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[Stinkles]

I won't opine on it, since I work for the man, but here's some facts I learned while playing with one in Barcelona today.

The HD DVD drive is v. quiet, and since the 360 drive doesn't run while playing HD DVDs, the whole thing is quiet. It has a small (laptop) external supply, but that is not final. I assume that means the final one will be smaller, if anything. And I don't know if it will definitely be external.

The thing starts up, from disc insertion to movie playing, in less than 10 seconds. This will be interesting news to owners of existing HD DVD and Blu Ray players.

The remote is identical to the fancy multimedia remote from MS. The interface for disc eject and play is very simple and easy to use - a small circle split in two that lets you play or eject a disc from either drive. That of course means you can have a game and a movie in at the same time, and simply pick between the two. That interface may not be final.

 

[----]

Can you use it with a PC?

 

[AlanHemberger]

That sounds deliciously sexy.

 

[Ash Housewares]

sounds nice, especially since I don't have a remote

 

[Frankfurter]

Could you somehow test it against Standalone HD-DVD players? If so, was the image/sound quality on par/better/worse?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I won't opine on it, since I work for the man, but here's some facts I learned while playing with one in Barcelona today.

The HD DVD drive is v. quiet, and since the 360 drive doesn't run while playing HD DVDs, the whole thing is quiet. It has a small (laptop) external supply, but that is not final. I assume that means the final one will be smaller, if anything. And I don't know if it will definitely be external.

The thing starts up, from disc insertion to movie playing, in less than 10 seconds. This will be interesting news to owners of existing HD DVD and Blu Ray players.

The remote is identical to the fancy multimedia remote from MS. The interface for disc eject and play is very simple and easy to use - a small circle split in two that lets you play or eject a disc from either drive. That of course means you can have a game and a movie in at the same time, and simply pick between the two. That interface may not be final.

Does this sort of thing take much longer with regular players?

Man, you know now that this thing is coming out in two months and is only two hundo, I think I'm going to go ahead and do a little research into the HD-DVD library.

 

[Hiro_Kunimi_80]

I won't opine on it, since I work for the man, but here's some facts I learned while playing with one in Barcelona today.

The HD DVD drive is v. quiet, and since the 360 drive doesn't run while playing HD DVDs, the whole thing is quiet. .

but.. i wondering if.. i connect an Hd-Dvd player US version (region code locked to Usa) to an european X360 ( region code 2 for DVD )... may i play US Hd-Dvd ?

 

[Shogmaster]

CAN THE HD-DVD DRIVE PLAY GAME DVDS?!?!

 

[Alcibiades]

Can you use it with a PC?

here is what Amir M. (VP of Digital Media at Microsoft) has said:

We currently do not have plans to support the 360 HD DVD drive being hooked up to media center PCs.

But at this time, the drive is to provide HD DVD functionality for the 360. For PC playback, I recommend buying one of the new PCs annoucned with such support until stand-alone drives are supplied at retail.

as to why not, this is his reason:

OK, simple answer is that we are not selling a drive. We are selling a complete HD DVD playback solution. And right now, all of our energy is focused on getting it working on the 360. We don't want to target the PC with it, without having tested it that way. The desire is there internally to market the drive for PC use but we simply don't have the bandwidth to do so (hard to imagine Microsoft being resource constrained but we are ).

 

[Alcibiades]

but.. i wondering if.. i connect an Hd-Dvd player US version (region code locked to Usa) to an european X360 ( region code 2 for DVD )... may i play US Hd-Dvd ?

according to this guy on the XBox team:

http://avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8531413&&#post8531413

I'm not Amir, rather I'm someone on the Xbox team. I hope that's okay

You should be fine to buy an HD-DVD drive in Europe an hook it up to your US Xbox 360.

 

[Rhindle]

The HD DVD drive is v. quiet, and since the 360 drive doesn't run while playing HD DVDs, the whole thing is quiet.

That's a good to confirm, since people were claiming the 360 would need to be running in full game mode to support HD-DVD playback.

 

[Alcibiades]

woops, noticed Hiro_Kunimi_80 was asking about US HD DVD hooked up to Euro XBox... should be fine since HD DVD currently has no region coding, but I wonder if there is every gonna be an update on that...

