can anyone help me here?

I just got mine and i swear to god they didnt include the setup disc in my box and the manual is very implicit that i need that disc to run the HD-DVD drive.

however i have xbox live and last night my xbox downloaded the new update and i have seen some info indicating that is the same info as what is on the included (well, for most people) disc.

so long story short - can anyone confirm that if my live downloaded the lastest update then i should be all set? thanks in advance!


I used the disc right beside the manual from the HDDVD drive. It came in the same area on the top of the box that the King Kong disc was with as well as the manual. It adds a new UI type functionality that you will definetly notice in the play game area once you install it.

I just got a call from the automated EBgames line stating that XBOX 360 HD-DVD add-on should be arriving Friday afternoon. :rolleyes: It better be.
I got the same call from Gamestop earlier this evening as well. I should give them a hard time about it being a bit late compared to some other places, but I know it's not the employee's fault. I'll probably wind up having to work tomorrow and will have to wait until after work to pick it up. We'll see.

Okay i hope this is the case :) As i'd feel dumb walking out of gamestop without the movie cuz they are clueless around these parts...

The King Kong movie is inside the box. It has a foil label on the outside of the box representing this.

If the 30" KDXS955 has the same super fine pitch tube that the 34" does, you'll be in heaven. If it doesn't, you'll still DEFINITELY notice the difference between even nice up-converts and HD DVD. I myself have a 30" Toshiba CRT (30HF84) and love the hell out of my A1. The PQ diff is amazing!!

Hello everyone, I have somewhat of a stupid question. I am definitely wanting to grab the HD DVD addon, the only thing is my TV screen is a tad small. I own a Sony KD30XS955 (30" CRT) and I love it. In my case, the addon would still be dramatically better looking than standard dvds wouldn't ya say? I hear a lot of people claiming that it isn't worth it on smaller displays. I mean I can see how larger sets or projectors would benefit more from it, but that isn't to say that it would be useless for me right?

Also has someone confirmed that the unit does not upscale standard dvds via component? I was hearing rumors that it did, but I doubt it.

Is it confirmed that it is dual power and works on 110/230v ?

I am in australia and have ordered a japanese player as I cant find any usa stores that deliver to australia.

just wondering if I will have any major power issues?

thanks.

dvdboxoffice deliver to Australia. I ordered mine this morning.. :)

I got the same call from Gamestop earlier this evening as well. I should give them a hard time about it being a bit late compared to some other places, but I know it's not the employee's fault. I'll probably wind up having to work tomorrow and will have to wait until after work to pick it up. We'll see.



hahah thats exactly what i got! are we all in washington?!?! haha O)

If the 30" KDXS955 has the same super fine pitch tube that the 34" does, you'll be in heaven. If it doesn't, you'll still DEFINITELY notice the difference between even nice up-converts and HD DVD. I myself have a 30" Toshiba CRT (30HF84) and love the hell out of my A1. The PQ diff is amazing!!


I also have the KDXS955 30 incher.. it in fact does have a super fine pitch screen, and i'm under the impression its the same one as the 34 and the same one as the 960's... So we should be in for a treat! Now if it had pure white uniform accross the screen i'd be in heaven!

I wanted to use my 10% off coupon at Best Buy, but I could not wait as I wanted to get the add-on as a gift for my cousin’s wedding on Friday, which is tomorrow (mine can wait for the coupon). I went to Best Buy after work and they said according to their computer, they don’t have any and will start to sell them on 11/21. I wonder if this if because the coupon expires on the 22nd, so they don’t have to take the loss.

I then went to Ebgames. I told them that other EBgames stores are selling it, but they said they did not have any, but to check tomorrow morning and they might get them in. I asked if they get then in, are they only for pre-order and they said probably.

I went to Target next. The game guy I talked to did not know about it. I showed him the empty shelf space and he scanned the tag, so he could check the computer. He said it would not come out until the 15th. When I said EBgames is selling them, they are slower then other retailers with games. He gave an example that “Gears of War” just started selling today when it was supposed to be released Tuesday. He said to check back though.

I went home, but I remember that some people here said to check Circuit City. I check the website and none of the local CC had them except one store 25 miles away in a bad part of town. I was not going to go there at 9pm at night, so I decided to go to a local CC instead and ask them about the HD-Drive. Got to passed to 2 different clerks until I got to the manager. She said that their store is list them as “Transfer from the Warehouse” but not available. She said she did not know if she was allowed to sell them. I said EBgames are selling and also the other one CC in the bad part of town. I said I did not want to go there tonight. She said okay I don’t see why not as it was in this week’s Flyer. She said they had 14 in stock. I got one!!!!! Just go to CC and ask them for it…..Ha!!! I just check their website and now their location showing it in stock as of 10:30pm.

I’m so tempted on opening it, but it is a wedding gift. ;( Plus I do want to save some money on my purchase. I’m tempted to get 2 at BB when they arrive and return one to CC, but the $20 might not be worth the hassle. Plus CC deserves the money for selling it first.

I wanted to use my 10% off coupon at Best Buy, but I could not wait as I wanted to get the add-on as a gift for my cousin’s wedding on Friday, which is tomorrow (mine can wait for the coupon). I went to Best Buy after work and they said according to their computer, they don’t have any and will start to sell them on 11/21. I wonder if this if because the coupon expires on the 22nd, so they don’t have to take the loss.

I then went to Ebgames. I told them that other EBgames stores are selling it, but they said they did not have any, but to check tomorrow morning and they might get them in. I asked if they get then in, are they only for pre-order and they said probably.

I went to Target next. The game guy I talked to did not know about it. I showed him the empty shelf space and he scanned the tag, so he could check the computer. He said it would not come out until the 15th. When I said EBgames is selling them, they are slower then other retailers with games. He gave an example that “Gears of War” just started selling today when it was supposed to be released Tuesday. He said to check back though.

I went home, but I remember that some people here said to check Circuit City. I check the website and none of the local CC had them except one store 25 miles away in a bad part of town. I was not going to go there at 9pm at night, so I decided to go to a local CC instead and ask them about the HD-Drive. Got to passed to 2 different clerks until I got to the manager. She said that their store is list them as “Transfer from the Warehouse” but not available. She said she did not know if she was allowed to sell them. I said EBgames are selling and also the other one CC in the bad part of town. I said I did not want to go there tonight. She said okay I don’t see why not as it was in this week’s Flyer. She said they had 14 in stock. I got one!!!!! Just go to CC and ask them for it…..Ha!!! I just check their website and now their location showing it in stock as of 10:30pm.

I’m so tempted on opening it, but it is a wedding gift. ;( Plus I do want to save some money on my purchase. I’m tempted to get 2 at BB when they arrive and return one to CC, but the $20 might not be worth the hassle. Plus CC deserves the money for selling it first.

I have to give credit to CC for this one for me getting one. EB/Gamestop's stupid pre-order program makes alot of people hate them. You should have seen what went down with Gears of War release this week on the east coast with Gamestop. THEY SUCK!

I have SOny 34"xbr960, and after watching for few minutes Grand Prix, MI3, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, my jaw dropped. The picture quality is unbelivable. Sharpness, details, rich colors, just amazing. simply WOW

I also have the KDXS955 30 incher.. it in fact does have a super fine pitch screen, and i'm under the impression its the same one as the 34 and the same one as the 960's... So we should be in for a treat! Now if it had pure white uniform accross the screen i'd be in heaven!

Alright, so here's my dilemma. I have a Samsung HL-S5087W that is Native 1080p, but am I going to be able to get the full 1080p capability out of the HD-DVD player? I just checked for the 1080p software update (turns out I already had it) and enabled it, but is it really going to make a difference through simple component cables? Can component even interpret a 1080p signal or even the VGA cable for that matter? I just want to know that I can get true 1080p out of the HD-DVD player before I buy one.

Matt

Alright, so here's my dilemma. I have a Samsung HL-S5087W that is Native 1080p, but am I going to be able to get the full 1080p capability out of the HD-DVD player? I just checked for the 1080p software update (turns out I already had it) and enabled it, but is it really going to make a difference through simple component cables? Can component even interpret a 1080p signal or even the VGA cable for that matter? I just want to know that I can get true 1080p out of the HD-DVD player before I buy one.

Matt

If you have a 1080p HDTV and input 1080i via component you are going to get 1080p displayed. I doubt most could see any difference going from 1080i to 1080p. Here are two articles that explain why that is so.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_2.htm

http://www.projectorcentral.com/retailing_HD-DVD_Blu-ray.htm

Alright, so here's my dilemma. I have a Samsung HL-S5087W that is Native 1080p, but am I going to be able to get the full 1080p capability out of the HD-DVD player? I just checked for the 1080p software update (turns out I already had it) and enabled it, but is it really going to make a difference through simple component cables? Can component even interpret a 1080p signal or even the VGA cable for that matter? I just want to know that I can get true 1080p out of the HD-DVD player before I buy one.

Matt

I belive you can get true 1080p out of the xbox hd-dvd drive however my question is wether you can get true dolby digital plus out of the drive with the future release of the xbox 360 HDMI cable. It seems right now they are converting all audio signals to dolby digital.

component can send 1080p all day long, but can't with either HD movie formats due to DRM (digital rights management). VGA is a different story because of being considered a COMPUTER CONNECTION.

Has anyone else that has seen this player besides me now think they totally blew there hard earned money on BLU-RAY which what I now think is total crap? I could have bought 5 of these players for the price I paid for BLU-RAY.
Well, don't forget the money you need to spend on the Xbox 360 console first. But yeah, Blu-ray players are far too expensive.

I have a friend at EB/Gamestop he said the company works off of pre-orders mostly and won't get drives in unless they are pre-ordered weeks ahead of time. This is mostly to cut down on shipping costs. Seems if you don't pre-order think of places in your city that don't accept pre-orders and look there. I've concluded from this mess once again that pre-orders suck!


Maybe in your area thats what Gamestop does.My brother got off of work today went to Gamestop asked if they got the drives in worker says yes bought it been watching Kong since then.

EB Games (on-line) shipped my 360 HD drive yesterday from Dallas. UPS tracking shows it is already at the Atlanta distribution center. It should be delivered to my place tomorrow. That is right in line with what we were promised. Ordered a few weeks ago.

We did pre-order 'Gears' a couple of weeks ago from the local Mall outlet here in Douglasville. I was out of town and didn't realize there was a problem with any delivery of that item this week as I was in Nashville. Will report on that Friday. It didn't occur to me to ask my son about that. Sounds like some folks did not get it on time. Perhaps late delivery is not the fault of the store.

-Byrd

I have a Sony Bravia KLV-S26A10, 26" LCD and currently am using a Sony 85H series upconverting DVD player, with great results. On a screen size of 26", will HD-DVD give me a upgrade in picture quality, from regular upconverted DVD to HD-DVD?

Guys, this thing is NOT going to work on a PC! Do you realize that 4.7 million lines of code were needed for this thing to work with the Xbox 360's specialized processors, and it uses all of them to the fullest? This is not compatible with an Intel-based chip.

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12195/HD-DVD-The-Real-Xbox-360-Killing-Application/

"Shaheen Gandhi, a Microsoft software engineer, revealed that it took “4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars” to create the Xbox 360 HD DVD solution.

Although code for the codecs used by the HD DVD standard were available at Microsoft, they were all optimized for x86 architecture used on most personal computers; but, since the Xbox 360 CPU is a PowerPC chip, they had to re-write all codecs to take advantage of this architecture.

"This meant doing a lot of optimization. In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement. For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken. Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there."

