# Pepsi/XBox Contest?



## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Has anyone here tried to get in the contest? I anxiously waited the opening time last night and tried to register. I kept getting this error message:

"Transaction (Process ID 157) was deadlocked on lock resources with another process and has been chosen as the deadlock victim. Rerun the transaction."

I thought that it had to do with using a Mac browser, so I tried from a PC box; same result. I wanted to try again this morning, and I'm getting a "Service Unavailable" message when trying to access the contest site (www.befirsttoplay.ca). What kind of crappy system are they running? I assume Pepsi is having a third party promo agency run the actual contest, but this sucks.


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## trump (Dec 7, 2004)

yup, it sucks. I was on for about 2 mins before it crapped out

EDIT: was it hacked?


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

.


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## mr.steevo (Jul 22, 2005)

Hi,

I just got "Service Unavailable" on that site.

Not sure what to do with the XBox2 when it comes out. I need a new DVD player and enjoy playing Halo and Halo2 on my buddy's XBox, but is the PS3 going to be a better machine? The only game I enjoyed on the XBox so far is Halo due to its level of detail, head to head option and the ability to play the game with a partner. I dont' know what PS3 offers in games and if they have the same playing options that Halo has.

s


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## trump (Dec 7, 2004)

apparently it hates Macs - works fine on Windows + Firefox


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## MacDaddy (Jul 16, 2001)

Worked for me with IE


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

Working fine with Firefox and Safari now.

Working just like the iPod contest, the first week was buggy, buggy, buggy.


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

I was eventually able to get in. Guess what?

I WON!


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## trump (Dec 7, 2004)

sccoaire said:


> I was eventually able to get in. Guess what?
> 
> I WON!


you're ****tin me!? thats freakin awesome. I've been trying my ass off to no avail...any tips?


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## PirateMyke (Jul 14, 2005)

sccoaire said:


> I was eventually able to get in. Guess what?
> 
> I WON!


WHAT THE BLOODY ***K!!!!!!!!!! IV BEEN TRYING TO WIN SO BAD!!!! WHY DO PEOPLE BUT ME ALWAYS WIN... WHY CANT I EVER WIN ANYTHING!!!!!

DEAR GOD!!!!!!!!!!


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

sccoaire said:


> I was eventually able to get in. Guess what?
> I WON!


Congratulations! I'm extremely envious.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

Congrats sccoaire!

trump: if the contest ends up anything like the Pepsi iPod promotion just request your pin once an hour and enter it, and be persistent. I tried various methods of entering the iPod contest, even saving up a couple of hundred pins and entering them all in the same hour, with no luck. Then, I gave up and just started requesting on pin an hour and entering it, within a week I won. Of course either way it all boils down to luck, so just be persistent.


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## davidslegend (Jan 6, 2004)

bhil said:


> Congrats sccoaire!
> 
> trump: if the contest ends up anything like the Pepsi iPod promotion just request your pin once an hour and enter it, and be persistent. I tried various methods of entering the iPod contest, even saving up a couple of hundred pins and entering them all in the same hour, with no luck. Then, I gave up and just started requesting on pin an hour and entering it, within a week I won. Of course either way it all boils down to luck, so just be persistent.


I CAN'T SEE WHERE ON THE SITE TO "REQUEST A PIN" FOR FREE?!

THANKS,

davidslegend


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

davidslegend - It's hidden in the Rules and Regulations link, look for text that says "this link" and it will open the NPN page. Or just go to www.befirsttoplay.ca/NPNx.asp?l=3


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Yep, that's what I did. Got free pins throughout the day, and then entered them all in one shot early in the morning. I won by entering the pins between 6 and 7 yesterday morning, mountain time. Last year, for my iPod, I won by entering my pins between 7 and 8 on a Satuday morning. If you look at the stats for the xbox contest, you'll see that there are less entries at around that time then even 4 o'clock!

I spent half of Sunday going from convenience store to convenience store, and grocery store, trying to find Pepsi products to get codes. I only found 2L bottles, got some of those, and a bunch of potato chip bags!

