Why are there so many people hung up on wanting a built in HD-DVD drive on the 360?

I can see why some say they want that just because it looks so damn ugly to have that separate drive. But it doesn't really matter to me. I'm just glad that I wasn't forced to pay for a HD DVD drive that I may not be interested in. But who are all these people.

Ok. Here's a big reason:
Because chicks dig big things and this would make the 360 bigger = thus more chicks

SLOTH you never fail to make me laugh brother!

But on a serious note.. including HDDVD in the new 360 and forcing us to pay the extra for a format that is deep in the middle of a war is doing nothing but making the same horrible mistake Sony did with the PS3. Which is now fully stocked in 50% of stores and available on many websites just 7 weeks after its launch date..

While the majority of you guys would some all-in-1 device that does it for a reasonable price.. the majority of gamers could care less and would rather keep the price as low as possible.

I feel that way myself.. and I have the HD-DVD add-on and am a active member of Blockbuster online.. which means I pretty much keep a rotation of 2-3 HDDVD movies.

I think with the Wii selling at the fastest rate of all the new consoles and the good ole' PS2 still selling incredible numbers potential customers have shown price is more important to most people than anything..

These are the same people who are fascinated with Britney Spears because they are waiting for her to do porn ;-)

If your strapped for space in your home theater rack, it would be nice if it was built in. Since everybody on this forum is into hometheaters, you will see many who prefere a built in HD-DVD. If you go to a gaming forum you will see the opposite, but this is a home theater forum first and gaming forum second.

One large part of this forum is the HTPC forum, and I can bet you there are a lot of people that are glad its NOT built in :-).

I still have not purchased the add-on drive, but I prefer it not being built in.

I use my 360 A LOT (usually when I'm not playing my gf is playing...how I hate xbla), by having the drive as an addon the usage of the console is spread across 2 drives and hopefully will help it last a bit longer.

The only problom I see with them built in is the price of the 360 will be equal to the price of a better stand-alone HD-DVD player.
So, I don't see microsoft adding a built in HD-DVD drive, if it fails your stuck with extra cost item, with the add-on a blu_ray add on may come if its the winner..

I don't understand it either.

It would help those who are purchasing the 360 + HD DVD for the first time, but it wouldn't really help those of us who have the 360 already.

P.S. I too do like having two drives, for two reasons:

1) I don't have to move my ass either when switching from a game to a movie and vice versa.
2) I can test the drive on other machines. That's how I got my HD DVD disc size thread.

However, if I was buying for the first time, I'd rather have just the one drive if it meant saving $100. Looking at the bigger picture though, some may argue that it would help the HD DVD side somewhat if every Xbox 360 shipped with such a drive. However, I think that time has passed, now that LG has announced a combo Blu-ray/HD DVD player. Furthermore, I think that makes the console more expensive than it should be. Most Xbox 360 console buyers don't necessarily want it, and thus shouldn't be forced to buy it.

What I dont understand is why everyone is so hung up on HDMI. I mean I would bet my house no one could guess 10 out of 10 times a picture comming from HDMI vs component. Dont say 1080p either becuase the 1% of you that can actually benefit from this dont count.

I have a 1080p tv and only want 1 cable for both audio and video. Do I count?

So exactly how do you accomplish that with HDMI? Maybe you plan to just use the tv speakers? Including audio and video into one cable has got to be the most ineffecient idea I've ever heard of. Maybe one day it'll be worth it when you can buy a tv with a 5.1/6.1/7.1 setup built in.

I prefer it not being built in either. I have no need for hd dvd and do not plan on needing it for some time. Same goes for blu ray.

Outside of space issues, have a seperate drive wouldn't bother me either. Like you said with the benefit of leaving your game in there. Small thing I know but the woman often takes my games out of the xbox to put some stun movie in, and of course leaves her movie there, and when I sit down to play my game.....ARG. So yeah, no issues with it being seperate here at all. I applaud MS for doing it this way and giving US the choice.

....I don't say that about MS very often

Maybe to an HDMI-switching receiver that can decode TrueHD audio, and then send the video to the display?

Just a wild guess.

Wouldn't they have to basically rebuild the HD-DVD drive to have a faster speed since the add-on is a slower speed but the built in drive has a faster drive for games? I really don't think it's a big deal having the side car drive for HD-DVD...

Why not wait till hybrid drives become available and then build it into the XBOX? Best of both worlds.

Obviously those that want two drives dont have girlfriends. Girls dont know what to do with two drives.. uhhh.. which one does it go in?

One system would have been better to reduce this thought process.

Don't flame me please :P

Yes, MS gives us consumers choice. Look! another choice is coming from MS; HDMI in a spanking new Xbox 360!

IMOP. I think choice (especially a lot of choices) is over rated and hurt consumers. Choices do cost us consumer more money!

20GB HD costs $99; good lord!
wireless adapter costs $99; god speed!
external hd-dvd costs $199; Holy Grill! it's cheap but hmmm required Xbox 360 (another $299 or $399).

