Jasper Xbox 360 Pro acquired: the photograph is proof

[admin]

A lucky soul over at PDAToday has acquired one such unit, and while he may just be incredibly fortunate, we'd say it's about time you to-be Pro owners start looking out for a few telltale signs. As you can see in the closeups in the read link, there here FDOU team Pro -- which was ordered from Amazon on December 22nd -- boasts a 12.1 amp rating and the unmistakable Jasper power port.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/29/jasper-xbox-360-pro-acquired-the-photograph-is-proof/

[drfsupercenter]

So what is Jasper exactly? Just the newer power thing?

I'm pretty sure that's what I have - and I bought mine two weeks ago. I got the Holiday 2008 bundle, that came with Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones. It has the HDMI port just like the picture.

[admin]

Jasper is a re-design of the system allowing for cooler operation and less chance of RRoD and other problems. The GPU, previously 90nm, has been reduced to a 65nm process to allow the cooler operation to occur.

All new Arcade models with built in 256 MB memory are Jaspers. The best way to tell if your Xbox 360 is a Jasper or not is to look above the power plug, which has the usual power rating information. If it says "12.1A", then yours is a Jasper (see the pics on this page for more information: http://www.pdatoday.com/index.php/we..._pro_consoles/).

It's easy to get an Arcade Jasper model, but getting a Pro version with Jasper is a bit harder at the moment.

A summary of all the 360 models:

Xenon - original
Zephyr - added HDMI
Falcon - reduced CPU process to 65nm
Opus - same as Xenon, except it's modified to reduced chance of RRoD - used to repair Xenon consoles
Jasper - reduced GPU process to 65nm

[drfsupercenter]

I'll check mine tomorrow.

Though I know my power plug doesn't have the "locking" mechanism... my friend has an older one, and his has two little prongs on the side you have to push in order to remove the plug from the console. Mine doesn't have that.

Were there any Xbox 360 Pros that don't have Jasper? As I know only the new ones did, and mine for sure has HDMI.

[admin]

I'll check mine tomorrow.

Please let us know, I would also be interested if the console is less noisy or doesn't run as hot as before. Is yours the Arcade model? If it is, you may be eligible for a refurbished 20GB HDD for cheap:

http://www.xboxstorageupgrade.com/

Were there any Xbox 360 Pros that don't have Jasper? As I know only the new ones did, and mine for sure has HDMI.

Not sure what you mean. All Xbox 360s have HDMI now, except for the very first model (sold in the first year of release). Having HDMI doesn't mean you have a Jasper, only the Amp and Power rating tells you whether you have one or not. And the unique power plug (from what you've posted, it does sound like you have a Jasper).

Up until a few weeks ago, there weren't any Pro Jaspers. They seem to be very rare at the moment, most likely because Microsoft have converted their old stock of Arcade models to Pro ones by adding the HDD, so they can sell the new Jasper Arcade models with the internal memory needed to run the new Xbox interface. So only until the old stock have sold out will there be Jasper Pros available en masse. But as the article linked to points out, some are already out there.

[drfsupercenter]

Mine is a Pro model, it came with a 60GB hard drive.

And it does indeed say 12.1A above the power plug. The funny thing is that the big black box that plugs into it (what is that, a transformer or something?) says Output: 14.2A... so it's almost like it's overpowering the Xbox.

As far as it running quieter... it runs pretty quiet, but I've never owned an Xbox 360 before so I have nothing to compare it to. The only friend I know who doesn't have a Jasper model has a red ring of death, so I doubt that's a good comparison either.

Not sure what you mean. All Xbox 360s have HDMI now, except for the very first model (sold in the first year of release).

Well I thought that the Pro version didn't get HDMI until very recently. My friend bought his a year or so ago and his didn't have HDMI. I was told by a sales rep that only the newest ones have HDMI.

And as far as them being rare... maybe that's just on standalone units. I bought the "Holiday Bundle 2008", and it had one. A different friend also bought that same bundle (about a week before me) and his is also a Jasper.
So I'm just gonna take a wild guess here and say that the Holiday Bundles all have Jasper plugs.

[katzdvd]

We got the pro bundle for Christmas, from Gamestop. I guess we got hosed on this, because ours says 14.2A above the power plug. I don't have anything to compare it to, but it does seem to run hot.

Guess I know what is in store down the road...

[drfsupercenter]

Hm, maybe I'm wrong about all the holiday bundles being Jasper then.

You could probably exchange it for another one... Gamestop tends to let you do that.

On a side note, any idea if Microsoft will fix a squeaky controller under warranty? The one that came with mine squeaks when I use the joystick, and I swear that's not supposed to happen.

[doctorhardware]

The 14.2A, I am guessing that is the current rating for the X-box.

[admin]

The power brick will have many different ratings, because the old bricks (120W or 175W) will work with the new Xbox 360s. There are also new bricks that are only 105W, which won't work with the old Xbox 360s. So looking at the power brick means nothing, it's all about the rating at the back of the console.

@drfsupercenter: It does look like you have got yourself a Jasper Xbox 360 Pro. That's damn lucky, because they are relatively rare at the moment.

This site is good for listing the lot number, manufacturing date, team number for different types of Xbox 360's:

http://www.360drives.com/list

I believe you can find a lot of these information from just looking at the box, and possibly there being a little flap you can open to peak into section of the console that has this information, and so while you can't see the power rating, you will be able to deduce whether the 360 is a Jasper or not without opening the box up.

All Xbox 360 Arcades with built in memory units are Jaspers as well.

[drfsupercenter]

Mine's probably number 28 on the list.

If I'm not mistaken, I have a BenQ (LiteOn-Philips) VAD6038 drive.

So what's so great about Jasper? Is it less likely to "red ring of death"?
Though it's really not hot at all... I had it on for 2-3 hours and it felt cool... we'll see what happens in the morning after it's downloaded all my Xbox Live content

[doctorhardware]

Hopefully It will have better cooling and will not over heat and kill the system board.

[katzdvd]

So what's so great about Jasper? Is it less likely to "red ring of death"?
Though it's really not hot at all... I had it on for 2-3 hours and it felt cool... we'll see what happens in the morning after it's downloaded all my Xbox Live content

Well, mine runs noticeably warm/hot, as compared to any other game system we have. Guess I will be looking at one of those aftermarket coolers, to try and make it last longer.

[barbaraloqw]

I have mine from almost two years and it's still works. It's mean I'm lucky or just don't play much ? I don't see a reason why to change to new one.

[admin]

I had mine for nearly a year before it died, and I didn't use it much until I started playing Dead Rising for hours at a time. And this was during a hot summer, so I can see why it died when it did.

Today is exactly a year to the day that it died, next week will be one year after I got it fixed, and I've played much more and for much longer than I had previously during this time (GTA IV, FIFA 09 ...), and the repair seems to have worked (knock on wood).

Microsoft will fix any RRoD problems within 3 years of purchase, so you still have a year left.