i am going right down the middle on this
the thing i am going to say is look at the games that are currently out and the ones coming out
look at if you willing to pay for xbox live and a set up of a router to handle the connection
look at getting a elite or pro system, is it worth the money for it and will you get enjoyment out of it for a while
if you like the games, willing to pay for xbox live (optional) and you think the cost is worth it then get it
my mad line of thought always says do i like the games coming out and is the hardware worth the cost, answer yes to these 2 and i'm away