wallsofwatts

Can anyone give me a fair comparison between the two? Or maybe link me to a page that gives a good run-down? I am considering trading my PS2 for an Xbox, since nearly all of the DVDs I own have problems running on it.

gcribbs

the first thing I would do is buy the sony remote. this allows you to upgrade the drivers using a memory card and it improves dvd playback. I have not had a problem playing one dvd yet.

let me know which dvd's you are having a problem with and i will try them out on my PS2.

as far as the xbox. I am sure they will have dvds that will not play. I am not sure about playback however I would assume it is ok since I have not seen any complaints on the playback on the videogame forum yet.

Electric2k

I own both, and have played around with their DVD functionality quite a bit. The XBox has MUCH better video quality overall than the PS2, even with the upgraded drivers. Especially the 4x3 downconversion of 16x9 material is GREAT on the Xbox.

RCL66

How is the functionality of the DVD for X-box? Does it provide the various "extras" of dedicated DVD players, like 2x, 4x fforward, slo-mo playback etc? Or is it just a basic DVD playback system?

I tried the PS2 out last night but was pretty un-happy with it as a DVD player.. My dedicated player died and I was thinking of using the x-box for DVD temporarily.

Viper99

the xbox features 32x ff/rw
10x zoom
switching between normal 4x3/widescreen/ letterbox
picking dts/dolby digital/ dolby surround (will need av pack)


and yes the ps2 dvd player isn't that great, but i love the quality of the xbox

RCL66

The X-box DVD control is hard to find, but I a found one at Best Buy. They had 16 of them and 2 days later they were all gone.

I am very impressed by the quality of the X-box DVD support.
It's layer switch is almost instant, and blows away the dedicated Sony player I had that died.

--Craig

jason.h

I agree that the dvd player of the xbox is excellent, although I did find my first movie that would not play in it the other night, it was the Anchor Bay release of A Better Tomorrow. If anyone else has this I would be interested if they have the same problem.

Static Cling

*resurrects thread*

I picked up the Saitek DVD remote for my PS2 (hey, it was $9.99, and my DVD player is in the shop... I figured, "Why not?"). I had heard of updated drivers coming with remote packages, but none come with the Saitek remote. If drivers come with the Sony remote package, though, as gcribbs said, then I will be returning this Saitek remote package for the Sony one. I've had problems playing Gladiator and Ocean's 11 on my PS2, and it's ticking me off. I'll post an update after I get my Sony remote package today... hopefully it'll fix the problems.

Electric2k

Whoa, deju vu!

Yes, the upgraded Sony drivers DO help with compatibility issues. I haven't used my PS2 to play a DVD for quite a while, but it did help when I did the upgrade...

zargon

All though for some reason people seem to talk a lot about the zoom feature, which I find to be TOTALY useless... the XBox has the ps2 as a DVD player beat hands down with out breaking a sweat. But, still... if you are serious about DVD/movies, getting a stand alone player like from Panansonic, Pioneer or Toshiba really is your only option.

gcribbs

I am pretty sure I have played and watched Gladiator on my PS2 with no problems with my upgraded drivers. I have not tried Oceans 11 however since I do own it let me know and I can try it out

there is a reason the Saitek is only 9.99. Buy the Sony and upgrade the drivers and I bet you will notice a difference.

gcribbs

porn

beautiful nude women

maybe it is just me but those are good reasons for a zoom feature

Static Cling

Agreed, a stand-alone player is probably better, and most of us probably know that. But this is a thread about comparing X-Box and PS2 DVD capabilities, so that's why we're focusing on them. My DVD player crapped out recently, but I'm not sure I feel like dropping $200 on another player right now... $20 on the Sony remote for the PS2 and better drivers feels much better.

Thanks for the info on the drivers, all... I'm pretty sure what's happening is that my PS2 is stopping at the layer change.

Static Cling

So, I talked to the guy at Funcoland, and he told me that the drivers that come with the Sony PS2 DVD remote are only remote drivers... as in, they will only allow you to have extra remote functionality, but not improve the PS2's DVD player performance. I wasn't too sure about that... but I decided to just get a new stand-alone anyways (Toshiba SD-2800).

He did mention that if my PS2 is an older "build," that it might not play DVDs as well as newer "builds" with newer hardware. (No, he wasn't trying to sell me a new PS2.) I'm going to see if Electronics Boutique will really replace my older build PS2 with a newer build PS2 like they promised.

