The Real Cost of the 360?

Kotaku points out that for some people, the real price tag for the 360 is pretty high. He adds up his list of components and comes up with a $640 checkout, w/o tax ... and that's before buying any additional games. I wondered about the same and came up with an almost identical number. I don't have an XBox, so I pretty much need the HD to play earlier games. Without wireless, there's no point in trying to get it online at my place (honey, can you hand me that 50 foot ethernet cable? honey, stop beating me with that 50 foot ethernet cable ... ) and I obviously need Live as well. So with a game and everything, I'd be looking at around $700 to be all XBox'd for Xmas.

In a sign of true kismet, I have a PC coming in from eBay for far less than that, even including shipping. The box was a real find considering it's better than the one I broke in nearly every concievable way except that it's only a P4. It is, however, a custom plexiglass rig ... so it's sufficiently pimped for at least a year or so.