**Official Xbox 360 Jasper Hunting Thread**

[iplawguy]

Originally posted by: QuadD
Elite Jasper Hunt

Has anyone picked up/purchased an elite 844 or higher and actually checked the unit to see if it has the split bar on the power supply??

Like Jasper Hunter said, the stickers on the unit or on the box are not the final determination of Japerosity or Jasperness.

Side note, me and my brother have been following since first page of 8bit. He got his Arcade Jasper today and I'm borrowing it till we find an Elite. Searching in NC.

I have opened the boxes on a few of the 844 elites at Target and checked (assuming the clerk doesn't freak). I have found that it is easier and less destructive to (carefully) open the tape seal than to look through the serial number slot. I usually just explain myself to the clerk and why I am checking (although, I think every Target electronics employee in Knoxville knows me by now).

You could buy it, go out to your car and do the same thing, and then bring it right back in and return it. Hey, you are a customer, right? You are actually saving everyone a lot of hassle by checking to make sure you are get what you want before you leave the store.

Ken

 

[kpatm]

Iv waited this long for the Jasper and I didnt like the sound of BlockBusters return policy so Im giving it a miss this time.Just in case anyone is interested the BlockBuster that had the Jasper was at 71 CAUSEYSIDE STREET PAISLEY

 

[QuadD]

Originally posted by: iplawguy

Originally posted by: QuadD
Elite Jasper Hunt

Has anyone picked up/purchased an elite 844 or higher and actually checked the unit to see if it has the split bar on the power supply??

Like Jasper Hunter said, the stickers on the unit or on the box are not the final determination of Japerosity or Jasperness.

Side note, me and my brother have been following since first page of 8bit. He got his Arcade Jasper today and I'm borrowing it till we find an Elite. Searching in NC.

I have opened the boxes on a few of the 844 elites at Target and checked (assuming the clerk doesn't freak). I have found that it is easier and less destructive to (carefully) open the tape seal than to look through the serial number slot. I usually just explain myself to the clerk and why I am checking (although, I think every Target electronics employee in Knoxville knows me by now).

You could buy it, go out to your car and do the same thing, and then bring it right back in and return it. Hey, you are a customer, right? You are actually saving everyone a lot of hassle by checking to make sure you are get what you want before you leave the store.

Ken

I take it that none of the boxes you opened were Jaspers then. :frown:

Your right, if your careful, it's easy to peel up the tape and open the box. I just havent asked an employee if I can do it though. I figured they would just say no.

By the way, I lived in Knoxville for about 13 years.

 

[realjetavenger]

Originally posted by: JasperHunter
A couple of notes on my Jasper now that I've used it for a bit:

1. I think it's actually louder than my Falcon. The fans have a hum/vibration to them that is far more noticeable.
2. I'm a little surprised at how little power we saved with the 65nm die shrink. I figured it would be more like the transition from Zephyr to Falcon, but in that case I guess the CPU went from 90nm to 65nm and the GPU from 90nm to 80nm. This time we only got GPU from 80 to 65nm.
3. If indeed MS has not addressed the solder bump issue with Jasper, I wonder if the relatively small power savings (and thus heat production) will really make a significant difference in reliability. That is, of course, only a concern IF heat was the root cause previously, which I'm still not convinced of.
4. The white DVD drive of my arcade still looks weird to me, but I'll get over it

As far as the fan noise is concerned that was my biggest complaint. The delta fans on my jasper are much louder than the fairly quiet delta fans on my older zephyr. (Of course this is a ymmv deal with these fans as everyone knows.) However I have gotten the nidec fans and the noise difference is night and day. These fans are whisper quiet. They are so quiet in fact that I do not need to adjust the tv volume (louder) any more while playing a game installed on the hard drive.
Now my only complaint with jasper has nothing to do with jasper. I cannot play any downloaded game content (new maps, etc) that was downloaded to the hard drive while it was installed on my previous zephyr. I have to re-download every time I want to play them. But this is a topic for a different thread...