Maybe in your area thats what Gamestop does.My brother got off of work today went to Gamestop asked if they got the drives in worker says yes bought it been watching Kong since then.


Gamestop can eat me :) I called at least 20 stores at within 100 - 200 miles of me and they told me they had no idea about when the drive was coming in. One SOB told me he had one that worked at the store but thats all he got in, so he grabbed it quick.

By the way, I popped in to a Nashville EB Games store yesterday to inquire about the 360 drive and the guy looked at me like I was from Mars. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about.

Same thing happened when I asked about HD DVD and Blue Ray movies at a Nashville Tower Records store. Finally he said " Oh...you mean those things?" and pointed to the Hi Def movie area. (They were very overpriced even with the 30 per cent discount).

I'm thinking some areas of the world are more 'up to speed' than others.

-Byrd

Do you think there will be a shortage of these things around Christmas?

I honestly have no idea. Microsoft hasn't put the number out there of the amount they'll be shipping.

This is supposed to be my Christmas present. I told my wife that I didn't think she'd have a problem finding them in retail stores, but I got a bad case of the jitters last week when Amazon.com sold out on pre-orders and the item shot to #1 on their most wanted list.

I told my wife that if I find one, I'm going ahead and buying it. That's the good news. Bad news... if I find one, I have to wait until Christmas :mad: It sucks but those are the house rules here in my humble abode.

Circuit City has them in stock so I went ahead and ordered one and took their free shipping option. I'm hoping that it still comes with the free King Kong. Guess I won't know until it gets here.

I then went to Amazon.com and built a wish list of HD-DVDs. So far I've got Superman Returns, Superman The Movie, Superman II: The Donner Cut, The Last Samurai, and Batman Begins on the list.

Guys, this thing is NOT going to work on a PC! Do you realize that 4.7 million lines of code were needed for this thing to work with the Xbox 360's specialized processors, and it uses all of them to the fullest? This is not compatible with an Intel-based chip.

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12195/HD-DVD-The-Real-Xbox-360-Killing-Application/

"Shaheen Gandhi, a Microsoft software engineer, revealed that it took “4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars” to create the Xbox 360 HD DVD solution.

Although code for the codecs used by the HD DVD standard were available at Microsoft, they were all optimized for x86 architecture used on most personal computers; but, since the Xbox 360 CPU is a PowerPC chip, they had to re-write all codecs to take advantage of this architecture.

"This meant doing a lot of optimization. In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement. For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken. Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there."

Not work on a PC? I think you're wrong. Someone here already posted that they hooked it up to their laptop and was able to view the contents of an HD DVD disk. Given the right software, it will surely work.

The 4.7 million lines of code were written to recognize HD DVD, perform the necessary checks, optimize the XBox 360's hardware for video playback, for audio playback, to enable HD DVD features, etc. etc. I'm sure that an HD DVD enabled version of WinDVD 8 will have millions of lines of code as well, and will work with video drivers that have already been optimized for hardware assisted MPEG4, MPEG2 and VC-1 playback on a PC.

Unto us a child is born, unto us a drive is given. This may prove to be the HD DVD Messiah to the HTPC world.

Guys, this thing is NOT going to work on a PC! Do you realize that 4.7 million lines of code were needed for this thing to work with the Xbox 360's specialized processors, and it uses all of them to the fullest? This is not compatible with an Intel-based chip.

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12195/HD-DVD-The-Real-Xbox-360-Killing-Application/

"Shaheen Gandhi, a Microsoft software engineer, revealed that it took “4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars” to create the Xbox 360 HD DVD solution.

Although code for the codecs used by the HD DVD standard were available at Microsoft, they were all optimized for x86 architecture used on most personal computers; but, since the Xbox 360 CPU is a PowerPC chip, they had to re-write all codecs to take advantage of this architecture.

"This meant doing a lot of optimization. In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement. For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken. Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there."
You realize of course that the Toshiba HD-A1 uses an Intel P4? ;) Well, not for the main stuff, but you get the picture.

I'd say a fast Core 2 Duo with a GPU that has HDCP and AVC/VC-1 decode assist should be sufficient, as long as the software support is there. And the software support does exist, although it apparently isn't easily obtainable. Remember though, Toshiba laptops already exist that can play back commercial HD DVD.

Guys, this thing is NOT going to work on a PC! Do you realize that 4.7 million lines of code were needed for this thing to work with the Xbox 360's specialized processors, and it uses all of them to the fullest? This is not compatible with an Intel-based chip.

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12195/HD-DVD-The-Real-Xbox-360-Killing-Application/

"Shaheen Gandhi, a Microsoft software engineer, revealed that it took “4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars” to create the Xbox 360 HD DVD solution.

Although code for the codecs used by the HD DVD standard were available at Microsoft, they were all optimized for x86 architecture used on most personal computers; but, since the Xbox 360 CPU is a PowerPC chip, they had to re-write all codecs to take advantage of this architecture.

"This meant doing a lot of optimization. In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement. For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken. Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there."


Its not that the drive has to work with "Xbox 360's specialized processors". Its the fact that they did not have to add a lot of hardware for what they do in sofware for the HDDVD playback. In the future to make the general HD-DVD drives cheaper they will do it all in hardware (by hardware I'm talking non xbox 360 devices). Since the 360 has so much processing power they cheated this by using software transcoding for the video and audio.

So, overall people are very pleased with this? I am thinking about picking one up. I have a 51' Hitachi 1080i CRT. Keep the reviews and pics coming!

I have a Sony Bravia KLV-S26A10, 26" LCD and currently am using a Sony 85H series upconverting DVD player, with great results. On a screen size of 26", will HD-DVD give me a upgrade in picture quality, from regular upconverted DVD to HD-DVD?

Could someone comment on this for me? It's a $200.00 question and an answer would be very appreciated.

So, overall people are very pleased with this? I am thinking about picking one up. I have a 51' Hitachi 1080i CRT. Keep the reviews and pics coming!


I'm impressed. Don't get that blu-ray crap. HD-DVD looks much better because of the codec. Decide for yourself and go to a Tweeter or something equivalent and decide for yourself.

component can send 1080p all day long, but can't with either HD movie formats due to DRM (digital rights management). VGA is a different story because of being considered a COMPUTER CONNECTION.

so does this mean that I'm going to need to buy the VGA cable to plug into the back of my TV in order to get true 1080p, or that I'm going to need the VGA cable to use the HD-DVD player all together (if what you're saying about the DRM is true). Since DRM is content-based and the signal quality it's sending out doesn't make a difference I wouldn't think it would matter, DRM is DRM.

Matt

according to what I've read component cables will do 1080p on the 360.

lol, thats what I am talking about. I would need a 100" screen to enjoy watching the movie like this.

My tv is a Samsung 46" LCD 4695D when I go into PC mode in the setup

The resolution says 640 X 480 @ 60Hz, no options to change it? normal????

Auto adjustment feature make its unwatchable

Heres another pic
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00131.jpg

You have to set up the screen and resolution in the 360s setup menu on the dashboard. Set it to the highest widescreen resolution your display can produce natively.

I honestly have no idea. Microsoft hasn't put the number out there of the amount they'll be shipping.

This is supposed to be my Christmas present. I told my wife that I didn't think she'd have a problem finding them in retail stores, but I got a bad case of the jitters last week when Amazon.com sold out on pre-orders and the item shot to #1 on their most wanted list.

I told my wife that if I find one, I'm going ahead and buying it. That's the good news. Bad news... if I find one, I have to wait until Christmas :mad: It sucks but those are the house rules here in my humble abode.

Circuit City has them in stock so I went ahead and ordered one and took their free shipping option. I'm hoping that it still comes with the free King Kong. Guess I won't know until it gets here.

I then went to Amazon.com and built a wish list of HD-DVDs. So far I've got Superman Returns, Superman The Movie, Superman II: The Donner Cut, The Last Samurai, and Batman Begins on the list.

Is the King Kong thing only a limited time offer? If so, I had better tell my loved ones to get the ball rolling.

Honestly though, I can wait until December. There aren't any HD-DVD movies out right now that I don't already own on DVD or want to even see. I refuse to rebuy movies I already own.

I have a question about the Xbox 360 -- does it have HDCP built in? Did Microsoft, in their foreknowledge, have the wisdom to include it on their console, or does their "4.7 million lines of code" that was written to enable HD DVD bypass the HDCP requirements?

Could someone comment on this for me? It's a $200.00 question and an answer would be very appreciated.
Depends on how close you sit to it. If you are 20 feet away, no, you won't see anything better. But if you are within a few feet, HD DVD will be better as your display has higher resolution than standard resolution DVD. And of course, when you upgrade to a larger display, you will be in heaven :).

Depends on how close you sit to it. If you are 20 feet away, no, you won't see anything better. But if you are within a few feet, HD DVD will be better as your display has higher resolution than standard resolution DVD. And of course, when you upgrade to a larger display, you will be in heaven :).

The wife and I are about 7 feet away from it. It's a small room, don't laugh. :)

Is the King Kong thing only a limited time offer? If so, I had better tell my loved ones to get the ball rolling.

Honestly though, I can wait until December. There aren't any HD-DVD movies out right now that I don't already own on DVD or want to even see. I refuse to rebuy movies I already own.


Yes King Kong is a limited time offer. How limited I do not know. Will you think your DVD collection is rendered useless, probably if you are on this ?phile forum. After seeing HD-DVD I think you will at least want to get your most favorites in the new medium. I think somebody said in the forum earlier that DVDs now look like VHS compared to HD-DVD, and I agree with that.

I have a question about the Xbox 360 -- does it have HDCP built in? Did Microsoft, in their foreknowledge, have the wisdom to include it on their console, or does their "4.7 million lines of code" that was written to enable HD DVD bypass the HDCP requirements?
No, there is no HDCP as it is not needed. HDCP is required to encrypt digital outputs such as DVI/HDMI. Xbox 360 uses analog output over component/VGA which does not have such a requirement.

The advantage of analog is that it never has trouble handshaking with your display due to HDCP issues. So yes, we bypassed the requirement for HDCP :).

debyrd - Got the same look at EB Games out here in Cool Springs; however, today they said they would get 2 in tomorrow, but both were pre-orders. I also checked CC and had no luck. Hopefully, these things will start trickling in over the weekend. Thanks for the heads up about Tower, I thought about driving over there. DeepDiscountDVD.com has a 20% off sale through the 18th. There's a post about it in the HD DVD software forum. Ordered Serenity for $18 shipped, lots of good deals, some movies are only $16-17. Good luck finding one, post if you have any luck.

i have a big fealing alot of people are watching hd-dvd's right now on their new add ons wait until tommorow or in 2-3 days this forum is gonna be swamped

Yes King Kong is a limited time offer. How limited I do not know. Will you think your DVD collection is rendered useless, probably if you are on this ?phile forum. After seeing HD-DVD I think you will at least want to get your most favorites in the new medium. I think somebody said in the forum earlier that DVDs now look like VHS compared to HD-DVD, and I agree with that.

My desire for high quality picture is outweighed by my cheapness and low income. Doesn't mean I don't want to rebuy my entire collection on HD-DVD. It's more like I can't.

No, there is no HDCP as it is not needed. HDCP is required to encrypt digital outputs such as DVI/HDMI. Xbox 360 uses analog output over component/VGA which does not have such a requirement.

The advantage of analog is that it never has trouble handshaking with your display due to HDCP issues. So yes, we bypassed the requirement for HDCP :).

Thank you for the reply Amir. If I understand correctly, we should (in theory) be able to hook up the HD DVD add-on to a PC via USB and output via VGA or component to an HDTV, assuming that any HD DVD playback software permits it?

