Xbox 360 HD player

[Draikar]

I seen Xbox has a HD player, since I have a PS3 that plays BluRay I wanted a Xbox that has a HD player. I collect movies like Beta, VHS and CED disk movies and want to build a new format and since I collect games and systems. I want to know if I can get a Xbox that has it built into the system and not a "add-on" drive ?

[jay2068]

Short answer: NO

Long Answer: Still No - Talk to Microsoft marketing. I don't see them making a 360 with an internal HD drive.

[Draikar]

Why don't they, I don't mind the extra cost for a internal HD drive.. Unless im the only one, am I ???

[moycon]

Why don't they, I don't mind the extra cost for a internal HD drive.. Unless im the only one, am I ???

 

If they made one I'd buy it. Unfortunately I think I read the HD-DVD drives aren't good for playing 360 games. I don't recall the exact reasons but a drive that did both played games and played the movies was difficult to pull off. I'll have to keep my eye's peeled for that article.

 

But regardless of the real reason. MS says it's because they want gamers to have a choice and not be forced to buy a movie player with their video game console.

[IronMongeR]

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually, and as said, they want 360 owners to have the choice of whether they need to fork out for HD.

 

Personally, and this is coming from an HD drive owner, I've found HD-DVD to be a bit disappointing. Yes the image is clearer and improved over DVD, but when you think about the toal cost of the whole setup, it really isn't worth it. £700ish for a good HD TV, £280 for a 360, £120 for the drive and then £20 for a HDDVD. A total of £1120 or something like $2200. Just to watch a slightly improved dvd.

[+Cobra Kai]

Why don't they, I don't mind the extra cost for a internal HD drive.. Unless im the only one, am I ???

 

This would make the 360 load games too slow, the drive speed is not as fast as a regular DVD drive. Also, since the 360 hardware is shoddy, you don't want an integrated HD DVD drive in there yet, a seperate add-on is less taxing on the console.

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually, and as said, they want 360 owners to have the choice of whether they need to fork out for HD.

 

Personally, and this is coming from an HD drive owner, I've found HD-DVD to be a bit disappointing. Yes the image is clearer and improved over DVD, but when you think about the toal cost of the whole setup, it really isn't worth it. £700ish for a good HD TV, £280 for a 360, £120 for the drive and then £20 for a HDDVD. A total of £1120 or something like $2200. Just to watch a slightly improved dvd.

It's not slightly improved. It's 6x the resolution of standard DVD. The jump in picture quality is actually a much bigger improvement than the jump from VHS to DVD. Not to mention the addition of HD audio into the mix, which is really important to alot of people. Some people seem to be into HD technology more for the audio than the PQ.

 

Granted, some HD DVD's that have been released have had some very poor video transfers, (Traffic, Dirty Dozen) but the majority of them are clearly superior in PQ by leaps and bounds.

[warmachine]

Microsoft jumped the gun on this one.

The hd-dvd drive would have cost microsoft another year of development and the

loss of the head start on this console generation.

Not to mention that hd-dvd has a much weaker line up of corporate supporters than blu-ray.

[IronMongeR]

Why don't they, I don't mind the extra cost for a internal HD drive.. Unless im the only one, am I ???

 

This would make the 360 load games too slow, the drive speed is not as fast as a regular DVD drive. Also, since the 360 hardware is shoddy, you don't want an integrated HD DVD drive in there yet, a seperate add-on is less taxing on the console.

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually, and as said, they want 360 owners to have the choice of whether they need to fork out for HD.

 

Personally, and this is coming from an HD drive owner, I've found HD-DVD to be a bit disappointing. Yes the image is clearer and improved over DVD, but when you think about the toal cost of the whole setup, it really isn't worth it. £700ish for a good HD TV, £280 for a 360, £120 for the drive and then £20 for a HDDVD. A total of £1120 or something like $2200. Just to watch a slightly improved dvd.

It's not slightly improved. It's 6x the resolution of standard DVD. The jump in picture quality is actually a much bigger improvement than the jump from VHS to DVD. Not to mention the addition of HD audio into the mix, which is really important to alot of people. Some people seem to be into HD technology more for the audio than the PQ.

 

Granted, some HD DVD's that have been released have had some very poor video transfers, (Traffic, Dirty Dozen) but the majority of them are clearly superior in PQ by leaps and bounds.

 

When I watched my first HD DVD I was completely underwhelmed. The improvement is not significant enough to justify the cost, at least not on my 32" Samsung. Perhaps it makes a difference on a big ass 50" thing.

