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Main => Consoles => Topic started by: AtomSmasher on November 18, 2006, 09:07:17 pm

Title: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AtomSmasher on November 18, 2006, 09:07:17 pm
http://www.amazon.com/gp/holiday/cv/homepage/

They'll only have 1,000 units and you can't get it until November 23, at 11 a.m. PST, but I thought everyone would want a heads up.  I wasn't planning on getting a 360, but $100 for one is a deal I can't pass up.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: Donkey_Kong on November 18, 2006, 09:14:39 pm
Looks like a sweet deal but, you will still probably want a hard drive? Are the HD's still a $100?

Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: somunny on November 18, 2006, 11:18:34 pm
Good luck getting one.  There's a ton of buzz surrounding this.  Good deal even without the hard drive, though.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: dudebozo on November 19, 2006, 12:26:52 am
oh man...now everyone knows...geez, thanks a lot.   ;D  nah, yeah...there is some serious buzz going on for this deal.  1000 units, that's going to go fast...like really fast.  but oh well...i'll try to snatch one up
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AtomSmasher on November 19, 2006, 01:14:34 am
Well, I'll be waiting on my comp at exactly 11am on Thanksgiving, refreshing every second until its appears so hopefully I'll get one.  If not, then no big deal since I wasn't planning on getting a 360 anyways, if I did get it, then I'd only pick up the couple games I want to play on it (Dead Rising is the only one I can think of at the moment, Gears of War is coming out on the PC so I won't want the 360 version)
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 19, 2006, 02:47:55 am
I expecy my brother will sell his XBOX360 when he unwraps his PS3 on Christmas day. So we'll be short one XBOX360. This is the perfect opportunity to make up for it. You better believe I'm gonna take advantage.

Let's just hope I don't forget about this deal between now and then.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: romperwomb on November 19, 2006, 10:25:52 pm
::gulp::  The $100 next gen console...that's what my DreamCast was when I bought it.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: Havoc on November 20, 2006, 11:14:32 am
::gulp::  The $100 next gen console...that's what my DreamCast was when I bought it.

Judging by the amount of units already sold I am going to assume it will be around for a while.  The 1000 units are going to go lightning fast but you gotta try and go for it.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 20, 2006, 12:32:04 pm
Yeah, I'm totally going for it. Even if my window is 30 seconds, it shouldn't be hard to get one. If my window is just 5 seconds, that makes it a lot harder.

How long do you people estimate the window will be? Of course none of us can know for sure.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: crashwg on November 20, 2006, 12:39:39 pm
I wouldn't be surprised if it were only 2 seconds...  There are people synching there computer clocks with amazons to make sure they try at the right time.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AtomSmasher on November 20, 2006, 12:41:53 pm
I wouldn't be surprised if it were only 2 seconds...  There are people syncing there computer clocks with amazons to make sure they try at the right time.
Thats a good idea :)

*edit*  looks like my clock is 30 sec to 1 min faster then amazons, which is fine with me :)
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: somunny on November 20, 2006, 12:47:16 pm
I wouldn't be surprised if it were only 2 seconds...  There are people synching there computer clocks with amazons to make sure they try at the right time.

These people seem to think so.

Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 20, 2006, 01:13:36 pm
I wouldn't be surprised if it were only 2 seconds...  There are people synching there computer clocks with amazons to make sure they try at the right time.
Yeah I noticed that, too. Getting it correct down to the second sounds like a royal pain in the rear, though. I think I'll be fine as long as I'm within a few seconds and I know the offset.

somunny, can you fix your link? It's stretching the page all over the place.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: ChadTower on November 20, 2006, 01:18:48 pm

I would be surprised if someone doesn't write an automated browsing tool to check every 2 seconds until they become available and then start the process.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 20, 2006, 01:40:06 pm

I would be surprised if someone doesn't write an automated browsing tool to check every 2 seconds until they become available and then start the process.
Well it's a good idea, but I don't know if it's worth the effort.

Plus this "browsing tool" would require some sort of page scrape. On top of that, it would need to probably automatically click a link or button to actually make the reservation. With out knowing what's going to be on the page, you can't do an effective scrape or proerply tell it which link to click.

And once you've written it, how do you test it to make sure it works?
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: ChadTower on November 20, 2006, 01:56:02 pm

It's not nearly as hard as you think to make a few http transactions, parse the response for certain key strings, and then take an action.  The only even remotely complicated part is actually clicking the link because you're right, it's an unknown.  Odds are really, really good that it would conform to Amazon's standards, though, and you could code it to take an action based on a nearly unlimited number of potential guesses.  A good web developer could write that tool in an hour or two.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 20, 2006, 02:24:33 pm

It's not nearly as hard as you think to make a few http transactions, parse the response for certain key strings, and then take an action.  The only even remotely complicated part is actually clicking the link because you're right, it's an unknown.  Odds are really, really good that it would conform to Amazon's standards, though, and you could code it to take an action based on a nearly unlimited number of potential guesses.  A good web developer could write that tool in an hour or two.
The problem is that you're not making the purchase through the item's regular storefront page. It has to be done through the voting system. Everything is slightly different. Now I don't know exactly HOW different, but it's definitely not the same.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 20, 2006, 03:54:25 pm
I wish they would show total votes rather than percentage. That way we would all know how many other buyers we are up against.

