Xbox One 1TB Elite Console Bundle with Wireless Controller - Premium Gaming System for HD Entertainment | Perfect for Home Gaming, Multiplayer Parties & Streaming

I've had the system for several days now and I can say I really enjoy its use. I find that it fits my particular needs extremely well. I ordered the system because I had a burning desire to play some games I just couldn't get on PC (like Sunset Overdrive or NHL 16). I've also been using the standard controller on my Windows 10 machine for a while now (works great with most games that support a 360 controller on Steam). On top of that, I thought the system might help make my channel surfing experience smoother, or at the very least help me save an HDMI port on my TV. I was also happy to hear that less features were being held for ransom behind the XBL Gold paywall (I don't have to pay extra to use Netflix anymore), so I decided to go ahead and buy the system.The boot time has been quite good, although I don't have a regular or older Xbox One system to compare it to. I'm going to chalk it up to the hybrid drive doing its work. The included controller is also very nice, as expected. Having a standard controller to compare it to, it feels extremely premium. In fact, when you first open the black box, it's the first thing you will notice inside, along with its zipper pouch with the other sticks, other d-pad, and slots for the flippers. I didn't like the look of the disc-like d-pad at first, but using it is an entirely different story. It works very well. Even if you don't like using it, you can always swap it out with a standard d-pad.The swapping is quite nice for the d-pad and the sticks, and you can tell this is where a lot of extra money that the controller normally costs went. The sticks and the replacement parts are all magnetized and made of a nice metal. Pulling up on the sticks can remove them, but only when done deliberately. In other words, I cannot imagine accidentally pulling them by mistake. You have a choice between the standard sticks, some round-top ones that are a bit taller (and remind me of the Dualshock 3 sticks to some degree), and some tall standard sticks that are supposed to make hairline or sensitive movements easier. You can easily mix and match any combination you like, so maybe people who play FPS games would want a taller stick on the right for aiming and a standard one on the left for ease of movement. There's only two d-pads to choose from (the circle and the standard d-pad), but both are made of metal like the sticks.There's a system of extra buttons on the back of the controller that you can attach flippers to. This way, you can remap face buttons to the ones on the back. I believe an often cited advantage of this is how FPS players want to be able to keep aiming without having to take their thumb off of the right stick. If you don't want to use the feature, you can easily remove the flippers and put them away in the included pouch. To remap the buttons that the flippers press, you use an accessories app on the system and configure everything you want on the controller. This app is also available on Windows 10, in case you want to configure or use the controller on your PC. This level of customization feels unprecedented on the Xbox platform. I only play FPS games on PC these days because I find it far easier to shoot with the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard, but all these customization options might make me rethink that and give FPS games on consoles another try sometime. There's so much customization on the elite controller that it seems almost daunting for me. More options are always welcome, however.I don't know if it's the fact that I'm still using XBL Silver, but I see no advertising on my menus at all. I think I saw a few when I first got the system and had set it up that day, but they've gone away and I haven't seen them since. I don't know if I somehow glitched my console or something, since it feels like a lot of space on some of the menus is empty, but this is a welcome addition for me. I remember how repulsed I was by all the intrusive advertising on the 360, and how XBL Gold didn't remove any of it. It's always been common sense to me, but I always wondered why Microsoft didn't just change the way XBL Gold works using advertisements. If I had a choice, I would have XBL Silver allow you to play online and do everything as you please, but with advertisements to support everything, and XBL Gold would be the ad-free option. Makes a lot more sense to me to have a model like that.I got the system working with my satellite top box, but this is where I have to dock a star. I was pretty excited to get this working with my TV using OneGuide, except I learned I needed to have either an IR blaster or a Kinect to actually change TV channels. Everything else would be there, but changing channels would not work unless you had either of those two options. I also went through a lot of troubleshooting to figure this out. Considering I want a Kinect as far away from my home as possible, I ordered an IR receiver separately. It plugged into the back of my system just fine, although I was a bit baffled by how I had to stick the receivers on the front of my satellite box. Despite that, it all works now, but it's not quite as smooth as I would ideally imagine. When I open the guide, scroll down to some other channel, and try to change channels that way, I can see the system interfacing with my satellite box by entering the channel number. I guess it is a bit difficult or impossible to eliminate the satellite box's GUI and completely replace it with the cleaner, nicer OneGuide interface. On the upside, I did find a way to get my Logitech Harmony remote to work perfectly with the system.But the reason I dock a star is if Microsoft sells the system knowing fully well you need either an IR blaster or a Kinect to change TV channels, why not include an IR blaster with their non-Kinect consoles? I guess I can understand not including it in cheaper bundles, but for an "Elite" console like this that includes just about everything else (a headset, a braided USB cable, an HDMI cable, etc.), why not include one? If you spend this much on a system, you deserve to have everything you need to use it.But despite that, OneGuide has another shortcoming. On DirecTV, I have NHL Center Ice, but all of the channels in the OneGuide interface just show the channels as "NHL Center Ice". If I use the slower, clunkier GUI on my satellite box, it shows me what game is on that channel (example: "Maple Leafs at Penguins") or what upcoming game will be on in a few hours. The OneGuide interface looks so much nicer, but doesn't give me any information for these games like the DirecTV box does. I figure if the system can connect to a database of channel guides and know what shows are on standard television channels, why can't it figure it out for the NHL channels? I don't know if it's any better for the NFL, NBA, or MLB channels, so I can't comment on those. UPDATE: The Center Ice channels do show the games, but I have to highlight them in OneGuide to see what game is on that channel. Better than when I didn't know what was happening on the channels, but still not as perfect as it could be. When I try to change the channel to an HD broadcast, the Xbox changes it to the SD channel for some reason. I think this has to do with DirecTV's channel formatting being, for example, that 779 is SD while 779-1 is HD, since OneGuide doesn't pick up on this and only shows 779 as a channel. So when I try to change it to a game on channel 779 that OneGuide tells me is in HD, the Xbox just enters "779" into the satellite box and it goes straight to the SD broadcast.Aside from that, I'm pleasantly surprised at the backwards compatibility that was introduced this year. It's nice to be able to redownload old XBL Arcade games and play them again, although I have to admit I found it a bit jarring to see the Xbox 360 notifications and overlay screen when playing older titles. Definitely reminds me that the system is emulating the 360. In addition, I find myself liking the DLNA streaming. Of course, I had to explicitly enable my Windows 10 machine to allow streaming to my Xbox One inside of the Windows Media Player options, or else it wouldn't work.Speaking of that, I'm reminded of the day I got the system. Xbox Live was having difficulties, so several features on the system were outright not working. I was unable to launch and play any of the XBLA games I had downloaded, for instance (despite the fact that they are single player, offline games). I couldn't get into the store to download Netflix that night, either. If it weren't for the fact that I spent a lot more time trying to troubleshoot the OneGuide functionality that evening, I would have probably been more upset over how dependent the system is on Xbox Live.If you're looking to pick a next-gen system and have been holding out as long as I have, the Xbox One might be worth a look if you want to consolidate some of your entertainment.