SilentBobrulez

I too have a launch system of PS2. Sure it was great for a DVD Player(tray started to grind and read many posts of PS2 crapping out on people) So I did almost the exact same thing as you. I too bought a Toshiba SD2800 a few days ago and can see a big difference in the picture. I don't know about the XBox picture but i think the only thing it lacks compareto the PS2 is DTS for movies. As XBox is only Dolby Digital 5.1.


Or what you can do is buy a new PS2 and return your old PS2 as the old one. Say that the DVD function isn't working. Plus i ran into some money trouble so i can't really keep it either

zargon

XBox supports dts playback during movies, it even supports it during games, just not in real time. That is the XBox's claim to fame is real time encoding of Dolby Digital. Also the picture and just about everything about the XBox DVD player back is better than the PS2. Then you have the XBox price drop coming in a few weeks, while I still say go with a dedicated stand alone unit, the Xbox is going to be your best best option.

mrdinh

i would just get a separate dvd player...forget the combo...

Electric2k

The Funco guy was wrong. A big part of the driver uprade was the new features of both the DVD player and the remote, but some of the fixes WERE directly related to compatibility issues. I know I had some discs that didn't work before that did after the upgrade, but it's been long enough that I can't really remember the titles...

bfrank

DVD-Talk does not condone this type of action, which only hurts us all in higher prices in the long run. You also accepted the rules of DVD-Talk when you signed up which state-

SilentBobrulez

But the companies that we buy electronics from even suggest this in order to fix certain problems. I have been told several times form Future Shop, Zellers and Electronic Boutique people to do this if i ever run into problems and so have many of my friends. I will do if i run into troubles one day because. . .well they the retailer suggested it.

gcribbs

trust me the companies did not suggest this. some young kid working at the store might have said to do this.

This is a big difference. If those companies have a policy of "hey if something breaks buy a new one and just return the old one saying it is the new one" I would be shocked.

here is EB's return policy
Return/Exchange Policy
Merchandise may be returned for a full refund in the manner originally paid within 14 days of purchase with original sales receipt. Returned merchandise must be in original sealed box or package with all accessories and manuals and be in salable condition. See Sales Associate for complete details.

http://www.ebholdings.com/storsp.asp

must have missed the policy the sales people are telling you they have

SilentBobrulez

Well i did have several of the stores with their senior reps or head of their department. All were at least 40+ years and said to me about my new TV that when it comes close to the extended warrenty just drop some juice or pop on it and they will replace it. I took a 6 year extended warrenty and they said by then the TV's will have changed a lot by then and you might as well get a better tv out of my $90 extended warrenty.

For my friend he bought a copy of the Star Wars Trilogy and just came arounf to watching Empire Strikes Back and found out that the tape was blank. It was past the return policy of the receipt (plus he lost it) He asked the sales rep and she said (she was at least 40) well i can't exchange it right now for you. Just buy a new trilogy and return the old one and get a full refund from the trilogy she just bought.

EB your right about the age but my friend also bought a GameCube and was told if he wanted too he could destroy the machines and tons of pieces but with the extended warrenty he would receive a brand new system.


Oh well just thought i would share my helpful advice form the stores themselves.

X

I must shop at the wrong stores. Nobody of any age has ever told me to destroy something and bring it back!

Yesterday I asked a manager at Borders if I could bring back a box set I just got and rebuy it to take advantage of their 20% off sale that's occurring in a couple of weeks. He said he very much didn't want that to happen. I can just imagine what he would said if I had mentioned that I might find it "defective".

gcribbs

Hey I am a young old person. so maybe the older people you talked with were young at heart or of mind

What an individual tells you does not a company policy make. i would hate to try to bring my Sony HDTV into best buy and expect them to give me a new TV after I destroyed it. It is a gamble I am not willing to make.

older PS2's have different upc's and model numbers I believe. someone believing that they were guaranteed to get away with this might end up with two PS2's one they destroyed and the new one they thought was going to be free all because they were turned down for a return by a customer service person who realized he was being scammed.


maybe you would get away with it. however since it is a violation of company policies in spite of what you are being told be salespeople. it is not allowed to be suggested to people here according to the rules Geoff sets out for us.

Talk to you later

bfrank

look, I dont think anyone wants this to escalate.

It is against this forums rules. Thats all that matters here.