XBOX360: CORE's function limited by MS!
the Xbox360 console was sold as two bundles: Core and Premium. We can see on the manual Micosoft gave that the only difference between those two packages is the number of components inside. a few days ago a player named Darkmoon opened up his Core and Premiun, and with a close comparison, he found out that they have different chipsets!
on the Core, there's a RSOP chip, but on the Premium console, there isnt any chip at the same place. Darkmoon removed the RSOP chip and find his Core ABLE to access Xbox Live. but removing the chip results a series of errors in game booting and dvd playing.
Plus, the EEPROM used by those two consoles are different as well, Core uses X800475-008, and Premium uses X800475-009. whether this number will result a difference in the performance is still unknown.
Obviously, Microsoft is trying to limit the functions of Core consoles by adding the RSOP chip, although there is no restrictions right now, it might be added in with the automatic update with Xbox Live. for those of you who has 500 bucks burning a hole in your pocket, i highly suggest getting a Premiun.