Team Xecuter Blaster360 Update Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Team Xecuter Blaster360 Update Posted by XanTium | December 19 17:35 EST

From Team Xecuter: [QUOTE] First off all we know the Blaster360(pre-order now: USA/CAN | World) is taking longer than expected, we can only go as fast as the desired end result dictates. OK, after we had a final version manufactured to beta a few weeks ago, we have embarked on an exhaustive testing process (and jees am I glad we did too!). When I say tested, I mean I had guys knock the shit out of this product and tried to break it anyway they could. Of course the answer is yes they did break it, many times, and we have fixed/solved every problem so it REALLY is now ready to roll out of the factory. No one is more down about the fact it's not ready for Xmas season than we are, however of course no one is going to argue that we wanted to get this right - because you have NO idea how accurate this thing has to be (initially we thought it would be MUCH easier/simpler than this - boy were we wrong) Just for referance these are some of the main points highlighted by our hardcore beta testers with all their analysis hardware (along with the result from the factory) 1. Cross talk interferance issue on SATA bus (ODD on rare occassions can not be detected by PC) : Fixed by complete new re-layout of PCB to split low-frequence and high-frequence layer and traces, and modify layout of ground panel (2nd layer) and vcc panel (3rd layer) to eliminate interferance. Beta tester Result: No longer has the cross talk interferance problem 2. Timing diagram of modeb signal delayed output to ODD (it would switch ODD into wrong mode) : Fixed by changing IC XXXXXXX to IC XXXXXXX, because we found XXXXXX has faster timing of Tpd-HL than XXXXXXX to avoid the timing delay problem, and XXXXX can now work on 3.3V so reduced components. Beta tester Result: No longer has any Modeb problems 3. Occassional ground issue (leaks when reading from ODD) : Improve ground return trace and connection to have better quality of signal of SATA. Beta tester Result: No longer has any Ground leaks 4. Power input auto-switching function improved (for those that don't know the Blaster360 lies idle until the Molex PSU is plugged into - then it auto switches in Blaster360 mode - no manual setting up whatsoever. The only thing you must do is make sure your Xbox360 PSU is unplugged (of course) or youll be having fireworks for Xmas...probably (haven't really had the nerve to try that one myself - maybe someone is daring and will post on YouTube ) 5. PCB construction and installation improved: No cutting of the metal case of the XB360 whatsoever, even easier to install than before. 6. LED Green/Blue/Glow function improved. We polled our Beta testers with a Q&A to give us an idea of a BETA/RTF(*) image.... On average the Beta Blaster scored an 8.5/10 After all the fixes applied EVERY single tester gave it a Double Thumbs Up 10/10! We are now very very happy with this product. Please understand we have put a LOT of development and testing into this and can only say sorry to those who have waited so long to get their hands on one. I can now estimate that the release will be in the next 2 weeks. Im talking to retailers about RRP - It will probably be around $70 (and before anyone bitches about the price we only make about $15 from that - and of course you dont HAVE to buy it. We spent a lot of money developing this - that kind of effort doesnt come cheap and it certainley doesnt come free - the mould alone cost us $35k). (*) btw RTF is what we term as RELEASE TO FACTORY (thats when our dev team gives a final GO on a product design) PS many congrats to c4e - Xtreme v5.0 really is outstanding work [/QUOTE] Official Site: http://www.team-xecuter.com Pre-Order ($70): USA/CAN | World

[bucko]

nice one

[quarky42]

Simple:

1. TeamX: Thanks for working hard, testing hard, and ultimately designing a worthy product.
2. I'm glad to see so much testing go into it and finally coming up with a no case cutting solution. Very tempting.
3. $75 is harsh. Do you forsee manufacturing costs ever going down? Hopefully you'll recoup your dev. costs and can bring the price down at some point I hope?

[OmegaSupreme]

i applaude you guys but the price is a little steep

[ka-b00m]

Great job guys...
I guess ill get one... i hate opening the damn xbox360...

[ampedXR]

In my opinion, Team Xecuter makes by far some of the BEST products out there in the scene.
This, no doubt, is an incredible product!

