XBox 360 HD DVD $199.99

[LOBO2999]

Jump Into HD DVD Affordably
At X06, exciting details about the much-anticipated Xbox 360 HD DVD Player were also revealed. Available in mid-November, 2006 in North America for $199.99 (ESRP), in the U.K., France, and Germany for €199.99 (£129.99) (ESRP), and other territories in 2007, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player comes with the Universal Pictures blockbuster film Peter Jackson's King Kong on HD DVD (for a limited time) and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote. Users can just add the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player to their Xbox 360 to create the ultimate home-theater experience.

"The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is the best high-definition movie experience and value on the market," Moore said. "The reviews, the word of mouth, and the consumer response have all been crystal clear—HD DVD is the format of choice. We're not forcing movie technology on game players, but are instead letting them choose how to personalize their experiences. If they want HD DVD, there's no better value out there."

The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player offers up to six times higher resolution than DVD, and as part of the fall 2006 console update all Xbox 360 consoles will have the ability to output native resolution 1080p games and movies. Users can enjoy blockbuster HD DVD releases, with more than 150 titles available by the holidays from major movie studios including Paramount Pictures, StudioCanal, Universal Studios, New Line Entertainment, HBO, and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/events/x06/xbox360welcomesnewworlds.htm

 

[minorthr]

If it was $150 I would definetly buy it. $200 I'm holding off for a little.

 

[vurbano]

If it was $150 I would definetly buy it. $200 I'm holding off for a little.

I think it is an incredible value.

a universal remote
an anticipated reference quality movie
and a state of the art HD DVD drive that is USB and is rumorred to work with a PC

all for $199 dollars?

kick ass if you ask me.

 

[tawhite]

I think it is an incredible value.

a universal remote
an anticipated reference quality movie
and a state of the art HD DVD drive that is USB and is rumorred to work with a PC

all for $199 dollars?

kick ass if you ask me.

Agreed! I'll be all over this one!

 

[ronjohn]

$399 + $199 = $598

Isn't that the same price as the "WAY OVERPRICED" PS3?

 

[Neutron]

If it was a stand-alone and I didn't need the Xbox360 to run it I'd jump all over it too.

 

[minorthr]

$399 + $199 = $598

Isn't that the same price as the "WAY OVERPRICED" PS3?

Yeah but the average joe consumer isnt looking at that they just want to play games and all they see is $399 vs $599.

 

[BlackHitachi]

I think it is an incredible value.

a universal remote
an anticipated reference quality movie
and a state of the art HD DVD drive that is USB and is rumorred to work with a PC

all for $199 dollars?

kick ass if you ask me.

I agree and will be getting one!!

 

[JoeSp]

Uh guys, I think you missed the boat. Your comparison should be with the $499 PS3. That is the model that the XBOX360 premium can be compared to. Both have a 20gb harddrive. Both are next gen but wait? The XBOX360 will be passing the 1080p thru VGA ONLY? How many HDTVs in North America have that on them? The PS3 $499 comes with HDMI 1.3 installed!

I can see why you want to compare to the PS3 premium product. It is the only way you can see where M$ is giving you a better deal. But they are not!!

Any way you cut the mustard -- the PS3 $499 with BluRay is a better deal then the currently priced XBOX360 premium with the addition of HD-DVD. And with the newer BluRay titles coming out with VC-1 and MPEG4 compression early returns show that there is virtually no differance between mediums. It will come down to who has the movies now. Come November 17th the race will really begin!

 

[Posty-McPOst]

Uh guys, I think you missed the boat. Your comparison should be with the $499 PS3. That is the model that the XBOX360 premium can be compared to. Both have a 20gb harddrive. Both are next gen but wait? The XBOX360 will be passing the 1080p thru VGA ONLY? How many HDTVs in North America have that on them? The PS3 $499 comes with HDMI 1.3 installed!

I can see why you want to compare to the PS3 premium product. It is the only way you can see where M$ is giving you a better deal. But they are not!!

Any way you cut the mustard -- the PS3 $499 with BluRay is a better deal then the currently priced XBOX360 premium with the addition of HD-DVD. And with the newer BluRay titles coming out with VC-1 and MPEG4 compression early returns show that there is virtually no differance between mediums. It will come down to who has the movies now. Come November 17th the race will really begin!

The nice part is I can buy an xbox 360, play the games, use the multimedia functions and THEN decide if the HD DVD drive is worth buying. The other nice parts are my tv can do 1080p over any input and the $100 x-box 360 rebate available only here in Columbus.

