Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player - PRICE DROP!

Heroes-Season 1 (HD)  $71.99  

Transformers 2007 (HD)  $28.78  

Xbox 360 Pro System Holiday Bundle (20GB HD, HDMI)  $349.99  

300 ( HD DVD & Standard DVD Combo )  $31.99  

It was here so fast, my kids didn't have ime to ask "when's it coming mom?"
 
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I snagged this when they had the combo deal going with the rebate for 5 HD movies for free and Season 1 of Heroes. Great deal in my opinion, and HD-DVD looks awesome through a HDMI connect. This was a snap to setup, just connect to your 360 and go! I must say I didnt think that HD content would look much better but it looks amazing. Just got my 5 free movies in the mail, downside is it takes a few months to recieve those, but worth the wait. Go for it!
 
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Waste of money purchasing the external HD DVD player. Toshiba is cancelling their HD DVD format. No more movies are being made in this format. Blu Ray wins! Might want to go purchase a PS3.
 
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This is a HD DVD player, so I am not sure why everything talks about difficulty or gameplay, but the graphics are TIGHT! Go buy the VGA cable for the XBox 360 so you can go full 1080p. For people that tell you that 1080i on their component cable is just as good as 1080p on the VGA, they are just plain and simply WRONG! Why would they block the 1080p signal on the component cable (for HDMI concerns) if the quality was the same as 1080i? It just does not make sense. No reason to decide between Blu-ray and HD DVD, just get them both and have access to all the movies in HD.
 
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I have no complaints about the price and the graphics. The stuff looks beautiful on the screen. Having a remote to run the video, instead of a 360 controller, helps. This item is nice for a gradual transition to the HD video experience--if you already own a 360 system. If you don't then just go for a standalone player that is dedicated to the videos. Here's the bad stuff about the player: It barely has any backward compatibility with DVDs. Only DVDs that are less than 6 months old have played on it without a hitch. The unit froze my whole 360 system after I downloaded some extra content off of the Net for my Transformers HD movie. The xbox.com/support website was no help at all with this. The same also happened to a friend of mine. I had to purge the player and the 360 hard drive before and reinstall the player's installation software to fix it. Be patient and get this when Microsoft lowers the price to $125 not before.
 
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This is a great option for folks who own the xbox360 and are looking into dipping into the high def movie format without having to drop to much money on a standalone player just yet or at all... This is a good way to start dabbling in HD DVD. The picture is just as good as a Toshiba HD DVD player as long as your XBOX has an HDMI Output. Only drawback is the audio isnt supported so you have to turn up your stereo receiver louder than normal to pick up the sound on your average listening level. TV speakers should be fine guess this was to keep the price down intially though prices on most players have dropped still a good deal though... If you dont have HDMI output on your XBOX360 the picture will suffer.. The remote is a nice bonus too comes in handy while viewing the movie. Eject on the remote doesnt work for the HD addon you have to select it from the XBOX live dashboard..
 
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Works flawlessly with the XBOX 360. While it doesn't fit into a home theater as well as a Toshiba HD DVD player there is always the option of using the XBOX 360 HD DVD player with an HDCP compliant PC. If Bluray wins the HD format war you can still watch all your HD DVD's on this unit and this option will buy you enough time so that Bluray hardware will be cheap if you have to re-purchase an HD player.
 
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Okay, let us assume that xbox should have included this with the system, but since they did not, here is a review. This is by far the best way to begin watching your movies in HD. The price is obviously better than anything that you will find, and quality is picture perfect. Do not expect your five free HD DVD's anytime in the near futre though. The trick is, who will win, HD or Blu Ray. If Blu Ray wins, I just waisted $170. Please keep in mind as you go to buy this product that there is a competiton going on for the technology of HD movie watching and it is not certain at this point which will prevail. I am getting both.......so this was the best way to go about it for me. Also, if you have stumbled by this and do not have an xbox 360 yet; get one immediately, it is the greatest gaming console of all time!
 
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I purchased this to complement a recently purchased 1080p Toshiba LCD HDTV, connected through HDMI. All I can say is "WOW!!!" This is my first experience with Hi-definition TV and DVD, and I could not be happier. It may not include some of the features of the best standalone units, but this player definitely is the best value if you currently own an XBOX 360. I also got this during the free Heroes S1 promotion, making the deal that much sweeter.
 
