After doing lots of research on this forum & weighing the pros & cons of different solutions I've decided an xbox 360 as an extender is the best option for my needs. But, I don't own one... so 360 console should I buy, the standard console or the elite? I need HDMI (which I think both have) and will be streaming both SD and HD contents, but would like the SD upconverted... do both models have the same performance or is there more to the elite than just a different color and larger hard drive? Since I am using the console primarily as a extender (although I'm sure my husband will buy a few games, but we are not 'gamers') there isn't really any need for a 120GB hard drive on the console is there?

Also, I have a few questions about the process I am using for creating a file that can stream to a 360...
The method I'm using involves creating a Single VOB file of the main title & main audio track (DVD Shrink), then converting the VOB file to an MPEG-2 using Video ReDo. I'm using the MyMovies plug-in in VMC to catalogue everything. So far I've only ripped about 10 DVDs but the process seems to work well (about 20 - 30 min/DVD) and the play back is fine through VMC... won't be able to test the actual stream until I get a 360 though.

The question I have about this process is in the end I am left with 2 large files for the movie - the inital VOB movie file (as well as the other Video_TS and VTS files) as well as the .mpg file. Is it necessary to keep both of these files (I'm using no compression to maintain quality, so the files are large) or can I delete the VOB & associated files once I have tested that the .mpg streams ok?

And finally... is there a quick way to create a copy of a DVD that can remove previews, bonus materials, etc and does not involve a complete re-rendering process? I would like to burn copies of my disney DVDs for my daughter... my initail though was to use Roxio MyDVD to burn the .mpg file to DVD - this method works fine, but the file does need to be re-encoded so the total time to encode & burn is a 2 - 3 hours. Is there a more efficient/quicker way of doing this?

Thanks in advance.
Bonnie

If you need the hdmi then the elite is the only option, the other 360's don't have hdmi.

I'm not positive, but I think there has been a recent update with the 360s and now all of the models come with HDMI... According to the xbox website all 3 models come with HDMI, but only the elite comes with the cable. Can anyone confirm?

Does the elite offer any other benefits?

I believe that the elite has the bigger hard drive (120 gig)

All of the 360's now have come with HDMI output, even the Arcade. They all have the same performance as well. The only difference is what comes bundled with the console. While the Arcade is cheaper then the rest if you ever intend to get all the other accessories it is cheaper to get them bundled with the system when you purchase it. The Xbox website somewhere has a nice comparison table that will show you the differences at a glance.

If your videos play fine using Vista Media Center then they will play fine using the 360. As a media extender you are simply viewing the same screen on the 360 that is being served on the PC with VMC.

Laters,
Jeff

All the XBox 360's now have HDMI support. I got the Premium with the 20GB hard drive to use as an extender (I don't play many games).

I was a bit disappointed about the XBox. The power supply is HUGE, it's a loud device and I didn't like the UI (it felt too much like navigating files and folders on a PC).

I don't see much need for the 120GB hard drive because you can't actually transfer content to it. The only way to get content to it is to download from the market place or to insert and rip an audio CD.

I'd love to hear your thoughts of the XBox 360 as a media extender.

If you have a hard drive then the Extender software is cached on it. If you don't, it downloads everytime you connect to the PC. If it most likely a 5-10 second difference. Other than that, there isn't much different. The underlaying hardware and Extender software is the same. The performance is the same on all SKUs and they all have the exact same features (in terms of Media Center). There is no need for the 120GB hard drive.

If you are using VideoReDo to convert VOB to DVR-MS (or MPEG-2) they will stream to the Extender. You can delete the VOB file after the conversation, just make sure your converted file plays back correctly.

The one key considering or the Xbox 360 Extender is the lack of video codec support. MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and WMV is all that is supported. It doesn't do AVI or MPEG-4 anything (on the Dashboard you can).

Chris

I recall an update to my XBox 360 that allowed me to watch additional formats, including AVI, h.264, MPEG 4 and DivX.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/digitalmedia/videoplaybackfaq.htm

Right, on the Dashboard. This doesn't apply to the Media Center Extender portion of the Xbox 360.

Chris