No, there is no HDCP as it is not needed. HDCP is required to encrypt digital outputs such as DVI/HDMI. Xbox 360 uses analog output over component/VGA which does not have such a requirement.

The advantage of analog is that it never has trouble handshaking with your display due to HDCP issues. So yes, we bypassed the requirement for HDCP :).

Hello Amir,

I've been looking for you! So what if a manufacturer of HD-DVD's turns on the the HDCP flag today, will we get half the resolution because of the component cables?

I realize you are about to release a HDMI cable for the XBOX 360 will it fix the HDCP flag problem in the future if we get this cable. Also will this cable provide the Dolby Digital Plus signal in someway instead of having the xbox convert everything to Dolby Digital?

i think what he was trying to say is even if they activate it the studios that its disabled in the add on drive so it wont affect anything

Ok I picked up the 360 HD-DVD drive earlier today from Circuit City. I quickly hooked it up to my laptop via USB. I have Nero 7 installed on my computer along with the InCD Software. It recognizes the drive as an HD-DVD Toshiba Drive. The drive shows that King Kong is in the drive and I can see the file structure of the HD-DVD disc. I just need the proper playback software to play the disc. WinDVD 8 Platinum does not yet have the plug-in available for HD-DVD playback, and I don't know where to find the Japanese version that does.

Pics

I have pics but I don't have enough posts to put up the link


So if someone can get me the WinDVD 8 HD-DVD/PowerDVD 7 HD-DVD software I can guarantee this will work with my PC. I can see the contents if the drive and everything! I just need something that will decode the files and playback the audio and video.

i think what he was trying to say is even if they activate it the studios that its disabled in the add on drive so it wont affect anything


Yes I think I got that out of what he said as well??? I was more interested in getting the Dolby Digital Plus signal in some form. From what I understand this can only pass over a HDMI cable.

So you know what to expect from the title included in the package: :)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8861109&&#post8861109

I watched this one tonight. Picture is a solid 5/5. There is some very subtle and slight banding in a few spots but I doubt most would have even caught it. Fine detail and depth are incredible. Think of the best HD you've seen and you're there.

The sound is also superb. No lack of bass at all. Unfortunately I don't have the SD version on hand to compare though.

This is a disc that easily deserves to be called reference.

Hello Amir,

I've been looking for you! So what if a manufacturer of HD-DVD's turns on the the HDCP flag today, will we get half the resolution because of the component cables?
I think you mean the ICT flag. But yes, if the flag is set, the resolution drops. Fortunately, some studios have no plan to use this flag and those who do, have not set it due to concern from consumers.

I realize you are about to release a HDMI cable for the XBOX 360 will it fix the HDCP flag problem in the future if we get this cable. Also will this cable provide the Dolby Digital Plus signal in someway instead of having the xbox convert everything to Dolby Digital?
We have not made any announcements for an HDMI cable. So I can't answer your question.

How could they do an HDMI cable for the 360? Wouldn't they have to release a new version of the 360?

How could they do an HDMI cable for the 360? Wouldn't they have to release a new version of the 360?
the 360 is very "customizable" Look at it's transformation since launch!

Lol. Yeah, but to add HDMI I think you would need to redo the motherboard to change the signal output.

Lol. Yeah, but to add HDMI I think you would need to redo the motherboard to change the signal output.
LOL :D I hear you. I would like to think that M$ knew this question would come up and placed a backdoor in the box.

So if someone can get me the WinDVD 8 HD-DVD/PowerDVD 7 HD-DVD software I can guarantee this will work with my PC. I can see the contents if the drive and everything! I just need something that will decode the files and playback the audio and video.
Could you please check if you are able to see a normal DVD?

sure, give me one sec.

LOL :D I hear you. I would like to think that M$ knew this question would come up and placed a backdoor in the box.

I dunno though, i've heard that an HDMI hookup wouldn't look any better. But at this point, I don't use them at all, so I'd like to free up some RGB inputs.

So if someone can get me the WinDVD 8 HD-DVD/PowerDVD 7 HD-DVD software I can guarantee this will work with my PC. I can see the contents if the drive and everything! I just need something that will decode the files and playback the audio and video.

You know..there are ways to get computer programs without paying.

NOT THAT YOU SHOULD DO IT!!

But...ya know...just to test this out...

Gamestop can eat me :) I called at least 20 stores at within 100 - 200 miles of me and they told me they had no idea about when the drive was coming in. One SOB told me he had one that worked at the store but thats all he got in, so he grabbed it quick.



I guess he got lucky. :D

Yes with Nero 7 with InCD installed I can watch DVD movies through VLC Player using the 360 HD-DVD Player hooked up to my laptop!

Confirmed: 360 HD-DVD Drive for DVD Playback on PC!

Done watching Aeon Flux, cool movie, that Charlize looks so good, but even better on my HP HDTV 58''!

I'll check out more HD-DVDs today & over the wkend. I'll have my Bro take PICs with his fancy Nikon D90 camera.

Also a buddy/co-worker of mine, send sme a chat invite over XBLive, tells me he can see me watching the HD-DVD as it shows up next to my gamertag on his friend's list, asks how it's performing, I told him great, tells me to order him 1 through Amazon.com since I am a Prime member there.

Another HD-DVD add-on sold folks!

Yes with Nero 7 with InCD installed I can watch DVD movies through VLC Player using the 360 HD-DVD Player hooked up to my laptop!

Confirmed: 360 HD-DVD Drive for DVD Playback on PC!



good news for blur ray :D

By the way, I have looked everywhere for the HD-DVD PC playback software to no prevail. If someone knows where to find it PM me and let me know.

Ok I've got my 5 posts in. Now for pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64148651@N00/293450154/

I have the add-on and have it hooked up to my Sharp Aquos 52 LCD and it will only go to 1080i when playing a movie. It will send 1080p when on the dashboard though, is that normal?

I have the add-on and have it hooked up to my Sharp Aquos 52 LCD and it will only go to 1080i when playing a movie. It will send 1080p when on the dashboard though, is that normal?

Sorry. Your TV is broken. I'll take it if you don't want it now.

Sorry. Your TV is broken. I'll take it if you don't want it now.

Dont get me wrong... The picture looks sick but Im wondering if it could be better?

I have the add-on and have it hooked up to my Sharp Aquos 52 LCD and it will only go to 1080i when playing a movie. It will send 1080p when on the dashboard though, is that normal?

If you're talking about HD DVD playback via component video, then yes, the behavior you're seeing is correct. 1080p output of HD DVD via component is not allowed due to legal restrictions. If you would like to view HD DVD from the Xbox 360 in 1080p, please consider picking up the VGA A/V pack. You can output up to 1920x1080 using that connection.

If you're talking about HD DVD playback via component video, then yes, the behavior you're seeing is correct. 1080p output of HD DVD via component is not allowed due to legal restrictions. If you would like to view HD DVD from the Xbox 360 in 1080p, please consider picking up the VGA A/V pack. You can output up to 1920x1080 using that connection.


That would be a problem because my Sharp doesnt have a VGA input.

That would be a problem because my Sharp doesnt have a VGA input.

Yay! Neither does mine! In fact, my tv really IS broken at the moment. Wassup with sharp and the lack of VGA love?

First impressions.

1. HD-DVD rules, just like HD, you'll watch anything because it looks so good (Slither)
2. The Xbox add on is LOUD. What do you expect for a $200 add on. THe Xbox 360 has always been loud.
3. It can overheat. Mine did. I guess it should not sit on top of the Xbox in a cabinet. I am moving it out in the open to enjoy movies for now.
4. An affordable solution or entry level purchase into HD-DVD. I'll wait to see what's available as a permanent HD-DVD player after the holidays.

Overall, very satisfied with HD-DVD and happy with my purchase. I would not be if I paid more than I did.

MB

Dont get me wrong... The picture looks sick but Im wondering if it could be better?

Short answer no. Read these two articles where they talk about 1080i vs 1080p.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_2.htm

http://www.projectorcentral.com/retailing_HD-DVD_Blu-ray.htm

Yay! Neither does mine! In fact, my tv really IS broken at the moment. Wassup with sharp and the lack of VGA love?

One of the reasons why I'm looking into getting a Sammy. Great thread, let's see some more pics!

First impressions.

1. HD-DVD rules, just like HD, you'll watch anything because it looks so good (Slither)
2. The Xbox add on is LOUD. What do you expect for a $200 add on. THe Xbox 360 has always been loud.
3. It can overheat. Mine did. I guess it should not sit on top of the Xbox in a cabinet. I am moving it out in the open to enjoy movies for now.
4. An affordable solution or entry level purchase into HD-DVD. I'll wait to see what's available as a permanent HD-DVD player after the holidays.

Overall, very satisfied with HD-DVD and happy with my purchase. I would not be if I paid more than I did.

MB

I believe you're the first one to say the player is loud, most have commented on how it was whisper quiet.

Ok here is my review of the Xbox HD-DVD player and HD-DVD in general.

First I used the Xbox 360 HD player with the King Kong movie. I put the regular DVD (DVD9) of King Kong in my up scaling Sony DVP-CX995V with HDMI out to the TV.

I am running the 360 thru the VGA port of my Samsung HL-R6768W. The HDMI ports on the TV only accept 1080i – but the VGA port will accept 1080P. Actually it is the only way to get 1080p to this set. I know it sort of fakes 1080P with wobulation – but that is a topic for another day.

I put on both movies – and turned the sound off. DD 5.1 on both. This is all about picture quality.

I watched for a while – different scenes with different lighting and motion.

My conclusion – the differences are fractional at best. In clarity and color representation.

Yes if you are looking and micro-analyzing – HD-DVD is better – but very slightly.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I have seen stunning HD on the discovery channel – you get used to that.

Will I go out and buy HD-DVD movies – no. Will I rent them if available off Netflix – yes. Will I bother to rent older movies I have seen before to enjoy them in HD- maybe at the beginning – to justify this purchase. I hope more new HD-DVD releases come day and date with the DVD versions.

In closing – I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to both stay relatively low sellers. Like DVD-audio and SACD. Most people do not have the TV’s to tell the difference. On my set – the differences were very slight. Also the added expense and low availability.

I think Sony’s silver bullet that PS3 is going to make Blu-ray movies sell is just wrong. Yes they will sell a few from PS3 – but their expectations of killing the market with PS3 BD players is a pipe dream.

My greatest home theater piece of hardware – the DVR by FAR. It has the ultimate convinces and least fuss. No searching for disks – no damaging the media. Click and play.

My dream setup is a multi-terabyte drive array in my garage – and all the receiver (or media centers) sharing the central storage.

Jeff
(Yes I posted this to a few other forums as well)

that wobulations you talk about it degrades the true native of the movie picture quality you better switch up. Also if your used to the discovery HD in, "super flare" view and on a non calibrated TV I can see why you were not impressed with king kong on HD DVD....regular consumers who come on the board who are not impressed with blu ray or HD DVD in general are used to the super flare given by best buy and circuit city on non calibrated TVs they turn their brightness up high enough to heat a small room. :D

Short answer no. Read these two articles where they talk about 1080i vs 1080p.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_2.htm

http://www.projectorcentral.com/retailing_HD-DVD_Blu-ray.htm

Very interesting read, THANKS!!!! Now back to watching King Kong on my Sharp in HD. SWEEEEET!!!!