Core xbox 360 + 20GB HD + Wireless Adapter + HD-DVD = ~$700
Premium Xbox360 + Wireless Adapter + HD-DVD = ~$700

I haven't bought either console. Now, since there is a legit rumor about xbox 360.2; I'm decided to buy a PS3.

Reasons:

1. One device -- streamline look; especially internal power supply.
2. Save me $100.
3. So what if Blu-Ray failed? Sony can still produce media for games.
4. Yes, few games but time will come.
5. Don't know when MS will patch xbox 360 with another add-on and i'm not willing to be a MS beta tester with their hardware.

if MS makes xbox 360.2 with built-in CableCard and enabled it as a PVR; damn I'll buy it with no hesitation.

If MS also offer BD Add On and HDMI with current gen 360 then I would say MS gives us choice. For now "Choice my Ass"!

I've watched HD DVD's on two different 360's with my external player. VERY convinent being external.

I bought component stands buillt for HT components so I am fortunate that they have enough clearance for a good reciever on each shelf, that means there is more than enough room for the HD DVD unit on top of a 360, though actually since they are designed for HT components they also have the length to place the unit next to the 360 (Which is what I do). I am not aware of too many good recievers that are smaller than a 360 + HD DVD player... every stand and rack I have seen that fits HT components easily fits them. And thank goodness they do or my PS3 would not fit, its only 3" shorter than a 360 with an HD DVD standing next to it!

So you still need 2 runs of cable. One to the receiver, and one from the receiver to the tv. I gotta do that with my component cable. And how much does this HDMI switching receiver that can decode TrueHD audio via HDMI cost?

You can get 1:1 mapping from HDMI, and of course, there is no risk of ghosting with HDMI.

I am also waiting on this version... I don't have a XBOX 360 yet, but if I do get one, it would be to for a HD DVD player + Gaming machine. I already have the PS3, so HD DVD player would be a good addtion.

Having an external drive add more clutter. One nice integrated solution would be ideal.

I didn't even see this thread when I posted in the other one. 23 posts and no one mentioned that the HD-DVD drive would be much slower to load games? People would be furious.

The only advantage to waiting to buy a 360 with a built-in HD-DVD drive is the fact that their will be more games when you buy it...I wouldnt wait why should you its no different then saying hey I am going to buy a 360 and a HD-DVD player as well...Most people act like they dont have enough room for it but chances are if you are wanting one you do..I love that it is seperate because I can take it and play it on my pc and when I go out of town it connects right up to my laptop in a hotel room...Dont miss the great games or the extremely cheap price you can pick up the hd-dvd drive for...

you know, now that you just mentioned it, you're right. on my 360 using component, I would notice slight amounts of ghosting when playing games certain games. The most obvious place to see ghosting was in a high contrast area like COD2's desert campaigns.

On my PS3 I don't think I've ever seen any ghosting while playing resistance, and it has similar environments in terms of colors/contrast.

I don't think I'll be missing out on games at all. I have enough toys to get me by until then. I don't want to buy a console at this price range to regret it later. I currently have the PS3, and my only interest in the 360 is the exclusive games (Halo, Gear of War, etc...,). And the second reason is to have a HD DVD Player.

The reasons I am not buying is due to heat dissipation and power consumption, and of course the fan noise which goes hand in hand with the heat. I almost picked up a used 360, and when I saw the power brick on that thing, it made me change my mind. I do not want to run into any red rings of death scenarios which I hear so much about. My PS3 is dead silent. And I hope and believe that next version of 360 w/ smaller die will make this possible. (keep our fingers crossed). I was on several occasion to pick one up, but each time, my conscious told me not to, especially when there is a new version on the horizon. Believe me, I want one bad though..., just not the current version.

Regarding the carrying the HD DVD drive around with your laptop... It's not ideal for me. There's no way I am going to lug around an external drive of that size during travel. I travel frequently with work, and I would much rather upgrade the laptop drive if I ever get that desperate to watch HD DVD movies on my laptop.

Edit / Add: One more thing... If I had already owned a 360, I couldn't care less about buying a brand new one just to consolidate the system with the HD DVD. But coming from a person who's in the market to get one, it presents a different proposition all together. And with the inclusion of HDMI / bigger HDD to boot, I can be patient for 3 to 4 more months...

Because... there aren't any decent games to play on it?

Yo Apex boy!

No need to turn this into a fanboy thread. But I will concede that you're right. PS3 is seriously lacking good games. However, Resistance is simply awesome. But in all seriousness, PS3 is really silent. I am optimistic that the new 360 will be on par.

I can't wait to try Gear of War and Halo3. Other than the exclusive games, I'll just scope out the reviews on both systems, and get the better version of the two. For instance, I tried the COD3 on PS3, and it was horrible. I suffer from motion sickness very easily on FPS if the frame rate is choppy. After the first couple of levels, I had to return the game. That's not to say PS3 is inferior in term of processing power or anything like that, but EA simply 'ported' the game to PS3. And it really shows.

After I get the 'new' 360, I may pick this game up on the 360 again.

BTW: I am originally from Raleigh