Xbox 360 Slim Hardware Spec and Release Date

Here's everything you need to know about Microsoft's new Xbox 360 slim console. The lucky people in North America have the new console available now, straight after it was announced at E3 (14th June 2010). Here in Europe we will have to wait until the 16th of July 2010. The good news for everyone is that the price will remain the same.

Note: The Xbox 360 Slim will replace the Xbox 360 Elite. Microsoft will not longer be making the old model. The price remains the same, but expect the Xbox Elite to be heavily discounted whilst retailers attempt to clear old stock to make way for the new console.

Notable features of the new 360 slim model are a larger standard hard drive at 250GB, built in Wi-Fi and quieter running. The full list of hardware changes can be found below...

Xbox 360 Slim Hardware Details

1. New form factor - Slimmer, gloss black with chrome accents
2. Built in 802.11n wireless adaptor - This represents a big saving when you consider the price of the old 360 wireless adaptor
3. More Storage - 250GB internal, swappable hard drive. We saw this on the Super Elite, it looks like 250Gb is the new standard now
4. Whisper quiet - the new model is much quieter, whether you're using the dash board or spinning up a disc whilst playing a game
5. Touch sensitive buttons - Power the Xbox 360 Slim on and eject discs with the swipe of a finger
6. Kinect Port - Dedicated Kinect port to attach the Kinect motion sensor. This port also supplies power. Something Elite owners will not have
7. More USB slots - Five USB ports, three at the back and two at the front
8. Smaller Power Supply - The smaller power unit is also more efficient and clips into the back of the console
9. New Slim wireless controller - The new controller matches the new console style. It's all black with colour matched thumb sticks and d-pad with gloss and chrome highlights
10. Internal Changes - Includes one large more efficient fan rather than two small ones. 45 nanometer, integrated CPU and GPU

Xbox 360 Slim Compatibility Issues

Although the Xbox 360 Slim is said to be backward compatible, all existing 360 games will work with the new console, but Xbox 360 external hard drives and memory units are not compatible. For those of you that like to carry your profile and games saves around on a memory unit, you can now use a standard USB memory stick. All Xbox 360 consoles with the latest system update can do this.

Xbox 360 Slim Data Transfer Kit

To help entice people upgrading from previous Xbox consoles, Microsoft are selling a data transfer kit for £14.99. This kit will allow you to transfer all of your data, profiles, game saves and everything else over to the new console. For downloadable content, it is best to sign in with your Live profile and download it to the new machine.

Our advice, if you have one is to use a large USB memory stick to transfer the data. Make sure you have the latest firmware update on your Xbox 360 console, as this is a new feature that was only enabled by Microsoft earlier this year.

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