XBOX 360 HD-DVD Player $159.99 AC @ CC in store YMMV

[Yreka]

Originally posted by: WA261
Awesome, thanx bro

I noticed on the base ones box it said you could game in HD. So I then looked at the Premium box..besides other things..the thing I noticed said it came with the HD cables, the base did not. Could you just buy a base and upgrade the cables?

Yeah, you can, but the core system is a rip-off IMO. Not only will you need to buy the HD cables $50, you will also need a hard drive $100. So right there you already spent $50 more than the premium.

On top of that, with the premium you get a wireless controller, a headset for playing online, and a media remote for using the console as a media center/htpc.

 

[Dav373]

If your TV can support it, I would recommend you get the VGA cable for the 360 ($30) which allows you to play games and DVDs up to 1080p resolution.

 

[Smartazz]

How much are these units usually?

 

[intogamer]

$199

 

[slugbug55]

$199 in Canada too

 

[Staples]

Will this thing play movies back in 720p over component at least? And I mean 720p for real, not 480p upscaled.

 

[Robor]

I had a question on this... I've got a Sony 50" LCD that's 1080i. I've got a Denon DVD player that does an upconvert but honestly I don't notice a big (if any) difference.

If I get one of these XBox360 HD-DVD drives and use it to play a movie will I notice a difference between say a movie in standard DVD and a movie in HD-DVD? I guess what I'm asking is if my TV being 1080i would handle HD-DVD?

EDIT: I did some digging and take it for what it's worth...

Text
Text

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: Yreka

Originally posted by: WA261
Awesome, thanx bro

I noticed on the base ones box it said you could game in HD. So I then looked at the Premium box..besides other things..the thing I noticed said it came with the HD cables, the base did not. Could you just buy a base and upgrade the cables?

Yeah, you can, but the core system is a rip-off IMO. Not only will you need to buy the HD cables $50, you will also need a hard drive $100. So right there you already spent $50 more than the premium.

On top of that, with the premium you get a wireless controller, a headset for playing online, and a media remote for using the console as a media center/htpc.

you don't get a media remote with the premium system. you get a remote with the hd dvd player.

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: Staples
Will this thing play movies back in 720p over component at least? And I mean 720p for real, not 480p upscaled.

it will play HD-DVD movies in 720p or 1080i over component.

There is no possible way to play normal DVD movies natively in 720p with ANY player because they don't have that kind of resolution. All players will upscale.

 

[yhlee]

does the xbox hddvd player do a decent job of upscaling? my screen is 720p i was actually going to buy some "oppo" dvd player (for 200) but i was thinking of going the xbox + hddvd route (since i can't seem to get my hands on a wii or ps3)

 

[apexi350z]

Q. Does the Xbox 360 upscale standard DVD movies?

A. Absolutely, but only if you?re using the VGA connection. During the so-called ?Spring Dashboard Update? Microsoft enabled DVD upscaling over the VGA connection, so if you?re using VGA you?ll see movies in whatever resolution you?ve set in the dashboard. However, this is only over VGA. Also, with Fall Dashboard Update, standard DVD movies will be upscaled to 1080p on displays that support it, again only over the VGA.


http://www.coldforged.org/archives/2006...ox-360-high-definition-and-hd-dvd-faq/

 

[Yreka]

Originally posted by: Robor
I had a question on this... I've got a Sony 50" LCD that's 1080i. I've got a Denon DVD player that does an upconvert but honestly I don't notice a big (if any) difference.

If I get one of these XBox360 HD-DVD drives and use it to play a movie will I notice a difference between say a movie in standard DVD and a movie in HD-DVD? I guess what I'm asking is if my TV being 1080i would handle HD-DVD?

EDIT: I did some digging and take it for what it's worth...

Will you notice the difference between an upconverted standard DVD, and an HD-DVD ?

Oh absolutely, the difference is remarkable IMO.

does the xbox hddvd player do a decent job of upscaling? my screen is 720p i was actually going to buy some "oppo" dvd player (for 200) but i was thinking of going the xbox + hddvd route (since i can't seem to get my hands on a wii or ps3)

It does an ok job. To be honest with you though, I have never seen an "upconversion" I have been really impressed with.

Will this thing play movies back in 720p over component at least? And I mean 720p for real, not 480p upscaled.

You should be able to set the XBOX to output 720P. Then you would be getting HD-DVD output at "real 720p", regular DVDs would of course still be upscaled from 480.

 

[yhlee]

Originally posted by: apexi350z
Q. Does the Xbox 360 upscale standard DVD movies?

A. Absolutely, but only if you?re using the VGA connection. During the so-called ?Spring Dashboard Update? Microsoft enabled DVD upscaling over the VGA connection, so if you?re using VGA you?ll see movies in whatever resolution you?ve set in the dashboard. However, this is only over VGA. Also, with Fall Dashboard Update, standard DVD movies will be upscaled to 1080p on displays that support it, again only over the VGA.


http://www.coldforged.org/archives/2006...ox-360-high-definition-and-hd-dvd-faq/

ah damn.my plasma only has hdmi and component (panny 42")

thanks for your responses and the link!

 

[mattbooty]

Can anyone point me in the direction of snagging this coupon? I'm hesitant to pay for it at auction when my CC may not except it. I'd appreciate any help.

 

[IeraseU]

I got in on this deal....it's not a bad HD-DVD drive on the 360, although for me I think blu-ray on PS3 looks a bit crisper (maybe because of HDMI vs Component connection) and the drive is a little sluggish compared to PS3 (probably because it's external vs. built-in).

