Guide: Differences between the Xbox 360 Arcade, Premium, Elite and Super Elite
Last updated 29th November 2009
Update: This article is now updated. For our latest guide on the Xbox 360, see the guide to the Differences between the Xbox 360 4GB and 250GB.
While the Xbox 360 is an excellent games console, Microsoft have created a confusing situation by releasing many different versions of their popular console. This article aims to explain the differences between the models currently on the market.
There are now three current versions of the Xbox 360, the Arcade, Elite, and Super Elite. All three consoles are identical apart from two factors; the hard disk and the colour.
The Xbox 360 Arcade comes in white and does not include a built-in hard disk. It instead comes with 0.5GB of flash memory, which can be used to store saved games and other small files.
The only options for adding more storage on the Xbox 360 Arcade are to buy memory sticks (expensive) or a special external hard disk (VERY expensive).
The Xbox 360 Elite comes in black and with a built-in 120GB hard disk. There is no need to buy more storage for the Elite; 120GB is a vast amount of storage for a console and very few people will come close to using it all.
Even if you're on something of a budget, you'll ideally want to stretch to buy the Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a 120GB hard disk.
An Xbox 360 without a hard disk may not be able to play some games, does not allow Xbox (original) backwards compatibility, will have difficulty accessing online content and Xbox LIVE, and can be more expensive in the long run from buying the proprietary memory sticks.
On the other end of the scale, there is no need to pay the extra cash for the Xbox 360 Super Elite. The Super Elite has a larger hard disk (250GB) but is otherwise identical to the Elite console.
The 120GB hard disk on the Xbox 360 Elite is already complete overkill. The 120GB hard disk in the Elite is not large in PC terms, but for a console is more than you'll ever need.
So, apart from the colour and the hard disk, all the versions of the Xbox 360 are entirely the same. The Xbox 360 Elite is the recommended model to buy.
The Xbox 360 Premium (previously the Xbox 360 Pro) was popular last Christmas but has now been discontinued as a product. The Premium comes in white with either a 10GB, 20GB, or 60GB hard disk. Certain older models may also suffer from reliability issues.
Some retailers may still have stock of this console, but they will not offer any of the bundle deals that were previously available. This means that once the best Elite bundle deals are taken into the account, the Xbox 360 Elite remains the better choice of console.