Jasper 360s feature a redesigned motherboard with 65-nanometer graphics and processing chips. The cooler running, less power-hungry sum-of-parts is meant to make the infamous Red Ring of Dead a thing of the past.

My Xbox 360 arcade, purchased in October, was acting weird – mainly lockups when sending messages to Xbox Live buddies. Having purchased the Product Replacement Plan with the Xbox 360 from Tim at the Hamilton Mall’s downstairs Gamestop last October, I returned with the console for a replacement. There was Tim again, smart and friendly as before, but unfortunately he was out of 360 Arcades. He checked with the store upstairs, nada, then called the Shore Mall store, where Travis told him he had one left, and yes, he’d hold it for me.

I drove to Travis’s Gamestop, gave him the dud machine and inspected the new one to make sure it was a Jasper unit, and repurchased the $19.99 Product Replacement Plan for the new one, in case something goes wrong between now and this time next year.

How did I know it was a Jasper? As reported for months, the thing to look for when buying a new Xbox 360 is a power spec of 12 volts, which you can find by inspecting the box’s serial number cutout hole. It may take some finger wiggling to reveal the power rating – assuming, of course, the person selling you the unit allows you to handle the box in the first place.

Unlike the Xbox 360 Arcade it replaces, the Jasper version doesn’t come with a 256 MB memory card. That’s because Microsoft soldered the memory onto the motherboard, making the card unnecessary for saving settings and game progress. With my initial purchase of the optional 120 GB hard drive ($140), the total cost for my 360 was $340 – $40 more than the Xbox 360 Pro, which comes with a few things the Arcade doesn’t: A 60 GB hard drive, a chrome-finished disc tray door and button, a headset, a standard and HD video cable, and, at present, different bundled games. Since I already own a wireless headset and HD cable, doubling the hard disk size for only $40 was worth more than the only thing my 360 was missing –  chrome-accented disc door and button.

The new Jasper 360′s 150-watt power supply is lighter and absent of the visible fan found on older, higher power versions, and maybe it’s a placebo effect, but to my ears my new Jasper-equipped Xbox 360 runs quieter, both with and without a disc spinning inside. 

Summary: Pretty much the same Xbox 360 as before on the outside, albeit with quieter, more energy efficient components running the show on the inside.

Downloading: That Other Way to Get a Video Game
By Joe Hutsko
Game downloading services have been around for years and are only just beginning to make a dent in sales of packaged game software.

The real estate on the back of an HDTV is crowded with ports for connectors of the past. Out of that mess comes yet another cable, but it is supposed to make everything simple: the HDMI.

On MSNBC: Cool holiday tech: Home entertainment
By Joe Hutsko

The New York Times: More Memory and Quicker Loading in a Thinner and Lighter PlayStation Portable
By Joe Hutsko

On MSNBC.com: Take your gaming from good to great: Five cool console gadget combos
By Joe Hutsko

Amazon links to products described in story:

Dear Joe,

The Legend of Zelda®: Phantom Hourglass will hit store shelves on Oct. 1, marking the debut of the franchise on Nintendo DS ™.

You can get a sneak peek of Link’s heroic quest and the game’s cool 3-D graphics now – before everyone else! Just click on the e-card link below to get a taste of Link’s newest adventure.

http://www.redwoodeditor.com/content/Nintendo/ecard/

Your Friends at Nintendo

Enjoy the (brief) show!

Click here to watch ->

BASICS
Not All HDTVs Can Keep Up With the Action
By JOE HUTSKO

Viewers for whom action matters need to pay as much attention to how fast images are processed as to the size of the screen.

Also: NY Times Tech Talk: Is it time to make the move to HDTV? (mp3)