Still I recommend the drive because now I have access to both formats, which gives me the ability to play any HD movie released.

 

[JACKHAMMER]

Originally posted by: mattbooty
Can anyone point me in the direction of snagging this coupon? I'm hesitant to pay for it at auction when my CC may not except it. I'd appreciate any help.

It is expired.

 

[Yreka]

Originally posted by: dethman

you don't get a media remote with the premium system. you get a remote with the hd dvd player.

Thats wierd, they must have taken it out.

My Premium system came with this remote.

My HD-DVD kit came with this one.

 

[erector16]

Originally posted by: JACKHAMMER

Originally posted by: mattbooty
Can anyone point me in the direction of snagging this coupon? I'm hesitant to pay for it at auction when my CC may not except it. I'd appreciate any help.

It is expired.

No it's not... there's a new coupon that expires on 12/31.

For some reason the link won't work in here... do a google search for "circuit city $40 off $199" and you'll find it.

 

[Robor]

I know this belongs in Brag & Moan but since there's a thread already started...

Based on the comments here I decided to go to CC and get one. I go to the Clearwater (US19 & Sunset) store and they have it in stock so I pick one up. The store is packed and I see they've got 2 of 6 registers open. There is about 6 people in each line. Register 1 the cashier is nowhere to be seen so I jump in the Register 2 line. Register 2 is held up because there is come confusion about buying XBox360 & games. It was 10 minutes like this - zero movement in the lines. People were bitching and the lines grew to 10-12 each. I don't normally complain but if you're shopping in the store there's staff everywhere you look but when you actually go to pay there's 33% of the registers open during the biggest shopping week of the year? At this point I set my box on the register and told the cashier the store manager needs to be fired. My friends were waiting for me and said they watched some people behind me return what they had in their hand and leave as well.

 

[Robor]

Just some feedback on this drive working with my Sony 1080i LCD...

Is the difference worth it? In short, YES! I've got a decent Denon DVD player that does the upconversion to 1080i and the difference between it and the XBox HD drive is night and day. King Kong looks absolutely amazing. I compared the standard Bourne Supremacy DVD version in my Denon to the HD-DVD version in the XBox drive and it's a *huge* difference in quality. The image is much more sharp, the colors are more vibrant, and the darks are more rich. I've got frozen snapshots to compare them but my wife's camera is refusing to let me download them. Probably PICNIC error but I'll wait and use my card reader at work on Wednesday.

Anyways, if you've got a 1080i TV and are worried it can't show off HD-DVD content worry no more!

Edit: Purchased at Target for $199 by the way. You're on the list now CC.

 

[PoopyPants]

Rober,

your talking two absolutely different things.

a DVD version is 640 x 480
an HD-DVD version is,,, i dont know 1080i ? i havent got a hd dvd player yet so i am not sure what an hd-dvd uses for movies.
im talking the DVD not the dvd PLAYER.

but you specifically said the DVD version compared to the HD-DVD version. thats like comparing Over the Air TV to Cable TV. you cant compare them they are two different things.

the upscaling abilities of the xbox 360 is what people are wondering about.

 

[videopho]

The ability of the player or transport to do 730p gets me interested with it.
Can I get just a bare 360 core system and this dvd player so I can use the pair to play HD dvd movies plus play games (though I'm not a very big console gamer myself?
I also just bought a wireless xbox 360 game controller to use with the core system.
Would the w/l gc work with the core system?

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: PoopyPants
Rober,

your talking two absolutely different things.

a DVD version is 640 x 480
an HD-DVD version is,,, i dont know 1080i ? i havent got a hd dvd player yet so i am not sure what an hd-dvd uses for movies.
im talking the DVD not the dvd PLAYER.

but you specifically said the DVD version compared to the HD-DVD version. thats like comparing Over the Air TV to Cable TV. you cant compare them they are two different things.

the upscaling abilities of the xbox 360 is what people are wondering about.

Well yeah, that's my point. That's what I'm comparing the XBox HD-DVD drive to. I've got a Denon DVD player that does upconverting. My previous drive was a standard DVD player that didn't upconvert and honesty I didn't see much (if any) difference. I was worried I wouldn't see a difference. It's not even close. It's amazing.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: videopho
The ability of the player or transport to do 730p gets me interested with it.
Can I get just a bare 360 core system and this dvd player so I can use the pair to play HD dvd movies plus play games (though I'm not a very big console gamer myself?
I also just bought a wireless xbox 360 game controller to use with the core system.
Would the w/l gc work with the core system?

You can get the core system and add the HD-DVD drive but I'm pretty sure you'll have to buy the component cables to connect the XBox360 to your TV for HD. Don't quote me on that though. The wireless controller will work fine with the core system.

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: videopho
The ability of the player or transport to do 730p gets me interested with it.
Can I get just a bare 360 core system and this dvd player so I can use the pair to play HD dvd movies plus play games (though I'm not a very big console gamer myself?
I also just bought a wireless xbox 360 game controller to use with the core system.
Would the w/l gc work with the core system?

You can get the core system and add the HD-DVD drive but I'm pretty sure you'll have to buy the component cables to connect the XBox360 to your TV for HD. Don't quote me on that though. The wireless controller will work fine with the core system.

Thanks for info. So the basic core system diesn't have the component cables came with it.
I just sold my Oppo up-convert dvd player and I'm hoping to get a basic core system then
add this hd dvd player in order to tactually play hd dvd movies for real (not the wannabe like the up-conversion players do)