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one and only 360 HD-DVD Drive thread & LINKS - Page 2

post #31 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:14am
I thought it looked great, but in some areas it seemed the whites were exaggerated - like sunlight is so bright you almost have to avert your eyes

I havent tried VGA yet though.
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post #32 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Technicolor View Post

Unless you want the Xbox for playing, wouldn't it be better to just to buy the A2?

Depends. 1080p vs TruHD.
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post #33 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Htdude14 View Post

Most of us!!! Why pay more for 360 and add-on(clunky 2-piece setup) and no Dolby TrueHD when the PS3 has HDMI and is cheaper?? In your case, having the 360 consoles already, it makes sense.
BTW, way to buy your love

Well, I bought my Xbox 360 a very long time ago. Getting the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive is complete no-brainer, esp. since it's only US$177 with remote and King Kong.

HDMI is a definite advantage, or at least it would be in 2 years when I get a new TV, but in the meantime it's no biggie for me since I can only use component anyway.
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post #34 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank527 View Post

Hello,

I have not been posting to frequently, but got this last night. I can say it is very easy to set up but maybe I am missing something because I think it is strange to have to plug into one of the front USB units on the Xbox 360 and the HD DVD then has 2 USB ports on the rear of its unit.

Anyway I hooked it up put it up via component to my sony SXRD. The power up is instant 1-2 seconds. I put in the disc and its probably under 10 - 20 seconds max unitl I see the universal logo all good.

Now the bad news maybe is it King Kong or the Xbox 360 or the SXRD. Watching King Kong looked very impressive HD unfortunately reveals many scenes that look fake or overly CGI ie the backgrounds on the dinosaur fight look CGI and almost have a different brightness to them (this might be the sxrd?) Anyway the only - on the HD DVD drive was that about once in every ten minutes or so a saw a brief hiccup where it seemed the disc might have stuttered so very slightly. Or is this the TV trying to keep up?

Need fellow users opinions. All in all for $200 and my 2nd HD-DVD I am very pleased . The downside seems to be all in that this will not do Dolby True HD. The upside is for the movie studious because this 2nd Hd-DVD drive is in the room where the kids watch TV so all Family Hd-DVDs will now be purchased for the kiddies. (cough cough Disney get on the ball)


Oh and the features/ menu functions are a tad different than the toshiba


My guess on the stutter is the 24 to 60 hz jitter, only a guess and I can believe it with Kong looking that way.
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post #35 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Cordingley View Post

I really don't get this North American attitude. You buy it - you keep it. Why the complication?

Well first there is only a 3rd option you return it. If that seems like major complication then well I dunno what to say for that. It's called customer satisfaction, imo it's a good thing for the consumer. Saying that, I rarely return things and I bet that is the same for most of us. But imo it's a good option and protection for us. Nothing to hard to understand about that, if you don't have it, you should ask for it and want it! It's an awesome feature better then HD!!!
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post #36 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LAGOSIAN View Post

Who cares much about TrueHD? All I care about is that it has Dolby 5.1 Plus.

I already have that on my HD-A1. I bought it for my son for use on his 42" plaz.

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but I'm pretty sure you can't get that DD+ that is "all you care about" out of optical/coax either..
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post #37 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Htdude14 View Post

Looks bigger then the PS3 to me, let's not forget the add-on is a paper weight without the 360 itself. If you're comparing then compare the entire unit.


Not true. It recognizes on the PC. There just isn't a player yet for HD-DVD on the PC. It will work soon enough.
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post #38 of 2184
11/10/06 at 6:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreeBaGeL View Post

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but I'm pretty sure you can't get that DD+ that is "all you care about" out of optical/coax either..

Correct. The Xbox 360 can decode both TrueHD and DD+, but it can output neither over optical/coax. Both are re-encoded to 640 Kbps DD5.1 for output over optical/coax.
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post #39 of 2184
11/10/06 at 7:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HorrorScope View Post

My guess on the stutter is the 24 to 60 hz jitter, only a guess and I can believe it with Kong looking that way.

No, there's an issue with Ucontrol and the Xbox360 it seems, other all movies would have done that...
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post #40 of 2184
11/10/06 at 7:12am
Ok. Good to know, thanks.
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post #41 of 2184
11/10/06 at 7:48am
Does the 360 stil run loud and hot while using the HD-drive?
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post #42 of 2184
11/10/06 at 7:54am
As far as easily detecting the CGI - I would say there is nothing wrong with your TV, the 360 add-on, or the connection type you are using. People tend to forget that CGI isn't used because it "looks better" - it is used because it is a relatively cheap alternative to creating hard shots or in this case impossible shots (since there are no more T(or V i suppose)Rexs OR giant gorillias. HD-DVD will certainly bring out the detail which may cause things to be a little more fake but that is the nature of adding detail - you notice more things.

