Xbox One 1TB Console - Halo: The Master Chief Collection Bundle

While the Xbox One is has met a large amount of criticism from its release date to current, I believe it is a well refined product worthy of some praise. Here are a quick list of pros and cons that I found from using it for about a month now. Pros - The difference in graphics between the 360 and the One are night and day. Anything from frame rate to clarity to resolution is vastly improved. This allows those 1080p TVs do do what they were made for. - The sleek design and interface are crisp, clean, and simple. It did take some getting used to when finding most of the systems functions as Ive been using the 360 for over 4 years. - The game selection is finally becoming something. With all of the titles currently released and the titles that have been announced as being in the works or in development for the One, this system has become a must have for all counsel gaming fans. Cons - Between the space taken up from the operating system and the fact that each game you play must first be downloaded, the 500gb counsel is woefully short on storage space. That being said, for anyone hoping to oven more than 10 or so games needs to have the 1tb counsel or an external storage for their 500gb counsel. - While playing Far Cry 4, I found that while the overall graphics are vastly improved (which allows the game to shine for what it is whereas the 360 ruins it), I noticed that the frame rate did suffer in some larger gunfights or exploration. The Halo MCC is a masterpiece. As a rather casual Halo fan having played each game back when each was released, this collection is by far the best thing to happen to the Halo franchise yet. Its remastered soundtracks and cut-scenes improve the overall theatrical feeling of the games beyond what words can describe. I have not a single regret about buying this bundle.

My specific application is to play a couple games, golf (The Golf Club Game, EA's) and Halo with extended friends/family. San Diego to San Francisco. I had the Xbox 360 and was doing the whole evaluation of Xbone 1TB, PC or PS4. I was cool with buying any one, but have always gone with Xbox, and again... after all my research, I chose the Xbone. Actually bought two... one in San Diego and one in San Francisco. After a couple days use. I am finding it to be just a stellar system. [Although the exec. at Microsoft that allowed the Xbone to be manufactured with less than the best hardware ought to be fired! Oh ... he already was ...] I've been playing with family in San Fran (me in San Diego) on Halo and Golf. And I have to say ... it is like everyone is in the same room! From the moment we turn on our Xbones, we start a Party chat (under "Party" on the main screen) and from there we seamlessly start chartering and go into Halo . . . still chattering away all through the game. Exit the game, and we are still chattering away. We have been stunned at the clarity of the Xbox live chat on the new controllers. With the new controllers on both ends, it is better than any of our phones in the house! There is no delay . . . no echo . . . not even a TV echo in the background. Again . . . the best sound I've ever heard on any device we have . . . land line, Ipads, cell phones . . . Xbox Live wins. I have a 70' Vizio Ultra TV and the Xbone looks great. The Golf Club Game looks Great. Halo looks great. The whole who has the best spec hardware is only a small part of the total equation. And quite frankly, all software publishers should optimize their software to run on PS4 and Xbone at 1080. It all is optimization for the console. Halo plays with virtually no lag in multiplayer from San Diego to San Fran with crystal clear chat ... like you were in the same room. Real happy with the purchase(s). Would buy again.

