Picked Up My Xbox360 HD-DVD Drive Today

Here are some pics....

http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q...ype=local?sc=3

I was suprised at the actually size of the unit. It is very sleek and small. The box was also very compact. Also, Microsoft finally came to their senses and put a decent sized powerbrick with the drive instead of that monster with the 360. Finally, MS didn't mess around with the King Kong HD-DVD. It is in an actual case with the correct insert. I was so happy about this because I was pissed when Sony put the Spiderman II UMD in that cheap paper case when the PSP released in the USA. One last thing, interestingly enough, there is an installation CD/DVD included with the unit, which must be installed before hooking up the system. I am going to try it out and will give an update. For now, enjoy the pics.

Very nice.

I may have been mistaken on it's sticker price but I just checked Best Buy and Future Shop here and both list it at only $199 CDN, much cheaper than I expected.

Looks like this will be my first HD-DVD player as well.

Sexy looking unit, but it needs an external source? I never thought about that but it now sounds reasonable.

Awesome. I really want one. Please give info as to how it looks, runs, and so on. I want to see what it looks like near the unit. How long's the cord that connects the two? Does the Xbox actually run as this is on? Give details!

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Originally Posted by Spike Spiegel

Awesome. I really want one. Please give info as to how it looks, runs, and so on. I want to see what it looks like near the unit. How long's the cord that connects the two? Does the Xbox actually run as this is on? Give details!

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Good point actually.

It would be nice if this ran without the 360 turned on much like the charging cable for the controllers.

welcome to the world. :buttrock:

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Originally Posted by DashK

welcome to the world. :buttrock:

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Thank you :buttrock:

As far as I can tell, the xbox is one while the unit is running, but the turbo fans from the xbox turn off, so it is a pretty silent experience. The drive feels really good, very high quality build. After you install the drivers, on the live dashboard, there will be a button to eject the DVD drive, and eject the HDDVD drive, so it is very easy to differentiate the two.

The cord connecting both units is a decent size (I have it set up already and don't want to rip it apart to measure), but you have to keep the units relatively close to one another. I have my units right next to each other laying horizontally (I know this is not space efficient, but I do not want to stack the unit on my xbox, and I don't have enough clerence to stand them both up).

Now I am not nearly the videophile as some of the other members of this forum, but I think the video quality is pretty damn good. I put in Last Samurai HD-DVD, and immediatly my girlfriend and I noticed a difference in the vibrance of the colors. I am running it on a 32" AQUOS in 1080i, and it looks fantastic. You can definitely tell the difference between a regular DVD and the HD-DVD. We are going to watch another movie tonight, and I will report more after it is over or tomorrow.

My only gripe so far is that the volume output seems extremely low for the unit. The manual sucks, to say the least, so maybe I am missing some sort of setting to increase internal volume, but as it stands, I have to turn my TV nearly to its max (like 53 out of 60) in order to get an acceptable level of volume to suits my taste (on regular TV it would be like 26-30). Hopefully I am just missing something here.

All in all, for $200 plus the King Kong, I am very pleased with this purchase and think it is well worth the money.

Added a pic of the two units side by side

http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q...gAnch=imgAnch1

If I'm wrong then one of the other HDDVD-philes can correct me, but I have the same audio problems with my Toshiba player. I asked the same question in the HDDVD thread and I think someone said it's in the software at the moment, but if you pop in a dvd and play it it should be at normal volume but HDs are lower. Hopefully someone can chime in with more info.

Reminds me of sega cd.:annoyed:

This thread definitely has me interested in one. But, I think I'd like to see a display first before I make a decision.

They really should've just had the drive built in when they released it, looks ugly.

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Originally Posted by lachlan

They really should've just had the drive built in when they released it, looks ugly.

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Yea, but then you'd have to pay $600. This way it gives people who want to play HD-DVDs the option to, rather than forcing it down their throats Sony style.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/the-pswii60-214018.php

there's a comparison there...

