MisterMidnite

I'm looking into buying the hd-dvd addon for my 360. I keep reading that it
doesn't support Truehd audio. Is this a gamekiller, or can I live without it.

The Bus

A gamekiller? Well, since HD DVDs aren't games...

The reason I won't buy an HD DVD add-on is that if my 360 fails (as it often does), it's annoying to be a month without being able to play it. But a month without being able to play HD DVDs is beyond annoying.

movieking

I don't really mind the lack of TrueHD through the 360. The sound is still fantastic, as is the picture quality, and given the price and extra HDs that you can get by buying it now, it would be a no brainer for me.

AOD

Dang brother. Word for word. Just go get it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=927823

MisterMidnite

lol...yeah I figured someone would catch that. I just like to hear different opinions. Before I buy something big, I research the hell out of it.

gorgo99

It's a great entry-level player, especially if you don't have a received that can handle TrueHD anyway. You'd need an HDMI receiver (at least) or one of the higher-end standalone HD-DVD players that have analog outputs, with a receiver that handle those, to do better than the 360 add-on.

emachine12

Do you have a receiver with HDMI or analog inputs?

If not, then the add-on will be great. Dolby TrueHD tracks on Tosh's players are transcoded to Dolby Digital or DTS via the optical output just like the 360 add-on.

The 360 even lets you choose how the transcode is handled. You can choose stereo, 640kbs DD, 1.5mb DTS, or 1.5 WMA.

The Toshiba's generally output 1.5mb DTS over the optical output so your receiver would also have to be able to decode DTS.

-

The XBox 360 can't output the full lossless track but can decode it and then reencode(aka Transcode) the track to one of the options I listed above.

AOD

Through this saturday at Best Buy you get the player w/pack in KK and remote, five free mail in discs and two free on the spot. If they give you any grief, tell them to read their very own insider newsletter from yesterday stating the customer is entitled to BOTH Heroes AND the two free on the spot. Grand total of 8 single discs and Heroes box set= 9 total . How can you go wrong? Here it is. Refer to the right side.

BSTNFAN

This deal was so good, I couldn't pass it up! However, I don't have an XBOX 360. I heard you could run the add-on through a computer, is that true? If so, could someone tell me where I could find minimum requirements and some instructions on how to do it?

DeanoBKN

A hell of a deal. I wish I had waited

Go for it.

mzupeman2

It's not a deal breaker if you don't have a good enough setup to take advantage of it, or can't use your setups full potential due to living at home, in a dorm, in an apartment, whatever. The HD-DVD add-on produces a very nice picture quality. It's just the sound thing that people get all 'meh' about. Also the fact that unless you have a 360 with HDMI, then you won't really be getting the best from HD but, it does produce a fantastic image over component. It's a great price, you get some free stuff with it as posted above, and you can't go wrong with that. Do take into consideration though, your 360 craps out, you're not watching movies on that player. Couple that with the fact you can probably get a player for $200 that's stand-alone by Christmas? May be better to just wait and get a standalone and get an HDMI cable.

Spiderbite

You know...they really should make that more clear. You have to hit the display button on your remote when sitting on the HD screen but without a dvd playing to get to that audio menu. Then you either choose DD5.1 or the DTS button. You would think it would say both with the DTS button if you can decode DTS. I just hooked mine up on Sunday and got Transformers on Tuesday and was really disappointed with the sound. I have mine hooked up thru component and an optical cable.

I just switched the option to DTS (which is misleading since no HD-dvd I have bought yet even has DTS) after reading this thread and the sound is was what I was expecting originally...Awesome!

Now if I can figure out why everyone looks like they have been sitting in a tanning bed too long on Transformers. I think I will have to do some picture setting changes because the picture does seem different going from my Denon dvd player & my A2 to the 360 on both dvds & HD-dvds. Are there picture settings for the 360 hd add-on like the audio settings?

As far as getting the HD-player for the 360...I think it is a no-brainer if you own a 360 and have or are getting a HDTV. I only have component on my HDTV and my receiver only decodes 6.1 (or 7.1 matrixed) and does not decode TrueHD. But with what I have read, there just isn't that much of a difference to spend the money on a new receiver right now or the upper HD players that support it. Transformers was rocking my house enough with DD+ on my 5 year old Denon receiver. I do plan to use the upconvert feature once I get a new HDTV with HDMI.

