A few of my friends have 360's and they love them. Fom what I hear the online service is far better than the Wii and Ps3, then again you do have to pay for it. I have a friend who is an avid gamer and owns all next gen consoles and he says the ps3 is better in every other respect, apart from the controller. I must admit the 360 controller is really comfy but for my money the best controller of all time is the gamecube - Perfection! Its almost as good as my Zipstik!
As for all this talk of a 180 or downgraded PS3 I couldnt give a stuff, just as long as the thing works - and I think this is where the 360 falls down at the mo!