 

[JoeSp]

Posty-McPost, that rebate is killer. Wish they had some of that around here. I am waiting for the XBOX360 with the internal HD-DVD player that will be out the 2nd quarter of next year. That is when some of the games I am interested in on the XBOX360 are supposed to be coming out. I am interested in both formats for HD movie viewing as competition always drive the prices down so having the HD drive included is a plus for me. For others it is not -- so be it.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I think it is an incredible value.

a universal remote
an anticipated reference quality movie
and a state of the art HD DVD drive that is USB and is rumorred to work with a PC

all for $199 dollars?

kick ass if you ask me.

yup coming to Madtown ASAP:up :up

 

[BobMurdoch]

I was planning on waiting for a winner to emerge but watching Superman Returns on HD DVD may finally lure me in. $199 is a steal, and I don't trust Sony with an exclusive format as they have pooched too many in the past (Betamax, Digital Compact Cassette, SACD).

Now I just hope the cables they supply are long enough as it will placed about 6 ft. from my XBox360. Otherwise, I'll have to rearrange my rack.....

 

[T2k]

I bet it won't work with a PC - MS would be crazy to pay all the losses alone only to please Toshiba with an enormous HD DVD user base, let alone losing some potential 360 customers...

 

[JoeSp]

As I have stated already in the BluRay-HD-DVD wars section, how is this drive going to be able to pass the new Lossless Audio to your receiver?

At least the PS3 decodes TrueDolbyHD and with its HDMI 1.3 port can pass any HD lossless audio codec natively to a receiver that can decode that signal.

The picture is only part of the HD movie viewing experiance. The other is the audio, if you don't believe me -- watch one of your favorite movies and unhook your woofer and back speakers. The new audio codecs are awesome and really add to the movie experiance. I have yet been able to see how M$ is going to do that. Maybe this explains why the drive is only $199. It provides the High Def Picture without the High Def sound. Personally, I want both.

 

[T2k]

As I have stated already in the BluRay-HD-DVD wars section, how is this drive going to be able to pass the new Lossless Audio to your receiver?

At least the PS3 decodes TrueDolbyHD and with its HDMI 1.3 port can pass any HD lossless audio codec natively to a receiver that can decode that signal.

The picture is only part of the HD movie viewing experiance. The other is the audio, if you don't believe me -- watch one of your favorite movies and unhook your woofer and back speakers. The new audio codecs are awesome and really add to the movie experiance. I have yet been able to see how M$ is going to do that. Maybe this explains why the drive is only $199. It provides the High Def Picture without the High Def sound. Personally, I want both.

Joe, stop with your Sony spinning machine.

I understand that you are consuming waaay too much Sony PR material for every meal but seriously, I'm tired of your constant spin - of crap like this: It provides the High Def Picture without the High Def sound. Personally, I want both. - WTF are you talking about? Noone on Earth except some audiophile would want lossless compressed HD sound but those folks will buy high-end stuff, not a game console.

Buy a Toshiba HD-DVD player and you'll get better picture and sound than Blu-Ray has. For gaming buy whatever you want but for God's sake, stop spinning them together...

 

[2x10]

Bingo T2K

WELL SAID!!!!!!

 

[mikley28]

Bingo T2K

WELL SAID!!!!!!

yes I concur... SOME people listen to their Uncle Ken too much!

 

[JoeSp]

Obviously, you guys are tone deaf. I guess you have a couple of $40 dollar speakers at home. If you are going to talk about HD movies then audio is also part of that equation. If you have never heard high bit audio output then I will conceed that you are exactly what M$ is looking for.

However, if you are looking for HD movie viewing why not also the HD audio? Do you buy a sports car and put truck tires on it? Have you made your purchase of a HDTV with not a thought to audio? I guess you are still listening to Dolby 2.0? Trust me, once you hear lossless audio there will be no turning back. Oh wait, you don't care about the sound you just want the picture. Can you say 'take my money Bill--please!'

Seriously, you will not see a 360 HD-DVD in any Home Theater setup where someone is serious about their viewing. Why spend all that money for a 360 and a HD-DVD that can only give you 1080p thru a VGA port when you can buy a Toshiba that will do the same thru HDMI and give you high def lossless audio? Anyone who considers their money hard earned will not spend it M$ way for HD movie viewing. I guess that is why the product is only $199 -- you are only getting half of the product. Kind of like buying a car without tires -- differance is with a car you can purchase tires somewhere else. With the 360 HD-DVD drive there is no where to turn for HD audio output simply because there is none.

Tk2, before you start crying again -- this has nothing to do with Sony. Why don't you go out and buy any magazine about High Definition TVs and Audio systems and start reading. There is considerably more to HD-DVD and BluRay then just Picture Quality -- but hey, maybe you are deaf. If so I appologize right now.

 

[BobMurdoch]

I get DD5.1 audio from my 360 now through my optical TOSLink cable I bought separately.

I'm assuming this is sufficient, unless my receiver needs to be upgraded as well (may be likely since it was state of the art in 2001 when I got it, but my Integra 9.1 handles discrete DTS ES and DD5.1 only).

Please enlighten us as to what we need to enjoy lossless HD Audio.....