy.
Oh, and thank you. Taking the time to respond to this thread helped me kill another half hour in the perpetual time massacre I'll be desperately engaging in until April 2nd finally arrives:-)