SHJT can you compare the 360's 720p output vs your scaler's? I might just buy it for my 720p projector.. Thanks

720P looks good. However, it looks a bit better with my scaler. The scaler also has game modes which reduce latency for gameplay. However, for $3K you would expect something :) SJ

I called EB Games today (I have 2 preordered: 1 for me, 1 for a friend) and the guy definitly sounded like he knew about the Xbox 360 HD add on and said they were expecting them today or tomorrow.......I call back in the evening and some chick who knew nothing answered the phone. She didn't have a clue when they were coming in.......damn it! I want it NOW! lol.

Yes with Nero 7 with InCD installed I can watch DVD movies through VLC Player using the 360 HD-DVD Player hooked up to my laptop!

Confirmed: 360 HD-DVD Drive for DVD Playback on PC!

Does your laptop run Windows XP or Vista?

If you're talking about HD DVD playback via component video, then yes, the behavior you're seeing is correct. 1080p output of HD DVD via component is not allowed due to legal restrictions. If you would like to view HD DVD from the Xbox 360 in 1080p, please consider picking up the VGA A/V pack. You can output up to 1920x1080 using that connection.

Actually, 1080p through component video IS allowed for HD-DVD. It's standard DVD that has the restrictions and will output as 480p.

ResMAE, check your LCD's specs. Make sure it can accept a 1080p signal.

Does your laptop run Windows XP or Vista?
His Flickr screenshots looked like Vista.

Edit: I stand corrected. This is even better news, as I don't plan on upgrading to Vista unless absolutely necessary.

Running Windows XP Media Center Edition. Using Nero 7 with InCD Installed allowing for UDF 2.5 file system.

Seems like this thread is getting more attention than most others. I think MS has a hit and will make a difference for HD DVD. They really did a great job with this add-on. SJ

Any word on SD DVD upcoversion? How has it faired?

I'm using the Zune Desktop theme. That's why my start menu looks different.

http://www.zune.net/en-us/meetzune/software.htm

follow this link: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078

Also a buddy/co-worker of mine, send sme a chat invite over XBLive, tells me he can see me watching the HD-DVD as it shows up next to my gamertag on his friend's list, asks how it's performing, I told him great, tells me to order him 1 through Amazon.com since I am a Prime member there.




Man so everyone is going to know when you watch porn?

I believe you're the first one to say the player is loud, most have commented on how it was whisper quiet.

Maybe it's whisper loud :)

does anyone in the new york area (Manhattan) picked up the hd dvd add on yet. If so let me know where????im looking to get it tomorrow.

Actually, 1080p through component video IS allowed for HD-DVD. It's standard DVD that has the restrictions and will output as 480p.

ResMAE, check your LCD's specs. Make sure it can accept a 1080p signal.


I get 1080p when on the dashboard just not when playing an HD-DVD

Came back from work to see that my HD DVD Drive shipped!
I ordered through Gamestop next day air so I think I should be getting it real soon!

The time is almost here! I think I'll go out and buy another HD DVD or two this weekend.
I haven't decided what one (or two) to get though.
Time for me to hop on over to the HD DVD software forum.

you cant (can not) get true 1080p from component connection. you can only get it from HDMI.

Came back from work to see that my HD DVD Drive shipped!
I ordered through Gamestop next day air so I think I should be getting it real soon!

The time is almost here! I think I'll go out and buy another HD DVD or two this weekend.
I haven't decided what one (or two) to get though.
Time for me to hop on over to the HD DVD software forum.

I heard underworld revolution is hot on HD dvd or get Chronicles of Riddick

Hey guys. I have a couple questions.

I hadn't paid much attention to the add-on because I was planning on waiting to see how the format war shakes out before committing to either format (although I've been rooting for HD-DVD). Recently, though, I've decided to get an up-converting SD player in the mean time. The 480i/p picture on my TV is a bit messed up (because of me monkeying around with settings without writing down the original values--I know, I know, I deserve it) but the 1080i is just fine, so the prospect of watching SD DVDs in 1080i is very attractive. I had planned on getting the Oppo 971H but with all the positive reviews of the 360 add-on I'm starting to reconsider. So my questions:

1) Will the 360 add-on upconvert over components? The only inputs on my TV are component and DVI and since the 360 doesn't support DVI I'm stuck with component. I read in another thread that the add-on does upconvert over component, but is that a temporary oversight or a permanent feature?

2) Can anyone give me some idea if the upconversion would be comparable to what is done on the Oppo machine? My TV is 47" and is viewed from 8-10 feet away.

3) Are there any reports of the add-on making the 360 overheat? From what I understand the drive pushes the 360 pretty hard and after one failed 360 (knock on wood that it hasn't been more, I guess) I'm paranoid about killing another one.

I apologize if any of these questions have been asked or answered already--I've dug around a bit but couldn't find specific answers. I really appreciate the help--thanks, guys.

does anyone in the new york area (Manhattan) picked up the hd dvd add on yet. If so let me know where????im looking to get it tomorrow.

I'll keep an eye out for you in the Hudson Valley if you're willing to drive that far.

I have this puppy ordered through gamestop and should be getting it tomorrow. I have a 30" Samsung Slimfit CRT tv(1st generation) capable of displaying 720p and 1080i video. It only has HDMI and component connections. NO VGA. Currently, I have a samsung upconverting dvd player in which I use to watch my dvd's. For the most part the dvds look pretty good. My question is, is it worth it for me to keep the HD-DVD player add on or should I just return it? Will i be able to tell a diferenace and will that diference be enought to justify a 200$ price tag? I sit about 5-10 feet away from my tv when watching movies. Thanks for your help and time.

Here are the SD vs. HD pics from the 360

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/regsantotomas/MediaRoom/CRW_4704.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/regsantotomas/MediaRoom/CRW_4701.jpg

Here are the SD vs. HD pics from the 360

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/regsantotomas/MediaRoom/CRW_4704.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/regsantotomas/MediaRoom/CRW_4701.jpg


I don't see any difference between the two. I hope this is not what it's going to be like or I am going to be disappointed.

I am limited to posting an 800x600 resolution in photobucket but the RAW images are much much more distinct. This is also being outputted by a Sony Pearl projector so it is producing great results for standard DVDs as well. I think if you see it in person in motion on a big screen, your potential disappoint would fade.

Running Windows XP Media Center Edition. Using Nero 7 with InCD Installed allowing for UDF 2.5 file system.
Fantastic news!

Keep an eye out for WinDVD 8 HD update via their website - I have a feeling it might be very soon indeed. In fact, I may e-mail them today to try and get a timescale for it.

In the mean time, are there any HD-DVD authoring tools out at all for the PC as yet? Is there anyway these could be used to playback HD-DVD media?
I think another thread might be prudent for firther investigation into this - what does everyone think?

There's better scenes to demonstrate HD rez out of KK, some of the wide/far shots of the island are amazing. Also as you admitted, your images are below HD res so you can't see the detail difference well anyways, they're barely bigger than 480p. I do see some more sharpness around hairs on his face and the hair on his head, but only just.

I watched KK now and I did notice a single time it seemed to skip, forget where it was though. Maybe it was a layer break ;)

While playing around in Tokyo Drift I did manage to break the HDi at some point, I was trying to see if I could change the U-Control options from the main menu (i.e. to permanently turn on different options instead of having to switch them back on later in the movie) and it wasn't letting me go down to those (later realized it was a list of AVAILABLE features, not an option list to configure) and hit enable U-Control a couple of times in short succession, and it was already on.. HDi locked up, couldn't stop, pause, ff/rew etc much less operate the menu. Movie kept playing. had to reboot the 360. Guide was still responsive, just the HDi system froze up.

I am limited to posting an 800x600 resolution in photobucket but the RAW images are much much more distinct. This is also being outputted by a Sony Pearl projector so it is producing great results for standard DVDs as well. I think if you see it in person in motion on a big screen, your potential disappoint would fade.

I suggest you to use the Imageshack toolbar for firefox, no picture size limitations:

http://toolbar.imageshack.us/

And to follow this rule: PICTURE MUST BE TAKEN WITH A BIGGER RESOLUTION THAN THE ORIGINAL IMAGE (Ex. original HDTV = 1920x1080 then you need at least to post a 2500x1500 picture)

I did take the picture with a much higher resolution but was limited by the site to which I uploaded them to.

Received my player tonight. I have a Samsung 46" 1080p 4695D set. Bought a monster vga cable and hooked it up via vga. Same washed out look other reporting. Was not impressed when I started playing Kong. Is it normal for the VGA display to be only about half the screen. I had 1/4 of the screen black bars on top and bottom. I decided to go back over to component. I believe my set does 1080p over component (it works when I select 1080p in the Xbox settings so I am assuming it does 1080p over component) The component looks good. I think I was expecting a little more, don't get me wrong the picture is superb. But I wasn't "wowed" like others have been posting but am appreciating the quality more and more as I watch. I do have a couple questions.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?
2) Via VGA cable do the black bars take up more of the screen, and if so is this normal?
3) Do you think MS will fix the vga issues shortly?
4) Is there anyway to get optical audio and VGA together?

Thanks

it's a known thing with Sammy's and VGA. I got the samsung 4095d and I just use the monster component because the vga is washed out. I returned the vga cable.

I have this puppy ordered through gamestop and should be getting it tomorrow. I have a 30" Samsung Slimfit CRT tv(1st generation) capable of displaying 720p and 1080i video. It only has HDMI and component connections. NO VGA. Currently, I have a samsung upconverting dvd player in which I use to watch my dvd's. For the most part the dvds look pretty good. My question is, is it worth it for me to keep the HD-DVD player add on or should I just return it? Will i be able to tell a diferenace and will that diference be enought to justify a 200$ price tag? I sit about 5-10 feet away from my tv when watching movies. Thanks for your help and time.

I have been seeing a lot of posts at different sites myself included, reporting that the sound is on the low side. is their anything Microsoft could do to fix this problem with an Live update?

I have been seeing a lot of posts at different sites myself included, reporting that the sound is on the low side. is their anything Microsoft could do to fix this problem with an Live update?

DD Plus is Lower by default

First impressions.

1. HD-DVD rules, just like HD, you'll watch anything because it looks so good (Slither)
2. The Xbox add on is LOUD. What do you expect for a $200 add on. THe Xbox 360 has always been loud.
3. It can overheat. Mine did. I guess it should not sit on top of the Xbox in a cabinet. I am moving it out in the open to enjoy movies for now.
4. An affordable solution or entry level purchase into HD-DVD. I'll wait to see what's available as a permanent HD-DVD player after the holidays.

Overall, very satisfied with HD-DVD and happy with my purchase. I would not be if I paid more than I did.

MB


Mike, Noise is the one thing that'll decide whether I buy this or rebuy a standalone player ( I sold my A1 for this)

Can you expand on the noise comment? I can understand the drive being quiet, but I'm concerned about the huffing and puffing from the 360 itself.

When you play a DVD, the fans in the 360 slow down or stop so its very quiet - and therefore perfectly usable for watching a quiet movie. But when I'm streaming or even just in the dashboard, the fans are fairly blowy. If they stay like that I think it'd be a deal breaker for me.

So noise - same as dashboard or same as watching a DVD?

here one of MI3 on a HDA1 at 98 inch

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/5562/mi32yg1.jpg

look way sharper in person..

here one of MI3 on a HDA1 at 98 inch

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/5562/mi32yg1.jpg

look way sharper in person..

Can you post an higher resolution one? Posting images with lower resolution than 1920x1080 is useless.

It's been said before but I'll say it again. If your 360 is loud while playing DVDs/HD-DVDs you need to ventilate the system better.

During games, well the disc is spinning 12X constantly then and its quite loud. It's not the fans that make all the racket.