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One cool feature of using the Xbox 360 to watch HD DVD movies is that Xbox live will offer extra features through it's own movie interface on some movies. I think that alone makes the 360 HD DVD player superior to a stand alone player.<br><br> I have the optical sound with HDMI output for the 360. This works great and looks killer on a new 1080i Plasma.<br><br> Wish it was $100 less. I think HD DVD will come down in price for stand alone players soon.. I also could have just rented movies from Xbox live in HD and had the same results.<br><br> I had really bad Buy.com customer service issues. <br><br> Pay super close attention to the shipping option to make sure you get free shipping. The product was good, my problem was with the shipping that I noticed was wrong the SECOND I placed the order and they could do nothing about it. That is really poor in comparison to Amazon and other large online companies. I will buy from Buy.com again though but only when they have super sale specials that beat out other companies.
 
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I'm very impressed with this unit, especially since it can be used to watch movies on a PC! Installation on Vista 64-bit was straightforward, with the drivers being downloaded as soon as the unit was connected. Before you can play HD DVD movies, you need some HD DVD playback software (I recommend PowerDVD, and be sure to download the latest patch!), and a powerful enough PC (Core2 Duo should be fine; I use a Core2 quad). You may also need a HDCP compatible videocard and monitor, if you're using a DVI connection. I've got an nVidia 8800 GTS videocard and a 24" Dell 2407WFP-HC monitor, and the video quality is incredible! It's well worth the upgrade, especially if you haven't yet delved into the world of HDTV.
 
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The HD DVD player for the XBOX works great! Its quiet and sexy. Would recommend this product to anyone
 
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I have a 1080i rear projection TV, and always felt that I am not getting the max resolution. I even hooked a Yamaha HT receiver which upgrades the video signals (from my digital HD comcast receiver) which made the resolution slightly better. But the moment I hooked up this HD DVD to my HT receiver, there was a noticable difference in the picture quality. Even the regular VHS non-HD signals were crisp and I wished that I got this HD player much before. I am not much of a gamer, but I am happy this one got the best of my TV. Not sure, if this is true with all HD-DVD players.
 
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I found this item to be very easy to use. It was very easy to hook up! For the price you just can't beat it!
 
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So far, so good. Very nice output to my 1080i 42in. Plasma. I think I read in other forums that when you play HD DVDs, the xbox360 console would crank up the cpu and make a lot of noise, etc. NOT the case. Stays quiet so you can enjoy your HD DVD experience. I was fortunate enough to get the package deal which included the Hereos-Season 1 HD-DVD set and 5 free HD Movies. Overall, excellent HD DVD player and what a deal!
 
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Video and audio quality of the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive is very impressive. Easy to hookup. I connect to my Samsung DLP using the Microsoft VGA cable, giving me upscaling ability. Now I have next-gen HD support without a bulky stand-alone player. If you have an XBOX 360, this is the way to go for HD DVDs.
 
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I purchased the HD-DVD Add-On for the Xbox 360 primarily for price and the free Heroes HD-DVD Boxed Set. I'm very glad that I did. For a very low price, I got King Kong, Heroes Season 1 and 5 Free Movies via mail (haven't recieved them yet) so basically the player is almost free. It hooks up VERY easily to the Xbox 360 and even gives me an extra USB port on the back of it for my 360 Camera that frees up the two in the front for charging other accessories. The player itself is very well put together and regardless of what other people say, not very loud at all! The interface in the 360 console has changed a bit to where you can start or eject the disk from the console. The cool thing is, you can also pull up the console while watching an HD movie. Also, web enabled features are right there if you're already hooked up to Live, you'll see the player's disk space (about 200 meg) when you go into the system settings. Oh by the way, you MUST purchase Transformers HD-DVD if you buy this drive, it is absolutely stunning! I liked this drive and HD-DVD so much that I bought a Toshiba stand-alone player for my upstairs TV room. I'm hooked and I think you will be too!
 
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I really didn't know what to expect from this player but boy was I shocked. When I sat down to watch King Kong I didn't have the highest expectations as I seem to be disappointed with everything that is supposed to be new and improved anymore but this really did deliver on all fronts. The picture is incredibly clear and there is a noticeable improvement in sound as well. When you get a picture great enough to notice when someone has stubble on their arm pits when they shouldn't then I would say you have a HD-DVD player, LOL! It truly delivers a great picture!
 
