# Original Xbox

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/original-xbox/

10 people recommended Original Xbox in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 7 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Fans recommend it for nostalgia, cheap hackable media server builds and classic LAN games, though critics say it struggles with large files and 1080p video.

Summary written by Claude from 11 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Nostalgia for classic games (3 comments in the sample): "My OG Xbox is queued up ready for a clock capacitor replace so I can fire up real Halo CE any time I want" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49170085)) "I still love my OG Xbox (crystal edition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882159)) "Peak childhood right there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47791995))
- Fans still devoted to it (3 comments in the sample): "the original Xbox is one of the very few things Microsoft got right" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50310100)) "I love that they are still committed to the OG device." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46006425)) "we would take that pimped out machine everywhere" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46009836))
- Cheap, hackable media server (2 comments in the sample): "It made a great media server which is the origin of the likes of plex and kodi." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47957473)) "take some cast-off free hardware and a bit of free software" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46010850))

## What people warn about

- Struggles with large files and video (2 comments in the sample): "the original Xbox can't keep up with the big files" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46018436)) "not even being able to play 1080p video puts it underneath most set top boxes you can get today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46007232))

## Other game consoles people recommend

- [Valve Steam Machine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steam-machine/): 221 recommend, 79 mixed, 207 criticize
- [PlayStation 5](https://hackerapproved.com/p/playstation-5/): 73 recommend, 35 mixed, 168 criticize
- [Xbox 360](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xbox-360/): 31 recommend, 7 mixed, 18 criticize
- [PlayStation 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/playstation-2/): 31 recommend, 9 mixed, 6 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Original Xbox", https://hackerapproved.com/p/original-xbox/ (10 recommend, 1 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.