If someone has a "loud" player (louder than their DVD playback w/ internal drive) then I'd presume they got a bum drive.

I have this puppy ordered through gamestop and should be getting it tomorrow. I have a 30" Samsung Slimfit CRT tv(1st generation) capable of displaying 720p and 1080i video. It only has HDMI and component connections. NO VGA. Currently, I have a samsung upconverting dvd player in which I use to watch my dvd's. For the most part the dvds look pretty good. My question is, is it worth it for me to keep the HD-DVD player add on or should I just return it? Will i be able to tell a diferenace and will that diference be enought to justify a 200$ price tag? I sit about 5-10 feet away from my tv when watching movies. Thanks for your help and time.

For people wanting to show high resolution photo's:
Try using http://upload.georgeownsme.com/. It can handle up to 7836 KB JPG, GIF, and PNG files.

yes keep it, you will see a difference.

I have this puppy ordered through gamestop and should be getting it tomorrow. I have a 30" Samsung Slimfit CRT tv(1st generation) capable of displaying 720p and 1080i video. It only has HDMI and component connections. NO VGA. Currently, I have a samsung upconverting dvd player in which I use to watch my dvd's. For the most part the dvds look pretty good. My question is, is it worth it for me to keep the HD-DVD player add on or should I just return it? Will i be able to tell a diferenace and will that diference be enought to justify a 200$ price tag? I sit about 5-10 feet away from my tv when watching movies. Thanks for your help and time.

I'm starting to get the impression that with my 30" tv, the HD-DVD player isn't going to make much of a difference from my samsung upconverter. That combined with the fact that it won't upsale my DVD9's over componenet is kinda a deal breaker for me. Unless any of you have any other reasons for me keeping, I'm going to take it back. It looks like a cool add on but for my situation, it doesnt look like it will be worth the 200$ price tag

OK so thanks to this thread I decided to go down to Circuit City and sure enough, they had a couple in stock. 30 minutes later once the clerks 'checked-in' the shipment so they could ring me up...I was off to Walmart to buy a couple discs...Walmart had MI3 but no Batman...now I find myself in Best Buy, price matching Target for Batman: Begins. Finally I get home...

This is my setup:
Panasonic 42PX50U
Denon 3802
B&W 603 S3's, LCR600 S3, 601 S2's, 600 S3's
Velodyne HGS-15 sub
360 hooked up component and optical, set to 1080i

Here are my findings:
1. The PQ is simply astounding! All three movies look awesome. I probably watch 20+ hours a week of HD content via Comcast and there is no comparison. Perfect, pristine image quality.

2. The 360 is fairly quiet playing an HD-DVD. It makes the same subtle low-speed fan noise as when playing SD-DVD's. The HD drive itself makes ZERO audible noise from 5' away.

3. Build quality is nice and it's great to have my WiFi adapter and Vision Camera "daisy chained" through the HD-DVD add-on. No more open flap on the front of the console. A minor gripe, but heh...

4. Sound is a marked improvement over the DVD versions of the same movies. The Dolby True HD track was decoded and sent as Dolby Digital. Changing from Dolby Plus to True HD in Batman made a discernible difference. I'm inclined to think this was an elegant sollution to the lack of HDMI 1.3 or analog pre-outs.

5. There is NO upconversion of standard DVD's over component. And for the record, watching a DVD right after an HD-DVD physically hurt my eyes. I do not recommend it!

6. Every movie loaded in just a few seconds. Start up times were very comparable to DVD's, only the movies actually START! I love it!

Overall I am extremely happy with my purchase. I was on the fence about this add-on, but now I'm a believer. It integrates into the 360's dashboard very well and everything just, worked. If you own a 360 buy this device, it's well worth the $199.

Nice comparison shot:

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showpost.php?p=8364052&postcount=37

Somebody can to be so kind to suggest me some internet online stores with this unit available and able to ship it internationally ( I live in Italy)? also in MP if you like.
Thank you in advance

Better comparison shot.

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showpost.php?p=8365023&postcount=51

Better comparison shot.

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showpost.php?p=8365023&postcount=51
That's a HELL of a difference.....and I thought the SD King Kong had one of the better looking DVD transfers. I can't wait for my add on and King Kong!

Nice comparison shot:

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showpost.php?p=8364052&postcount=37

The same dude made some shots here http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=483968

Amazing shots imo and all that goodness for a mere $200.

The same dude made some shots here http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=483968

Amazing shots imo and all that goodness for a mere $200.

Jack Blacks face in HD is the clearest thing I've ever seen, lol!

I have to give credit to CC for this one for me getting one. EB/Gamestop's stupid pre-order program makes alot of people hate them. You should have seen what went down with Gears of War release this week on the east coast with Gamestop. THEY SUCK!

Yea I'm on the East Coast and my EB store told me that FedEx Left the boxes where they were suppose to pick them up.

RE: Samsung VGA connections

My VGA settings were washed out and the geometry was off. I had my set calibrated and had the person pay special attention to the VGA port. It took more work than the others including moving the image all the way to the left. However at the end of the calibration it looked as good as the HDMI port.

For those of us in the UK salivating at all your reports, here's another challenge for you:

Can anyone get OSX to see the drive. And then can they get it to play a regular dvd? I don't think we'd get it to play an HD-DVD anyway but if this drive's region is controlled by software (ie the 360 looks at the region rather than the drive) and my MacMini can play dvds from it then this might be the solution for the MacMini multiregion problem too...

If we get a yes, who's up for clubbing together for a big basket of muffins for MS HQ?

The power supply that ships with the unit is apparently multi voltage.
Back on page 53, someone said it reads:
"input 100-240v - 47-63Hz 0.7 A max, output 12 V 2.5A"
Does it also come with a proper (i.e. European) plug, or would I have to cut the end and slap a EU plug on to use it/use a plain adapter (no stepdown).

it's a known thing with Sammy's and VGA. I got the samsung 4095d and I just use the monster component because the vga is washed out. I returned the vga cable.
i have an older samsing hln. the 360 is fantastic thru vga. colors and picture are unbeleavable on the regular dvd, upscaling. cant wit till wends. when i get mine from amazon.

I'm starting to get the impression that with my 30" tv, the HD-DVD player isn't going to make much of a difference from my samsung upconverter. That combined with the fact that it won't upsale my DVD9's over componenet is kinda a deal breaker for me. Unless any of you have any other reasons for me keeping, I'm going to take it back. It looks like a cool add on but for my situation, it doesnt look like it will be worth the 200$ price tag

If you tend to buy dvd's then IMO it is worth keeping, and starting to switch your purchases over to HD DVD. Someone needs to test a VGA to Component converter and see if that works. If you are considering upgrading your display over the next year, then it probably is worth keeping, since I doubt that we will see prices below this price point for at least a year

John

One thing I noticed was when you have a game in the X360 and a HD-DVD in the drive you can toggle between the two via the dashboard but when you try to play the HD-DVD the message "reading" comes up but the disc never loads. Anyone else experience this??

i have an older samsing hln. the 360 is fantastic thru vga. colors and picture are unbeleavable on the regular dvd, upscaling. cant wit till wends. when i get mine from amazon.

Did you compare it with the component?

For those who didn't get their pre-order through Amazon (like I didn't) and really want one this weekend I have a suggestion. Go to the circuit city website and search for xbox HD DVD. Then for delivery options select in store pick up. You can see if any stores around you have it in stock and go ahead and order it.

I'm so mad at Amazon; I preordered this thing over a month ago and it didn't ship. There are people who ordered it two days ago and have it in thier house right no.

Sorry if similiar rants have been posted before.

Better comparison shot.

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showpost.php?p=8365023&postcount=51

That is not a good comparison at all.

If you notice in the SD shot, the TV, wall, and poster in the background is blurry as well. It's not in the HD shot, which means there was camera movement in the SD shot, making the entire image slightly blurry.

Also, the TV is displaying very different brightness contrast values. In the SD shot you can see that the black bars on top and bottom are in fact grey, while in the HD shot they look black as they are supposed to. If the set was calibrated correctly, the bars would be black in the SD shot as well, and having a proper black level and white level (contrast) would greatly improve the picture.

edit: There appears to be more light entering the shutter in the HD shot, which would effect the perceived contrast.

Is there a way for microsoft to do an update to allow upconverting SD DVD's through component.

Should this be a deal breaker? I have a very nice but old, mitsu 50", 360 games look awesome in 1080i, how do you thing HD DVD will look

That will stink if SD DVD's play only at 480P..

Peace..

For those who didn't get their pre-order through Amazon (like I didn't) and really want one this weekend I have a suggestion. Go to the circuit city website and search for xbox HD DVD. Then for delivery options select in store pick up. You can see if any stores around you have it in stock and go ahead and order it.

I'm so mad at Amazon; I preordered this thing over a month ago and it didn't ship. There are people who ordered it two days ago and have it in thier house right no.

Sorry if similiar rants have been posted before.

I'm one of those guys who ordered from Amazon on Nov. 6th, and am getting the unit delivered today, Nov. 10th. UPS shows it as in my city already.

Is there a way for microsoft to do an update to allow upconverting SD DVD's through component.

Should this be a deal breaker? I have a very nice but old, mitsu 50", 360 games look awesome in 1080i, how do you thing HD DVD will look

That will stink if SD DVD's play only at 480P..

Peace..
No, you cannot upconvert using component on the 360. Technically it is no problem at all, but Macrovision, which Xbox 360 HAS to "support", mandates that DVD content mustn't be upscaled using component. It is allowed through VGA and digital connectors (DVI/HDMI). It makes no sense at all (like Macrovision in general), but that's just the way it is.
HD DVD has a different "protection" scheme so there's no trouble there.
I guess some of the less fully legal DVD players can also upscale through component, but it is not something you'll ever see a major US/EU hardware maker do because of the legal implications.

I'm getting on amazon's case to see if I can hasten this process. I ordered on the 25th of October and I'm not getting stuck with a unit that doesn't include Kong.

Did somebody hook this drive into a windows xp pc...>? what's the comments...? I have a copy of powerDVD HD DVD version 6.5, is it all that is needed to view HD DVD content on that drive?

One thing I noticed was when you have a game in the X360 and a HD-DVD in the drive you can toggle between the two via the dashboard but when you try to play the HD-DVD the message "reading" comes up but the disc never loads. Anyone else experience this??


Oh there's a simple explanation for that & I have the answer, but you will have to give me a raise & promote me to Bell Captain. :p

Seriously though, I haven't had that problem. I have my games in the XB360 regular DVD drive & a HD-DVD movie in the HD-DVD add-on & when selecting which to play in the dashboard, when I click down for HD-DVD it says reading, then plays the movie in a few secs afterward.

I have read in the forums that a minimal amount of people have had similar issues that you described & it could be a defect. Call MS (1-800-4my-xbox) that's what they did.

Now get back to running the Flat! ;)

Thanks Skillz

Can someone please let me know if the Ghosting problem over component on the Xbox360/DVD playback (as seen on Pany AE500/700/900 projectors) is a problem with this Add on over component.

Realy need to know...Thanks

Expecting the UPS truck today. The tracking information is for Nov 13th delivery but it was shipped as expected on the 8th using 3-day service. EB Games was right on time.

My Son says he got 'gears of war' a day early. That was an 'in store' pre-order from EB Games.

Sorry for the shameful plug but we only seem to hear the bad things about dealers.
Someone should cheer when they get it right.

-Byrd

Can someone please let me know if the Ghosting problem over component on the Xbox360/DVD playback (as seen on Pany AE500/700/900 projectors) is a problem with this Add on over component.