In a way, that's why I thought the decision was very smart. This was done as an option, not a forced payment, in which many people (like myself) who are very unsure of this whole High Definition DVD war mess. Ones that aren't so willing to jump in with both feet, into that whole issue because they don't see the dire need to go that route. Not for at least a year or so.

dammit. I'm still waiting for mine. damn slow ass canadian retailers. No one, not even EB Games here has it until monday but it keeps getting postponed. Was supposed to be the 8th, then 10th and now the 13th. Hopefully I can get it monday.

The EB games by my place only had enough to fill the pre-orders. Mine was delayed from Wednesday, and I had to call them like 5 times today to find out when it was finally going to arrive (arrived around 7:00 pm). These might be tough to fine for a little while, but for $200, it is definitely a great way to get into the HD-DVD scene.

Man I hope that setup dvd enables h.264 file playback...

Why couldn't they power the drive off of two usb connections?

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Originally Posted by Argentina94

I may have been mistaken on it's sticker price but I just checked Best Buy and Future Shop here and both list it at only $199 CDN, much cheaper than I expected.

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I preordered a couple of weeks ago, and they gave me a price of $199 Canadian at EB. I paid in full, but fully expected to discover the price is actually $219 or $229 when I picked it up; I mean, when was the last time we had the same price up here as they do in the 'States? It sounds like the price may be correct after all. Sweet!

Unfortunately, it didn't arrive with the shipments today; they just received the wireless racing wheel and some other crap but to HD-DVD drive, so it looks like I'll have to wait until Monday. :(

Apparently, in the initial shipment there are only two HD-DVD drives for every EB in Canada (though some stores might receive three while others receive one, etc.). The big-box stores may receive more units.

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Originally Posted by Eldios

Thank you :buttrock:

As far as I can tell, the xbox is one while the unit is running, but the turbo fans from the xbox turn off, so it is a pretty silent experience. The drive feels really good, very high quality build. After you install the drivers, on the live dashboard, there will be a button to eject the DVD drive, and eject the HDDVD drive, so it is very easy to differentiate the two.

The cord connecting both units is a decent size (I have it set up already and don't want to rip it apart to measure), but you have to keep the units relatively close to one another. I have my units right next to each other laying horizontally (I know this is not space efficient, but I do not want to stack the unit on my xbox, and I don't have enough clerence to stand them both up).

Now I am not nearly the videophile as some of the other members of this forum, but I think the video quality is pretty damn good. I put in Last Samurai HD-DVD, and immediatly my girlfriend and I noticed a difference in the vibrance of the colors. I am running it on a 32" AQUOS in 1080i, and it looks fantastic. You can definitely tell the difference between a regular DVD and the HD-DVD. We are going to watch another movie tonight, and I will report more after it is over or tomorrow.

My only gripe so far is that the volume output seems extremely low for the unit. The manual sucks, to say the least, so maybe I am missing some sort of setting to increase internal volume, but as it stands, I have to turn my TV nearly to its max (like 53 out of 60) in order to get an acceptable level of volume to suits my taste (on regular TV it would be like 26-30). Hopefully I am just missing something here.

All in all, for $200 plus the King Kong, I am very pleased with this purchase and think it is well worth the money.

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a bunch of the launch HDDVDs had lower than normal volume, 10d lower if i remember, this was in the mastering. I think it was only paramount and warner discs (which last samurai is one). The only discs I own that has that problem is Aeon Flux and Constantine. But since I use a receiver, I can just crank it to an acceptable level, on your TV speakers it might be harder.

but pop in a disc like tokyo drift or terminator 3 with the same volume settings, and the volume is so fucking loud I have to turn my receiver down so the people living next door don't call the police.

the only thing the 360 is doing is acting as an OS software HDDVD player, the HDDVD drive is doing all the disc work.

can the 360 player output 1080p for HDDVD? that would be amazing if it did, since only the 1,000 dollar G2 toshiba will do that!

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Originally Posted by DashK

a bunch of the launch HDDVDs had lower than normal volume, 10d lower if i remember, this was in the mastering. I think it was only paramount and warner discs (which last samurai is one). The only discs I own that has that problem is Aeon Flux and Constantine. But since I use a receiver, I can just crank it to an acceptable level, on your TV speakers it might be harder.

but pop in a disc like tokyo drift or terminator 3 with the same volume settings, and the volume is so fucking loud I have to turn my receiver down so the people living next door don't call the police.

the only thing the 360 is doing is acting as an OS software HDDVD player, the HDDVD drive is doing all the disc work.

can the 360 player output 1080p for HDDVD? that would be amazing if it did, since only the 1,000 dollar G2 toshiba will do that!

