[ileff]

is the dvd playback kit worth it?


can you control dvd playback with a controller instead of remote?


xbox pretty good at playing burned dvd-r and dvd+r?


thanks,


ian

 

[NoThru22]

All I know is the quality is horrible, reds look like crap, and it's generally not even as good as a $40 DVD player. Don't know about the other questions as I returned it almost immediately.

 

[Darknight]

You need the DVD playback kit unless you have a modded Xbox. The dongle enables the DVD playback within the kit.

 

[newsguy]

And don't forget the XBOX doesn't do pro scan on DVD playback.

 

[LiveCrazy Joe]

Maybe ileff should get a gamecube to play a dvd. Just kidding. As a dvd player its ok. Its not progressive scan and you need the dvd kit to play the dvd's.


If you play it on a non HDTV its fine. Like in the kids room. But for home theater purposes it will not look so good.

 

[ileff]

my dvd player has been acting up a bit, so i thought i might kill 2 birds with one stone. maybe ill limp along until i can get an xbox2 or ps3.


thanks everyone.

 

[ChrisFB]

You mentioned DVD+/- also. Xbox DVD drives are notoriously picky. There are 3 different manufacturers and significant variation in what media can be read even within a manu with no way of telling what kind of drive you have until you get it home.


This is the wrong route if what you are after is a DVD player. It's not horrible but not good and the remote is cheap and awkward. If you aren't in it for the games or using it as an emulation/media center (for modded xboxes) - do yourself a favor and get a standard player.

 

[Swat_R2]

If you ever want to spend a bit of time and mod the box, it can become one of the single most versatile machines you'll ever come across - definitely ahead of it's time.


However, if you just want a cheap DVD player - get a cheap one from Walmart. Xbox DVD can be made progressive with a modded box, and by all means it's a decent player for a SD set, but not ideal for Home Theater.

 

[SMac770]

Ahead of its time? It's just a PC. And a slow outdated PC at that.


As for being a DVD player, it's rediculously noisy. My real DVD player is silent. Even my PS2 (which is a bit less noisy than the XBox) was like sitting next to a PC compared to my DVD player.


Get a real DVD player. They're cheap. They're small. They're quiet. They'll look better.

 

[Swat_R2]

Yeah, I'd call having a small singular non-large network appliance in my living room controlling my entire networked media experience ahead of it's time. I repeat : small network appliance and not a bulky PC. Yes, small form factors do exist ala shuttle, but nowhere near as cheap.


Everyone's going to have these within the next couple of years, and all my friends will look back and remember me doing this from my Xbox thanks to the awesome XBMC team.


Best purchase I ever made.

 

[Hellraiser]

the dvd drives in the xbox have only been picky with GAMES. as an former owner of one of the questionable dvd drives...I never had a problem with movies...just games.


if your watching movies on a non-hdtv as mentioned before...you'll be fine...go ahead and get the dvd kit. Otherwise go get you a stand alone proscan dvd player...they are cheap now.

 

[ChrisFB]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hellraiser the dvd drives in the xbox have only been picky with GAMES. as an former owner of one of the questionable dvd drives...I never had a problem with movies...just games.

Recordable media CDR, CDRW and DVD variants (DVD+/DVD-) were specifically mentioned. This is a well known issue and the multiple versions of Xbox dvd drives have well known idiosyncrasies (just do some searches under Thomson, Philips, or Samsung including the different media types over at Xbox scene. You'll come accross a close to 1000 posts and multiple tutorials and stickies). Stock DVD movies are not a problem but DVD recordable media compatibility varies a bit (i.e. Samsung drives can have issues reading DVD+ I believe while Philips which can't only in a lucky drive read CDR media at all - Samsung is king at this - can handle DVD+ media okay).