The 360 Elite is set to be released in North America soon, and publications across the pond have been receiving their gear as a courtesy from MS. This has led to all kinds of posts about what the Elite does in comparison to the regular 360, and how the HDD transfer works. After the jump, Xboxic has a roundup of everything you will need to know in order for you to make the best decision possible.

Firstly, the Hard Drive. Assuming for a moment you buy the HDD on its own, then all you need to do is follow the pretty easy instructions provided. In the box, you will not only get the 120 GB HDD, but a transfer cable and some software. You plug the transfer cable into the bottom of the 120 GB HDD whilst the 20 GB remains on your console for the time being. Plug the other end of the data transfer cable into any of the three USB ports, then pop the software CD into the drive. This initiates the transfer process, where you will be prompted to press OK, Yes and so on, then the process will begin. Most transfers take around forty minutes, according to reports. (With regards to the USB ports: MS say any of the three can be used, but official instructions say only the back port may be used. It’s unclear whether it makes a difference.)

That is all plain sailing, and after the time reaches zero, all content from the 20 GB drive would have moved from the 20 GB over to the 120 GB. Therefore, all content is erased from the 20 GB, giving you a brand new HDD to sell, trade in or use on another console. Any content on the 120 GB would also have mean erased, however Hexic HD does remain. So if you haven’t got that unique Arcade game, you’re in luck.

Now, for the Elite itself. Packed with version 1.2 of HDMI, the console is black and so is the controller (and the headset, also included). In the box you get the 120 GB HDD, an HDMI cable and an extra connection to re-route your sound if you have a 5.1/6.1/7.1 set up. If not, the HDMI cable carries the sound anyway. This extra connection to re-route the sound plugs into the port where you currently have either your composite/component leads or VGA lead.

Microsoft are anticipating that most people buying the Elite will be first time buyers, not upgraders. If you are an upgrader, this is the part where it gets a bit sticky. You will probably want to transfer over all your stuff from a 20 GB HDD to your new 120 GB HDD. Unfortunately, no cable is provided out of the box, and an email or a call to customer support is in order. They will send you a data transfer cable free of charge, but in the mean time, continue using your 20 GB drive, otherwise you will overwrite your data on the 120 GB when you come to do the transfer.

The second annoying part is to do with Arcade games. Movies cannot be transferred over so will have to watched before the process. Arcade games are even more annoying though. The content is tied to the console ID as will as the Live ID. For anyone who has had to replace their 360 at least once, you know where this is heading. Upon completion of the transfer, the Arcade games have moved to the Elite, and you can place the 120 GB on your new console. The problem now is the console ID is different. This therefore means that the Arcade games can no longer be played offline, because they revert back to demo form. If you are signed into Live then that’s fine, you get the full version. Also, other gamertags will no longer be able to play the games since it isn’t tied to their ‘tags, unless the original ‘tag holder is signed into Live.

As for the performance of the Elite and regular 360, Engadget has a nice comparison article. To summarise, the 65nm chip is NOT in place, so the Elite is still just as loud as its brother. The article also notes that there seems to be little difference in the visual side of things through HDMI.

That just about wraps it up on all the information currently known. Below is video posted by Major Nelson where they discuss the contents of the Elite and the process, as I have already outlined above. Check it out for Hot Jen (who is she?) unpacking the box. Reports suggesting she comes with all Elites to help you unpack are currently unfounded.

We hope that helps, and if you have any further questions about anything, ask in the comments and we will do our best to answer them from the knowledge gathered from various sources.

Thanks to nofear360 for submitting an article that caused this post!