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I am pretty sure the player can output 1080p, but since my TV only does a max rez of 1080i there is no way to check. 1080i, by the way, look amazing.

Also, I tried some other discs and the sound was fine. Thanks for the heads up on the sound problem. Probably for Christmas I will get a good surround sound set up and that will solve that problem.

Yep, there is a 1080p mode now avalible in the xbox360 settings once you instal the software that came with the hddvd. I just got mine today and love it. Im using it on my Westinghouse LVM-37w3 1080p monitor.

You can only output HDDVD at 1080p over VGA, and have fun when the movie studios turn on the copy protection flag and you cant output anything over 480p for HDDVDs :kekeke:

Seriously, youre better off getting a stand alone player, whether you pony up the extra cash now or wait until the price drops.

They say they're releasing an HDMI cable for the 360... which would be awesome. I also have a 1080p, but I can't get it through components either. It goes black, says 1080p on my tv... but that's it.

I would like a player, since the price can't be beat for a normal player, but the lack of HDMI blows my mind.

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Originally Posted by Spike Spiegel

They say they're releasing an HDMI cable for the 360... which would be awesome. I also have a 1080p, but I can't get it through components either. It goes black, says 1080p on my tv... but that's it.

I would like a player, since the price can't be beat for a normal player, but the lack of HDMI blows my mind.

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"they" being who?
From what i understood, it is impossible for the current 360 to output a digital signal.
I suppose the cable could have some kind of A/D converter in the cable itself... (the gamecube component cable actually had a D/A converter in the cable).

The problem with component, is not many TVs seem to support 1080p over component.
And not many TVs have a VGA port (mine does, but its a slightly older 720p sony; the newer model dropped the vga port for a 2nd HDMI port).
The whole "1080p upgrade" for x360 is basically a lot of smoke and mirrors intended to take some air out of the PS3 balloon.

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

"they" being who?
From what i understood, it is impossible for the current 360 to output a digital signal.
I suppose the cable could have some kind of A/D converter in the cable itself... (the gamecube component cable actually had a D/A converter in the cable).

The problem with component, is not many TVs seem to support 1080p over component.
And not many TVs have a VGA port (mine does, but its a slightly older 720p sony; the newer model dropped the vga port for a 2nd HDMI port).
The whole "1080p upgrade" for x360 is basically a lot of smoke and mirrors intended to take some air out of the PS3 balloon.

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MSFT can easily release an HDMI cable, copy protection won't be an issue, if it's ever implemented.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eldios

Yea, but then you'd have to pay $600. This way it gives people who want to play HD-DVDs the option to, rather than forcing it down their throats Sony style.

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Also, I would rather have two drives... ONe for gamming (360) and one for Movies (HD-DVD). This way, if one goes, you still have the other....

PS, Anyone try hooking it up to a PC?

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Originally Posted by gamejunkie

Man I hope that setup dvd enables h.264 file playback...

Why couldn't they power the drive off of two usb connections?

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Don't think you'd get enough Juice...

And I don't know if the connectors can handle that much juice, even with two.

isn't USB 5v only?

Or maybe the PSU can't output enough amps.

Or maybe they don't want to clog up 2 USB ports.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

You can only output HDDVD at 1080p over VGA, and have fun when the movie studios turn on the copy protection flag and you cant output anything over 480p for HDDVDs :kekeke:

Seriously, youre better off getting a stand alone player, whether you pony up the extra cash now or wait until the price drops.

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Won't be a problem, VGA is, at least right now, still exempt from the ict crap..........

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Originally Posted by Mouse_Master

Won't be a problem, VGA is, at least right now, still exempt from the ict crap..........

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Its not exempt, its just that ICT hasnt been turned on yet.
And im 99% sure the movie studios WILL turn it on eventually. Which is crap if you ask me...

