Re: decided on Xbox 360, which model?
elite just has more add ons, bigger hard drive, game, etc.
You need the hard drive to store custom made maps for games
videos downloaded from netflix - if you have xbox live
Most important - you can download sample games for pretty much every game new and old so you can see what the game is like before you buy it.
i play halo3 online and the online experience is a lot different then the game, however there are a lot of crazies on line.
You can not load games on to the hard drive, that is a recent change to the xbox360 so most games still run of the cd.
The older machines out there do not have the new HDMI ports and drives, so anything new on the shelf should be fine.
My old one died outside of the warranty and i picked up a new one at circuit city for the 10% off. THey are NEVER on sale - there are bundles you find.
You also should pick up 2 pack base charger, so you can take the battery out of the controller and swap for the one in the charger.
I had a ps2 as well, still do, PS3 -sadly no one is buying it...few games specifically for it, and a poor online experience.
tomatolord