I'm psyched! I would have never been able to afford one, this is so awesome. It comes with that metallic carrying case too!! and apparently a detachable 20GB drive!! Now I just have to win a HDTV at Future Shop and I'll be in heaven!!

https://www-ssl.futureshop.ca/marke...n=&langid=EN&CMP=FS-BttmBanner2&test_cookie=1


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## Mrs. Furley (Sep 1, 2004)

So I started collecting some PINs yesterday and I was planning to enter them all this morning. The first couple came through fine and then I stopped getting them. I sign up and go through the little survey but nothing comes through. Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong? Could it be hotmail?


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Pepsi changed a part of their survey, after you submit it, to warn users that there might be a delay in getting the e-mail because of different ISPs. They also suggest to check your spam filter... some filters are adaptive, so you might have gotten the first few ones, then the following ones were caught by the filter. Check your junk box.

Oh, and make sure your hotmail mailbox isn't full.


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## Mrs. Furley (Sep 1, 2004)

sccoaire said:


> Pepsi changed a part of their survey, after you submit it, to warn users that there might be a delay in getting the e-mail because of different ISPs. They also suggest to check your spam filter... some filters are adaptive, so you might have gotten the first few ones, then the following ones were caught by the filter. Check your junk box.
> 
> Oh, and make sure your hotmail mailbox isn't full.


Thanks - yeah, I checked all those things. I thought it was a delay at first but surely they would have come through 16 hours later. The funny thing is that I tried again this morning and it didn't come through, then I tried again a half hour later and it did. Go figure. I guess I'll just get as many as I can.


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## The Great Waka (Nov 26, 2002)

Ah, man. I didn't know that you couldn't request more than one pin per hour. I just thought that it telling me that I couldn't would be it. Now I read this:

Attempting to receive more than one (1) No Purchase PIN code per hour will result in all of an entrant’s No Purchase PIN code requests being deemed void and ineligible for entry into any draw throughout the remainder of the Contest Period. 

So I guess I have to make a new account then...


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## sammy (Oct 12, 2002)

I guess that explains why I haven't recieved any pins yet.


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Not this again... I didn't win last time.

Ho well, thanks for letting us know about the contest.


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## davidslegend (Jan 6, 2004)

*I'M SCREWED...???!!! BY PEPSI NOW?!>?*

HI!

CHECK THIS OUT:
"Attempting to receive more than one (1) No Purchase PIN code per hour will result in all of an entrant’s No Purchase PIN code requests being deemed void and ineligible for entry into any draw throughout the remainder of the Contest Period. No Purchase PIN codes must be entered within 24 hours of request and must be entered by the email address that submitted the request. Each PIN code can only be used once..."

I THINK I TRIED TO RECEIVE AN EXTRA PIN IN THE SAME HOUR THEREFORE, "Attempting to receive more than one (1) No Purchase PIN code per hour will result in all of an entrant’s No Purchase PIN code requests being deemed void and ineligible for entry into any draw throughout the remainder of the Contest Period." I'M SCREWED!

GUESS I WON'T EVEN BOTHER SUBMITTING ANYTHING ELSE NOW, RIGHT?!?

UGLY STUFF!

BEST REGARDS,

DAVIDSLEGEND


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## MacDaddy (Jul 16, 2001)

davidslegend said:


> HI!
> 
> CHECK THIS OUT:
> "Attempting to receive more than one (1) No Purchase PIN code per hour will result in all of an entrant’s No Purchase PIN code requests being deemed void and ineligible for entry into any draw throughout the remainder of the Contest Period. No Purchase PIN codes must be entered within 24 hours of request and must be entered by the email address that submitted the request. Each PIN code can only be used once..."
> ...


WTF!!! I did that by accident, thought I was in the next hour. I spent all day yesterday collecting PIN codes!! SOBs!!!
Im registering a new account.


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

Are we sure that doesn't just mean if you're using multiple email accounts? AFAIK it just gives you an error if you make the mistake. It's if you get caught cheating (multiple email accounts to get multiples per hour).


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## davidslegend (Jan 6, 2004)

*Got an email response:*

Quote:
Hi David,

We reserve the right to disqualify anyone requesting more than one No Purchase PIN per hour, but we realize mistakes happen. You have not been disqualified.