I'll believe an HDMI cable when I see it. Until then, its plain stupid to blow $200 on an HDDVD drive that might well turn out to be as useful as a brick.

I always thought they where going to have the hdmi out on the back of the HD-DVD player add-on and you would play games through the main unit and movies from the external drive, but the output for video oudio would be through the external drives hdmi....that sucks it doesn't work like that. Come on MS gimmie a hdmi adapter already. So you hook up the HD-DVD drive through USB then output the HD and Audio signal through the main 360 unit?

Would be interested to see how this looks, any chance of some comparison pics of say a hddvd running and a standard dvd?

What are you going to use this expensive ugly piece of crap for again?

Hd-DVD movies that you can't output in hdmi 1080p yet :emb: I will wait on the add-on untill a hdmi 1080p solution is found, otherwise it's a waist of money. Hd-DVD and Blu-Ray is ment to be seen in 1080p....

Thanks for posting pics, looks about the size of a complete Neo AES game.

The only thing I do not like about this system so far is that it does not upconvert your regular dvd's. I did pick up these titles so far. Enter the Dragon,Goodfellas,LeathalWeapon 1 and 2, Perfect Storm,Unforgiven,U571, Full Metal Jacket,Backdraft,and Under Seige.

My HD-DVD drive still hasn't come in! The three EBs within the city all had the drives on their list for delivery today, but everything else arrived and not the drives. I have a feeling some courier employees picked themselves up some early Christmas presents. :-/

There is still a chance they will arrive in a shipment this afternoon (I hope).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by XRS

The only thing I do not like about this system so far is that it does not upconvert your regular dvd's. I did pick up these titles so far. Enter the Dragon,Goodfellas,LeathalWeapon 1 and 2, Perfect Storm,Unforgiven,U571, Full Metal Jacket,Backdraft,and Under Seige.

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It does through VGA.

Then again, so does the xbox 360 itself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

Its not exempt, its just that ICT hasnt been turned on yet.
And im 99% sure the movie studios WILL turn it on eventually. Which is crap if you ask me...

I'll believe an HDMI cable when I see it. Until then, its plain stupid to blow $200 on an HDDVD drive that might well turn out to be as useful as a brick.

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please don't be a moron, VGA is exempt from copy protection. because it's considered part of the PC spec (PC monitors don't have HDMI, so it would be stupid)

how do you explain the 360 upconverting normal DVDs past 480p over VGA.

the copy protection is for composite/s-video/component only.

you won't see any ICT on HDDVD for a while, and like I said, MSFT will probably have an HDMI cable out in a couple months.

I was a little lucky on getting mine. I just went to the store to cancel one of my pre orders and I asked the guy if he had any of these units in. He said there was 2 which I thought had to be preordered. They where not preordered but 2 of the workers there planed on buying them when they came in later. They told me since they did not preorder I could have one. I kind of feel sorry for the guy that was going to buy the one I got. But then again, I was not feeling that bad for him:glee:

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Originally Posted by DashK

please don't be a moron, VGA is exempt from copy protection. because it's considered part of the PC spec (PC monitors don't have HDMI, so it would be stupid)

how do you explain the 360 upconverting normal DVDs past 480p over VGA.

the copy protection is for composite/s-video/component only.

you won't see any ICT on HDDVD for a while, and like I said, MSFT will probably have an HDMI cable out in a couple months.

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heh, the biggest moron on this board calls me a moron. funny!

VGA is NOT exempt from ICT restrictions, which is what i meant by copy protection (and infact, i wouldnt be surprised if macrovision was also transmitted on VGA, but as no VCRs have VGA its a moot point).

normal DVDs do not have any restrictions on scaling or output.

HDDVD (and blu-ray) WILL eventually be restricted to only 480p over any analog connection. Full res will ONLY be available with a HDCP compliant connection (ie, HDMI or DVI) when (and it IS when not if) the movie studios screw us some more with their bullshit paranoia and start turning on ICT.

