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- Verified Buyer
Good product that was as described. Was a great deal and arrived in a timely manner.To start off, I'd like to say that X-Box Live is amazing and worth every penny. Online gaming is incredibly fun and quite a good way to pass time.That aside, there are downsides to X-Box Live that can be avoided through prepaid cards. Number one, you always run the risk that unwarranted transactions will be made if your credit card information is stored on your X-Box 360 system. It may not happen all that often, but it's best to avoid it all together.The biggest reason to buy prepaid Xbox Live card is the renewal process that happens when you don't use one. If you order X-Box Live through your system, it'll renew every time your subscription runs out. This wouldn't be a problem except that it's not that easy to cancel. Instead of canceling through your system, you have to go through the hassle of actually calling X-Box Live support. Even then, depending on the representative you get, you may be hassled to keep your subscription because they really don't want you to cancel it. I'm guessing that's part of their job to convince you to keep it, but it still is frustrating to the person that is trying to cancel it.You'll have to go through this process every time you want to cancel if you don't use a prepaid card. Is that hassle really worth it? I don't think so. Therefore, avoid all of the problems by simply buying a prepaid card. You won't be sorry.UPDATE: (3/6/2011): I updated this review about a year ago pointing out that you could disable the subscription on X-Box Live's website. As of this update, they've taken that feature away again. I'm guessing Microsoft must have seen a major increase on people who canceled their subscription, thus now forcing you to call their customer service hot-line again to cancel. Even if they add it back, just save yourself the hassle and get a prepaid card. You never have to worry about dealing with customer service that will try their hardest to get you to stay on as a recurring customer. Amazon also gives great deals throughout the year. You could save yourself $20 to $30 sometimes just by checking to see if Amazon has these prepaid cards on sale. What's not to love about that?Perfect gift for my grandson.I bought him one awhile ago, now he asks for them. Had it shipped to his house. Now he thinks thinks he a big shot. I may have created a monster...lolYears ago we bought one of these from the Microsoft store around October, as a Christmas gift. It didn't work, and we called Microsoft only to hear they forgot to activate it. Their fault. But as we had it already for a few months they couldn't replace it and would sell us another one at a discount which happened to be about the same price as everyone else was selling it. This is the worst kind of experience you can have.We bought a card from this seller, it arrived quickly, and though it is a gift I gave it to the recipient early. Worked, and everyone is happy. Can't ask for more than that.Also need to add this is the best value, we feel, when compared to PlayStation and Nintendo online services. They always have a great selection of games and the dashboard for gold is really easy to use.Very happy!Just a note to add that if you go onto the Microsoft account and sign up for a three month trial of game pass ultimate, for 3 dollars, it will convert this gold card into three months of game pass. This includes gold to. Excellent valueBuy the 12 month card instead of the 3 month as you'll save money overall. Also, buying the card on amazon and having it sent to you versus receiving the code immediately will save you money on amazon and also from going to a local store like GameStop or Walmart.Prices:-12 month $59.99 in store or amazon. Having amazon send the card in the mail you can get it in the $44.99-$49.99 price range.-3 month is $24.99 in store or amazon. Having amazon send the card in the mail you can get it for less than $20.Reasons to have gold membership:-Being able to play online with friends or against random people-Being able to party chat (private chat is available with silver membership)-Free games of the month on every 1st and 16th of the monthSo although the 3 month is the cheapest option to get Xbox Live gold membership immediately, it is more cost effective to purchase the 12 month membership. Recently Xbox Live allows you to use apps such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon video etc. without needing a gold membership. NOTE: you still need to pay for each service separately. And I would also recommend buying the card versus putting your credit card on your xbox account because that method renews your account automatically and it is a pain to remove a credit card off your xbox profile.Xbox live is the best online experience i ever had! The connection is superior to other consoles of this gen, ps3 and wii. First of all, you'll need broadband internet and i recommend on getting a cheap ethernet cable for this. Second, Xbox live is very superior and does not lag a little bit. Lastly, you can invite your friend from all the way across the world to chat with the microphone or play with them in a multiplayer game instead of coming over to their house to play. There are a bunch of features that xbox live can do: netflix, zune video HD streaming, facebook and twitter. So its a good buy for any xbox 360 owner, I recommend on buying a 12 month subsciption for 49.99 plus a free month on Amazon or walmart, because it's a better deal ( about 4$ a month instead of a individual $7 a month ). I rated this 4 stars because it's in one of those hard to open package. There are some improvements to the card that i want to point out. There is no scratching off that stuff to reveal the code, you simply peel off a slit and imput a 25 digit code (oh god). In addition to buying this card then, also buy the 1600 points or the 4000 points because you'll have acsess to the live marketplace, where you can buy map packs, add ons to your favorite games, videos and much more exclusive stuff.worked fineHow did I just pay $40 for a card that has $25 written right on it? I’ll be returning ASAPI returned the product because it was not was advertised. I still have not a refund.Works greatEverything works fine but the packaging of the card was in French which prompted some anxiety