Thanks for the email! End Quote.

Well, it isn't likely a good story for some others who haven't read the fine print on NPN offer! Careful!

Best Regards,

davidslegend


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## RobTheGob (Feb 10, 2003)

I won last Friday. I still think that the probabilities of winning are better if you enter every draw that you can, rather than entering all at once. This method worked really well during the iPod contest and seems to have worked well this time...

I entered 86 times (almost from the beginning) before I won. Took more than that for the iPod contest...


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

RobTheGob - Nice job! Why would you want a 360? 

That said, my best friend won one, and he used a NPN (and made a mistake asking for two NPNs earlier so he wasn't disqualified).


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## moonsocket (Apr 1, 2002)

RobTheGob said:


> I won last Friday. I still think that the probabilities of winning are better if you enter every draw that you can, rather than entering all at once. This method worked really well during the iPod contest and seems to have worked well this time...
> 
> I entered 86 times (almost from the beginning) before I won. Took more than that for the iPod contest...


Thats right. you also won the Pepsi iPod promotion too!!


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## RobTheGob (Feb 10, 2003)

Well - my dad won three iPods! I'm waiting to see if he wins one of these...

My kids will like it - my current "soft-mod" Xbox is an incredible device. Xbox Media Center is a very nice piece of software!

I just built a linux powered PVR (MythTV) and even use XBMC as a frontend for it.

I'm not going to hold my breath while waiting for a hack for the new one- but I'll be happy if and when it arrives...


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

got the first part of the prize last week: the metallic case, t-shirt, pen, buttons, and promo coasters. very sweet!


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

sccoaire - Did you not find the 1.5MB WMV file on the 700MB CD a complete waste of time and space? Not to mention the t-shirt screams mug me?


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

Is there any email program that can automatically send an email every 61 minutes? I have some contests I'd like to enter.


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Chealion said:


> sccoaire - Did you not find the 1.5MB WMV file on the 700MB CD a complete waste of time and space? Not to mention the t-shirt screams mug me?


Yeah, I thought it was kind of useless... and on my Mac, the "invitation" file didn't display properly. The t-shirt I like though, a little silent bragging at work doesn't hurt...  

Which XBox 360 are we getting, the core system only or the full package?


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

sccoaire - You get the full package. And my strong opinion on the t-shirt is that it sucks. It screams "mug me, I have a horrible looking t-shirt" to me. But then again, I haven't won and I don't like the look of the t-shirt at all.


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## James Z (Oct 12, 2002)

Just won the 5am draw this morning.Won an ipod last year but had to sell it to fix my Van.I'm soooo happy.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

Sweet! I just won the 6-7pm drawing! I had almost given up hope and right at the last minute I won. If I remember correctly it was almost exactly one year (give or take a day) ago that I won my iPod in the Pepsi contest.


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## middens (Nov 9, 2005)

wow. you don't know how very jealous I am. my friend and I have been entering non-stop since Saturday (overlooked my original xbox notice about it!!  ) and we have not won. It is so discouraging to refresh your e-mail shortly after the hour and have that let down... *every* hour. I really hope I win. I've been trying the stock pile and enter all at once method with no avail


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## ladyred (Nov 6, 2005)

wow look at all the winners ..hope I am as lucky too ...  

Congrats everyone ..


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

middens said:


> wow. you don't know how very jealous I am. my friend and I have been entering non-stop since Saturday (overlooked my original xbox notice about it!!  ) and we have not won. It is so discouraging to refresh your e-mail shortly after the hour and have that let down... *every* hour. I really hope I win. I've been trying the stock pile and enter all at once method with no avail


I won by entering codes once an hour in the evenings (usually 3 or 4 per evening), and I was over 140 entries when I won so I know all about that let down. I even experienced the let down on the hour that I won because I forgot that the draw takes place at 10 minutes after the hour, and I checked at 5 minutes past and didn't think I won. That made it even better when I got the "you won" email.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, just keep entering every hour, persistance pays off.


