RCL66

Anyone have expierence with the X-box as a DVD player? My dedicated DVD player died and I was thinking of using the X-box till I get a new one.. Does it work well? Does it support 2x, 4x fforward and slo-mo, and other features of most stand alone DVD players?

I tried the PS2 for DVD and was pretty dissapointed.

darkside

I hated the DVD option on the PS2 until I tried the new version 2.1 with the official Sony Remote. Works just like a regular DVD player now and is that long delay when entering commands is gone.

I've heard the DVD playback on the Xbox is really good also.

RCL66

How do you get the 2.1 drivers, and I assume they just take up a bit of space on a memory card? And does it support things like slo-mo, various speed fast forward? I love to scan through movies.

RCL66

Just found this description on EbGames...

"Discover your DVD's with an improved version of the PlayStation 2 DVD driver for use with the DVD Remote Control - Slow Motion, Chapter Program, AB Play, Shuffle, Repeat, and Three-Speed Scan are all accessible at the push of a button, as are all of the basic PlayStation 2 DVD functions such as Audio Track selection, Subtitle display, and Multi-Angle options!"

Sounds pretty good actually. If people say it works well this may be a great alternative to paying $150 for a new player... I just wonder if X-box playback is any better.

Kellehair

The PS2 DVD player's video quality is ****.

darkside

The new drivers come on a CD with the $19.99 Sony Remote. The big catch is you have to save them on a memory card unless you have one of the new PS2s that have them built in. However, you can also delete them off the memory card when your not using the DVD feature and reinstall them later. I think it takes up about half the 8MB memory card.

Weight that into your decision. I think the DVD playback on the Xbox is at least as good as the PS2, but I don't know for sure if its better.

darkside

Compared to what?

It doesn't look quite as good through the S-video as some high end players I've seen, but it looks about the same as the picture quality of an entry level player.

If the decision is to use the Xbox or PS2 as a DVD player or buy a new player in the $150 range I would say use your game system.

Kellehair

"Compared to what?"

Comapred to my 2 year old, $150 Toshiba SD-1600 DVD player.

Ghym

I've been using my XBOX as my bedroom DVD player for a little while now. It's worked great so far. It's got 2x, 4x, and faster FF and RW. It seems to have most of the standard DVD features except for a power button. I wouldn't use it as a primary DVD player, but it would work as a secondary or temporary player.

RCL66

Is the picture bad because your running on a HDTV, or is the quality just that much worse than the stand alone player?

RCL66

>I wouldn't use it as a primary DVD player, but it would work as a secondary or temporary player<


Ghym - why not?


Thanks for the help.

Craig

Ghym

Well, first, I'm running it on a standard 35" TV, not a HDTV. The HDTV is downstairs. ' We also have an XBOX hooked up to the HDTV downstairs. I've tried movies on both and they look fine to me. I haven't really analyzed the pictures, but I've never seen any glaring problems.

As to why I wouldn't use it as a primary DVD player? I don't know. I just prefer to use a standalone player as my primary. They tend to have more features and are more compatible. The XBOX is just a basic DVD player with a pretty simple remote. It does all the basics like FF, RW, and chapter skip, but doesn't have any enhanced features you might find on a standalone player. It's just a preference thing for me. the XBOX still makes a decent DVD player. It just needs a power button on the remote.

Cardiff Giant11

I think I can understand why you see a big difference. The Toshiba produces a very "sharp" picture, to the point where you can sometimes see jaggies or even mild pixelization. Sony players(like ths PS2) produce a much softer picture. It doesn't appear as sharp but you're less likely to notice picture and compression flaws. For the record I've done a side by side S-video comparison on my wega(using the same DVD, same seen as my roommate and I have a few duplicate titles) and I noticed that the picture quality of my Sony DVP-S360 was slightly better than the PS2(DVD player 1.30). The standalone seemed to have better color balance and gamma but other than that not much was noticeable. I'd bet you a dollar that you probably would fine a standalone sony player to have poor picture quality compared to your toshiba because of Sony's softer picture. Having owned both a Toshiba and a Sony(not to mention my first player, a crappy Sharp) I prefer Sony's softer picture and superior remote to the Toshiba. Anyhow rant over. To the original poster, I'd say use your game system until you really want/need a new standalone player.

RCL66

So you have a Sony DVP-S360. That is the player i have that has crapped out on me. I've only had it about 8 months and it is having problems with discs locking up, getting pixelated and skipping ahead. I know others with the player who are having the EXACT same problem. It's pretty dissapointing, I had purchased the Sony as an upgrade from a Toshiba from a few years ago.

I share your feelings about using a dedicated player, I also preffer a stand alone player to using my console.. But now, 2 weeks after X-mas I'm not in a position to purchase another $200 DVD player.

--Craig

Gallant Pig

Xbox has great DVD playback. No skipping during layer changes either. Very nice

Cardiff Giant11

Craig,
I've had my DVP-S360 since August of 2000 and I have not had a single problem with it. It's given me no problems at all. Perhaps you and the people you've talked to just got a few bad units. I'm sure the Xbox and PS2 will make a nice solution for you in the meantime.

edstein

Any word on if the Xbox has or will be hacked to allow Progressive output? I have heard that this option has been disabled in the bios for DVD playback but, the Nvidia graphics chip will support it. When that happens, this could be my primary DVD player.