 

[leward]

Originally posted by: realjetavenger

Originally posted by: JasperHunter
A couple of notes on my Jasper now that I've used it for a bit:

1. I think it's actually louder than my Falcon. The fans have a hum/vibration to them that is far more noticeable.
2. I'm a little surprised at how little power we saved with the 65nm die shrink. I figured it would be more like the transition from Zephyr to Falcon, but in that case I guess the CPU went from 90nm to 65nm and the GPU from 90nm to 80nm. This time we only got GPU from 80 to 65nm.
3. If indeed MS has not addressed the solder bump issue with Jasper, I wonder if the relatively small power savings (and thus heat production) will really make a significant difference in reliability. That is, of course, only a concern IF heat was the root cause previously, which I'm still not convinced of.
4. The white DVD drive of my arcade still looks weird to me, but I'll get over it

As far as the fan noise is concerned that was my biggest complaint. The delta fans on my jasper are much louder than the fairly quiet delta fans on my older zephyr. (Of course this is a ymmv deal with these fans as everyone knows.) However I have gotten the nidec fans and the noise difference is night and day. These fans are whisper quiet. They are so quiet in fact that I do not need to adjust the tv volume (louder) any more while playing a game installed on the hard drive.
Now my only complaint with jasper has nothing to do with jasper. I cannot play any downloaded game content (new maps, etc) that was downloaded to the hard drive while it was installed on my previous zephyr. I have to re-download every time I want to play them. But this is a topic for a different thread...

I don't have any complaints about the fan noise on the Jasper I have. I have a CSON made unit so I believe it uses different fans than the FDOU units. I hear hard drive noise and disc drive noise before any fan noise.

 

[imported_Darrell]

Originally posted by: realjetavenger

Now my only complaint with jasper has nothing to do with jasper. I cannot play any downloaded game content (new maps, etc) that was downloaded to the hard drive while it was installed on my previous zephyr. I have to re-download every time I want to play them. But this is a topic for a different thread...

realjetavenger, what you are describing, I believe, is a licensing issue. Once I got my Jasper, I had to go to the xbox site and transfer all my content licenses to the new xbox. Many recall here, that I went through 3 new Falcons recently while searching for a Jasper. Overall I had 5 xboxes, all with purchased content so I had issues just like you're having. Go to the xbox site or google xbox license transfer and you'll find the way to get all your content attached to your new jasper. Caution.....you get to do this only ONE TIME PER YEAR. It solved all my problems.

 

[realjetavenger]

Originally posted by: Darrell

Originally posted by: realjetavenger

Now my only complaint with jasper has nothing to do with jasper. I cannot play any downloaded game content (new maps, etc) that was downloaded to the hard drive while it was installed on my previous zephyr. I have to re-download every time I want to play them. But this is a topic for a different thread...

realjetavenger, what you are describing, I believe, is a licensing issue. Once I got my Jasper, I had to go to the xbox site and transfer all my content licenses to the new xbox. Many recall here, that I went through 3 new Falcons recently while searching for a Jasper. Overall I had 5 xboxes, all with purchased content so I had issues just like you're having. Go to the xbox site or google xbox license transfer and you'll find the way to get all your content attached to your new jasper. Caution.....you get to do this only ONE TIME PER YEAR. It solved all my problems.

Thanks Darrell. You're a life saver. I had tried to search the problem but did not know it was a licensing issue and couldn't find the solution. You've just saved me the need to get a hair transplant as this was causing me to pull my hair out in frustration.

 

[RobotHunter]

Well no luck for me in New York today. I went to the Best Buy on Broadway and all the Elites except one were up on a shelf. I found a clerk and showed him where the serial number was on the box and told him I needed an 844 or newer. He actually laughed at me and said "You want a Jasper? You're not going to find one here". I forgave the laughing because this was the first time I ever found a clerk who knew what a Jasper was. I went to the Toys R Us in Times square and the newest Elites they had were 837's. I decided to head into Queens. The Northern blvd Best Buy had an 842 Elite with an manufacture date of 10/22/08. Since 10/23/08 seems to be the switchover point, with some being falcons and some jaspers there was no point in me getting that one. So I went to the Queens blvd Best Buy. They had two 843 Elites with 10/22/08 born on dates, so no good there. If anyone is interested, they had a bunch of Jasper PRO's and Arcades. I hit Target while I was there and they didn't have any Elites at all. All consoles I mentioned in this post were FDOU. I'll keep looking.