I think I already know the answer to this question, but I figure I will ask anyways... Is there anyone here NOT interested in taking this deal that would mind helping me to get one for myself? I would pay for the $100 of the item's price and then I have items to trade for the work involved. My trade list is here: http://www.skloss.com/alan/for-sale/

I can give up to $100 worth of stuff from the trade list including shipping. Does that sound reasonable? I figure if someone has nothing better to do and wants a coin door or a game PCB for 5 minutes worth of work, then this might be a good opportunity.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 20, 2006, 03:56:43 pm
On another note... CRAP!!! This deal is posted on every gaming blog site under the sun!  :banghead:

Yes, this deal will sell out in 5 seconds or less.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: Donkey_Kong on November 22, 2006, 08:58:08 pm
On another note... CRAP!!! This deal is posted on every gaming blog site under the sun!  :banghead:

Yes, this deal will sell out in 5 seconds or less.

How do you sync to Amazon's clock...Mouuhoohahahah. JK Alan, but seriously how do ya? I might try this.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: DarkBubble on November 22, 2006, 09:42:26 pm
 :'(

The downside of the internet:  Your headstart is obsolete before you get to use it.

Makes you miss the days when the computer illiterate were still on dialup, therefore used the net as little as needed. *sigh*
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 22, 2006, 11:02:30 pm
It's set. The XBOX360 core will be the item of choice. My offer still stands to anyone who's interested. See above in this thread.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 23, 2006, 01:28:05 pm
The page that would allow me to sync my PC by posting a comment is different now. I can't update it. I'm going to be blind.  :hissy:
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AtomSmasher on November 23, 2006, 01:58:46 pm
lol, its a few minutes until 11 and the page is so overloaded that I can't even get it to load once.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: alexandro98 on November 23, 2006, 02:00:16 pm
yup, same here, basically a DDoS attack but with willing customers lol
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: crashwg on November 23, 2006, 02:05:22 pm
Anybody get one?

Took 15 seconds to refresh the page and by the time it did it was too late...

Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 23, 2006, 02:05:50 pm
Ditto here. I'm late. I don't see how I'll get through.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: alexandro98 on November 23, 2006, 02:07:25 pm
its taking minutes to get page refreshed, had firefox and IE running trying to refresh, firefox was no for sale one refresh, next, was gone. IE had get this deal but when i clicked it, it just timed out ....
Blah
lol
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: Donkey_Kong on November 23, 2006, 02:08:41 pm
Can you say jack diddly squat?  :hissy:

Oh well...maybe next year. Happy T-Day all you Americans!
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: Crax on November 23, 2006, 02:09:17 pm
Anybody get one?

Took 15 seconds to refresh the page and by the time it did it was too late...



I have been manually refreshing the page since like 1045 on two different machines...right around 12 they just said loading on my firefox tab and once it came  up and said done but the page was completely blank.  I can't get it to load at all now.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AtomSmasher on November 23, 2006, 02:10:30 pm
Heh, I'm still waiting for it to refresh once, now 8 minutes past 11 and still nothing.  I'm trying to load it in both opera and IE and getting nothing.  

Oh wait, as I type this IE just got through.  Too late  :(
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: whatzcrackn on November 23, 2006, 02:11:30 pm
Mine finally refreshed at 1207 and it was sold out.!!!  :hissy:
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: odysseyroc on November 23, 2006, 02:16:43 pm
Tried to get through on 2 computers. By the time I got one of them to load they were all sold out. Bummer.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: alexandro98 on November 23, 2006, 02:17:01 pm
In IE that timed out when i clicked "Get this deal" i click refresh and it eventually popped up,   It asked what is 9 plus 11, i typed in a answer and clicked next, then forever later i got ...

We're sorry. The product you have selected is not part of the Amazon Customers Vote promotion.

i clicked refresh again and got...

something about URL not found...


oh well, lol
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: Donkey_Kong on November 23, 2006, 02:18:10 pm
That was so lame.

Ours refreshed at like 2-3 mins later and it was already game over yo!
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: clanggedin on November 24, 2006, 05:33:00 pm
In IE that timed out when i clicked "Get this deal" i click refresh and it eventually popped up,   It asked what is 9 plus 11, i typed in a answer and clicked next, then forever later i got ...

We're sorry. The product you have selected is not part of the Amazon Customers Vote promotion.


We had 7 computers refreshing and we got just as far as you did on one of them. It was a total DoS attack that they created on their own site for about 15 minutes. LOL
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: AlanS17 on November 24, 2006, 06:26:38 pm
I know I probably shouldn't feel this way, but hearing that nobody else here got one actually makes me feel a little better.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: crashwg on November 24, 2006, 07:26:58 pm
I know I probably shouldn't feel this way, but hearing that nobody else here got one actually makes me feel a little better.

I agree.
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: whatzcrackn on November 24, 2006, 09:03:09 pm
I know I probably shouldn't feel this way, but hearing that nobody else here got one actually makes me feel a little better.

lol

 :'(
Title: Re: Sale at Amazon: Get an XBOX 360 Core system for $100
Post by: alexandro98 on November 25, 2006, 12:54:45 am
I know I probably shouldn't feel this way, but hearing that nobody else here got one actually makes me feel a little better.
lol, funny thing, I dont even want a xbox360, i was going to buy it and then sell/trade it for a nintendo DS lite or a GP2X! lol