[Gregory DG]

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually

Do you really think Sony (who owns Blu-Ray) would allow MS to release a Blu-Ray drive? If MS really wanted to, they would no doubt have to pay through the nose to get it. I bet their HD-DVD licensing isn't nearly as expensive as Blu-Ray would be.

 

And this is why I oppose Blu-Ray. Do we really want a company like Sony holding all the cards in regards to next gen DVDs? I certainly don't.

Edited May 11, 2007 by Gregory DG

[Hyper_Eye]

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually, and as said, they want 360 owners to have the choice of whether they need to fork out for HD.

 

Personally, and this is coming from an HD drive owner, I've found HD-DVD to be a bit disappointing. Yes the image is clearer and improved over DVD, but when you think about the toal cost of the whole setup, it really isn't worth it. £700ish for a good HD TV, £280 for a 360, £120 for the drive and then £20 for a HDDVD. A total of £1120 or something like $2200. Just to watch a slightly improved dvd.

 

1) MS has backed HD-DVD since day one. They are one of the major backers of the format and they are not going to even look at Blu-Ray until HD-DVD hits the ocean floor. I don't think this is going to happen as I don't think there will be a clear winner for a long time.

 

2) The difference completely depends on the transfer. There are some movies that look amazing (Kong, Happy Feet, Ant Bully, Batman Begins) and there are movies that look like crap (That Last Samurai, We Were Soldiers). Hopefully as the technology ages studios will get better at ensuring good transfers.

 

I am happy with the decision to make the HD-DVD drive an external add-on. The XBox 360 is a game console first and a multimedia machine second. That is exactly what I want and that is what I got with the 360.

[warmachine]

I am happy with the decision to make the HD-DVD drive an external add-on. The XBox 360 is a game console first and a multimedia machine second. That is exactly what I want and that is what I got with the 360.

 

What we really got with the 360 was games that are too large to fit on standard dvd's so that we have to

pay extra for this "downloadable content" that will soon fill up the measly 20 GB hard drive and therfore

end up paying nearly $200.00 paying for another hard drive with about $100.00 worth of space on it.

 

"downloadable content" is the future for microsoft.

[Hyper_Eye]

You think that downloadable content wouldn't fit on the discs? That has nothing to do with why we have downloadable content. We have downloadable content because that makes MS and the game companies more money. The reason for the bigger hdd is downloadable high def material such as movies and television shows. If you don't download that stuff it is unlikely you will need to the larger hdd. I am not even close to needing the larger hdd.

[IronMongeR]

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually

Do you really think Sony (who owns Blu-Ray) would allow MS to release a Blu-Ray drive? If MS really wanted to, they would no doubt have to pay through the nose to get it. I bet their HD-DVD licensing isn't nearly as expensive as Blu-Ray would be.

 

And this is why I oppose Blu-Ray. Do we really want a company like Sony holding all the cards in regards to next gen DVDs? I certainly don't.

 

I'm just repeating rumours. Last year Peter Moore said a Blu Ray drive was a possibility if it the format becomes a clear winner, which obviously it hasn't yet.

[+Cobra Kai]

When I watched my first HD DVD I was completely underwhelmed. The improvement is not significant enough to justify the cost, at least not on my 32" Samsung. Perhaps it makes a difference on a big ass 50" thing.

Yes, I agree with that. I think it's well known that PQ differences are most notable after 46"+ screens, well as far as noticing the difference between 1080i and 1080p. I have a 51" so I'm seeing the full value of HD DVD right now. With a 32" I can see why you would think it's not a big deal. In the end though, you can't blame HD technology for lacking if you don't have the proper equipment.

Edited May 12, 2007 by Gunstarhero

[IronMongeR]

If I don't have the proper equipment, perhaps they should stop labelling any HD tv under 46" as HD Ready.

Edited May 12, 2007 by IronMongeR

[Video]

Why don't they, I don't mind the extra cost for a internal HD drive.. Unless im the only one, am I ???

 

Just look how well PS3 is selling, mostly due in thanks to the built in $200+ drive, and then ask yourself if Microsoft would really want to loose sales over something most people don't want, or wouldn't use.

 

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually

Do you really think Sony (who owns Blu-Ray) would allow MS to release a Blu-Ray drive? If MS really wanted to, they would no doubt have to pay through the nose to get it. I bet their HD-DVD licensing isn't nearly as expensive as Blu-Ray would be.