 

[middlep1]

Hi,

Wooooohooo!, got my Jasper, I caved in on waiting for the 60gb Pro Jaspers to show up in the UK, on Anthony1uk's (AVForums) tip-off I phoned Blockbuster in Durham City, UK asked the guy who answered if they had the "Second Release" Arcades in stock, and he said yes!, so I asked him to check one for me while I waited, sounded like he wasn't going to cooperate but I push him a little and he looked at one, said it was a 0843x FDOU so I asked him to reserve if for me.

Picked it up at the store, managed to slide the unit inside sealed box along enough to see the magical 12.1a rating on the sticker, also saw comfirmed it was 0843x, manufactured 20-10-2008, JASPER!!!, my credit card leaped out of my pocket and straight into the waiting chip and pin reader. bagged it along with a free copy of FIFA 09, all setup now playing COD:WaW, only a slight humming coming from the unit, far, far better then hurricane noise from my old Xenon unit. very happy, just need to get the 120gb HDD now.

Can I just say that I've been following the Jasper hunt for nearly 3 months now on the 8bit blog, AVForums and here, and have spoken to some really helpful people in the search, so thanks goes out to: Anthony1uk (AVforums), Darrell (AnandTech), JasperHunter (AnandTech), Tanna Tanna (AnandTech) and 8BitJoystick himself, thank you all for contributing to the hunt, and happy quiet gaming!!

Middlep1

 

[imported_JonC]

Just picked up a Pro Jasper from the South Austin Best Buy. It was on top of the big Xbox pile in the middle aisle. The one I came across had the following info:

Lot 0845X
Team FDOU
Mfg Date 2008-11-06
12v - 12,1A

Power connector on the console has the split bar it but came with the 14.2A brick.

 

[peachy001]

I am holding out for a Jasper Elite. My girlfriend even jokes about checking for some LOT numbers whenever she goes into town. When I borrowed my brother in law's xbox I played it a little too much and she almost said those terrible words "it's either the Xbox or me" and this Jasper hunt would often mean that she would say "you need to see a doctor, this Jasper thing is turning into an obsession". After introducing her to a little Hexic and Guitar Hero 2 she started to see the benefits for herself. She even started competing with me for achievements. And when I pointed out that a Jasper uses much less electric than the Xbox we borrowed she began to mellow a little.

Bad news from my warehouse contact though, he says that the only SKU that they stock is an Arcade and the ones he checked were all 829. They came via GEM (major distributer in the UK). He did point out that htey could have been sat on the shelf a while. Who knows, the next batch could be Jaspers. Can't seem to get any Elite Jasper info though. I think one may have been spotted in America, not sure though.

After Christmas may be the best time to snag one, but I would have thought that most people taht wanted one for Xmas would have already bought one. One other thing that crossed my mind is that there might be a few go back in January as returns which would mean they would go back into the Store inventory and could further delay me finding one.

Has anyone got a link to a confirmed Jasper elite? I want to know what LOT numbers to look out for.

 

[RobotHunter]

OK I went back out for one last look. I hit the Best Buy on 23rd street. They had 3 FDOU 844x Elites. Two of them had 10/28/08 manufacture dates and one was a 10/27/08. All them amp ratings were 14.2 so I bought one of the 10/28/08 Elites. I got it home and opened her up. Going by the power supply plug in it is a falcon (no split). The power supply is 175w as well. I'll take it back tomorrow. If it were an Arcade or PRO with that manufacture date it would be a Jasper. I guess since Microsoft feels we are stupid enough to spend an extra $100 for a mere 60Gig more hard drive space and a pretty black exterior, we wouldn't mind them using up the extra Falcon stock on us. What a bunch of cock bags.

 

[reddrob36]

Ok after a day of searching I found what I was looking for. A Pro Jasper! I was about to give up for today, but after 8 stores I found one. I actually considered caving in as I ran into several Arcade Jaspers. So I decided to go to two more stores. First was Sams and they had some 360 Pro bundle in a big box for $350 with the two pack in games and a third, guitar hero with the guitar. Not a bad deal, but there was no way of telling what system was in those boxes without opening them. So I went on to one last EB Games. So the guy pulls out a lot 0846x and a 0845x from the back, after I ask him for his freshest consoles. So I look at the 0846x first. It was a14.2 or Falcon. Then I look at the 0845x, there was a big gash in the side of the box, but you could tell it was factory sealed. Low and behold I could see the 12.1 peaking out of the hole. So Now I have it home and this is what I got. Team FDOU Manufacture 11-07-2008 Lot 0845X As for the power supply I am unsure if it is a 150w. The connector on the console is definitley a Jasper type with the split on the top no square peg in the center. On the Power supply it reads: Input Ac 100-127v-4.8a 47-63hz Output DC 12V 14.2a (14.2) 5vsb 1A Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[Magehart]