Realy need to know...Thanks

Are you referring to those horisontal stripes running across the picture sometimes?
I have the AE700 and was wondering if it was just because I was too lazy to tweak the settings...
Don't have the drive yet, getting it sent from Canada and hope it'll be here Monday or Tuesday. Will give you an update then if noone else has by that time.

i've been putting the add-on through its paces this morning playing kong and so far it has been bullet-proof...i'm really quite impressed that for $200 i've arguably gotten an hd dvd player that is better than the toshiba standalones in certain respects.

i've ff'd, rew'd, skipped chapter back and forth, brought up u-control, brought up u-control tutorial in mid-movie, you name it and it hasn't faultered...i'm very impressed.

i see no discernible difference in picture quality from the standalone even though the 360 is connected via component and the standalone via hdmi...now i just need to get my audio connected to my a/v rack via a long optical fiber; ordered one from monoprice. i don't want to mount the 360 in the a/v rack as i prefer to keep it right below the tv for easy access.

question, anyone find a way to turn off the hd dvd drive when you just want to use it for gaming?

also, i had read that you would be able to specify which should be the default but at present i only see the option to specify dashboard or game?

has anyone done a comparison with component VS vga?

Is KIng Kong suopposed to have black bars with HDDVD? This is the first HDDVD i have seen so i apologize for my ignorance...

Are you referring to those horisontal stripes running across the picture sometimes?


Yup those. But would not say sometimes. Its basically all the time and is why i dont use the 360 to playback DVDs. If the problem is still there with HD-DVD add on the only option is to get a VGA cable.

I tried the VGA cable with my 900 but wasn't able to get 1:1 mapping....can someone share their settings with the Panny 700/900 with VGA if they have been able to achieve this?

if people are having trouble getting thier hd player , got to cc website and order it online or pick it up at there store..
ordered mine online for store pickup and when i got there they had no idea what i was talking about. didn't know that ms released an hd addon.. any way 30 min later they found their shipment in the warehouse after their receiver came back from lunch :D
got me a free gift card for not having my order ready and free king kong :D
they said they had plenty in stock

Yup those. But would not say sometimes. Its basically all the time and is why i dont use the 360 to playback DVDs. If the problem is still there with HD-DVD add on the only option is to get a VGA cable.

i have the same problem and this was the reason why i had to get an hd-a1.

"Originally Posted by manamal
does anyone in the new york area (Manhattan) picked up the hd dvd add on yet. If so let me know where????im looking to get it tomorrow. "

I am also looking for one in MH.

The same dude made some shots here http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=483968

Amazing shots imo and all that goodness for a mere $200.Wow what a difference...this is the first time I have seen a SD and HD together. Amazing ;)

Finally got the call from EB/Gamestop last night. So my HD-DVD should be in tomorrow. I am dying to get this puppy. I'll support whatever ends up being the defacto standard but I feel that Sony needs to be punished for not getting together and forcing a format war. If anything Sony's history (VHS/Beta, MiniDisc, Sony SD Memory, ATRAC) shows that they seriously have a problem with standards. I for one hope that Nolan Bushnell is right and that the Playstation will have to have it's price cut way down to make it palatable. Sooner or later one of the studios that stands behind BlueRay is going to crack, once that happens the dominos will fall and HD-DVD will hopefully be the winner.

Either way for $200.00 it's not much of a risk for HD-DVD.

TimT

TimT

yes, it is supposed to have black bars. Films are shot in many different aspect ratios and generally speaking, in the case of epic films such as King Kong, a wider frame is used. When translated to TV screens, it's neccessary to use the black bars in order to fit the entire image on the screen.

I am still stunned. I was really hoping for a nice upgrade from DVD. What I got was sooo much more. These HD-DVD's look absolutly FANTASTIC.

This is going to make it SOOOOO much harder to deal with the day that I must replace my top notch 64" CRT RPTV. The blacks have never looked better.

Oh man. ALL I want to do now is sit and watch HD-DVD after HD-DVD.

Jason

^^^ Yes, judging by what I've seen with the Toshiba demos, it's the blacks that are going to impress me the most.

Some of those pictures I linked from TXB forum, people are saying they may have been photoshopped. i can't tell for sure, but doesn't it seem that the stuff not on the screen became sharper also. Like the light switch on the wall.

I think we need some more comparison pictures just to make sure.

Here are my questions for you all with the HD DVD add on..

I have an older Mitsubishi 50" it will only do 1080i through component, there is no HDMI or VGA (that I no of) is the Add On still worth the purchase in your opinion,

I've been using the 360 for my primary DVD player, and going with the Add on I can still play my SD DVD's but not sure if the HD DVD's playing at 1080i versus the standard 480p is worth the price of admission

Thoughts?

Peace

iI have read every quote in here but I still don't know:
1) will a Samsung HLS series that DOES pass 1080P over component cable (I am doing it via xbox) play an HD DVD at 1080P via component. Has anyone hit the info button on their remote to see what is being transmitted? Reallly need to know before I buy. Appreciate any help.

Jim

Yup those. But would not say sometimes. Its basically all the time and is why i dont use the 360 to playback DVDs. If the problem is still there with HD-DVD add on the only option is to get a VGA cable.

it shouldn't have this problem with HDDVD because it'll be outputting at 1080i or 720p. The problem with SD-DVDs was that it was outputting at 576p (for us in Euroland) and for some reason the AE900 didn't like it (it likes 576p fine from my normal prog scan DVD player...)

RE: Samsung VGA connections

My VGA settings were washed out and the geometry was off. I had my set calibrated and had the person pay special attention to the VGA port. It took more work than the others including moving the image all the way to the left. However at the end of the calibration it looked as good as the HDMI port.

Who did you have calibrate and can it be done with one of thos HD calibration disc or is it much more involved? Also how much money to do this?

Thanks

I’ve ordered the HD DVD add on from Amazon.

A few questions:
1) I have updated my 360 and have confirmed 1080p over component to my Sharp D90 TV. Will movies played on the HD DVD add-on be output as 1080p, 1080i or, something less?

2) I believe that HDCP does not allow compliant products to convert HDCP-protected content to full-resolution analog form. Did I misunderstand or has Microsoft worked around this for the component (or VGA) output?

Thanks

I’ve ordered the HD DVD add on from Amazon.

A few questions:
1) I have updated my 360 and have confirmed 1080p over component to my Sharp D90 TV. Will movies played on the HD DVD add-on be output as 1080p, 1080i or, something less?

2) I believe that HDCP does not allow compliant products to convert HDCP-protected content to full-resolution analog form. Did I misunderstand or has Microsoft worked around this for the component (or VGA) output?

Thanks

It's up to the individual movie companies to decide whether to implement the ICT flag or not. They say they won't for a while but I don't believe them. I think they want to get you hooked and then notch down the resolution.

if people are having trouble getting thier hd player , got to cc website and order it online or pick it up at there store..
ordered mine online for store pickup and when i got there they had no idea what i was talking about. didn't know that ms released an hd addon.. any way 30 min later they found their shipment in the warehouse after their receiver came back from lunch :D
got me a free gift card for not having my order ready and free king kong :D
they said they had plenty in stock

GREAT ADVICE! I was able to find one in Compton and one in Pasadena!


I put one on hold in Pasadena and will drive to get it after work. I work in Santa Monica, so that'll probably be 2 hours sitting in traffic. But worth it to get my box a week earlier than Amazon would ship it to me.

Thanks...

Here are my questions for you all with the HD DVD add on..

I have an older Mitsubishi 50" it will only do 1080i through component, there is no HDMI or VGA (that I no of) is the Add On still worth the purchase in your opinion,

I've been using the 360 for my primary DVD player, and going with the Add on I can still play my SD DVD's but not sure if the HD DVD's playing at 1080i versus the standard 480p is worth the price of admission

Thoughts?

Peace

I think it's worth it. My Panasonic tops out at 1080i and I watched Batman Begins HD-DVD last night and was blown away. If you are already used to the Xbox as a DVD player and there are at least a few HD-DVDs you would be interested in watching, I think it's $200 well spent. Add to the fact that you are extending the life of your Xbox360 SD drive to play games.

JimmyJamma,

I believe the simple answer to your question is no. It is my understanding that component will only play games at 1080p. HD DVDs will only play at 1080i, 720p, etc. through component.

Damnnnn, i call bb, cc, j&R, eb games and all no no avail, wats goin on. where did everyone get theres????? im in NY i thought this would b the first place to get it.

Component video connection will NOT, i repeat will NOT play anything in 1080p, you need a HDMI cable for that. Trust me.

Component video connection will NOT, i repeat will NOT play anything in 1080p, you need a HDMI cable for that. Trust me.


Or vga right? Bc, the 360 doesnt have HDMI.

"manamal posted: Today - 10:54 AM
Damnnnn, i call bb, cc, j&R, eb games and all no no avail, wats goin on. where did everyone get theres????? im in NY i thought this would b the first place to get it. "

NYC is dry so far... I can't find it anywhere.

"Originally Posted by manamal
does anyone in the new york area (Manhattan) picked up the hd dvd add on yet. If so let me know where????im looking to get it tomorrow. "

I am also looking for one in MH.


Hey buddy, if you find out a place where they have it in stock let me know and ill do same.

I want my HD DVD. This is the best invention since MTV.

I ordered from CC.com yesterday, got delivered to my work this morning. They are bring it upstairs to me as I type this email.

Sweet baby.

I ordered from CC.com yesterday, got delivered to my work this morning. They are bring it upstairs to me as I type this email.

Sweet baby.

lucky bastard. where do u live?

Can anyone with a HD-A1 confirm that the Add-on has the same PQ?

Don't Call Circuit City!!!!

You need to order on the net for in-store pickup. Last night I went on the site and saw that I could order for pickup. I called the store for confirmation and was told by two people that the add-on didn't exist. After I ordered it, the confirmation Email never made it to my Email address. Hmmm

I decided tro take a chance and go pick it up anyway. I got to the store, gave them a copy of the pseudo confirmation screen from the website, and 5 mins later the drive was in my hands.

Bottom Line:

ORDER ONLINE FOR PICKUP...

Sean

Or vga right? Bc, the 360 doesnt have HDMI.
Yes, the VGA adapter will output 1080p (if your tv can handle it). It also greately cleans up all games to date.

I believe I've read that all xbox360 games will output 1080i only. However the cleaner signal and a 1080p television makes it look near 1080p. Again only the extremely perverse videophiles will notice any differences.

Can anyone with a HD-A1 confirm that the Add-on has the same PQ?

im sure it does, HD DVD is just HD DVD. You cant change it, unless ur TV is not real HD and cant acccept 1080P or 1080i then ur &%@$

Or vga right? Bc, the 360 doesnt have HDMI.


I not 100% on the VGA with 1080p but i heard VGA does. but i cant see how.

^^^ Yes, judging by what I've seen with the Toshiba demos, it's the blacks that are going to impress me the most.
Oh man then I can't wait till a movie like Barbershop hits HD-DVD!

"manamal posted: Today - 10:54 AM
Damnnnn, i call bb, cc, j&R, eb games and all no no avail, wats goin on. where did everyone get theres????? im in NY i thought this would b the first place to get it. "

NYC is dry so far... I can't find it anywhere.

did you call all the top 5-10 stores already??

Oh man then I can't wait till a movie like Barbershop hits HD-DVD!


Barbershop, wats so good about that movie, i hope your being sarcastic. :eek:

Well I checked the ones near my apt... near Union Sq. CC, PCR, Gamestop, the BB near Grand Central

Barbershop, wats so good about that movie, i hope your being sarcastic. :eek:
lol. He's saying blacks look better in HD-DVD.(he means the color) I'm joking around saying then I can't wait to watch Barbershop. It's a play on words.