 

[Stinkles]

The only question so far that I actually know the answer to is the quality of the picture, but that errs on subjective opinion. It wasn't after all, sitting side by side with a standalone player. Let's just say it uses the same drive system as existing players and is running on unarguably more powerful hardware.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Awesome to hear about how long it takes to actually boot up as well as how much sound its putting out during a movie

.....Still very much looking forward to picking one of these up in Nov.
sure, it kinda blows that I won't be able to use if my 360 breaks, but I guess nothing in life is certain =/

.....Another thing I realized it I won't be able to play my R2 SD-DVDs on it huh?

 

[GhaleonEB]

I thought you weren't in Barcelona?

 

[AgentOtaku]

I thought you weren't in Barcelona?

I import....

 

[GhaleonEB]

I import....

That was aimed at Stinkles. Right before the show started someone asked him if he was in Barcelona, and he said, "I wish."

 

[Tieno]

The only question so far that I actually know the answer to is the quality of the picture, but that errs on subjective opinion. It wasn't after all, sitting side by side with a standalone player. Let's just say it uses the same drive system as existing players and is running on unarguably more powerful hardware.

Please find out if you can use it on PC's via USB too? That'd definately make it interesting for me.

 

[The Innocent X]

Please find out if you can use it on PC's via USB too? That'd definately make it interesting for me.

The answer is no. You may be able to break teh bare drive from it`s case and put it in a PC however.

 

[TheGreatDave]

I thought it worked with Media Center too?

Oh well.

 

[ZeoVGM]

how does the drive hook up to the 360 btw? USB?

 

[Lo-Volt]

how does the drive hook up to the 360 btw? USB?

Yes.

 

[maxmars]

I am quite not up to date with this technology, so forgive me if I'm asking the obvious, but if the Xbox 360 is not running when the HD-DVD is running and it is not used for games, then what does it have to do with a 360? Isn't it a stand-alone hd-dvd player basically?

 

[PleoMax]

I am quite not up to date with this technology, so forgive me if I'm asking the obvious, but if the Xbox 360 is not running when the HD-DVD is running and it is not used for games, then what does it have to do with a 360? Isn't it a stand-alone hd-dvd player basically?

The 360 DRIVE doesn't run.

 

[maxmars]

The 360 DRIVE doesn't run.

So the console is running and providing the software for playback, right?

And the perk is that you can update its features whenever a new system software release comes around, isn't it?

 

[PleoMax]

So the console is running and providing the software for playback, right?

And the perk is that you can update its features whenever a new system software release comes around, isn't it?

Well...i guess so(to the 2nd one), but yeah the 360 is doing the rounds.

 

[maxmars]

Thanks btw.

 

[jarosh]

cool. quiet is good. very good.

 

[Shogmaster]

Stinkles, I demand that you go back tomorrow and stick a X360 game DVD into the unit and see if it plays the game. I DEMAND IT!! *displays generic rage*

 

[DenogginizerOS]

The current selection of movies for HD-DVD is far superior to what is available for Bluray. I keep saying I will wait to see who wins the war, but part of me says I need to enlist early to help win the war. I really need the $200 for XMAS gifts this year, but HD-DVD may find its way into my house in 2007 if it continues these trends.

Stinkles,

What kind of TV were you watching the HD-DVD player on?

 

[wasting]

I highly doubt you'll be able to put a 360 game in the hd drive and play it off there. Doesn't really make any sense as to why anyone would want that option anyway.

The biggest thing in this thread is the 10 second bootup, the AD1 is reported around 30 seconds? (correct me if wrong)

 

[Apharmd Battler]

I just hope there is an update to the XBox360 Harmony remote for this device. I wasn't even considering HD-DVD, but at this price it be a good way to get my feet wet until I decided on a good stand alone player.

 

[Shogmaster]

I highly doubt you'll be able to put a 360 game in the hd drive and play it off there. Doesn't really make any sense as to why anyone would want that option anyway.

I do because I'm super lazy.

