I had 3 xbox 360s each of which got into ring of death so I bought these hoping to avoid this problem. Now I really like this system! This is a new "thin" system that is actually thinner than the original 360s. At the top there is an additional valve that helps solve the problem of system overheating; If you place the system side-by-side, it will provide venting to compensate for a blocked vent. After being fired three times (so to speak) from older systems, I decided to set it up so that all three vents were as clean as possible. The black color also helps it blend in better with my DVD player and other home theater components. He looks really great. It comes with a black wireless controller with a great new feature: you can turn on the system by pressing the Xbox logo button. Ideal if your system is in a hard-to-reach place. But powering on the real system is also improved, as the power and eject buttons are now touch-sensitive. A quick flick of your finger gives you a small beep letting you know the system is on without even applying any pressure. The system is also much quieter than the old system. My wife always complained that the old one was noisy, but this one barely hums. Loading a game from a disc is the loudest sound you can hear, and it's about as loud as your standard DVD player. Relatively low compared to older systems. Overall I really like this system. This is a big improvement over the original, which fell victim to the red ring of death issue. If that's what put you off buying the 360, I think the new chip and tuning of this system will allay your fears. If you're looking to replace an old system I can't recommend it highly enough, for me it was like getting a new console rather than replacing a broken one. It looks better, sounds better and even feels better than the old systems I've been playing on for years. And yes, you can use Kinect with this system.