Xbox One 1TB Console - Halo: The Master Chief Collection Bundle

I decided to buy an Xbox One in July 2015 due to Microsoft's dedication to updating and making the console better, and after their presentation at E3 2015 with the announcement of backwards compatibility.For nearly 2 years I held out and went from the Xbox 360 to the PlayStation 4 because I wanted to wait and see if Microsoft was going to make an effort to change the Xbox One by making it better and worth purchasing after that atrocious 2013 release and the whole talk nobody really cared about ''tv, kinect, drm, all-in-one, etc.'' Boy I'm glad I waited because the Xbox One is officially better, somewhat innovative, simply more exciting than the competition in 2015 and the Xbox One 1TB Halo MCC bundle is well woth it! Here is what I think of it so far with pro's and con's.Pros:Less than $400 and comes with 1TB of hard drive space, new and improved Xbox One controller with a 3.5mm headset jack (should've been like this from launch.) AND the best exclusive sci-fi FPS game series of the 2000s: Halo MCC.Xbox One exclusive games. Loved the exclusives out already such as Dead Rising 3, Titanfall, Ryse, Killer Instinct, and the Forza games. The flagship Halo series is still alive and strong, and a promising long lineup is due starting in Sept 2015.Backwards Compatibility. BC was announced at e3 2015, and will launch in Nov 2015. BC will allow you to play hundreds of X360 games AND DLC that you own without the need of using a X360 anymore. The awesome thing for me is that you can also play multiplayer with anyone that is on the X360 AND someone that is on an Xbox One using BC.Universal Apps. Dozens and dozens of apps like Netflix or Youtube to use on the Xbox one. Some apps require a subscription, but some are free and should never leave you bored. Oh yeah did I mention that twitch is available and you can stream your gameplay and also watch gameplay from gamers that are using ANY console/pc.Multiple apps can be open like you are on a pc, you can close them at your discretion.Xbox + PC integration with Windows 10.DLNA support.External hard drive option. Another feature I wanted my PS4 to have.2 AA battery option for controller. I always have several rechargeable AA batteries on hand, and I never have to worry about plugging the controller itself up for a charge.Quiet console even with a power brick and huge fan inside.Console firmware updates and new features/fixes from user feedback nearly every other month. Microsoft actually have a website for Xbox user feedback with voting/response/comments/status/upcoming updates/fixes.Xbox Live is phenomenal on the Xbox one. Dedicated servers deliver stable online use and multiplayer. Microsoft finally ended the terrible paywall in 2014 that required you to have their paid gold membership just to access certain features and apps with subscriptions that you ALREADY PAID FOR! The only thing that you need a gold membership now is for multiplayer and free games every month. They also adopted the ''twitter'' style for friends as well. No longer do you have to get pelted with friend requests, people can follow you and you can choose who to follow back. Want to share gameplay with more than youtube and Facebook? There is a Upload studio app that allows you to be creative with your gameplay vids, and you can actually attach vids with a message and share among friends. Your vids can be public or trend to everyone that uses the app or whoever view the specific game in the xbox store or hub. Xbox live also has custom themes and a lot more features as well.Phil Spencer is the head of Xbox at Microsoft as of 2014. He actually cares about gamers, listens to feedback, and is a gamer himself. He is the reason why the Xbox One has gotten better and receives updates so often. If he was in charge during the next gen planning and release of the current Xbox, everything listed and updated would have been included at the launch in 2013. He said himself that the Xbox One was headed in the wrong direction in 2013 but he had no control then because he wasn't the boss.Cons:Not all games are 1080p. The Xbox One have a lot of games at 1080p, but due to the GPU, some games on the Xbox One is either upscaled or 900p on up. Microsoft will try to solve that problem with the release of Directx 12 to be updated on the console in Nov 2015. Directx 12 will not fix the problem completely, and I don't think any games are less than 900p on the Xbox One.External power brick still exist. By now the power supply should be inside the system.Frustrating snap and complicated, sometimes slow User Interface. For a next gen console the entire UI should be much faster and instant like the PS4. When you click on something simple as friends or messages, instead of being instant, an image pops up then it loads up. The snap option can take anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 minute to load up while playing a game and the UI will slow down as well. There should be a option to use a guide menu like the X360 have or you could choose to use snap. Microsoft listened to feedback and said there will be a UI change and windows 10 will be implemented on the console in Nov 2015 for a faster, friendlier UI.(I will update when it is released.)No option to listen to music while playing a game without using the snap feature.No option to use a headset and hear people talk over the tv speakers as well.Slow install times for older titles.The settings page don't have its own tab, not visible on home screen either. You have to press the options button or use it as a pin to access settings.The 2 buttons under the controller power button that replace the start and select buttons don't state what the buttons is, just a small image on each. Also, if you have multiple controllers on, there is no extra led lights indicating which is which.No easy option to replace the internal hard drive. You can replace the hard drive, but you will void the warranty that is still valid on the console.Not that much use offline. Consoles these days need an internet connection to give you the full features and great experience.Ok, that's my review and I hope I was clear enough for someone who is considering to purchase this console or not.

I want to start this off by indicating that I am not a hard core gamer. I had the original XBox years ago. It died. I didn't get another one until last week when I decided to get an XBox One. One of the reasons I waited is because I don't trust brand new consoles and I was right, there were numerous issues upon the initial release. When I went to the Amazon site and read the reviews of this one, I saw that several reviewers remarked that the issues, for the most part, have been fixed. So I decided to give it a try.First of all, a 1 TB console with the complete Halo series at this price is awesome. At the time I bought the console there was a list of over 100 games that could be chosen for free. One of the reasons I bought this was to play Mortal Kombat X, which was on the free list. That made it even better. So the value for the money is definitely there.Since I haven't used an XBox since the original, I see the controller is a bit different. Actually, I have to admit, I think I like these controllers better than any of the consoles. Just my opinion.Setup is easy. Since the system already uses a Windows 8 backdrop it has a familiar interface. I could already use my regular login so I didn't need a new account. If you decide to get XBox Live, Amazon has the 12 month subscription cards the cheapest I've ever seen them (I think I paid about 43 bucks for mine).As far as features go, just like the other consoles, this unit doubles as a DVD/Blu-Ray player, video streaming device, etc. You can install Netflix, Hulu+, etc, just like on any other Windows 8 machine or other consoles.At the time I got this, there was only one, 275 MB update. By what I've heard, some of the past updates have been huge (several GB). I was excited to get the system and didn't want to have to wait hours for an update and fortunately, I didn't, this update was quick so it's a relatively up to date OS. The included Halo collection must be downloaded though, it doesn't come with the disc (there is a code card included). Not a big deal, you just have to run the download before you get to play. In my case, I just played Mortal Kombat X, which I had gotten on disc.As far as accessories go, I immediately bought a second controller with the charge pack, a charge pack for the controller that came with the system, silica gel covers for the controllers (I have tile floor, I don't want them to break), and a media remote (mainly to give it a feel of a regular media player for my son when he wants to watch stuff on it, the thing wasn't all that expensive and it's quite durable). It comes with a 14 day trial for XBox Live so if you're new to it like I was, you can try it out first before you buy a subscription (again, I'd recommend buying the 1 year subscription code or card on Amazon as it tends to go on sale for significantly less than the stores and you don't have to input your credit card number for auto charging and renewing).Overall, I'm glad I got this system. I haven't had it long so I'm hoping it withstands the test of time far better than my first XBox. It's great though. I'll be getting more games for it in the near future!