Pro's and Con's of a "Spare" Console

[Fit4aking]

Alright, I'm no rich Uncle Money Bags, but the lack of personal entertainment really, really bothers me. 

IF, I were to go and buy a spare console, say a Core/Arcade version of the 360, what are the downsides?  Could I simply swap my hard drive, perform all the updates and be running a Trans Am on Motegi by dinner?  Does all my DLC stay with the hard drive, or is it attached to the console somehow? 

Heck, the Gamestop nearest to where I work has a used Core system for $219, granted its only $60 cheaper than a new Arcade, thats a new game (like I'd play it) but when I get the old box back I could set it up in my bedroom and allow the wife and daughter to finally play Viva Pinata.

I know some of you guys have a spare or two sitting around and was just seeing if you've run into any issues, major or minor.

[Serial]

Certain big box stores seem to have a pretty nice rental program as well  .  Another option for you if you are so inclined.

As to the spare console...if it would get use, I'd say no harm no foul...you'd only be out the $250ish for the new console.  I would, however, have a hard time convincing my wife that I'm buying a new console for her...but she can't use it until mine comes back from repair  .

[bimmerlovere39]

I know the DLC is on the hard drive, but I think it is linked to your console when you are offline, and linked to your gamertag when you are connected to your 360.

So, if you still have internet, you could be driving a Trans-Am on Road Atlanta by dinner 

I think...

[landstuhltaylor]

All DLC is linked to the original console it was downloaded on. If you want to use DLC from your hard drive on any console other than the original one, you have to be connected to Live.

[Bad One]

Is there a way to "transfer" the stuff to a new system?  Mine is dead... (again) and once EB gets stock in, I get a new console...  And I can't always be connected to the interweb.

[Tonka Crash]

All DLC is linked to the original console it was downloaded on. If you want to use DLC from your hard drive on any console other than the original one, you have to be connected to Live.

^^^ What he said.  My 1st Xbox died in August.  That day I bought an elite and ordered the migration kit from M$.  Until the Migration kit arrived I just plugged in my old hard drive and used it on the new system.  After the I got the kit I migrated the contents of my old hard drive to the larger elite drive and used the old drive on the refurb console when it eventually showed up.  It took about a month for M$ to get a console to me and the 1st one they sent was DOA, so I had to start the process over and lose another month.  The refurb is now in another room that I use when the girlfriend won't let me use the big screen.

Your DLC is tied to the console where you originally downloaded it.  All users on that console can use any DLC purchased on that console.  Once you swap consoles, the DLC must be checked online to verify you have rights to use it.  In this case only the original purchaser still retains any rights, all other users on your Xbox are out of luck, but you have to be logged into XBL for it to work at all.

I ran into problems one night while I was painting and my ISP died.  Immediately the game booted me to the start screen with the error. "This console is missing downloadable content used in this profile. Please choose a different profile."  I couldn't do anything until I got back online.   I thought I had figured out how to fix it, but lately I'm not so sure. This thread on FM.net has more information on my experiences.

[feuerdog]

I bought my Elite as a my backup, and it ended up becoming my main, and because I started different games(and DLC) on the new drive the old console/drive eventually became redundant.

I just sold my original 360 last week.

If you want to play two player games on thier own screens with friends(or have a dedicated rear view Forza mirror display) then a second console is cool, but otherwise it's overkill.

My first repair took 11 weeks.
My second repair took 5 weeks.
They have gotten alot faster at repair turnaround.

[Tonka Crash]

Is there a way to "transfer" the stuff to a new system?  Mine is dead... (again) and once EB gets stock in, I get a new console...  And I can't always be connected to the interweb.

Based on my experiences, I'd suggest just buying all the DLC you expect to use again before you play Forza for the first time on the new system.

There are two methods that work for moving content.  Using the Microsoft Migration Kit or a memory card.  I've used both and each have their plusses and minuses.  Do not use third party tools like the Xport 360.  These were used by glitchers and Turn 10 patched the game specifically to corrupt the gamesave if use of these were detected.

The migration kit copies everything on the old drive to the new drive, but wipes the old drive in the process.  It also only works migrating from the original 20GB drive to the newer 120GB drive, not the other way.

Memory cards are much more flexible, but the limited size means that more than likely everything will not fit in one shot. I use this to move my profile, gamesaves and content between my two Xboxes, but if you have much content everything will not fit on one card.  So you have to move the profile onto the card, then move or copy what you can onto the card.  Unload everything but your profile onto the second Xbox and go back to the 1st for the next round.  You have to have your profile on the card while you move anything tied to a  profile because things like gamesaves do not let you move them unless you are logged in that gamertag. 

One thing I've noticed.  Your gamertag and gamesave can only exist on one storage device at a time.  I have 3 gamertags (1 per region)  Currently 2 are on my main Xbox and 1 on my backup.  I've never done a gamertag recovery, I've only read horror stories of it losing game saves doing that.  Everytime I've moved my gamertag to a new device it's been either the migration kit or but moving everything to a memory card and then from the card to a new console.

[Moosejaw]

I recently bought an Arcade version for £200 when my original box started refusing to play 360 game discs (it play original Xbox games and DVDs without a problem ().

All I did when I got home was take the hard drive off the old console, attached it to the new one and I was up and running with everything exactly the same.

[GBO Possum]

The DLC and gamertag issues have been well covered in previous posts, so I won't go there right now.

What can be a good thing with a "spare" console is to set it up in multi-screen mode if you have a spare monitor or TV that can be conveniently located.  Even adding one on the right OR left can be helpful, and another strategy is to set the "spare" to look backwards.  In all cases you can dicker around with the subtended angles of the screens.

[fndrbndr]

Do you have to have a hard drive for the second machine in a multiscreen setup?

[GBO Possum]

Do you have to have a hard drive for the second machine in a multiscreen setup?

I believe you do require a hard drive, but a memory unit may be good enough

[JG4tr]

I don't have a multiscreen setup but, I thought that only the master needed a hard drive/ memory unit to hold the user's profile and since the slaves were 'using' the same user profile, they did not need  memory....  Do they need it for replays or something?

EDIT: The Triple screen setup instructions over on the .net/news/tuningguides site says that the replay only works on the primary screen so, that's not it. But, it does say this...

You will need to upgrade all your machines from Xbox Live when there is an auto-update. To do this you will have to roam your Xbox Live profile to each of the multi-screen clients and then launch the game and download the update over Xbox Live. You do not need a premium system to update from Xbox Live, but you will need some storage device (i.e., a memory unit). When you are done you will need to move your Xbox Live account back to the primary screen to play the game.

So, it looks as though a memory unit is needed to move your LIVE profile over to the client machines and download updates.

[fndrbndr]

Hm.  Interesting.  Totally the opposite end of the spectrum from me, sitting on my couch with a controller forzacating after the wife hits the hay, and frankly it sounds like a lot of trouble, but kinda neat too.

[GBO Possum]

So, it looks as though a memory unit is needed to move your LIVE profile over to the client machines and download updates.

That's correct.  If they are out of sync, they just cannot see each other.  But the updates are few.  DLC must be loaded to all Xboxes, and preferably bought by different profiles on each, although there is a workaround for this.  If you don't use DLC tracks or cars, this is not an issue.  You do need multiple FM2 disks of course, one for each Xbox.

One cool way of setting this up is to have the second Xbox in spectator mode for others (not the driver) to watch