The great console U-turn

Just six days ago, I signed up with SCV MaxOnline for the new house, grabbing their free X-box promo and running with it.

This week, I'm supposed to go down and collect said free X-box. But I'm having second thoughts now.

After all, the console is supposed to be worth $349 right? It's a darned good freebie for an 18 month no-termination contract with an ISP that I'd be subscribing to anyway, promotion or no promotion. But but but... what exactly am I going to do with the damn thing?

First, the offer doesn't come with any games. Second, it can't play DVDs out of the box, and even with the DVD-kit (region-limited) doesn't do progressive scanning. Third, other than the upcoming Ninja Gaiden, I don't see any other X-box games that I might even want to play!

Getting a new controller and some games will make me spend more $$ on stuff that I didn't really want to get in the first place, and even if I mod the set, that's at least another 80 bucks. Bleah.

So now I'm thinking of selling it off cheap, and using the money to pick up a PS2, which I've been eyeing for a good two years. Any takers? Thinking of letting it go for $250, brand new set, but I'm open for lower offers. Just make it reasonable.

But even before getting a PS2, there's that LG 8x DVD writer to think about.

Sigh. So many gadgets, so little money.