X360 HD-DVD owners

[+Cobra Kai]

Check in this thread if you have the X360 HD-DVD add-on. Or feel free to ask a question if you are thinking about buying a unit.

 

Are you happy with it? I'll be brutally honest, this is one of the best electronics purchases I've made since I bought my first Toshiba SD-1200 DVD player waaay back in 1997. I'm very pleased with the ease of set-up, you just run the installation disc, and then do a firmware update through Live and blammo you're all set, takes about 2-3 minutes.

 

I know there are alot of skeptics out there that swear up and down that there is negligible difference between HD-DVD and SD-DVD. At first after my purchase I didn't notice a huge jump in quality, but that was due to ignorance and inexperience. After about a week of strictly watching HD-DVD's, I watched a few of my regular DVD's on my upconverting Sony player, and THAT's when I saw the difference. It took going BACK to the old stuff to finally register in my brain what HD-DVD offers in terms of picture quality, color depth, and 3D imagery.

 

King Kong comes with the unit, and even though the movie is weak, the picture quality is above and beyond anything else you've ever seen. Actually a superb choice for a pack-in movie if just to push the limits of your HD setup.

 

For me, HD-DVD has made buying and watching movies fun again. I buy alot of movies, and for the past year had a case of the blahs over the whole thing, purchasing expensive Criterion DVD's, and experimenting with the Superbit line to try and experience high quality on my HDTV, but none of those even comes close to any of the 10 HD-DVD's I've already purchased the last 2 months. It just feels great to breathe new life into my home theater experience.

[Starscream]

I love it! Already picked up 9 HD dvd's. Digging around I found ebay has the best deals. Average of $18 a piece, why not? The difference between these and standard dvd's is huge. Like you, I find myself wanting to watch movies a little more. With such a cheap price of admission, I really don't care if this format ends up lost in a few years. For now I am enjoying 1080p goodness and couldn't be happier What I am having a huge problem with is keeping myself from getting a PS3. I only want it for blu ray and the temptation is really getting more and more difficult to resist.

[SomeGuyWithDSL]

I'm only rocking 720p on my set, but even that is enough of an improvement to make me drool at some of the better film to HD-DVD transfers. I like that I didn't pay for it up front, I like how it "just works" ... and I ESPECIALLY appreciate the thought that went into putting two extra USB ports and docking clips on the back of the drive enclosure for the official wireless adapter and the Vision camera. Bonus points for thoughtful design.

[Atariman]

Well, I don't personally own the HD-DVD drive, but my roommate just got one today - and I am pretty impressed with it so far. We weren't too impressed with the pack-in movie previously mentioned, but the setup seems to be pretty easy. The only question so far is - wireless hub? (or something to that effect that is mentioned on the box) - what else can this thing do, exactly?

[jsoper]

We got one for Xmas, haven't had time to watch much yet. Looks great but it seems hard to find movies that have both great picture quality and a great story. Superman Returns bored me.

[+Cobra Kai]

We got one for Xmas, haven't had time to watch much yet. Looks great but it seems hard to find movies that have both great picture quality and a great story. Superman Returns bored me.

 

I don't know what kind of movies you like, but try Fearless. Awesome PQ and quite a bit of fighting action. I also thought Swordfish and Backdraft did alot to show off the HD format.

[Tempest]

I guess you don't know what you're missing until you see it. I've never looked at a DVD and thought that it needed to look better or sharper. One of these days I'll invest in HD but for now I don't have a problem with my old set and DVD's.

 

Tempest

[joeybastard]

I guess you don't know what you're missing until you see it. I've never looked at a DVD and thought that it needed to look better or sharper. One of these days I'll invest in HD but for now I don't have a problem with my old set and DVD's.

 

Tempest

 

 

HD-DVD and Blue Ray are both impressive when you see them. We have a couple of both players in our studios. I can't see any difference in the formats visually. While I admit they look great, it's not enough to make me buy either at the moment. Good movies are good even on crappy old VHS. HD may make crappy movies slightly more pleasant but again, not enough for me to spend the dough right now. I guess I'm just not enough of a movie fan.

Edited January 12, 2007 by joeybastard

[NE146]

Yeah it's funny. I've posted so many times on these forums how much I don't give a SHIT about movies. But I'll probably snag one of these for the wife who is an avid show watcher, and bonafide sucker for the whole picture quality thing. I guess for all the other overpriced tv crap we have, we gotta match it with something, and this looks good. ..Until friggin 2160q or whatever the fuck is next that will allow you to see the pores on a persons face and needs another type of cable...

[SomeGuyWithDSL]

I don't have a problem with my DVDs; that is, I'm not going to replace all my current DVDs with HD versions, but when I buy a new movie these days I buy it in HD-DVD format if I can find it on sale.