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## middens (Nov 9, 2005)

I just spend the whole night setting my alarm clock every hour and entering. I don't think I have missed a single draw since 7am Tuesday until now... I am SO dedicated it is sick! You think there would be points for that! I've seen quite a few winners selling them on ebay for like $600+ so clearly there are some undeserving winners. I hope karma comes around my way before the end of the 10th! 
I have a question for all you winners... when you filled out the surveys for the NPN pin, did you fill out legitimate answers or just any old thing that came to mind. I am honestly considering that maybe there is a conspiracy against people who don't answer truthfully and their pins being "non-winning". I truly think I am going crazy.


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## ladyred (Nov 6, 2005)

when pepsi had the iPod contest, I kept entering and entering and had no luck whatsoever..i did notice though that no one had one from my area of belleville ..seen places like napanee,trenton,picton,kingston,ottawa ..but never belleville .


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

middens, I think you are maybe getting a little paranoid about them giving away non-winning pins for made up answers on the survey. How would they know if you're answers were made up or not? Unless of course they compare them to your previous survey answers, ut even if they do that, it is still not valid since some of the answers are bound to change over the course of the contest.

Just to be on the safe side though, the first time I answered the survey I chose a set of quick to enter responses, and then just used the same responses every time I entered. It's both fast, and meets the (imaginary?) compare your answers to previous entries criteria.

And remember, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

So, when do we get it, any ideas? The whole concept is "Be first to play" but you know, if you get one day in advance, it takes away from the big "promo". Getting anxious...


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

sccoaire - Considering that the game that is included with the system has a street date of Nov. 15th (Madden '06 or Need For Speed) I don't forsee anything sooner then if you're amazingly lucky the 17th. Personally I think it's going to arrive for most people on the 21st since they won't be sending anything out on the weekends.

Either way considering the move by Microsoft to extremely limit the quantity available for launch date I wouldn't be surprised if something happened and the 360s were late to winners. I hope not, because two of my friends won one and I'd much rather play some Perfect Dark Zero the day it's released.


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## middens (Nov 9, 2005)

I am at 99 now. I hope I do not go to sleep an unhappy girl tonight.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

I'm with Chealion on this, I don't think most of us will see it until the 21st. Having just won last week, I'm still waitin for my "Party in a Box" to arrive. was pretty disappointed to find out the Ghost Recon 3 release had been bumped to Feb. That was on the top of my must play list.


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## James Z (Oct 12, 2002)

*It's here!!!*

Well posters on RFD's are claiming they are receiving their Xbox's this morning, and with Kameo.


James


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## James Z (Oct 12, 2002)

*Mine has arrived!!!*

Well I just got my XBOX360 it came around 1:30pm via UPS.Kameo is the game that we are getting for now and another is on it's way in a couple weeks the letter states.Wow I can't believe we got it this early.My son just got his gamecube for his birthday so this ones going up for sale then!!!


Good luck to the rest waiting.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

James Z said:


> Well I just got my XBOX360 it came around 1:30pm via UPS.Kameo is the game that we are getting for now and another is on it's way in a couple weeks the letter states.Wow I can't believe we got it this early.My son just got his gamecube for his birthday so this ones going up for sale then!!!
> 
> Good luck to the rest waiting.


And you're here posting instead of playing with it why???  

Now I really want to go home and check my mail, stupid work, always getting in the way of fun.


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

My friend who won just got his. I'm glad to be wrong but I really, really thought they'd be late on getting them out.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

Well I got home and was really excited to see a box that arrived via UPS. Unfortunately it was only my "party in a box". Talk about your let downs. Oh well, at least I know the next box that arrives via UPS will have to be it.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

So, now that I have my party pack (still no Xbox  ), I'm trying to figure out where I can redeem some of the coupons. Specifically, the free 8x355ml Pepsi packs. No where I look seems to have them. Where have other winners redeemed theirs?


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## James Z (Oct 12, 2002)

I have not used any of the Pop ones yet, although each time I used one for the chips they sure look at the coupon funny.I can't believe you have not gotten your Xbox yet, although many on RFD have not as well.Hope it come soon.

