I might consider a 360 when, and if, M$ do include a built-in HD-DVD drive and fix the ring of red problem (How sweet that a game came out on the PS2 that predicted the 360's biggest fault!!!)

Makes me want to believe in Time Travel!
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The problem with them including a built-in HD-DVD drive is that they could quickly fragment gamers on the platform if some developers start to utilise the larger discs for games. It would also increase the price of the 360 and bring it back up to a price point level or above that of the PS3, which I wouldn't think they would want to do as the 360's lower price is one thing that has so far influenced buyers over the PS3.
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I don't know why they did not built in a HD-DVD drive at launch. I have Blue Dragon and it comes on 3 discs, imagine the games still to come, I don't want to swap discs like on an Amiga. But I didn't try Blue Dragon put yet, perhaps you can install it to HDD, which I doubt.
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I beleive it was originally supposed to be included in the system but they seemed to rush it out, in order to get the steal on the other consoles, which may be why they didn't (it would also explain the exclusion of HDMI ports from the get-go.)

Maybe M$ were thinking that they could release a patch somewhen down the line and no-one would notice
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Maybe the next M$ console will be 360 SP1 so they can fix problems with the old 360 and introduce new ones.
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There's also another downside. If you connect the console via HDMI, you have also to use the sound through HDMI, as you're not able to plug an optical cable to it, ast he console itself does not have an optical input. If you use the YUV cable, like me, you can plug the optical cable to the video cable, as the cable itself has an optical input.
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That is the same on the original Xbox where you had to buy a special AV cable that had the optical port built into the cable. A bit of an annoying design.
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Having said all the 'bad' things about the 360 so far, there are a few M$-exclusive games I wouldn't mind having. Those being Ninja Gaiden II and ... ur, well, that's basically it. Maybe Ace Combat 6 - though I seriously doubt it'll stay exclusive for long. After all, the previous Ace Combats have always been on the PS consoles. Clearly a case where M$ shelled out big money for a timed exclusive in order to gain a foothold in the Japanese market.

Better versions of Gears of War, Bioshock and Halo I could play on the PC if I really wanted to, which I don't.
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Right, but you must then have a decent config on your PC to get the same visual result.
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True, true. My rig probably won't even be able to play a PS2 game properly, even though it costs many times more.
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