I'm tired of waiting for HD movies, to the point where I haven't watched or rented any movies in a month because I just want to wait until I get an HD setup to enjoy them. The only problem is that there are movies in both formats that I want to see, and the dual format players are too expensive. So, my plan was to make my existing HTPC into a dual format player. For starters, I can get the Xbox-360 external drive for ~$170 from various sources. Then I can start watching HD-DVD movies right away. Then, when there are blu-ray movies that I want to get, and when hopefully prices come down a bit, I can get one of the blu-ray burners that are currently in the $450 range. I have a few questions about my setup though before I start buying stuff.

1) My HTPC is my former gaming computer. It has an AMD 4000+ 2.4 ghz CPU (single core), 2 gigs of ram, and a GeForce 7900 GT. My TV is a 50" Plasma that has HDCP compliant DVI in, but no HDMI in. Will my computer be able to output the max digital resolution to my screen with windows vista over DVI?

2) Is it possible to modify the xbox-360 drive to be an internal drive? I've read reviews saying that the drive itself is noisy, and I'd like to mount it inside my HTPC's case if possible.

3) Does the HD software (powerdvd I guess) support all of the nifty features of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray? And by going with an HTPC setup, will I be fairly future-proofed for new features/upgrades/updates?

4) I currently use my HTCP just as an up-converting dvd player, since my old dvd player died (I never bothered getting a tv-tuner for it since I have digital cable and there are no cable card tuners as far as I know). I notice the quality seems to be very good, even just using windows media player. I figure this is because the video card is pretty good at scaling cleanly to my tv's native resolution. Will the quality of the HTPC setup rival that of standalone players as well?

Thanks!

You'll find most of the answers in the HTPC section. Basically, your single-core CPU is inadequate with the 7900GT board, so you looking into either a CPU or a video board upgrade (particularly if your current one is not HDCP compliant). The Pioneer BD reader is under $300, and a combo unit is expected to be out soon at under $400. Once properly set up, it will rival or exceed standalone units, both in features and output quality, but getting there may involve some experimentation and careful selection of components. Good luck.

1) My HTPC is my former gaming computer. It has an AMD 4000+ 2.4 ghz CPU (single core), 2 gigs of ram, and a GeForce 7900 GT. My TV is a 50" Plasma that has HDCP compliant DVI in, but no HDMI in. Will my computer be able to output the max digital resolution to my screen with windows vista over DVI?

I'd upgrade to an 8600GTS. Beyond that, wait a couple weeks and get an LG GGC-H20LI combo reader ($399 MSRP) and PowerDVD Ultra, and (with the rest of the requisite hardware) you'll be good to go.

2) Is it possible to modify the xbox-360 drive to be an internal drive? I've read reviews saying that the drive itself is noisy, and I'd like to mount it inside my HTPC's case if possible.

The drive is not noisy, and no you can't mod it (realistically) to be internal.

3) Does the HD software (powerdvd I guess) support all of the nifty features of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray? And by going with an HTPC setup, will I be fairly future-proofed for new features/upgrades/updates?

You'll probably be more future proof than any standalone.

4) I currently use my HTCP just as an up-converting dvd player, since my old dvd player died (I never bothered getting a tv-tuner for it since I have digital cable and there are no cable card tuners as far as I know). I notice the quality seems to be very good, even just using windows media player. I figure this is because the video card is pretty good at scaling cleanly to my tv's native resolution. Will the quality of the HTPC setup rival that of standalone players as well?

Should.

I'd upgrade to an 8600GTS. Beyond that, wait a couple weeks and get an LG GGC-H20LI combo reader ($399 MSRP) and PowerDVD Ultra, and (with the rest of the requisite hardware) you'll be good to go.



Where oh where oh where is the LG GGC-H20LI? Any information on when we can expect to see it at retail anywhere, and who might carry it?

I believe there was a thread in the HTPC forum saying it's release date was this month. But that's the last I heard.