I decided to buy an Xbox One in July 2015 due to Microsoft's dedication to updating and making the console better, and after their presentation at E3 2015 with the announcement of backwards compatibility. For nearly 2 years I held out and went from the Xbox 360 to the PlayStation 4 because I wanted to wait and see if Microsoft was going to make an effort to change the Xbox One by making it better and worth purchasing after that atrocious 2013 release and the whole talk nobody really cared about ''tv, kinect, drm, all-in-one, etc.'' Boy I'm glad I waited because the Xbox One is officially better, somewhat innovative, simply more exciting than the competition in 2015 and the Xbox One 1TB Halo MCC bundle is well woth it! Here is what I think of it so far with pro's and con's. Pros: Less than $400 and comes with 1TB of hard drive space, new and improved Xbox One controller with a 3.5mm headset jack (should've been like this from launch.) AND the best exclusive sci-fi FPS game series of the 2000s: Halo MCC. Xbox One exclusive games. Loved the exclusives out already such as Dead Rising 3, Titanfall, Ryse, Killer Instinct, and the Forza games. The flagship Halo series is still alive and strong, and a promising long lineup is due starting in Sept 2015. Backwards Compatibility. BC was announced at e3 2015, and will launch in Nov 2015. BC will allow you to play hundreds of X360 games AND DLC that you own without the need of using a X360 anymore. The awesome thing for me is that you can also play multiplayer with anyone that is on the X360 AND someone that is on an Xbox One using BC. Universal Apps. Dozens and dozens of apps like Netflix or Youtube to use on the Xbox one. Some apps require a subscription, but some are free and should never leave you bored. Oh yeah did I mention that twitch is available and you can stream your gameplay and also watch gameplay from gamers that are using ANY console/pc. Multiple apps can be open like you are on a pc, you can close them at your discretion. Xbox + PC integration with Windows 10. DLNA support. External hard drive option. Another feature I wanted my PS4 to have. 2 AA battery option for controller. I always have several rechargeable AA batteries on hand, and I never have to worry about plugging the controller itself up for a charge. Quiet console even with a power brick and huge fan inside. Console firmware updates and new features/fixes from user feedback nearly every other month. Microsoft actually have a website for Xbox user feedback with voting/response/comments/status/upcoming updates/fixes. Xbox Live is phenomenal on the Xbox one. Dedicated servers deliver stable online use and multiplayer. Microsoft finally ended the terrible paywall in 2014 that required you to have their paid gold membership just to access certain features and apps with subscriptions that you ALREADY PAID FOR! The only thing that you need a gold membership now is for multiplayer and free games every month. They also adopted the ''twitter'' style for friends as well. No longer do you have to get pelted with friend requests, people can follow you and you can choose who to follow back. Want to share gameplay with more than youtube and Facebook? There is a Upload studio app that allows you to be creative with your gameplay vids, and you can actually attach vids with a message and share among friends. Your vids can be public or trend to everyone that uses the app or whoever view the specific game in the xbox store or hub. Xbox live also has custom themes and a lot more features as well. Phil Spencer is the head of Xbox at Microsoft as of 2014. He actually cares about gamers, listens to feedback, and is a gamer himself. He is the reason why the Xbox One has gotten better and receives updates so often. If he was in charge during the next gen planning and release of the current Xbox, everything listed and updated would have been included at the launch in 2013. He said himself that the Xbox One was headed in the wrong direction in 2013 but he had no control then because he wasn't the boss. Cons: Not all games are 1080p. The Xbox One have a lot of games at 1080p, but due to the GPU, some games on the Xbox One is either upscaled or 900p on up. Microsoft will try to solve that problem with the release of Directx 12 to be updated on the console in Nov 2015. Directx 12 will not fix the problem completely, and I don't think any games are less than 900p on the Xbox One. External power brick still exist. By now the power supply should be inside the system. Frustrating snap and complicated, sometimes slow User Interface. For a next gen console the entire UI should be much faster and instant like the PS4. When you click on something simple as friends or messages, instead of being instant, an image pops up then it loads up. The snap option can take anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 minute to load up while playing a game and the UI will slow down as well. There should be a option to use a guide menu like the X360 have or you could choose to use snap. Microsoft listened to feedback and said there will be a UI change and windows 10 will be implemented on the console in Nov 2015 for a faster, friendlier UI. (I will update when it is released.) No option to listen to music while playing a game without using the snap feature. No option to use a headset and hear people talk over the tv speakers as well. Slow install times for older titles. The settings page don't have its own tab, not visible on home screen either. You have to press the options button or use it as a pin to access settings. The 2 buttons under the controller power button that replace the start and select buttons don't state what the buttons is, just a small image on each. Also, if you have multiple controllers on, there is no extra led lights indicating which is which. No easy option to replace the internal hard drive. You can replace the hard drive, but you will void the warranty that is still valid on the console. Not that much use offline. Consoles these days need an internet connection to give you the full features and great experience. Ok, that's my review and I hope I was clear enough for someone who is considering to purchase this console or not.

