Interesting comments about the 360 S further up the thread, it’s a shame it’s less reliable than the older Elite.
My 360 S arrived yesterday and I’m really happy with the condition of it, everything in the box was retained as well. It was like unboxing a brand new system.
What impressed me was how fast the setup process was (pick country, parental controls on/off, then WiFi), and how fast redownloading your profile and old games can be, since you never have to leave the dashboard and open another app to access your download list. Transferring data locally was also much easier than I anticipated, with a great interface that splits your data by category, and lets you check off what you want quickly. Like that 4MB patch size limit, a good reminder of what MS got right with the system in a transitional period to downloadable and installable content.
As for the system itself, while I prefer the more rounded lines in the original 360 design over the angular shape of the S, it certainly is a more refined system. Much quieter than my Elite, too, playing games on the S using the disc drive is as quiet as playing games on the Elite off the HDD! Though the power brick certainly makes a gentle whooshing noise which is disappointing, the overall noise level is much lower than my Elite, and much more pleasing to the ear due to its low pitch. It’s quieter than my PS3 Super Slim, which surprised me.