 

And this is why I oppose Blu-Ray. Do we really want a company like Sony holding all the cards in regards to next gen DVDs? I certainly don't.

 

Hell yeah it'll happen. I mean, Son'ys not selling PS3's exactly, so it' snot like a Blue Ray player for the Box would be costing them sales in the console world. Then you have Microsoft building it, Microsoft selling it, and Sony making a profit for doing neither

 

Me, I won't buy either (well, Maybe HD) untill I can see a real winner, or maybe I'll just pop $1k or so, when I get financially stable enough for a dual player to run both.

[liveinabin]

If I don't have the proper equipment, perhaps they should stop labelling any HD tv under 46" as HD Ready.

 

You do have the proper equipment. Sure, there won't be as dramatic a difference between HD and SD, but with the right media (and a good bit of wire) HD will always look great. 32" is big enough to notice. Look at those little 26" displays on the Xbox 360 playposts, they look awesome. It's for this reason that no TV under 23" carries the HD ready logo, even if it meets the criteria.

 

The criteria, by the way, is the following:

Must have one or more HDMI ports with HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content protection) or DVI ports with the same.

Must be able to natively display a picture of at least 720 vertical lines.

 

I think in the US it's a little more loosely defined, insofar as a set with no digital inputs and only component sockets can be labelled HD ready (if it will do at least 720p) but I think most sets will have HDMI by now. It's the new USB, in that every manufacturer just sticks as many ports as they can on, even if it's overkill.

[Lord Helmet]

IIRC "HD ready" means it is ready for HD, but it doesn't have an internal HD tuner. My 65' Mitsubishi is HD ready, If I didn;t have my Dish network HD tuner, I wouldn't be able to decode HD signals.

[+Cobra Kai]

If I don't have the proper equipment, perhaps they should stop labelling any HD tv under 46" as HD Ready.

 

Keep in mind as well that not all HDTV's utilize the maximum resolution out there, I use to have a Samsung 27" that was only 720p. (Actually it might have only been 540p).

 

Also, as mentioned by Helmet, what the term HD Ready means is that your set doesn't have an integrated digital tuner. So, if you wanted to get over-the-air digital broadcasts, you'd need to purchase a standalone set-top-box digital tuner.

[IronMongeR]

I only really got an HD TV for 360 games really, which I'm happy with. It will be good enough for the next few years, until maybe I have more room for something the size of an ocean liner.

[Hyper_Eye]

I have a 720p projector using an 80" screen. The difference between SD and HD movies is massive on my display.

[pmpddytim]

I think Microsoft plan to release a Blu Ray drive eventually

Do you really think Sony (who owns Blu-Ray) would allow MS to release a Blu-Ray drive?

 

Yes. Microsoft could not use the drive for games (They already have thier game format locked in). So the drive would be only for movies like thier HD drive. Microsoft would be making Sony money and Sony wouldn't have to do a thing but rake in the cash on the royalties from the drive and the movies people would be buying to play on it.

 

-T

[Curt Vendel]

I think its rather foolish of MS not to make a 360HD system. They have the black unit, they could've put an HD player into it and had that as their professional system or something like that.

 

I don't like having to have yet another box added onto the console system. If there was a way to install an HD upgrade into the 360's and then buy later 360HD's system, that would be a more acceptable route then having an external box next to the 360.

 

 

Curt

 

Short answer: NO

Long Answer: Still No - Talk to Microsoft marketing. I don't see them making a 360 with an internal HD drive.

[Video]

I have a 720p projector using an 80" screen. The difference between SD and HD movies is massive on my display.

Yeah, but it's not saying much to say that since everything will be huge on a nearly 7 foot display Besides, aren't most (original new release) DVD's displayed at 640x480? So at ??? x 720, I'd say it show around 4x the pixels. Really good, but some people simply don't notice the difference in mearly doubleing the resolution.

 

 

I think its rather foolish of MS not to make a 360HD system. They have the black unit, they could've put an HD player into it and had that as their professional system or something like that.

 

I don't like having to have yet another box added onto the console system. If there was a way to install an HD upgrade into the 360's and then buy later 360HD's system, that would be a more acceptable route then having an external box next to the 360.

 

 

Curt

 

Short answer: NO

Long Answer: Still No - Talk to Microsoft marketing. I don't see them making a 360 with an internal HD drive.

 

I don't know about chalking up another $400+ (considering I haven't done it the first time yet) to buy an 360 with a new drive in it though.

[StormSurge]

I'm on the fence about buying one of these soon. What's the overall consensus? Is it worth it?