It all started out so well. Well, it did take an extra week to arrive - but the new console smell and the 1TB of space made everything alright - long nights of downloading Dragon Age and Halo led to one glorious day of playtime with friends. Then - on the fourth day - I returned home from a long day of insuranc-ing - to be met with the cold shoulder. No response to my "xbox - I'm home!" No glorious white light. Nothing. 4 days. This hunk of plastic worked for 4 whole days. Xbox customer support was very helpful, and not in the least surprised by what happened. My favorite part of the call was when she told me "great! Your power brick works fine! The console is whats dead!" in the most cheerful voice you have ever heard. She was thrilled by this news apparently. This was after an hour of putting me thru my paces of course while we "trouble-shooted" the hell out of the console. It's been two weeks since I mailed it back to them - shipping label provided of course - but I had to get it re-boxed as their original packaging was not acceptable. So basically, they aren't proud of their own boxing capabilities. Estimated I should have my xbox one replaced or returned in only 4 weeks. ONLY. FOUR. WEEKS. Playstation is looking pretty darn good to me right about now. Christmas console shoppers - buy from a local store who has a good return policy - or save yourself the trouble and go with Playstation instead.

WARNING...DEFECTIVE HEADSETS...! the headset did not work new out of the box..i went through all the things they recommend you do to get it working...but broken is broken..then after spending a ridiculous amount of time with support @ ms..they said headset needed to be replaced. now here comes the neat part...i would have to pay the shipping to get the item shipped back...even though it did not work new out of the box...upon doing some research, i find their is a major problem with the headsets failing and people going through multiply returns and replacements. if you are going to need or want to chat, get ready to buy an after market brand set to use no one has any thing good to say about the headsets...ms just figures we have a pile of these junk things, if you want to pay to ship them back..no problem, we have plenty of these defective things we have to dump on you. now for the console..ti appears to be doing fine the graphics are good and time will tell if the product last or not..

Xbox Ones require the use of high, high speed connections for content download. Even if you have cable service, it takes two days for the content of this box to download. I just prefer games on DVDs with no need to download anything. The resolution is really nice on my 4k TV.

While they stumbled horribly out of the gate with the Xbox One, Microsoft has spent the last year making amends with big improvements in hardware updates and refocusing on what matters most...the games. I'm a long time Xbox user with the 360 being my favorite console but I was not in a hurry to "jump in" with the Xbox One when it was first announced. Not only because I love my 360 but their long list of regulations, requirements and restrictions really turned me off. I was all but sold on the PS4 but decided to wait for both companies to iron out the bugs on their new systems and for the wave of true next gen of games to come. This is where I've really seen Microsoft pull away from Sony. Sony had a great start but just haven't done much since. They're still not offering much this year in the form of exclusives while Microsoft is offering 7 by the end of the year. The Hardware: No, it's not the prettiest looking box. Comparisons to DVR's and old time VHS's aren't unfounded. But how long are you going to spend looking at the box instead of the games on the TV? It also has a large and cumbersome power brick like the 360 which I wish they could've done away with. Once it's under the TV stand or what have you, it's forgotten I guess. The controller is something else though. I love it. It's a great, subtle upgrade to the 360's which I still love. The thumbsticks feel good, the d-pad has been refined and works well with fighting games now, and the pressure sensitive triggers have haptic feedback to create even more immersion whether shooting or driving. This is a great controller that really feels good. The UI: They took a real step backwards with their Windows 8 style tiles on the dashboard. The 360's is still vastly superior. It's much easier to find what your looking for whereas it's more of a chore to search for what you want here. I know Microsoft wants unity between the PC and the Xbox One in the form of the Windows OS but it just wasn't well thought out. The games aren't even in alphabetical order. They're just spread across one page full of tiles. It's cumbersome and unnecessarily frustrating. They've been updating and it's getting better and I know they'll continue to just like they did with the 360 but as of now I still much prefer the 360's home screen. The Games: Early games like Ryse and Forza 5 lacked in gameplay and content but they really gave a good show of the Xbox One's graphical power. They really are on the next level of graphics and go far beyond what was possible on last gen consoles. There haven't been many reasons to upgrade till now but now there are plenty. Halo 5 Guardians, Gears 4, Forza 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Recore, Crackdown, Scalebound, and Quantum Break are all exclusives and most will be releasing this year. The future also holds big names like Need For Speed, Fallout 4, Doom, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Just Cause 3, Mad Max, and Star Wars: Battlefront to bring true next gen experiences this year as well as next. Microsoft also recently announced backwards compatibility for 360 titles (100 by holiday, 100's more next year) that allows current 360 owners to keep their last gen libraries alive on their new system. I was very excited to hear this. Those who've never had a 360 will also have more games available for their new system. That's just one more thing to make the Xbox One appealing for potential buyers. The Deal: Microsoft has been very aggressive with their price cuts, sales and bundles for the Xbox One. The have ground to cover to catch up with the PS4 and they know it but deals like these are going to help them do that. Sony hasn't done much in terms of deals so this will make a difference for those looking to get the most for their money. I took advantage of such a deal with this 1TB model Xbox One with The Master Chief collection (Halo 1-4 re-mastered) included. Microsoft beats Sony to the punch by offering the first 1TB console at only $50 more than the 500GB Xbox One model but also the same price as the 500GB model PS4. That's a great deal and owners of both consoles will tell you, 500GB is not enough memory to store many of these new, space eating games. Amazon is giving away a free game (almost all available titles eligible) with the purchase of a new Xbox One, for a limited time. Just another deal to inspire the curious or those on the fence to take the plunge. I got Batman: Arkham Knight with mine. The Verdict: This system still has a ways to go with frustrating things like mandatory game installs, a clunky UI and initial start up that seems to take forever just to set up and play a game. These are slowly being addressed with updates with new features being added all the time so at least there's hope that what is now isn't what will always be. But the next generation is finally here in terms of games and sales like this one give plenty of reasons to pick up an Xbox One. It's a good system now that will hopefully one day be great. Recommended (for a deal). Disclaimer: I am not an Xbox fanboy and am not anti-Sony. I had a PS1 and a PS2 for many years and loved them. I don't believe either of these machines can be considered better. They're more like different flavors. There's plenty of cool games coming out on both systems. I just found more value with the Xbox One and am more interested in their exclusives than Sony's at this point and time.