I looked forward to this item for a while now, but unfortunatly, I will be passing up this device since, I can't see myself spending $70 for this "convenience".

I do realize there are alot of rich people out there that make too much money so I am sure they will be VERY pleased with this product!

Have we really seen that many firmwares released lately? $70 worth of firmwares? I guess it depends who you are

Its too bad the development costs of these are so high! X deserves more than $15 profit off of these units. From a business standpoint...maybe they shoulda looked into the costs a little but more and see if it really was worth the time and investment on this item.

Just my opinion
(btw Im not cheap, and I own only X products)

[mortyblack]

blablablablabla.... and still no REAL modchip for the x360...

This post has been edited by mortyblack: Dec 19 2006, 11:29 PM

[RiPpN-N-TrIppN]

what
$70 just so u don't have to open up your console to flash it
haha now thats a little high
i still havnt changed FW's from 3.3 and i don't see a need to any time soon
not until M$ plugs the FW Hack
if i was thinkin about having a mod like this i would be making my own
and be spending that $70 on some good weed and some beers
but thats just me
Rip

[dmitri]

I'm not sure how $70 is expensive, most Xbox 360 games are $59.99..

And who wants a REAL modchip, when the firmware upgrades are stealth, and you can buy something like this and plug in 2 wires.

Sooo much easier than it used to be. Great job guys.

[O9Balla]

I'm not sure how $70 is expensive, most Xbox 360 games are $59.99..

And who wants a REAL modchip, when the firmware upgrades are stealth, and you can buy something like this and plug in 2 wires.

Sooo much easier than it used to be. Great job guys.

To answer your question: those of us who aren't interested in just piracy and backups (of questionable legitimacy). I, for one, want a way to run homebrew apps for free (Stuff like XBMC, Xored Trainers, etc... all w\o the ridiculous 99 dollar a year price tag since I can't code).

[Mad-Man-666]

I'm not sure how $70 is expensive, most Xbox 360 games are $59.99..

And who wants a REAL modchip, when the firmware upgrades are stealth, and you can buy something like this and plug in 2 wires.

Sooo much easier than it used to be. Great job guys.

Modchip > firmware

even a stealth firmware can be detected if M$ wants to do it.

with a Modchip you can boot into a alt drive/partision that M$ dashboard does not run on. with that they will not know what you are running.

[gaming fanboy]

yeah right.

[bff_foeva]

Niiicee Xecuter!! Outstanding product, i'll certainly buy this once i cough up enough cash to buy the hunking 70 dolla product, but will be WORTH IT!

[sunbound]

OK, so here is a stupid question...

When they say…

"The only thing you must do is make sure your Xbox360 PSU is unplugged (of course) or you’ll be having fireworks for Xmas...probably (haven't really had the nerve to try that one myself - maybe someone is daring and will post on YouTube )"

I assume they mean the 360 just needs to be unplugged, correct?

if not, what am i missing?

As for the price? I'm really no less excited about this product since it was predicted to be around $50. Especially since i found out i needed to get a USB-SATA adaptor also...

Sunbound

[Exobex]

Surely incorporating a DPDT relay that disconnects the drive's power from the 360 and connects it to Molex power as soon as the Molex is powered up would prevent the "fireworks" issue by preventing the Molex power feeds connecting directly to the Xbox 360 power feeds?

CODE

3.3V (360)  O------------------------
                                    |
3.3V (Molex)O---------------------- |
                                  | |
12V (360)   O-------------------- | |
                                | | |
12V (Molex) O----=------=------ | | |
                 |      |     | | | |
                 |   -------  | | | |
                 _   |    /|  | | | |
                 ^   |   / |  O O O O
                 |   |  /  |== / = /
                 |   | /   |   O   O
                 |   |/    |   |   |
                 |   -------   |   ----------O 3.3V (drive)
                 |      |      |
GND (Molex) O----*-------      --------------O 12V (drive)
                 |
GND (360)   O----=---------------------------O GND (drive)

(Not shown above: 3.3V Molex supply is from regulator IC, in turn fed from 5V Molex supply)

Or am I missing something here?

This post has been edited by Exobex: Dec 20 2006, 01:02 AM