Customer Reviews

Microsoft Xbox 360 HD-DVD Drive

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought an Xbox 360 after Thanksgiving of 2006 and I was immediately impressed with the system. It was so good, in fact, that I went out after New Year's and upgraded my entire entertainment center with a new Samsung LN-S4051D, Samsung DVD-HD860, and Yamaha YSP-800. If you're going to do it, do it right. First off, the Samsung DVD-HD860 was a dismal player. The thing kept freezing up during playback and the image wasn't anything to write home about. I mean, my LCD is only 720p and I was seeing a lot of artifacts.

I returned the Samsung DVD player and decided to take a chance on the HD DVD add-on for the Xbox. The way I looked at it was it was only $100 more than what I already paid and then I could watch some movies in true High Definition. That was one of the best moves I made because not only do the HD movies look fantastic but it absolutely DESTROYS the Samsung in upconverting my standard-def DVDs. Regular DVDs look excellent.

One very big drawback is the amount of noise the Xbox makes while watching a movie. It's absurd. Not a big deal if you're watching The Matrix and you've got the volume cranked with Dolby TrueHD sound. But it's a constant nuisance when you're trying to get into a more dramatic and quiet movie like Unforgiven (which looks absolutely stunning on HD DVD).

Another concern I'm having is that my Xbox is on almost all of the time now. I'm either playing a game, watching a DVD or HD DVD, or I'm watching a movie from my iTunes library on my computer. The Xbox has truly become the center of attention in my living room. I just don't know if it can handle that kind of workload for long.

Seriously though, for $199 it's not that bad of a gamble. You can rent HD DVD movies from Netflix or Blockbuster so you don't even need to invest in the movies. I bought 4 and I now own the Matrix trilogy but I'm probably not buying more until I see what happens with HD DVD and Blu-ray. I have picked a side but if HD DVD loses I'm really not out that much. And I get to enjoy some great HD content while I'm waiting.

People are getting it all wrong about buying HD DVD players now that Blu-ray won. I can still get HD DVD movies, but now I can get them for under 10 bucks. I got this drive when it first came out, before I even bought a 360. It is picture perfect. Now that I have a console with HDMI output, it looks even better. It's a nice addition, and an affordable way to view HD movies, and yes, Blockbuster still rents HD DVDs through their on-line service. I'm buying all the tittles I can on HD DVD, and all new tittles on Blu-ray. Can't loose with low prices.

For just $34.99 ([...]) an HD/DVD player for your PC. What's not to like! Right out of the box connected the power source to the drive and the usb plug to my turned off pc. Started up the pc and during the boot up process, Windows 7 identified the drive as a , TOSHIBA DVD/HD X807616 USB Device [CD-ROM drive) and loaded the drivers. Now you need to have a monitor and video card that are capable of 1920 x 1080 resolution and the software to play it.I have,a 2.40 gigahertz Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 with 3328 Megabytes Installed Memory , ATI Radeon HD 3850 [Display adapter]
DELL P2210H [Monitor]and CyberLink Corp. - PowerDVD Version 7.03.2925 . Inserted the hd/dvd movie that came with the drive, KING KONG, and it started playing the movie in HD and using the 2.1 channel stereo sound of my PC. What better way to enjoy the bargains now available on new HD/DVD movies. I just got a lot of 23 new hd/dvd movies off of [...]for $21.05 . If you have a system capable of playing High Definition, this is the way to go!

After seeing a HD DVD for the first time, and comparing with Blue ray, I decided to make the jump and buy a 360 elite and the HD DVD ad on. It is the perfect combination for me, as I enjoy playing on Xbox Live, and like the HD feature. The image is perfect, far deeper than on BR, and it does not lockup or freeze like movies on a blue ray disc.

Minor grip: this thing needs to be left outside, not enclosed in a cabinet. It will run really hot, and the fan will spoil the sondtrack.

I bought this long after the technology died. I think that HD DVD movies look as good, if not better than, blu-ray. And way more affordable. Most will run you under $5 (except for box sets... I just paid $20 for the ultimate matrix collection, but that's also 5 double sided discs, so it's more than a wise investment).

The only problem I've noticed is many of my discs freeze or skip when the discs themselves look fine. I'm not sure if it's the player or the discs. I've also heard the problem can lay in either the USB cable that goes from the HD DVD player to the XBOX, or the HDMI cable. So I replaced the USB cable with a more powerful Blackberry cable. That seems to work (however, I fell asleep while watching the DVD and woke up to a frozen image on the screen).

I am yet, however, to replace the HDMI. I am using a cheap cable that I bought on Amazon for like a dollar and not a Monster cable, so I would not be surprised if that was the problem.

Long story short, while Blu-Ray won the HD battle, I'm happy with the selection that's available for HD DVD and the affordable prices. Ultimately I will try and replace my HDMI cable with a good one and hopefully that'll work. In the meantime, I will stick with what I got until I can afford a Blu-Ray player or to fix the PS3 that my friend gave to me.

Why so much when microsoft itself has lowered the price to $50.00 and you can get it at that price or less everywhere else? The item is being phased out, just like the HD format. There will be no more movies made in this format. Netflix is expected to drop HD within a year. Blockbuster will probably do likewise.

One of the best kept secrets in the world of HD videos, this little drive is a very inexpensive way to watch high def movies. If you have an xbox 360, just plug this in to your USB port and you're good to go. There's a decent (though not huge) selection of used HD DVD's available online and you can save yourself a lot of money to watch full HD movies. Supposedly, the audio is not True HD 5.1 audio, but it's so good, it's difficult to tell the difference.

Get a used HD-DVD drive and the value will be well worth it!

Although HD-DVD lost the battle to Blu-ray in the format wars, there are still quite a few titles out there available for HD-DVD. You will not see any new titles coming out on the format, but there are some good movies already out that you can pick up often for less than $5 compared to the average $20 to $30 for popular blu-ray titles.

I still recommend getting a Blu-ray for newer movies, but for what was already published, the HD-DVD player for the 360 works great!

The DVD player was priced well, saves the internal DVD player from excessive wear and plays the HD DVDs and regular DVDs I have, in great fashion.

I purchased this product from a second hand dealer, because my Toshiba HD-D3 HD DVD player died on me about a year after light use. (It still reads regular DVDs, and upconverts them, but does not recognize HD DVDs anymore).

I chose to go with the XBOX HD DVD drive becuase (besides having already an Xbox 360 system) reviews here in Amazon made it look like a reliable drive. As I wanted to buy a drive that lasts for many years (unlike the Toshiba) I took the risk with this product.

After a month of use, I can say that the video quality is great (as HD DVD should be!), and the connection/setup to the Xbox 360 was easy and painless.

Durability, unfortunately, is still an unknown factor, but HOPEFULLY it will last for maaaaany years! Hopefully!

Enjoy!