Youre the dumbest, blindest fool if you think otherwise.




oh, wait... its DashK.. you are a dumb, blind fool.
Have fun with your brick if MS doesnt release an HDMI cable. (or its only available for a newer revision of x360).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

HDDVD (and blu-ray) WILL eventually be restricted to only 480p over any analog connection. Full res will ONLY be available with a HDCP compliant connection (ie, HDMI or DVI) when (and it IS when not if) the movie studios screw us some more with their bullshit paranoia and start turning on ICT.

Youre the dumbest, blindest fool if you think otherwise.






oh, wait... its DashK.. you are a dumb, blind fool.
Have fun with your brick if MS doesnt release an HDMI cable. (or its only available for a newer revision of x360).

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It's just a flag right?

Not going to be very hard to overcome.

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Originally Posted by norton9478

It's just a flag right?

Not going to be very hard to overcome.

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really? do share your solution.

I expect it will eventually be cracked on the PC (though if that "trusted computer" bullshit takes off, maybe not), but im not so sure about on the x360 or standalone players.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

really? do share your solution.

I expect it will eventually be cracked on the PC (though if that "trusted computer" bullshit takes off, maybe not), but im not so sure about on the x360 or standalone players.

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Mods man....

Such devices will be prototyped with the flag ignored..... Then they will throw the flag restrictions in at the end.


Should be easy.....

Could even be possible with a remote hack.


P.S. This is all theoretical..... But no ammount of copy or region protection has ever held up late in a product's life.

HD-DVD players will be $100 in a few years..... People will gladly throw in an extra $100 to have it modded to work on thier expensive sets as they like.

The whole Copyprotection over Analog is just plain stupid anywyas.... It only hurts legit and legal copying.......

HD-DVD;s will be direct copyable in a few years anywyas.

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

normal DVDs do not have any restrictions on scaling or output.

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bwahaha. i was wrong, you're a fucking moron. and are talking about things you don't even own. you seem poor, so I doubt you own HDDVD yet.

DVDs are restricted to 480p output over analog devices. Except VGA. Unless you run a HK player or something.

And thanks dumbass, but I've owned the toshiba HDDVD player for months, and it only upscales normal DVDs past 480p over HDMI.

you calling the 360 player a brick, is fucking stupid. they are already releasing an HDMI cable in time.

Isn't the 480P DVD restriction inherent in the format specifications?

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Originally Posted by DashK

bwahaha. i was wrong, you're a fucking moron. and are talking about things you don't even own. you seem poor, so I doubt you own HDDVD yet.

DVDs are restricted to 480p output over analog devices. Except VGA. Unless you run a HK player or something.

And thanks dumbass, but I've owned the toshiba HDDVD player for months, and it only upscales normal DVDs past 480p over HDMI.

you calling the 360 player a brick, is fucking stupid. they are already releasing an HDMI cable in time.

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well ill be damned. the king dipshit got something right for once.
Well, i guess a even a blind man will hit the target sometimes.

I didnt even consider it, as restriction on scaling normal DVDs is lame. its not like youre adding any information... :emb:

Oh, and please share this announcement of an HDMI cable.
Youre still an idiot if you buy the x360 HDDVD drive before a REAL announcement (or better yet, a release) of an HDMI cable.

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

Wish I was in Japan... But I'm in Ohio..

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LOL

well, amir from avsforum 9works for msft) said an HDMI cable is on the way if needed, and is easy to do. msft aren't morons, they invented the HDDVD video codec, they know about the copy protection...

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Originally Posted by DashK

LOL

well, amir from avsforum 9works for msft) said an HDMI cable is on the way if needed, and is easy to do. msft aren't morons, they invented the HDDVD video codec, they know about the copy protection...

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Mr. "i love japan, japanese cars, and drifting" is going to LOL at me? :lolz:

A post on a webform that its "on the way if needed" is nowhere near a real announcement. Thanks, but try again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rassilon

well ill be damned. the king dipshit got something right for once.
Well, i guess a even a blind man will hit the target sometimes.

I didnt even consider it, as restriction on scaling normal DVDs is lame. its not like youre adding any information... :emb:
.

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Really doesn't matter....

I hear that External and TV upscaling is getting pretty good.

The studios just don't want DVD's to compete with the newere generation formats.

They wanted it to look like shit on a 1080 tv with shitty upscaling.