First I've heard of this... and I'm not sure this is entirely accurate, but it certainly seems plausible.

-avatar!

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?optio … 7&Itemid=2

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/05/the- … me-zephyr/

Yeah stories of a HDMI model have been knocking around for a while. The 120GB hard drive is news to me though.

Plus the 65 nm chip should make the system cooler (as in heat output-wise) and cheaper.  It being cheaper helps because MS knows it needs a bigger hard drive to support all those DLC, XBLA games, and the video marketplace, the latter of which supposedly is becoming quite popular.

That should mean quieter too, shouldn't it? My 360 sounds like a washing machine. Maybe I'll paint mine black and do a crafty switch.

Isn't it the drive's fault that it is so noisy?

Oh it could well be. I thought it was a general cooling fan but I've never actually checked. If it's the drive, I guess a cooler system won't make any difference.

Good point.  I guess we'll see.  I hate to say it, but I do want a newer version that runs cooler and has a larger hard drive.  I may get the Elite.

Is the 65nm chip confirmed for the 360 Elite?  I know all 360s will have it starting this fall, but the news seems fuzzy as to whether or not the Elite will have it at its debut.

Regardless, I think Microsoft is being greedy with the price.  The rumored $479 is too high considering it doesn't have a high-def disc drive which the $499 PS3 has.  It also STILL doesn't have built in WiFi, but that's another story.  I think the Elite should replace the Pro at $399, the Pro should replace the Core at $299, and the Core should go away entirely.

In addition to the stuff you mentioned, the bigger hard drive is also meant to support AT&T's IPTV service for which the X360 can double as a set-top box.

The Elite is a limited edition thing, so I am only guessing that they did this because they have a limited number of the 65 nm's.  The Elite package is intended to take the premium package later, from what I've read, except that the system will be white at that point.  I assume that when it does do that the 65 nm's will be in greater quantity.

The Core system should be taken off the market though.

Judging by the comments to this news article, my guess was wrong (although I wasn't the only one to think that):  http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=7600  That 120GB hard drive sounds tempting, since I do want to make use of XBLVM (that darn digital distribution), but that price is a real turn-off. 

Couldn't an external USB hard drive work just the same?  Here's a 250GB that's still cheaper:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6822136022  Either way, MS should really reconsider that price.