James


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Got home on lunch and had a letter from Purolator saying my package had arrived and I could go and pick it up. No indication on the letter what the package is, so I assume it's the Xbox because I'm not expecting anything else. The letter indicate they got it on the 14th... why didn't they try to deliver it?? Dummies...


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Got it! It looks great... heavier then I thought...


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

Well, still no XBox and I still haven't found anywhere to redeem the Pepsi coupons. Hasn't anyone tried to redeem any of these yet?

On the plus side, I had only redeemed one of my Doritos coupons until today, when I found out Pharmasave was having a double coupon day today. So, I took my remaining four coupons and went down and picked up my 8 free bags of Doritos.


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

sccoaire - How are you liking Kameo?

FWIW, a Mac formatted iPod works just fine on an XBox 360.


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Chealion said:


> sccoaire - How are you liking Kameo?
> 
> FWIW, a Mac formatted iPod works just fine on an XBox 360.


I actually like it lots... it's kind of childish, but I embarassingly have to admit that it's the kind of games I can play...  

So you're saying I can plug my iPod on my xbox to play music? That means I'd need a USB A to A cable... but the controls are still done on the iPod?


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

sccoaire - Yes. See here (YourITDepot.com). They have made a video showing how to use your iPod on the 360. My poor narration skills are in no way responsible for making your XBox blow up. There are also a couple of other videos showing some runs through the Dashboard.

Warning: It is a .wmv file since the QuickTime encoder for some reason was choking left right and centre.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

Another day and still no XBox, I guess I won't be playing this weekend. And that leaves only Monday for them to deliver it or I won't really "Be First To Play" as it will be publicly available first thing Tuesday morning. I even called the Pepsi promotions people to see what I could find out and they have no tracking numbers for the XBoxes, and won't even bother looking for information on the shipment until after it doesn't show up before the launch date.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

Well, apparently my XBox showed up yesterday and my wife hid it as a surprise for me today, inviting some friends over to play. It would have all been great except that Pepsi missed putting a game into my package so I have nothing to play. Oh well at least I can still say I had mine first.


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## James Z (Oct 12, 2002)

Glad you finally got yours, I do remember someone in the RFD forum getting two games thinking how great it was, was at least for him, guess we know where yours is.

James


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## RobTheGob (Feb 10, 2003)

Not really on topic - but I can't believe how hot this thing runs...


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

RobTheGob - Well it is like the G5 but with 3 x 3.2 Ghz processors. 

Give it some ventilation and point it away from yourself and it works fine.  It also doubles as a room heater for the winter to save heating costs, however the risk of small children being squashed by the power adapter still has me concerned.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

I managed to find a place that would sell me a game in advance, so I managed to play a bit on the weekend. I never noticed how hot it ran, but I can't believe how loud it is. Sitting 10 feet away, the spinning disc still overpowers the sound from the TV.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

And Chealion definitely has the right of it, I think I have to put in some extra reinforcement into my floor where the power adapter is going to sit, that thing is massive.


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## sccoaire (Feb 11, 2005)

Got to play with mine the whole weekend, it's great! I agree with you guys, the first thing I thought when unpacking it was how massive and heavy the power supply was. After playing for a few hours, I got worried at how hot both the power supply and the console were... but it still runs, so it's got to be normal. 

Another first reaction after turning it on and putting a CD in was the noise. That thing is loud! I put it down horizontally thinking that it was the vibration from the CD while the console was standing upright that made so much noise... but it didn't do too much of a difference. 

I did plug in my iPod (mac formatted) and it's awesome! I can access the library from the dashboard, it's cool. I didn't need a special cable as I initially thought. I already had a USB cable for it, don't know what I was thinking.

I also plugged in a USB flash drive and was astonished that I could play music and videos from it. It even showed the .Trashes folder from the Mac file system! 

I started ripping CDs because the Mac isn't support as a computer to connect to so I can't stream my library. One hassle though: the console can't fetch album data for albums I burn in iTune. It only works from original CDs.

All in all, I'm extremely happy to have won it. I didn't get the original Xbox until this past summer because there were no way I could justify spending money on this kind of entertainment stuff (I got it free because it was broken and was able to fix it). So I would have never been able to buy the 360 on my own.


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