I look at it this way...I got the 360 add-on for nothing. I spent $180, deduct the $80 I got for selling Heroes & the 2 free dvds totaled $65 at Best Buy. I am getting The Thing free (a $25 title) and I am going to sell the other 4 freebies which will get me at least $50. You can't get a better deal than that.

And now that I am used to so much HD goodness thru my games and movies, watching standard dvds has become somewhat of a chore. Standard definition looks really soft to me now. Awful problem to have, huh?

Don't delay...buy it now before Best Buy changes their minds.

DJ_Longfellow

Yeah, I would buy the HD-DVD now if I didn't already have it....I got screwed when I bought it, nothing free (except $40 off at the time).

Ocelot

i thought that the add-on plays the hd-dvd disc, i.e. not using the X360's laser, so basically, if a RRoD'd X360 can still be used to play HD-DVDs via the add-on, am i mistaken?

of course, if you need to send in the RRoD'd X360 for repair, then yes, your add-on is worhtless unless you hook it onto another X360 or a PC...

DJ_Longfellow

No, you need the 360 to run it. It just plugs into the 360 via USB.

Ocelot

i know that... but the RRoD of the X360 is related to gaming right? So, it shouldn't interfere with watching hd-dvds... well, of course, i'm just guessing...

can someone confirm this? i.e. can you play hd-dvds from the add-on using a RRoD'd X360? i'm pretty sure you can't, but still i'm curious... Hardware-wise, i think it should be okay, because they are separate entities...

Drexl

If the system can't boot, it can't load the software needed for playing HD DVDs. The addon is just a drive that feeds the data to the 360 where it is processed. The same hardware that plays games is also used to process the data from HD DVDs. They are not separate entities.

Ocelot

so much for my wishful thinking

This brings back the question, why M$ don't make a X360 that can play hd-dvds and play games? Having an add-on in practical sense, should work better than what the PS3 can do...

Anyhow, this means the add-on can cause RRoD? don't tell me it can

Spiderbite

It has been reported that that very idea is in the works as we speak. If I find the link I will post it.

Ocelot

I already brought a X360, but i'm all for another one if it can play games and hd-dvds. Since M$ don't wanna see BDs to win, i don't see why not... With the current X360 options, i don't see why a new one will cause any problems for the consumers (unless they force people buy the new one).

The add-on is not bad, but it's silly, really... think about it:

1. It not exactly a separate entity, i.e. anything happens to the X360, it's pretty much useless (common sense, but still, as a consumer, if the X360 can't play games anymore, one tend to think it can still be used for dvds or hd-dvds via the add-on).

2. Takes up more space

3. Another power outlet (i could be wrong)

I guess i will return the add-on to BB, even though it's a sweet deal (eight hd-dvds free, not to mention Heroes worth about $50 on the secondary market).

MisterMidnite

Well I bit the bullet and bought the hd-dvd addon. I picked up Heroes, Hot Fuzz, and Top Gun for free. It all comes up as a package on the register (once the cashier hits the enter button, which took my cashier awhile to figure out). Once he saw the price and all the free stuff, he was like "No way, these are all free" The security guard said the same thing as he was taking the security bindings of the hd dvd player.

It is truly one of the best deals I have gotten. And I still get to pick out 5 more movies.

Supermallet

Hell, that's such a good deal that I may have to get that myself, and I already have an HD DVD player. I'm gonna be moving soon, and will probably put the 360 in my bedroom (which has a receiver without HDMI and a 1080i big screen) while the PS3 will sit in my home office hooked up to my smaller 1080p TV and HDMI-capable receiver. It's very tempting.

redrum

yes i also bit on the deal. rooting for hd-dvd now!

people are saying matrix collection is even ringing up as free, which makes me kinda mad i didn't try getting it.

got 300 and transformers for the 2 free dvds.

Qui Gon Jim

I may grab the drive for all the free stuff and then ebay it. If I get $50 for it, I break even. Or I could get the five more free and come out ahead without even e-baying it.

Spiderbite

That's what I did. I went from having no HD player to two in the span of a month.

HD-dvds I have amassed so far in a month: 10 free from the two get five free offer, 2 free from Amazon, 2 free from Best Buy, 1 HD boxset from Best Buy, 4 from the buy 1 get 1 offer from Amazon, 1 I got online & 10 from the buy 1 get 1 at Circuit City.

So that a total of 30 HD-dvds (1 is a 2 disc set), 1 seven disc boxset and 2 HD players in a little over a month. Woah!