Hi all,
I am looking to buy a HD DVD addon for my xbox 360 but would like to know the pros and cons.
I have tried to speak to GAME etc but they really do not know or make things up.
Is it worth buying or am I better with a stand-alone HD DVD player?
it would definateley be alot cheaper to buy the addon. a stand alone player would be alot more expensive. from what i have heard the addon player is very nice
Thanks for that.
yes it is a cheaper version than the full blown stand-alone HD DVD but do I lose on major benefits due to only being on components than HDMI?
Just that at the moment I am using components and I have been told to use the AV for a better picture?
Isn't the av the second best cable?
Also, will I need the xbox 360 to be switched on when I want to watch a HD DVD movie?
The best feature of the HD DVD player is the upscaling ... if you can, get the VGA cable with it and hook it up to your flat screen - it'll upscale your existing normal DVD's to whatever resolution you are currently using on the xBox. My normal DVD's look SO good on my LCD - almost as good as HD DVD's - King kong looks amazing on HD, but the regular DVD looks pretty darn close. I bought it because its a good way to make my existing DVD's look MUCH better than they did on the flat screen.
Yes, you do need to keep your xbox powered on, of course, but you're not using the drive built into it ... vs. when you just use the xBox as a DVD player and wear out the laser much faster.
The sound and picture quality on the HD DVD add-on is just truly amazing, WELL worth it for a $200 upgrade.
The only major downside is that we don't know who will win the new format war ... but regardless, I don't see a winner for a while now, and for me, it's mainly to make my regular DVD's look better. I won't plan on buying a standalone player for quite some time, but the HD DVD add on makes a huge difference in picture quality for your existing DVD library .. it even makes it bearable to wait until there is a clear winner, without even really feeling like you HAVE to buy new format DVD's without a format winner ... although, for the xBox's sake, Ihope HD-DVD wins and makes sony look like a bum! Between BetaMax and now the Blue Ray player in the PS3, HD DVD better win!
Hi Bryan,
Thanks for your views.
I have already got an upscaler standalone (Samsung DVD-HD860) so really getting the xbox HD DVD will be solely for the HD DVD discs.
It is mainly the price that has got me interested in it as it is the cheapest HD DVD on the market at the moment. Just trying to understand why it is so cheap, there must be something wrong here.
Like the saying ' you only get what you pay for'
what does your upscaler upscale to? My other DVD player does that too - only up to 480p - and the picture quality is amazingly better on the HD DVD at 1808i
iwatch alot of movies (1 or two a night) so i would have to worry about shortening the playing life of the console what with having to have the console on aswell.
seen one showing a movie at gamestation and the qaulity was breathtaking.but becouse its was in a big display case i couldn't tell if it is noisy or not(for my money there are few things more annoying than hearing the disc player when trying to watch a movie)
so hopefully someone else can comment on noise levels for you
I don't get why everyone complains about the noise level of the xbox! I never hear mine and I got it in the 2nd batch they released ... I mean, if you play your games or watch movies with any level of volume, I don't see how you'll hear the thing at all! As computer equipment gets faster and more powerful, there's no possible way to get around the fact that you need more fans, which create more noise as airflow increases - some level of noise is always going to be a part of computing equipment or consoles ...
Anyways though, I don't ever hear my HD DVD player at low watching volumes or loud ones ... and I marginally hear the xbox, but not enough to complain about it ...
From what ive heard the reason its cheaper is because the xbox 360 has the spec to play HD-DVD's already it just lacks the drive. Whereas iff you buy a stand alone you have to pay for everything!
That was probably a bad explanation most probably because im tired but see if you can get any use out of it!