I am still stunned. I was really hoping for a nice upgrade from DVD. What I got was sooo much more. These HD-DVD's look absolutly FANTASTIC.

This is going to make it SOOOOO much harder to deal with the day that I must replace my top notch 64" CRT RPTV. The blacks have never looked better.

Oh man. ALL I want to do now is sit and watch HD-DVD after HD-DVD.

Jason


hey where did you get you HD DVD??

Is there any difference in PQ playing regular DVDs in the HD Add-on vs. the core 360 drive (assuming 480p over component)?

I'm hoping there's some improvement there.

Well I checked the ones near my apt... near Union Sq. CC, PCR, Gamestop, the BB near Grand Central


oh ok, wel I called a store in NJ he said to call back after 3pm. He just got a shipment in. Playing its in that bunch, i will let u know.

Well I checked the ones near my apt... near Union Sq. CC, PCR, Gamestop, the BB near Grand Central
I haven't called CC, but I've called a couple BB's and a GS. Nothing here as of yet in Minnesota.

Either that or I'm talking to morons that just say no without checking inventory.

Oh man then I can't wait till a movie like Barbershop hits HD-DVD!
Hahah. :D

lol. He's saying blacks look better in HD-DVD.(he means the color) I'm joking around saying then I can't wait to watch Barbershop. It's a play on words.


oh, hahaha

manamal you can order one in Brooklyn for in store pickup @ CC if you are that motivated.

I wrote up some first impressions here. (http://aroganworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/xbox-360-hd-dvd-drive.html)

Does anyone have CGI movies in HD-DVD? Do they look better than films like King Kong because they are rendered digitally? I am hoping films like Superman Returns and such will look better and not have any grains in it like King Kong. I don't think it's my TV or resolution being a problem, just the fact that it is film. Just wondering.

Thanks,
Hoowahman

I wrote up some first impressions here. (http://aroganworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/xbox-360-hd-dvd-drive.html)
Now that is awesome. There is nothing better then getting some decent pictures and a review. Thanks!

HA!! DREAMCAST!!! :D

Do you change your video settings each time you go to watch a DVD now? I don't want to use the same settings I have for playing games. Before the add-on, I had a seperate DVD player hooked up to one of my video inputs on the TV and my XBOX hooked up to another input. Now, both DVD (add-on) and XBOX will be going to the same TV input. How is everyone here dealing with changing settings?

Thanks

I'm starting to get the impression that with my 30" tv, the HD-DVD player isn't going to make much of a difference from my samsung upconverter. That combined with the fact that it won't upsale my DVD9's over componenet is kinda a deal breaker for me. Unless any of you have any other reasons for me keeping, I'm going to take it back. It looks like a cool add on but for my situation, it doesnt look like it will be worth the 200$ price tag

It makes a pretty freakin big difference on my 32" Sharp...but I sit about 6-7 feet away in my office. You can pretend you don' want it, and take it back but you know you'll get itchy and buy it again in a month or so.

manamal you can order one in Brooklyn for in store pickup @ CC if you are that motivated.

oh really, you called there and they got it? im pretty motivated right now, but im at work till 6pm, damn. I can take a ride ver there after work.

I wrote up some first impressions here. (http://aroganworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/xbox-360-hd-dvd-drive.html)

Nice write-up. One thing that I noticed, you were unable to play SD DVD's in the addon but I think amirm said this would be possible and someone else here also connected it to a pc as was able to get it to play DVD's with the right software. Anyone else able to check this out as well?

oh really, you called there and they got it? im pretty motivated right now, but im at work till 6pm, damn. I can take a ride ver there after work.

Go to the website and reserve one for in store pick up. Then go get it after work.

Just picked up the HD-DVD add on at my local Circuit City. It was the only one they had. :) And it did come with King Kong of course.

Needless to say, I cancelled my Amazon order.

Found the last one out of 11 at the Jantzen Beach Circuit City in Portland, OR.

And it is pretty. The remote and King Kong are included. A quick run of the installation CD, connect the USB, and we're up and running.

King Kong is gorgeous.

Go to the website and reserve one for in store pick up. Then go get it after work.

yea ima do that right now and see wat they say. ill let u guys know.

Just came back from buying V for Vendetta on HD DVD at Circuit City (they had no HD DVD drives there, Walmart, or BestBuy) only to find that my HD DVD Drive from GameStop.com had been delivered and was waiting for me (a family member got it from the UPS man)!
I now have V, King Kong, The Ultimate Missions Collection, Sleepy Hollow, and Phantom of the Opera (on the way). I might still buy one more this weekend but I haven't decided if I should go ahead and buy one or wait till tuesday (isn't there a new HD DVD release this next week?). Can't talk anymore, I have to crack this baby open and give it a test run!

To those that picked it up from Circuit City:

Did KK come bundled in the same box as the drive? If not, did you have to ask for it, or did they just give it to you?

Thanks for the impressions ARogan. Good to see a picture of the powersupply, seems like I won't even need an adapter or to clip off the plug and replace it with a proper one. I'll just take one of the unneeded standard powercables I have lying around. Maybe I'll take the one from my PS2 :)

Dumb Question: I have a Toshiba 62HM195. Is there any reason to think that since MS partnered w/ Toshiba that the HD DVD Drive would be best seen on a Toshiba Display.

yea your right CC has them in stock in few places, horray, i guess i knwo wat ima do after work today.

Dumb Question: I have a Toshiba 62HM195. Is there any reason to think that since MS partnered w/ Toshiba that the HD DVD Drive would be best seen on a Toshiba Display.

Things like that are nothing but myth.

Nice write-up. One thing that I noticed, you were unable to play SD DVD's in the addon but I think amirm said this would be possible and someone else here also connected it to a pc as was able to get it to play DVD's with the right software. Anyone else able to check this out as well?

I'll have to retest. I did stick in a regular dvd and it showed up fine on the pc. But the one time I tried it while hooked up to the x360 it just sat there saying reading.... all day. I'll give it another shot when I get home tonight.

component AND vga are both capable of 1080p for kripes sake.

It all depends on your dsiplay, player, media as to what res you end up seeing of course.

VGA does in fact transfer 1080p on this add-on drive.

I don't understand why manamal keeps insisting you NEED hdmi for 1080p.

I expect it from the clerks at BB ;)

WHat would be the point of micorsoft updating the 360 for 1080p if hdmi was the only means to transfer 1080p?



Your options are very limited though for a nice set that accepts 1080p over VGA. thats one of the main facotrs that led me to the samsung hl-s5087w.

I tried the VGA cable with my 900 but wasn't able to get 1:1 mapping....can someone share their settings with the Panny 700/900 with VGA if they have been able to achieve this?

Use Auto Setup from the projector menu while you're in the dash board. It should adjust the dimensions to fit.

Can anyone with a HD-A1 confirm that the Add-on has the same PQ?

See...http://blogs.msdn.com/andypennell/archive/2006/11/08/comparing-the-xbox-360-hd-dvd-add-on-with-the-toshiba-a1-hd-dvd-player.aspx

component AND vga are both capable of 1080p for kripes sake.

It all depends on your dsiplay, player, media as to what res you end up seeing of course.

VGA does in fact transfer 1080p on this add-on drive.

I don't understand why manamal keeps insisting you NEED hdmi for 1080p.

I expect it from the clerks at BB ;)

WHat would be the point of micorsoft updating the 360 for 1080p if hdmi was the only means to transfer 1080p?



Your options are very limited though for a nice set that accepts 1080p over VGA. thats one of the main facotrs that led me to the samsung hl-s5087w.

COME ON NOW YOU KNOW AND I READ THAT U CANNOT DISPLAY 1080P WITH A COMPONENT CABLE. I HEARD COMPONENT WILL ONLY TAKE UP TO LIKE 720P.

COME ON NOW YOU KNOW AND I READ THAT U CANNOT DISPLAY 1080P WITH A COMPONENT CABLE. I HEARD COMPONENT WILL ONLY TAKE UP TO LIKE 720P.


Actually, I believe, in general, component cables can provide 1080p. However, A. most TV component connections do not support this mode and B. the AACS agreement specifically forbids 1080p over component. Note, this only applies for HD-DVDs - not xBox games.

So, you are both right. Can't we all just get along now?

Xbox 360 HD-DVD (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000JHO4L0/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/002-6010610-3846412?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=468642)

I just got the hd-dvd player. How do I do the update, do I put the update cd in the hd-player or the xbox 360 itself. Also do I have to download anything from the web, my xbox 360 is not hooked up to the internet. Will the update cd have everything that is needed to run the hd-dvd player.

After I do the update. Am I suppose to reboot the xbox 360. If so how exactly do I do a reboot

Are you kidding? You dont need to reboot but if you want to just hit the power button and it'll turn off then you hit the power button again and it'll turn on...hence REBOOT.

DON'T tell them what you did. See if they notice. :p
;)

reminds me of when I first got the HDTV and the wife looked at the standard def channels! She thought it was crap compared to the old CRT we had! Fortunately, the HD content has been pristine.

I just got my hddvd and loaded up syriana. Fantastic.

BTW I am using a 1080p lcd panel display, the 1080i crt projector is in the basement, which is in the middle of being painted so I can't compare on the huge screen. Looks a huge deal better than dvd IMO.

I can take picture later after work.

I wrote up some first impressions here. (http://aroganworld.blogspot.com/2006/11/xbox-360-hd-dvd-drive.html)

I calibrated my 360 through the HD DVD drive using the standard DVD DVE disk. The HD DVD drive does play sdandard DVDs.

Also, I have seen a lot of confusion as to what resolutions will output on the different conections. Here's the deal.

Component: up 1080i for HD DVD, 1080p for games.

VGA: up to 1080p for games, HD DVD, and upscaled DVD.

It has been reported that you can download the HD DVD installation software without the disc if for some reason it wasn't included. All you need to do is hook up the drive to the 360 and ensue that you have an internent connection.

For PC's, it has been determined that the drive is recognized and will, with the correct softeware play standard DVDs, but not HD DVD. Although people have been able read the contents of the HD DVD disks.

Here's a couple opinions.

Picture: Through component, the picture was perfect. I can't put it any other way. Your level of detail may differ according to the resolution and size of your display but it will be the most artifact free, beautiful picture your display can possibly produce hands down.

Response time is slightly slower than a standard DVD player and much faster than 1st Gen standalones. This is not only for disk read times but also for any other functions such as title selection and extras.

Sound quality: This could be the one major deal breaker for most. DD+ and TrueHD are mixed down to DD due to a lack of 5.1 analog outputs and an HDMI option. The good news is the DD track is superior to its DVD counterparts. Yes, the level is lower, but that is par for the course with HD DVD audio tracks in general. If you increase the volume to your normal listening level you will hear a more sensible dynamic range, smoother base response and more crisp highs. I would attribute this to a higher bit rate that is derived from the superior DD+ soundtrack. In the end the sound from the HD DVD drive is very enjoyable.

As an more wallet friendly option to stand alone HD DVD players and of couse BD in general I think the 360 DVD will well worth the asking price of $199.00. Especially if you got your hands on the KK limited addition. Money well spent!

Have a great weekend and thanks to all the Vets out there. Happy Veterans Day!

Actually, I believe, in general, component cables can provide 1080p. However, A. most TV component connections do not support this mode and B. the AACS agreement specifically forbids 1080p over component. Note, this only applies for HD-DVDs - not xBox games.