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This is simply an amazing player. You plug in with one USB cable which is supplied for free and you are done. SOme older XB 360s may need a free SW upgrade but its simple and easy. You can use the supplied remote OR better yet you can use your XB360 wireless controller to dod the same things. No more clutter than before. I bought this with the free Heroes season 1 dvd AND 5 free movies included AND free shipping. This can not be beat for price!!!!
 
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I bought the HD DVD player because I wanted my DVDs upscaled and a small form factor. Let's just say that I am completely impressed with this player. If you have HDMI then it is probably the most affordable and best High Definition drive out there. I also noticed the added details in the movie "300" that this displays but the blu ray version doesn't. Definetely an affordable buy for anyone wanting to join the HD world.
 
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I have looked at many HD players and if you are the fortunate owner of an xbox 360 with an HDMI input this player remains victorious. It can be tricked out to play DIVX and upscale beautifully. Plus I seek a small form factor and everything else on the market pales in comparison. Great Buy...... You won't be dsiappointed.....
 
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i bought this product cause i wanted to get into HD movies but didnt want to spend alot. i have an xbox 360 so this deal with the free Heroes box set(up to $100 at other places)was great. had no problems with shipment and product works perfect. i set it up without any problems on an HD tv and looks amazing. the details and the features are way more than expected. King Kong looks great and special effects are very detailed. cant wait to get my 5 free HD-DVD movies in mail.
 
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To sum up, if HD is your choice now, this will be a good way of getting into on the cheap. Of course, if you spent $2500+ for a true HD TV (1080p), then $400-$600 for a standalone might be better. Ok, first off this a nice drive at a good price with all the freebies. Ultimately, it's an IDE (special 50-pin ATAPI connector) Toshiba 5.25" HD-DVD drive unit in an extenral USB case with external power brick. Most reviews of the case itself have stated that it's not a pretty case; resembles a closed hardback book. The unit has a built in 2 port hub. The unit is plug and play with XBox360. The included setup DVD is not required, since the update automatically downloads from the XBox online service once you log in. The unit plays HD-DVDs nearly flawlessly, but the current software does not support all the features and warns you of such a problem when the DVD is inserted; an example of this is Tramsformers. The other major issue is with the noise of the 360 during movie playback. My wife noticed it and thought that it was significant enough to be concern. In all fairness, the unit was up on a table at eye/hear height about 12 feet away from the viewing position. If it were on the floor or behind a cabinet, the problem would be dramatically less noticed; however, cooling the XBox360 might be an issue. The software really taxes the unit, since all the audio and video decoding and what not is supposedly done in software. The remote works fine and provides a nice access to the unit and basic TV functions, and it's backlit. One thing to keep in mind is the output of older XBox360s (pre HDMI) will be limited to Component or a VGA cable. HDMI is supposed to implement HDCP to protect digital high res signals from piracy; i.e. an exact digital copy without copy protection. Fortunately, most/all producers of HD-DVD titles are currently not including the ITC video resolution reducing block. This prevents all unencrypted video trasmission (component and VGA analog singals) from exceeding a certain resolution; somewhere around 950x560 vs the 1920x1080 of high definition video. So, the XBox 360 can currently use component or VGA to produce 1920x1080 IF the TV is capable of accepting that resolution across either of those types of connections. Only newer models are capable of accepting high-def via component, and there are many "high-def" TVs that are 1080p TVs but can only take the high-res signal across their HDMI port. My display looked fine on component but very washed out when I used a VGA cable, so the quality of cable also makes a difference; I did not have another cable to test, so it could be the VGA input connector on the TV as well. The resolution blocking will begin with DVDs produced around 2010-2011 and be mandatory in 2013; based on what I've read. This will allow adoption of technology and then force everyone to by new TVs. Oh joy. All of my tests were done on 720p DLP (Samsung) and 1320x768 LCD (Sony). So, I never got the full HD feel. It was still better than DVD, but I currently prefer the lower cost and removal of limitations that DVD provides. HD is better, but I'm not sure I really need to see every line in Brad Pitt's or Jennifer Aniston's faces. Some titles will definitely be 100 or a 1000 times better because of the clarity. The average movie? No. The unit also can be plugged in to a Vista machine or XP/2K, the latter requires a Toshiba UDF 2.5 driver, and the machine will be able to read disks. Add HD video playback software (PowerDVD-HD or WinDVD-HD/BR) and you can also watch the videos on your PC; same rules apply for video output and resoltuion with the additional exception that your video card MUST support HDCP across the DVI or HDMI (if it has that option) or the player software may not work. Those sites have testing tools/questionaires to evaulate your PC for HD-readiness. With these drivers, you can also make an encrypted backup of the HD-DVD content. To make use of the backup, you'll need a way to get it back to an HD-DVD, which is not a feature of this drive, and also takes 15-20GB for the main title of a movie. Well, I've rambled enough. All in all a good unit, but with the resoltion/connectivity limitation issues and some missing features not allowed due to the current XBox360 software limitations. You can also put your own spin on why everyone is currently giving so much away to get you to buy one of these drives. I managed to get mine from BestBuy and it included 2 more movies on top of this offer (7 HD-DVDs + Heroes total). Of course, Blu-Ray drives are usally giving away 5 titles as well; e.g. PlayStation 3 currently allows this, and a Toshiba standalone had two in the box + 5 mail-in + 2 instant. I guess they are all pushing a technology for which most people are not ready; i.e. TV. Keep in mind that some titles will only be on BluRay for some time (e.g. Spiderman 3), which others only on HD-DVD (Transformers). You are some screwed either choice that you make. One more side note, the 5 free movies are from a selection of 15. You get to choose 1 from each category of 3 movies. This limits your selection capabilities, and may lower the overall value of the 5 free movie offer on the purchase as a whole. The same is true for BluRay free rebate offer.
 
