Some interesting 360 rumors (nothing to do with 360 vs PC)

[FudgeNuggets]

Also I would like to see reviews of the Xbox HD-DVD drive against standalone players before I ever considered getting one. There may be quality or functionality differences that would justify the extra cost for a standalone player.

I can think of one PRO for it; for those of us who adopted HDTV early it'll let you do 1080i via component and not require HDMI (this was stated in the press release about the 360 getting a HD-DVD drive as well as from Larry Hyrb AKA Major Nelson).

 

[onx]

i doubt the price drop will happen, for a few reasons. PS3 is expected to be like $700 or something, if M$ doesnt need a console at $200 to compete on price with that...they can compete on price with a $400 console, also they dont want to give the 360 the appearance of being the "cheap" obsolete console either by dropping the price.

 

[OC Noob]

My point being though, you are then very limited. To use it anywhere else, you must bring you 360. If your 360 dies, you lose your use of an HD-DVD player that is still good.

The thing is that no one drags their stand alone DVD player to use at lan parties or anything of the sort so there really is no con to the addon vs. a stand alone HD-DVD player there. As far as if your 360 unit breaks that you won't have use to the HD-DVD drive, that is true. In addition, if a stand alone player breaks... say you drop it on the way to a lan, lol, then you lose it too. Or if your PS3 breaks its not like you can still use the integrated Blu-ray player.

I do see your concern about the player relying on the 360 to be functioning, but at a $100 price point you can't go wrong because you'll beable to buy a new 360 for less than you would pay for a stand alone player (they'll probably start out at atleast $300 for the low end initially and the 360 core systems price will likely have dropped to $250 or less by then.


I doubt I'll buy one because it takes me a while to adopt new media, but if the movies are $25 and under i might grab one just to watch 720p/1080i movies.

Like I said, if you already have the 360, you can't lose for $100. its almost a disposable device.

 

[Rydis]

I can think of one PRO for it; for those of us who adopted HDTV early it'll let you do 1080i via component and not require HDMI (this was stated in the press release about the 360 getting a HD-DVD drive as well as from Larry Hyrb AKA Major Nelson).

That is true. Alot of old HDTV's dont support HDMI. Mine is pretty new and it doesn't support HDMI, but has DVI, so isn't to much of a loss for me.

I am not biased to either. But I havn't seen a actual confirmed price for the ps3, so its value there is still unknown.

The other down side is the lack of equipment used with the HDTV. I can see how this wouldn't appeal to the average consumer, but usually newer models/cheaper models will suffer from bad chips that will tend to artifact more then others, jaggies. While this shouldn't be a big case with 720/1080i/P, you will find these among the players. I would put the 360 HD-DVD player in with these, for the fact only it is also a really early release for HD players.

Going with the above paragraph, some people prefer to still use scalers and processors with their equipment, which I can't see the 360 ad-on doing. These are just some examples. I personally find 100.00 to be a good value yes, but my personal opinion for me, is to wait till price drops on some of the HD players and pick it up then. HD games can tie me over in time.

 

[z0n3]

... that they promised would take GTA to the next level and be much better etc...etc....etc.....

I hope it won't more violent and sex crazed. Quit pushing the envelope! Its been pushed enough. What did that poor envelope ever do to you?

 

[AngelfireUk83]

I thought MS where stopping production of the standard system so you have to get the HDD for your games. I was gonna get the core system without the HDD and buy a 3rd party HDD from Datel the creators of the Action Replay. But I've changed my mind and I'm getting a new G.Card but I might still buy one after next year.

 

[OC Noob]

I thought MS where stopping production of the standard system so you have to get the HDD for your games. I was gonna get the core system without the HDD and buy a 3rd party HDD from Datel the creators of the Action Replay. But I've changed my mind and I'm getting a new G.Card but I might still buy one after next year.

That was an April Fools joke. They still intend to sell core units.

 

[John G]

The other down side is the lack of equipment used with the HDTV. I can see how this wouldn't appeal to the average consumer, but usually newer models/cheaper models will suffer from bad chips that will tend to artifact more then others, jaggies. While this shouldn't be a big case with 720/1080i/P, you will find these among the players. I would put the 360 HD-DVD player in with these, for the fact only it is also a really early release for HD players.

Going with the above paragraph, some people prefer to still use scalers and processors with their equipment, which I can't see the 360 ad-on doing. These are just some examples. I personally find 100.00 to be a good value yes, but my personal opinion for me, is to wait till price drops on some of the HD players and pick it up then. HD games can tie me over in time.

Just to mention, the HD-DVD add-on itself won't have any kind of scaling/processing ability built into itself...it will likely be a pure & simple external drive. But, the 360 console unit does. It has a TV chip built into it that can scale resolution up/down, line double, interlace, etc... They already needed it for games. Supposedly, most games are internally rendered at an equivalent to 720p, and the TV chip converts it to whatever you set for your TV.

 

[AngelfireUk83]

With it been USB what are the chances of problems when watching movies off it I know the USB devices I've used in the past have had there problems.

 

[John G]

With it been USB what are the chances of problems when watching movies off it I know the USB devices I've used in the past have had there problems.

Probably mostly a question of drivers, OS, firmware, etc... I'm pretty sure it would work fine provided there is plenty of bandwidth and they work all the kinks out on the software end of things. Windows has a tendancy of applying generic rules in an attempt to be smarter than the user or devices.... I expect a purpose built OS like one in a game console system would simplify things quite a bit.

 

[Sliver]

I'm waiting for a price drop, and Lost Planet to come out. When those two things happen, I'm buying the 360.