Originally posted by: RobotHunter
OK I went back out for one last look. I hit the Best Buy on 23rd street. They had 3 FDOU 844x Elites. Two of them had 10/28/08 manufacture dates and one was a 10/27/08. All them amp ratings were 14.2 so I bought one of the 10/28/08 Elites. I got it home and opened her up. Going by the power supply plug in it is a falcon (no split). The power supply is 175w as well. I'll take it back tomorrow. If it were an Arcade or PRO with that manufacture date it would be a Jasper. I guess since Microsoft feels we are stupid enough to spend an extra $100 for a mere 60Gig more hard drive space and a pretty black exterior, we wouldn't mind them using up the extra Falcon stock on us. What a bunch of cock bags.

1) A vast majority of the Pros i've checked in October have been Falcons. Those in November seem to be the transition to Jasper.
2) I'm assuming the Pro and Elite will use the same board; unlike the arcade Jasper compared to Pro which has different on-board memory than the Pro.
3) I've yet to see any Elites manufactured in November yet.

Following the logic, and refraining from profanity, it's not surprising we haven't seen any Jasper Elites yet.

I've given up checking the amps until I see some from November. Checking the 84*x is wasteful at this point since it creates a huge disparity in production times. Checking the date and the serial # (not the one with the X) is the best approach (we can construe which team made it from the serial).

Lack of complete information is a deterrent to finding our Elite Jaspers; not applying the information we have learned is stifling.

 

[reddrob36]

It makes perfect sense that Arcade Jaspers are everywhere, they turn those over quicker. Next in line is the Pro which was a Pain to find but I got one. They have allot more old Pros to sell before we start seeing lots of Jasper Pros. The Xmas crowd that doesn't know any better will buy down allot of those 14.2 Falcon Pros. So I predict it'll be much easier after the holidays when the stores start getting restocked with those Jasper Pros. And as for those Elite Jasper hold outs. Don't hold your breath too long. Being the highest price point system at four bills I think there will still be plenty Falcon Pros left after the holidays. And stores usually order new stock according to thier existing inventory. So they'll likely order more arcades and pros, which will bring in more jaspers in both. Elite However will likely remain elusive for longer. Just because it caters more to a specific buyer than the other systems. Microsoft is smart, why start making Jasper Elites when you probably have loads of Falcon Elites and small quantities of Elites being reordered by stores, compared to less expensive arcades and pros that turn over faster!

 

[Lakonik]

Hi all!

I've just created an Anandtech account to let you know about my experience and, unfortunately, to disappoint many of you.

I live in Paris, France, where many Arcade Jasper had been spotted but I wanted an Elite. I spent the last weeks reading serial number, pushing inner cardboards to read ampers, like most of you. Yesterday, while I was in a supermarket (after all the specialized stores I visited), I took 5 minutes to read some more serials, even if I was quite pessimistic. There were about 10 Elite boxes, and the first one I checked was FDOU 0846X !!! I read the serial on the console itself: 845xx ! Then I tried to read the amperage, but it's more difficult than for Arcade (I may be wrong but I think the cardboard is not exactly the same, as I was able to read the ".2 A" quite easily in Arcade boxes), and I hadn't been able to do so. I checked the other boxes too: all of them were 0833 to 0837.

As you can imagine, the temptation was so big that I caved in. Right after I was back home, I opened the box, and, I faced the horrible truth: 14.2 A, and plain bar power connector (not the expected "split" bar).

Conclusion: even Elites manufactured in November (mine was made on the 8th) are NOT Jasper.

This is my first Xbox, I won't bring it back, I already waited 3 years to play new gen games but I HAD to let you know, as many of you were so full of hope!

Greetings from France! Merry Christmas!

 

[johanvdv]

I live in Belgium and also waiting for an Elite Jasper. We have a cashback action at the moment which is valid until the end of this year, but I'm afraid I won't find an Elite Jasper by the end of next week. I saw FDOU 0845x and 0846x but both with 14.2 readings...
Has anyone even spotted an Elite Jasper yet ??