[Starscream]

We got one for Xmas, haven't had time to watch much yet. Looks great but it seems hard to find movies that have both great picture quality and a great story. Superman Returns bored me.

 

I don't know what kind of movies you like, but try Fearless. Awesome PQ and quite a bit of fighting action. I also thought Swordfish and Backdraft did alot to show off the HD format.

 

 

I think Aeon Flux and Chronicles Of Riddick were just amazing too.

[Starscream]

Well, I don't personally own the HD-DVD drive, but my roommate just got one today - and I am pretty impressed with it so far. We weren't too impressed with the pack-in movie previously mentioned, but the setup seems to be pretty easy. The only question so far is - wireless hub? (or something to that effect that is mentioned on the box) - what else can this thing do, exactly?

 

 

Just play movies. What you read on the box was a reference to being able to use the wireless network adapter. You can clip it on the back of the HD DVD unit and use the USB ports on it as well when connected to the main unit itself..

[Mendon]

Maybe a little off topic, but with Microsofts latest annoucement of incorporating IPTV into the 360 and with HD TV shows and movies available on Marketplace for downloading, do you think that maybe MS might be dropping a lot of its support for the HD format DVD's and putting its money elsewhere?

 

Just curious about peoples thoughts on whether or not MS is going to keep pushing the HD format or even stay in the "battle" with Blu-Ray?

 

Mendon

[The MilkMan]

Crap, so is this Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology going to be the next VHS vs. Beta tape battle again?

I can see it now..."Choose, choose your destiny wisely."

[+Cobra Kai]

Maybe a little off topic, but with Microsofts latest annoucement of incorporating IPTV into the 360 and with HD TV shows and movies available on Marketplace for downloading, do you think that maybe MS might be dropping a lot of its support for the HD format DVD's and putting its money elsewhere?

 

Just curious about peoples thoughts on whether or not MS is going to keep pushing the HD format or even stay in the "battle" with Blu-Ray?

 

Mendon

 

No I don't believe MS is going to give up on HD DVD, because I've read reports that MS is actually going to market their own HD DVD stand alone players. Plus MS created the VC-1 encoding technology that is used in HD DVD (instead of MPEG), so these factors alone IMHO ensure MS, with it's limitless amounts of marketing dollars, is going to be around to fight this fight full force till the end, whoever wins.

 

There's also the possibility that both formats will survive in todays world, particularly with the rumors of Total HD discs that will have both formats on a single disc.

[+Cobra Kai]

Crap, so is this Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology going to be the next VHS vs. Beta tape battle again?

I can see it now..."Choose, choose your destiny wisely."

 

I wouldn't be afraid to go with either format. I know you just got a 360 and I can tell you, it's really a small investment to buy the 360 add-on HD DVD player. It's only $200 sticker price with a couple freebies in the box (King Kong and $30 Remote Control). That's assuming you have an HDTV. The new formats are completely worthless to people who still have standard definition TV sets (most people).

 

Anyway, I think both formats are going to be around for awhile and it will be a couple years, at least, until we see a victor, if there is one. Both formats could survive. It's a different market today than it was when VHS/Beta were released. For one there wasn't any market for VHS/Beta consumer sales. You could really only rent them, as buying new tapes (the same ones video stores would buy) were upwards of $90. Today consumers are far and away more readily purchasing the movies to own, and I think that makes the argument of HD DVD/Bluray vs VHS/Beta not really as easy a comparison as it sounds on the surface.

 

Remember all the experts said there wasn't room for 3 consoles and the last generation of systems proved that wrong. This generation will survive 3 consoles as well, and with that many gamers now owning the new DVD technology, that really increases the chances for survival for both formats. For awhile atleast.

[Jess Ragan]

I have had but a taste of high-def content on my new television set. My cable connection picks up a few HD stations, but they only come in for a few seconds before the picture falls apart and I lose the signal.

 

Still, for those few seconds, I can definitely see improvements over a standard definition broadcast. The contrast is sharper, colors are brighter, and details are more abundant on an HD broadcast.

 

Of course, on the other hand, high-def television sets tend to exaggerate the flaws of an SD broadcast... what looks just fine on an ordinary TV becomes a blurry, artifact-ridden mess on most LCD televisions. With this in mind, a direct comparison between the two isn't entirely fair.

 

I swung by the electronics store at my local college and found an HD-DVD drive perched on a shelf. I laughed at it, then asked the cashier if he had ever sold any of the drives. To my surprise, he answered yes, and one of the customers in the store quickly added, "...and I bought one of them!" I talked to him about it for a while, and he assured me that the drive was worth the money, singing the praises of its high-quality visuals.

 

If I DO make the upgrade to a high-def video format, it'll be to HD-DVD, as both the unit itself and the videos it can play are much cheaper than its competitor. However, I'm still not in a rush to take that leap, since all my favorite shows are available only on DVD. I can definitely wait to make this purchase.

 

JR