Microsoft announces $20 price drop for their HD DVD player. The 5 free HD DVD offer will also now be available.

[Shawn]

The opposing camps in the high-definition DVD wars were in the midst of a fresh round of fire Thursday, when Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced a US$20 price drop and free bundled movies on its Xbox 360 HD DVD Player.

Starting Aug. 1, the price of the Xbox 360 add-on will fall from $199 to $179, the company announced at Comic-Con International. In addition, in an extension of Toshiba's "Perfect Offer" of five free HD DVD discs -- previously exclusive to Toshiba HD DVD Players -- consumers who purchase the Xbox 360 HD DVD player between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30 will be able to choose five free movies from a list of 15 through a mail-in offer, providing a $140 retail value at no extra charge.

"With the price reduction to $179, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player continues to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition," said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the entertainment and devices division's interactive entertainment business at Microsoft.

"From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high-definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox Live Marketplace -- both of which have a selection of the best content Hollywood has to offer," Bell said.

Source

 

[QueBert]

I really don't care about any format aside from DVD, but this seems like a deal too good to pass up.

 

[Quasmo]

this is an awesome deal, now I need to buy an HDCP complaint video card.

 

[potato28]

I might have to buy this and enter the HD war.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

If the 5 free movies are anything like the 5 free Blu Ray movies offer, they wont be that great.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
If the 5 free movies are anything like the 5 free Blu Ray movies offer, they wont be that great.

They are ok. I got Apollo 13, Constantine, Tomb Raider, U2 Rattle and Hum, and U-571.

Selection

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Quasmo
this is an awesome deal, now I need to buy an HDCP complaint video card.

you could also get AnyDVD HD. it removes the HDCP protection.

 

[spacejamz]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Quasmo
this is an awesome deal, now I need to buy an HDCP complaint video card.

you could also get AnyDVD HD. it removes the HDCP protection.

how much is a legal version of AnyDVD? is cheaper that Power DVD Ultra?

 

[Sunrise089]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Quasmo
this is an awesome deal, now I need to buy an HDCP complaint video card.

you could also get AnyDVD HD. it removes the HDCP protection.

And keeps resolution the same? That would cut out my only reason for upgrading my GPU.

Assuming that is, that a 7900GT overclocked can handle HDDVD....it may not be able to.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: Sunrise089

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Quasmo
this is an awesome deal, now I need to buy an HDCP complaint video card.

you could also get AnyDVD HD. it removes the HDCP protection.

And keeps resolution the same? That would cut out my only reason for upgrading my GPU.

Assuming that is, that a 7900GT overclocked can handle HDDVD....it may not be able to.

yea, resolution is the same.

 

[Slammy1]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Sunrise089

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Quasmo
this is an awesome deal, now I need to buy an HDCP complaint video card.

you could also get AnyDVD HD. it removes the HDCP protection.

And keeps resolution the same? That would cut out my only reason for upgrading my GPU.

Assuming that is, that a 7900GT overclocked can handle HDDVD....it may not be able to.

yea, resolution is the same.

I think video requirements for HD DVD are along the lines of a 256MB PCI-e card, nothing more. But you could run on the analog channels and still get the higher resolutions and avoid the DRM for a few more years.

 

[tuteja1986]

I would get the HD-DVD player with this :

The Chronicles of Riddick
Constantine
Four Brothers
U2: Rattle and Hum
We Were Soldiers

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Can this XBox HD-DVD add-on be used with a regular computer?
...How?

 

[spacejamz]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
Can this XBox HD-DVD add-on be used with a regular computer?
...How?

there is a utillity out there that you can run to determine if your PC can support blu ray/HD DVD playback from both a hardware and software perspective...don't remember what is was but I will try and look for it tonite...

you will need a high player (like powerDVD ultra, etc) to playback the disks...I asked earlier about how much the software was (powerDVD ultra is $99) so you will need to find that out and factor that cost in as well...

 

[spacejamz]

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
Can this XBox HD-DVD add-on be used with a regular computer?
...How?

there is a utillity out there that you can run to determine if your PC can support blu ray/HD DVD playback from both a hardware and software perspective...don't remember what is was but I will try and look for it tonite...

you will need a high player (like powerDVD ultra, etc) to playback the disks...I asked earlier about how much the software was (powerDVD ultra is $99) so you will need to find that out and factor that cost in as well...

Here is the link to download that utility....

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Thanks! But how do you physically connect the HD-DVD drive to the PC?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
Thanks! But how do you physically connect the HD-DVD drive to the PC?

USB. Here is a good guide with pics

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: spacejamz

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: Quasmo
this is an awesome deal, now I need to buy an HDCP complaint video card.

you could also get AnyDVD HD. it removes the HDCP protection.

how much is a legal version of AnyDVD? is cheaper that Power DVD Ultra?

AnyDVD is on sale right now

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Whoa! Thanks!

 

[ultimatebob]

Five years from now, people are going to see these XBox 360 HD DVD players sitting in garage sale junk piles and laugh at them! They're going to end up being about as popular as the Sega CD add-on for the Genesis.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Five years from now, people are going to see these XBox 360 HD DVD players sitting in garage sale junk piles and laugh at them! They're going to end up being about as popular as the Sega CD add-on for the Genesis.

Why do you say that?

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Five years from now, people are going to see these XBox 360 HD DVD players sitting in garage sale junk piles and laugh at them! They're going to end up being about as popular as the Sega CD add-on for the Genesis.

Why do you say that?

Perhaps one day when HD DVD players are a dime a dozen that could happen.