 

[SunnyD]

Went to my local Target yesterday and swung by electronics just for the hell of it. They had an arcade unit behind the glass, but I was able to peek and saw it was listed as 12.1amp power. Looks like a Jasper to me.

 

[DoomsdayVzla]

Hi again everybody.

Yesterday was a really sad day for me. On december 3rd, I ordered an Arcade Holiday Bundle from Amazon (US). Since I live overseas, I had to wait that it arrive to my country Venezuela for almost 3 weeks. And after finally waiting all this long I received it... Unfortunately for me, it was a 840X FDOU Falcon, so, no Jasper for me...

But then, I knew that maybe I wouldn't be lucky enough to get a Jasper from an online store, so I said what the heck, at least I can finally play again, since my zephyr died in july. Well, one thing I expected is that it would be very quiet, since my brother in law's 817 Elite was EXTREMELY quiet, no noise at all... and men how I got dissapointed again, this freaking arcade is as noisy as my old Zephyr! Well, not THAT noisy, but is loud indeed, the cooling fans I mean, they're not jet engines but something close...

Anyway, I guess that my Jasper "hunt" ends here. I decided that I'll use this monster for about 6 months until I travel to the US on June-July 2009, buy a Jasper in-store and sell this noisy godzilla. I hope that all you Jasper hunters from all over the world get your Jasper very soon, don't make the same mistake I made buying online, Amazon is not a 100% reliable source right now.

Happy holidays everybody, this were some great months, keep the hunting!!!

-Doomsday
Caracas, Venezuela

 

[Blackjack61]

It is disappointing that we haven't found any Elite Jaspers yet, but I agree with the common opinion that it is unlikely that we will find one this calendar year.

On 8bit's original message board, when we were looking for the first signs of Jaspers in September, the Elites were extremely old at that time. I found some Elites that had the 2007 Holiday Bundle still on the shelves. I'm still finding Elites that were manufactured in the summer that have the holiday bundle sticker placed over the original box cover.

Once the holiday selling season is over, the demand for Elites will drop to almost zero. The big retailers like Best Buy are terrible at rotating their inventory. Even if MS has already started producing Elite Jaspers, it could be months before they make their way out of the warehouses.

 

[tvdang7]

anyone know if the jaspers can be modded? i might want to go look for one.

 

[kpatm]

I dont think they can be modded yet if im right they have the lite on drives.But I suppose its just a matter of time.

 

[pennhunter]

Originally posted by: Blackjack61
It is disappointing that we haven't found any Elite Jaspers yet, but I agree with the common opinion that it is unlikely that we will find one this calendar year.

On 8bit's original message board, when we were looking for the first signs of Jaspers in September, the Elites were extremely old at that time. I found some Elites that had the 2007 Holiday Bundle still on the shelves. I'm still finding Elites that were manufactured in the summer that have the holiday bundle sticker placed over the original box cover.

Once the holiday selling season is over, the demand for Elites will drop to almost zero. The big retailers like Best Buy are terrible at rotating their inventory. Even if MS has already started producing Elite Jaspers, it could be months before they make their way out of the warehouses.

Income tax time may move some Elites, people buying new TVs may splurge and get Elites. We probably won't see Jasper Elites until March.

 

[reddrob36]

How do you tell what type of power supply you have. i want to know if my Jasper came witht he 150 or 175?

 

[DTownSwngr]

My xbox Pro holiday bundle arrived today. Like I said before, it was coming straight from MS, so I was hoping it would increase my chances of getting a later model unit. Turned out to be a Lot# 841 late falcon unit made in october. I have been all over Toronto and haven't seen a Lot number as high as that in stores (highest I have seen was 836, and with each new shipment the numbers seem to get lower! Some around 828), so I'm happy with this purchase.

Unlike the U.S. and some other places overseas, we Canadians won't be seeing a lot of Jaspers if any for about another two or three months. I'm still hesistant to open the package and dive in because of all this crazy Jasper hunting I been through, but it's Christmas and I wan't to enjoy my time, so unless something magically pops up tomorrow, I'm calling my Jasper hunt quites for now.

Good luck to the rest of you guys who have and haven't made your purchases yet.