Glad to hear the drive worked pretty well. Tis a good day for HD-DVD!
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post #43 of 2184
11/10/06 at 8:03am
The 360 runs the same as before.

I've been reading lots of posts, but thats it. No comments I'm pro HD-DVD because of development costs and costs to us as end consumers. Really $40 for fox titles is soso Laserdisc pricing and prohibits many from buying blind. Which reduces sales on ebay


Yes I did have the wireless controller so that is why I didn't see it. Plus I hokked it up in a tight spot. Thats another plus then. I didn't put 2 and 2 together pull the TV out and disconect the wireless adaptor.

I used the myscenes special feature which worked flawless today. I booked marked some scenes for the kids and they used myscenes without a hitch.

Another - is when using myscenes it takes a good 5-10 seconds to start the movie from your bookmarked scenes.


Comparison with the Toshiba is difficult because I'm using 2 different setups. I love Dolby True HD and firmware 2.0 is great. Plus I only evaluated King Kong and not a standard DVD which I love the Toshiba's upconversion. I give the HD-DVD add on drive an A. Considering you get a $20 - 25 movie with it is a + plus the remote control(but most of us have that anyway). Its my second HD-DVD drive and yes I do want a 3rd. I'm really impressed for now.

I think the drive is a great secondary unit and a good primary unit. If you want something great you need Dolby True HD and probably want faster load times as well. So it looks like the new Toshiba maybe the best drive
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post #44 of 2184
11/10/06 at 9:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank527 View Post

The 360 runs the same as before.

I've been reading lots of posts, but thats it. No comments I'm pro HD-DVD because of development costs and costs to us as end consumers. Really $40 for fox titles is soso Laserdisc pricing and prohibits many from buying blind. Which reduces sales on ebay


Yes I did have the wireless controller so that is why I didn't see it. Plus I hokked it up in a tight spot. Thats another plus then. I didn't put 2 and 2 together pull the TV out and disconect the wireless adaptor.

I used the myscenes special feature which worked flawless today. I booked marked some scenes for the kids and they used myscenes without a hitch.

Another - is when using myscenes it takes a good 5-10 seconds to start the movie from your bookmarked scenes.


Comparison with the Toshiba is difficult because I'm using 2 different setups. I love Dolby True HD and firmware 2.0 is great. Plus I only evaluated King Kong and not a standard DVD which I love the Toshiba's upconversion. I give the HD-DVD add on drive an A. Considering you get a $20 - 25 movie with it is a + plus the remote control(but most of us have that anyway). Its my second HD-DVD drive and yes I do want a 3rd. I'm really impressed for now.

I think the drive is a great secondary unit and a good primary unit. If you want something great you need Dolby True HD and probably want faster load times as well. So it looks like the new Toshiba maybe the best drive

Faster load times? The 360 trounces the A1 that I had in load times.

So far I am really pleased with the quality of the image from this puppy. Microsoft has really gone above and beyond to make the 360 a true entertainment center. I haven't watched Kong yet, but have sampled a few other discs. No hitches, problems, whatever. All good stuff!
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post #45 of 2184
11/10/06 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mimason View Post

Does the 360 stil run loud and hot while using the HD-drive?

No. Actually the opposite. The add-on drive is quiet. The 360 is really doing nothing but processing, and it doesn't crank up the fans, drive, etc which makes the 360 noisy as it does when playing a game.

Funny, the remote that came with it is fully backlit. Something that the other big boys don't even do, like the A1. I know, I know, it's a remote and we all have our fancy universal remotes, but I just wanted to point it out as most reviews get dinged on a shoddy remote.
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post #46 of 2184
11/10/06 at 10:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Rein View Post

No. Actually the opposite. The add-on drive is quiet. The 360 is really doing nothing but processing, and it doesn't crank up the fans, drive, etc which makes the 360 noisy as it does when playing a game.

Funny, the remote that came with it is fully backlit. Something that the other big boys don't even do, like the A1. I know, I know, it's a remote and we all have our fancy universal remotes, but I just wanted to point it out as most reviews get dinged on a shoddy remote.

I don't own an A1, but I tried the remote in-store, it seemed almost that Toshiba was trying to compete with the cheap Chinese DVD players for the worst remote award.

Glad to hear the Xbox 360 remote is half decent. I use a Logitech Harmony Xbox 360 remote though.
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post #47 of 2184
11/10/06 at 10:48am
Quote:


Not true. It recognizes on the PC. There just isn't a player yet for HD-DVD on the PC. It will work soon enough.

And a pc being smaller??? Point is the add-on and the 360 or a pc is large and 2 piece compared to the PS3.
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post #48 of 2184
11/10/06 at 11:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Htdude14 View Post

And a pc being smaller??? Point is the add-on and the 360 or a pc is large and 2 piece compared to the PS3.

