Still looking for a XBOX 360

I decided a long time ago not to do a pre-order of the XBOX 360 because I could not image that Microsoft would not produce enough to satisfy the demand especially if they were going to launch before the holiday season.  This of course turned out to be as far from the truth as possible.  As launch day approached I scouted out locations I might buy one and decided that a Fred Meyers near my home would be the best place because no one else would really think to go there and they open at an early hour.  I went by the day before and they said they would have 14 units.  Comparing that nearest Best Buy which I had seen on a web site would have around 100, although about a third were the Core system without the need hard drive I thought my chances might be good.  At 6:40 am I drove up the Fred Meyer only to see a line of about 30 people for the 7 am opening so I knew that I was not going to get one there.  I drove to the next nearest Fredies at got there at 7:10 am and it looked like no one was there at all — YES!  I went inside and found out that all 4 they had in stock had sold out in minutes.  One guy told me he waited outside all night and was fifth in line.  My next thought was that that local Best Buy was opening an hour earlier at 9 am for the launch so I went home and took a shower and had some breakfast.  I really did not want to go wait in a line and actually got there at 9:30 am.  I saw these three guys walking out with the Core system, each, and they were high fiving so I thought I had a 50-50 chance.  Inside there was a line of about 10 people off to the side but no systems were left to be found.  I talked to a teller and he said you would have had to be in line by 9 pm the pervious night to get one.  I next drove the two blocks to the local Toys R Us and it looked like a bomb had gone off.  They had next to nothing for the 360 and the teller said they had sold out in minutes.  I guess there would be no Thanksgiving day playing the new system.  Over the weekend I called around and a few places expect to have systems about a week before Christmas.  One place where you will not be able to get the system will be CompUSA which will be using their shipments between now and the to fulfill their waiting list of preorders.  My best bet it to catch a shipment at my local Best Buy or a Sam’s Club (but I am not even a member there).

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