bit-tech Shopping: Microsoft Xbox 360 512MB Memory Unit

Rating: 6

Time with product:

Strengths: Free Xbox Live Arcaded game preloaded (Worms)

Weaknesses: Price

Summary: This overpriced MS memory card is the only way to backup your game saves from your system's hard drive. Yet, it does a half job about it. It's not so much the memory card's fault but the overall Xbox 360's security features where many game saves (Dead of Alive 4, Forza 2, and many others) can not be copied or moved from the system's hard drive to the memory unit. Therefore, this card is nearly useless. This type of security system is just so annoying and it was present in the original Xbox as well. Basically, you will have to replay many of your games over if your hard drive ever fails. 50-100 hrs of Forza 2 again? Yikes!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3

Strengths: It Just Works. Came with Worms (full game).

Weaknesses: Price, even when on sale.

Summary: Works well for transferring profiles and game saves.Did not work for all games, unfortunately. Viva Pinata will not transfer; this is a problem with the game save rather than the memory card.Not useful if you do not roam much. I ended up letting my friend use it all the time. For him it's the best way to roam and use his profile at multiple locations.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Week

Strengths: Portability, convenience, comes with a game

Weaknesses: Not really a substitute for a 360 hard drive

Summary: I needed a way to take my gamer profile to friends' 360s, and recovering the profile every time I switched consoles was just a hassle. Enter the Xbox 360 Memory Unit. Since this version was eight times the capacity for not even twice the price of the 64 MB one, it was an easy choice. The fact that it comes with Geometry Wars is an added bonus and makes me wish I hadn't already bought the game. Since I already have a 360 hard drive, I may have a bias, but I think the memory unit is only really useful as a way to have a "roaming" profile. The capacity of even the 20 GB hard drive, much less the 120 GB one, absolutely destroys the capacity of this card.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: Large storage capacity; Small size

Weaknesses: Expensive

Summary: If you want to have a backup of your saved games and player profiles just in case your Xbox 360 hard drive fails, the 512 MB Xbox 360 Memory Unit is an essential item. You can transfer media files to and from the Xbox 360 and any standard USB flash drive. However, you must use an Xbox 360 Memory Unit to transfer saved games and player profiles. - This unit boasts 8 times the storage capacity of the original memory unit for the Xbox 360. With 512 MB, you have plenty of space to store lots of saved games, profiles, or other media. - My memory unit has been dependable, and its performance is fine. My only complaint is the cost per MB of storage space. At the time of this writing, you can get a 2 GB, possibly even 4 GB, standard USB flash drive at the same cost as the list price for this specialized memory unit.