So, you are both right. Can't we all just get along now?


NOT FOR YOU, BUT COMPONENT CABLE CAN ONLY ACCEPT 1080P SIGNAL, NOT DISPLAY IT. MEANING YOU WILL GET A PICTURE BUT IT ACTUALLY WONT BE DISPAYING IN 1080P. HDMI CABLE IS DIGITAL, WHICH HANDLES 1080P RESOLUTION, COMPONENT IS NOT.

I calibrated my 360 through the HD DVD drive using the standard DVD DVE disk. The HD DVD drive does play sdandard DVDs.


Phew, I almost misread. So the levels you calibrated to with the standard DVD seems adequate for HD DVD content?

Someone please compare SD DVD on this HD Drive and the HD-A1.. Its been asked a few times already and no response. Thats the only thing holding me back from buying this as i already have the A1. I still have the option to return it is the Xbox can upconvert better.

NOT FOR YOU, BUT COMPONENT CABLE CAN ONLY ACCEPT 1080P SIGNAL, NOT DISPLAY IT. MEANING YOU WILL GET A PICTURE BUT IT ACTUALLY WONT BE DISPAYING IN 1080P. HDMI CABLE IS DIGITAL, WHICH HANDLES 1080P RESOLUTION, COMPONENT IS NOT.


IS YOUR CAPS LOCK BROKEN????

COME ON NOW YOU KNOW AND I READ THAT U CANNOT DISPLAY 1080P WITH A COMPONENT CABLE. I HEARD COMPONENT WILL ONLY TAKE UP TO LIKE 720P.


"I HEARD..." LOL

Do you recite everything that you "heard" as fact?

Someone please compare SD DVD on this HD Drive and the HD-A1.. Its been asked a few times already and no response. Thats the only thing holding me back from buying this as i already have the A1. I still have the option to return it is the Xbox can upconvert better.


It's been asked and answered in this thread plenty of times. The same questions keep coming up over and over and over....

COME ON NOW YOU KNOW AND I READ THAT U CANNOT DISPLAY 1080P WITH A COMPONENT CABLE. I HEARD COMPONENT WILL ONLY TAKE UP TO LIKE 720P.


if you want to be taken seriously in this forum, you need to do some research before posting nonsense...

IS YOUR CAPS LOCK BROKEN????

ROTFLMAO :D

Phew, I almost misread. So the levels you calibrated to with the standard DVD seems adequate for HD DVD content?

I would say until I get the HD DVD version of DVE or author my own, it is adaquate. There is more color information with HD, so that might not be so accurate, but the blacks, picture and contrast should be fine.

NOT FOR YOU, BUT COMPONENT CABLE CAN ONLY ACCEPT 1080P SIGNAL, NOT DISPLAY IT. MEANING YOU WILL GET A PICTURE BUT IT ACTUALLY WONT BE DISPAYING IN 1080P. HDMI CABLE IS DIGITAL, WHICH HANDLES 1080P RESOLUTION, COMPONENT IS NOT.

Its already been noted early on in this long thread that the Xbox HD player can output 1080P via both Component and VGA. Why cause the restrictions are not in place yet the disks that are out there now. The only prob right now is with upconverting SD DVD. If you use component it will kick in the security and only output 480P. You have to use VGA to upconvert DVDs over the HD Drive. I dont think this is a prob just using the Xbox drive for DVDs.

It's been asked and answered in this thread plenty of times. The same questions keep coming up over and over and over....

I've veiwed every post since the drive came out on the 8th and i have not seen this answered.

My component cables display 1080p no problem.

The only issue is that they are fairly narrow, so many believe that you cant see the individual pixels on the end of the cable.

Does that settle the arguement? :)

Has anyone received the HD drive from gamestop in NYC?? I preordered mine and they still dont have them in!! rghhh

screw gamestop, I pre-ordered from their store, kept on calling with no response to when they would be receiving them. I order one online from circuitcity.com and it came this morning.

I not 100% on the VGA with 1080p but i heard VGA does. but i cant see how.

You can set the resolution when using a VGA cable, so after you upgrade the 360 to be able to output 1080p you can set the VGA resolution to 1920x1080. At least I believe so. This won't make a difference unless you're trying to use the HD-DVD addon, however. The 360 can output 1080p through component during games, but can't output 1080p through component while watching movies for legal reasons.

The bottom line, if you're going to get the HD-DVD addon and have a 1080p capable television you should get the VGA cable to get true 1080p, otherwise component should work fine for you.

Matt

yea your right CC has them in stock in few places, horray, i guess i knwo wat ima do after work today.

Call the CC store and have them physically verify the inventory before ordering online for in store pickup. I ordered mine for in store pick up and when I got there last night they couldn't find any. I had to go to a different store that actually had physical inventory.

Hi,
Can anyone that has the add-on up and running confirm that it will play homemade HDDVDs (ie, like the test pattern disc, etc)?
Thanks a lot,
Vic

Wow lets clear up the resolution issue once and for all.

VGA= 1080P on HD-DVD, Games, SD-DVD

Component= 1080P Games, 1080I HD-DVD, 480P SD-DVD

These are the facts.

Ok Everyone, I Scored, I Just Picked Up The Xbox 360 Hd Dvd Player From Surprisingly A Local Coconuts Store, I Was Amazed They Even Had It. Listen To This, I Looked Around And Didnt See It At First Then I Looked Behind The Register And There It Was, 1 Lonely Hd Dvd Player. So I Caml Ask The Clerk Walkin Around If They Have Any 360 Hd Dvd Players, She Was Like Huh Wats That, Im Like Omg R U Serious, Then She Said No We Dont Have Any, So Im Like What About That One Right There And She Like Oh I Didnt Know, I Never Heard About It. I Cant Believe There Oblivious To This. So Anyway I Grabbed The Only One They Had In There, Its Been There Since Wednesday She Said. So Everyone Make Sure U Look Around And Ask The Right Person. Now I Have To Wait Till 6pm To Go Home And Play. I Was On My Lunch Break And I Didnt Even Eat Lunch. Lol

Just picked one up at circuit city!!!! whooohoooo
screw amazon, just cancelled my order with them...
done and done...

Anyone know the return policy at CC?? Online they only show there return policy for online purchases..

IS YOUR CAPS LOCK BROKEN????

LOL :D

Ok Everyone, I Scored, I Just Picked Up The Xbox 360 Hd Dvd Player From Surprisingly A Local Coconuts Store, I Was Amazed They Even Had It. Listen To This, I Looked Around And Didnt See It At First Then I Looked Behind The Register And There It Was, 1 Lonely Hd Dvd Player. So I Caml Ask The Clerk Walkin Around If They Have Any 360 Hd Dvd Players, She Was Like Huh Wats That, Im Like Omg R U Serious, Then She Said No We Dont Have Any, So Im Like What About That One Right There And She Like Oh I Didnt Know, I Never Heard About It. I Cant Believe There Oblivious To This. So Anyway I Grabbed The Only One They Had In There, Its Been There Since Wednesday She Said. So Everyone Make Sure U Look Around And Ask The Right Person. Now I Have To Wait Till 6pm To Go Home And Play. I Was On My Lunch Break And I Didnt Even Eat Lunch. Lol

Sir, you are quite hard to understand with Caps on every word, but somehow I made it through it. Just a FYI, plus it'll save you some hassle hitting the Shift key on every word.

Just picked one up at circuit city!!!! whooohoooo
screw amazon, just cancelled my order with them...
done and done...


CONGRADULATIONS, DID U HOOK IT UP YET?

[QUOTE=Hoowahman]Sir, you are quite hard to understand with Caps on every word, but somehow I made it through it. Just a FYI, plus it'll save you some hassle hitting the Shift key on every word.[/QUO


sorry about that, actually i didnt press the shift keey everytime, it did it automatically, i dont know why. lol. So go to your local Ccoconuts they night have one there. it came with KK to.

There's no comparison between the 2. Even upconverted regular DVD's can't come close to HD-DVD.

That's like trying to compare Killzone franchise for PS2/PS3 to Halo franchise on XBOX/XB360, not even close!

Assuming one has a nice enough setup to take advantage. If you're running an HTPC for example and don't have a 1080p set, you can likely get very very close with the right software per this board. BUT, you'd likely spend more on that than this addon.

i got mine its hooked up to my 1080i 50 sxrdxbr1.

I have seen the demos in store of the toshiba. and really didnt like the unit so never bothered.

If you have an xbox and an 1080i capable display. not on that can use the signal but a display that displays all 1920x1080 resolution. a display that is native 1920x1080.
not a 50 plasma with 1366x768 you WILL be BLOWN AWAY!

I cannot side by side them but i am pretty sure there is no viewable difference in image quality vs the standalone player.

But the xbox player is fast...probably faster than my sony dvd player. hook it up via component as vga has a known bug of soft picture and prepare to see hd the way it used to be before providers started compressing the crap.

This is HD like roof mounted ota antenna crisp clean sharp no artifacts AT ALL.

You will NOT be sorry. Get em before theyre gone!

Any news on the feasibility of using the drive with a PC?

again my bet is drive firmware will never ever allow this to work.

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I could not find the answer.

If you have an HD rear projection CRT HDTV that is capable of both 720p and 1080i, which would be the better resolution choice for HD DVD movies specifically via component cables? Also if 1080i is better to get the higher resolution, does the X360 have the ability to use a default resolution specifically for the HD DVD only while still keeping the overall game setting to 720p or do you have to flip it back and forth manually?

CONGRADULATIONS, DID U HOOK IT UP YET?


Not yet unforutely, just picked it up at lunch and now i'm back at college in an oral surgery lecture while my shiny new player sits under my chair! :D

Component video connection will NOT, i repeat will NOT play anything in 1080p, you need a HDMI cable for that. Trust me.

Wrong, I get 1080p when Im in my dashboard with component.

i got mine its hooked up to my 1080i 50 sxrdxbr1.

I have seen the demos in store of the toshiba. and really didnt like the unit so never bothered.

If you have an xbox and an 1080i capable display. not on that can use the signal but a display that displays all 1920x1080 resolution. a display that is native 1920x1080.
not a 50 plasma with 1366x768 you WILL be BLOWN AWAY!

I cannot side by side them but i am pretty sure there is no viewable difference in image quality vs the standalone player.

But the xbox player is fast...probably faster than my sony dvd player. hook it up via component as vga has a known bug of soft picture and prepare to see hd the way it used to be before providers started compressing the crap.

This is HD like roof mounted ota antenna crisp clean sharp no artifacts AT ALL.

You will NOT be sorry. Get em before theyre gone!

So when you say BLOWN AWAY is that a good thing?? i got a 50" pioneer plasma.

uh if i didnt would i saw to run out and get one.

you will not see all the detail on that monitor im sorry to say b ut it will be the absolute best hd your monitor can prodice for sure.

I put in a pickup order at CC! I can't wait, I'll pick it up this afternoon when I can get away. Got notice, it's ready! Yay!
I got tired of waiting for BB to wake up?? They "Roll Out" the 360 but are asleep at the switch with the HD-DVD, what gives? I'll have to figure out what to do with the darn GC later!

[QUOTE=Khurram]Not yet unforutely, just picked it up at lunch and now i'm back at college in an oral surgery lecture while my shiny new player sits under my chair! :D[/QUOTE

yea same here, got to wait till 6pm. i hope the PQ is as good as they say it is, i got a 50"plasma

Wrong, I get 1080p when Im in my dashboard with component.

You think your in 1080p but its actually 1080i. wat proof do u have that ur in 1080p?