Actually, you can get a PC with a dual-core CPU and DVI that's even smaller than the add-on drive itself. In fact, when the Santa Rosa chipset small form factor machines come out in 2007 with fast Core 2 Duo CPUs and HDCP support, that's gonna be perfect for this drive.

However, size is not the issue here anyways. If someone wants to share his/her HD DVD drive between an Xbox 360 and (eventually) a PC, it makes sense to do it, all for the low price of $200 (plus $40? for the playback software).
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post #49 of 2184
11/10/06 at 11:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank527 View Post

Now the bad news maybe is it King Kong or the Xbox 360 or the SXRD. Watching King Kong looked very impressive HD unfortunately reveals many scenes that look fake or overly CGI ie the backgrounds on the dinosaur fight look CGI and almost have a different brightness to them (this might be the sxrd?)

I saw Kong at a digital projection cinema, and I noticed this same issue. So it is not your TV. IMO the whole dinosaur scene should have been removed. It looked terribly fake.
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post #50 of 2184
11/10/06 at 11:27am
-the cgi -

they look fake, umm cuz maybe they are fake.

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post #51 of 2184
11/10/06 at 11:31am
Sorry about that the noise its the same as playing an xbox live game. No disc spinning in the Xbox
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post #52 of 2184
11/10/06 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mimason View Post

Does the 360 stil run loud and hot while using the HD-drive?

my 360 from oct 2005 doesnt run hot or loud. a heck of a lot quiter than my computer, by far.
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post #53 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Technicolor View Post

Unless you want the Xbox for playing, wouldn't it be better to just to buy the A2?

Will be using it for games too but more for the media extender capability. I'll buy a standalone player during the 3rd or 4th gen.
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post #54 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Rein View Post

Faster load times? The 360 trounces the A1 that I had in load times.

He meant the A2 not the A1. Everybody knows the 360 and A2 have faster load times than the 1st Gen A1.
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post #55 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:22pm
Hahaha i find it amusing.. Now there's complaints about movies looking to fake becuase the detail is soo good you can actually tell now.. its almost like you wana go back to DVD..

next people will complain porn is TOO gross in HD becusae you never saw all the details before!

Would you actually go back to DVD to make those computer gen'd scenes look more realistic (blurry)?
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post #56 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LAGOSIAN View Post

Who cares much about TrueHD? All I care about is that it has Dolby 5.1 Plus.

I already have that on my HD-A1. I bought it for my son for use on his 42" plaz.

How are you getting DD+ from your 360 HD-DVD add on. Without HDMI or Multichannel analog, the DD+ soundtrack is being downsampled to 640 kbps DD bitstream. Hardly the same as DD+.

Edit: Duh, I guess I should read ALL the posts before posting. It looks like this information was already covered.

No offense, the 360 HD-DVD add on is a great value. But saying it is equal to the standalone players is misleading.
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post #57 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LAGOSIAN View Post

Guys! I just recieved my pre-ordered 5 HD DVD drives for the Xbox today!

I opened the box and was simply amazed!

Quickly plugged it in, and put in MI-III after the upgrade disc had finished its job and voila! It is every bit as spectacular as my HD DVD standalone!

They definately have a winner here. I'm gonna have the best presents for Xmas.

I have taken the liberty of posting links that would better explain my first impressions...good reading!

http://xbox360.themanroom.com/news.php?id=1360

This link shows you the actual size as compared to the HD-A1 and the PS3, this baby is small!http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/09/x...-dvd-hands-on/


I thought I was greedy with my 3.
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post #58 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:46pm
I soo want to see a porn in HD

In the older titles you'll probably see herpes and sores you didn't see before

No I think its just King Kong the film look in the theatre masked its imperfections. Now you've eliminated the haze with most film and it looks different. Some shots look incredible other well look fake. Its a great title to include, but I would have like to have seen Harry Potter 4 or something like that to show off HD. Kong doesn't do HD justice except the first boring 45 minutes
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post #59 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jinx View Post

next people will complain porn is TOO gross in HD becusae you never saw all the details before!


Thats true right now!
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post #60 of 2184
11/10/06 at 12:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Htdude14 View Post

Looks bigger then the PS3 to me, let's not forget the add-on is a paper weight without the 360 itself. If you're comparing then compare the entire unit.



Most of us!!! Why pay more for 360 and add-on(clunky 2-piece setup) and no Dolby TrueHD when the PS3 has HDMI and is cheaper?? In your case, having the 360 consoles already, it makes sense.
BTW, way to buy your love

Well Well......it looks like we have a spoil sport here. The add-on is more versatile than the Blu-Ray in the PS3 which is not even out yet. I can use it on a pc currently(read cd/dvd only right now) and when Windvd 8 HD-DVD addition comes out; I will be able to watch HD-DVD cheaper than buying an external Blu-Ray drive. Just get over it. HD-DVD is here to stay.
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