 

[36WiiS3]

but.. i wondering if.. i connect an Hd-Dvd player US version (region code locked to Usa) to an european X360 ( region code 2 for DVD )... may i play US Hd-Dvd ?

As far as I know, HD-DVDs are region free

 

[plagiarize]

The current selection of movies for HD-DVD is far superior to what is available for Bluray. I keep saying I will wait to see who wins the war, but part of me says I need to enlist early to help win the war. I really need the $200 for XMAS gifts this year, but HD-DVD may find its way into my house in 2007 if it continues these trends.

Stinkles,

What kind of TV were you watching the HD-DVD player on?

highlighted for subjectivity

honestly though, with The Thing and Slither out next month on HD-DVD i'm sorely tempted to pick one of these up sooner rather than later. very very tempted.

we'll just have to see if we have any money left after November ton. there's a stupid amount of stuff i'm already buying that month, so much so that i've had to basically say 'okay... i'm having christmas in november'.

 

[36WiiS3]

CAN THE HD-DVD DRIVE PLAY GAME DVDS?!?!

OF course it can, when HALO 4 is released on 2 discs you put disc one in the 360 and disc 2 in the HD-DVD and you don't have to swap discs:lol

 

[Shogmaster]

OF course it can, when HALO 4 is released on 2 discs you put disc one in the 360 and disc 2 in the HD-DVD and you don't have to swap discs:lol

Halo 4? Hell, I'm expecting Halo 3 on 2 discs (single player and multiplayer)! :lol

 

[The Innocent X]

I highly doubt you'll be able to put a 360 game in the hd drive and play it off there. Doesn't really make any sense as to why anyone would want that option anyway.

Indeed, why would you want to when the transfer rate over USB2 would lead to slower load times for games?

 

[Shogmaster]

Indeed, why would you want to when the transfer rate over USB2 would lead to slower load times for games?

480Mb/s is more than 4X the bandwidth required for 12x DVD speeds. The question is whether the HD-DVD add on drive is fast enough to run as at 12x DVD speeds.

 

[bud]

The player is pretty huge man. If you combine the 360, power supply ad the hddvd player you've got yourself a HUGE BITCH!

 

[sangreal]

here is what Amir M. (VP of Digital Media at Microsoft) has said:





as to why not, this is his reason:

You forgot one:

Good question. Simply put, we have done nothing to make it difficult to use the drive on a PC.

CAN THE HD-DVD DRIVE PLAY GAME DVDS?!?!

I believe Amir answered this one too and the answer was no

 

[DenogginizerOS]

highlighted for subjectivity

honestly though, with The Thing and Slither out next month on HD-DVD i'm sorely tempted to pick one of these up sooner rather than later. very very tempted.

we'll just have to see if we have any money left after November ton. there's a stupid amount of stuff i'm already buying that month, so much so that i've had to basically say 'okay... i'm having christmas in november'.

If you compare the lists, the number of Academy Award winners on the current HD-DVD list is much higher than the Bluray list. Yes, I am being a bit subjective, but I think the overall quality as far as critical acclaim of HD-DVD movies is without doubt superior (for now).

 

[Shogmaster]

I believe Amir answered this one too and the answer was no

Sonovabiscuit!

 

[wasting]

Good question. Simply put, we have done nothing to make it difficult to use the drive on a PC.

thats huge, you know itll be only a couple days before people get them running on pc's

 

[storybook77]

I was on the fence. I'm starting to feel the temptation of picking one of these up and getting my feet wet as well.

 

[Here Be Dragons]

The player is pretty huge man. If you combine the 360, power supply ad the hddvd player you've got yourself a HUGE BITCH!

Where's the huge part?

 

[AgentOtaku]

Where's the huge part?

the entire set. I mean, its not PS3 big, but all that stuff adds up on the space

 

[DenogginizerOS]

I have my PS2 slim on top of my X360 right now. Doesn't bother me one bit. I don't see the comparably sized HD-DVD player posing a problem either.

 

[bud]

Where's the huge part?

You forgot the psu.

 

[Here Be Dragons]

You forgot the psu.

Which is behind my tv and is never seen? Why would anyone care how big a power supply is?

Troll more, Bud.