I want to start this off by indicating that I am not a hard core gamer. I had the original XBox years ago. It died. I didn't get another one until last week when I decided to get an XBox One. One of the reasons I waited is because I don't trust brand new consoles and I was right, there were numerous issues upon the initial release. When I went to the Amazon site and read the reviews of this one, I saw that several reviewers remarked that the issues, for the most part, have been fixed. So I decided to give it a try. First of all, a 1 TB console with the complete Halo series at this price is awesome. At the time I bought the console there was a list of over 100 games that could be chosen for free. One of the reasons I bought this was to play Mortal Kombat X, which was on the free list. That made it even better. So the value for the money is definitely there. Since I haven't used an XBox since the original, I see the controller is a bit different. Actually, I have to admit, I think I like these controllers better than any of the consoles. Just my opinion. Setup is easy. Since the system already uses a Windows 8 backdrop it has a familiar interface. I could already use my regular login so I didn't need a new account. If you decide to get XBox Live, Amazon has the 12 month subscription cards the cheapest I've ever seen them (I think I paid about 43 bucks for mine). As far as features go, just like the other consoles, this unit doubles as a DVD/Blu-Ray player, video streaming device, etc. You can install Netflix, Hulu+, etc, just like on any other Windows 8 machine or other consoles. At the time I got this, there was only one, 275 MB update. By what I've heard, some of the past updates have been huge (several GB). I was excited to get the system and didn't want to have to wait hours for an update and fortunately, I didn't, this update was quick so it's a relatively up to date OS. The included Halo collection must be downloaded though, it doesn't come with the disc (there is a code card included). Not a big deal, you just have to run the download before you get to play. In my case, I just played Mortal Kombat X, which I had gotten on disc. As far as accessories go, I immediately bought a second controller with the charge pack, a charge pack for the controller that came with the system, silica gel covers for the controllers (I have tile floor, I don't want them to break), and a media remote (mainly to give it a feel of a regular media player for my son when he wants to watch stuff on it, the thing wasn't all that expensive and it's quite durable). It comes with a 14 day trial for XBox Live so if you're new to it like I was, you can try it out first before you buy a subscription (again, I'd recommend buying the 1 year subscription code or card on Amazon as it tends to go on sale for significantly less than the stores and you don't have to input your credit card number for auto charging and renewing). Overall, I'm glad I got this system. I haven't had it long so I'm hoping it withstands the test of time far better than my first XBox. It's great though. I'll be getting more games for it in the near future!