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This is a great price but what I didnt know was that you need the xbox vga cable in order to get true 1080p. Otherwise you've just wasted money on a paperweight or regular dvd player. the mpaa doesnt allow HD to go through the component cables so unless you have the elite 360 you'll need the vga cables. Otherwise don't bother. So the money you save here, you'll need it for the $40 cable.
 
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IF YOU HAVE AN X-BOX 360 THE HD PLAYER IS THE WAY TO GO . CANT BEAT THE PRICE AND ITS EZ TO HOOK UP AND PLAY ALL YOUR DVD AND HD DVD MOVIES ON.
 
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The review scale is kinda wack on this (It has Gameplay, Graphics, Difficulty, and Overall for choices to rate on), they don't really apply to this product. Anyways, This is by far, the easiest route to get into the HD DVD viewing market. I got mine to hook up to my 360 and it works great. The remote turns on and off the 360, as well as controlling all the DVD Player functions. This thing even comes with King Kong. Which, in my opinion, isnt the greatest movie as far as plot and acting goes, but MAN does it look sweet in HD. The bug scene... man.. gives me the creeps, but looks so darn good. Anyone looking to get into viewing HD DVDs will NOT be disappointed with this at all.
 
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great quality, Execelent product, can be used on pc (but you need to have a HD capable video card). For the price it can't be beat, plus it came with a free movie (King Kong) and I just got my 5 free movies in the mail, Really a great product, Thanks MS!!!!
 
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The XBOX 360 HD DVD player fit the bill! Great screen resolution (my monitor will support 1080i), that will decode up to 1080p - if your current monitor or tv will support it. The unit is also compact with simple functionality. Unfortunately, I received my unit with a defect (the eject button on the player did not function), so I have already had to RMA it! All in all though, for the price this HD DVD player will not disappoint, and if you purchase the XBOX VGA cables, this will allow standard DVD titles to upconvert, as well as allow HD playback if connected to your PC! Great Buy!
 
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Great add on for the Xbox 360. I'm using mine through component cables running at 720p on a Sharp Aquos LCD. I already owned King Kong on regular DVD and when I compared both back and forth, I could really tell the difference. The HD DVD looked much sharper and crisp. The HD DVD player also does a good job at upscaling through VGA, it made my current DVD's look better. I tested mine over both the component and VGA and I couldn't tell a difference in the picture quality between the two cables....I'm going to keep it on the component. Overall, I would recommend this add on for the Xbox 360 to anyone looking to get an HD DVD player.
 
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The only complaint I have is that I bought this HD DVD player before this great deal. The unit itself is easy to install and a breeze to play. The video quality is amazing! The HD DVD quality really makes normal DVDs look blurry. This is a must have for anyone with a XBOX 360 and an HDTV. Long live the XBOX 360!!
 
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I haven't gotten my HD yet. (still being shipped from buy.com) but I played the HD-DVD that came with it (King Kong) and OMG... I've never seen a picture that good from that TV.
 
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I decided to add the drive to my system and it seems to be working great. The picture qual