I (and many of my friends) would purchase a Blu-Ray add-on for our 360s on day one, for a reasonable price, of course.

This is actually a more important question considering how popular Apple's download services are.

How is that related in any way to notebooks? I'm not too sure BD drives in Apple computers will be relevant in any way, seeing as how they they are still pushing DVI connectivity with their televisions over HDMI.

Meanwhile, companies like HP in particular are including video cards that output audio over HDMI and are selling HTPC-capable machines pre-built at a very reasonable cost(with dual-format playback, to boot!).

I think Microsoft's opening talks with the BD camp will actually strengthen the viability of HDM via HTPC (which, admittedly, still has a long way to go), which is far more interesting to me than just another video game add-on.

Yes, and MS doesn't even have to make money on selling the BR attachment.

Ahh.

This thread is VERY illuminating. It truly does show who is all about backing Blu-Ray for watching the best possible quality, and who is all about Sony worship.

It is absolutely in the best interests of the Blu-Ray format to have as many possible options for consumers as possible, a fact that you, Pro-B, hammered home again and again and again as a knock on HD DVD's limited hardware support.

However, the 360 getting an add-on would be disastrous for Ps3 and Sony (games division at least). Even if the total expense of getting a 360 with a BD add-on is more than the cost of getting a PS3, it will still be cheaper for 360 owners who want BD playback to get this device rather than paying for a PS3.

Pro-B calls TonyMontana out for thinking this is a positive. It is. I cannot BELIEVE you are insinuating that Microsoft is just one failure after another. I am no MS lover, but they have a few somewhat successful products, I think. Certainly they don't have as many failed products in their wake as Sony does.

Again, very illuminating, this thread is.

Yes, but when the add-on was introduced at $199 there wasn't an HD player below $300 was there? Sounds kind of like the current BD situation doesn't it? The $99 players came long after the 360 addon was released. Many people have defended the purchase of a PS3 by stating they are also getting a multimedia machine as opposed to just a DVD player. I would use the same argument for a 360 with a Blu add on. I'll take it any day of the week over a standalone unless there is a standalone that's region free. My 360 can play PAL and NTSC upconverted. All I need is that BD addon and I'm laughing :)

Now that I think about it, is there any other player on the market that plays PAL, NTSC and Blu Ray at any price point? Granted the 360 has to be hacked to play PAL, it is still possible.

If anyone can make BR a success, it's Microsoft.

Agreed on count one: this is an illuminating thread!

Now, here's your chance to prove that I am wrong and you are the one who has been following recent trends closely. Find and quote an analysis that explains why Microsoft will opt for an internal Blu-Ray drive instead of an external one, why an internal drive is possible at this stage and external one isn't.

Ciao,
Pro-B

Not quite. There are a number of BR machines coming this summer/fall and my feeling is that an external drive within 50$ or less with the closest BR machine will not be a mass success. The breaking point here is again the speculation on both sides - where the BR add-on will be in terms of pricing and how fast the lower end BR machines will street.

This is irrelevant as just about all of the BR players are hackable as well. Granted the two sites that do it at the moment are not US-based.

Pro-B

Why should Microsoft opt for an internal drive? All that would do is slow down the gameplay on the system, as Blu-ray drives currently don't read as fast as DVD drives. That's why the PS3 requires so many games to load large files to the HDD. Microsoft can't do that, as their HDD isn't a required part of the system, so they need the faster read times of the DVD drive. But since a Blu-ray drive would be for movie playback only anyway, who cares if it's internal or external?

Why doesn't MS simply sign up on Sony's website to become an affiliate to sell PS3's. :)

Why would MS want to take a chance at creating an internal Blu-ray drive. HD DVD died in how many years, and I would imagine MS is asking itself if they created an internal Blu-ray drive, how long Blu-ray will last.

It makes more sense to create an external drive, thereby keeping their main system free from any market hickups which might happen later on. If Blu-ray is a proven format, then maybe we'll see somekind of development announcement around Christmas 2009, but still, why not just create an add-on accessory. It would probably mean a better profit anyway if you produced an external add-on drive.

Who started all this "internal blu-ray drive" on the 360 non-sense???

If they wouldn't do an internal HD-DVD drive on the 360, there's no way in hell they would ever do so with a slower-reading blu-ray drive.

At this point (with the format war being over), an external blu-ray drive for the 360 would be a success - at the right price.

If Microsoft did make a BD external drive, would it be too much to ask to make it look more aesthetically pleasing than the hd-dvd add on? Granted, this is coming from the owner that owns the winner of the George Foreman grill lookalike contest, but still....

Actually a Blu-Ray external drive has always made sense for MS...but I think they were content on forcing Sony to spend billions of marketing dollars to ensure the viability of Blu Ray...they then could come in and make one. In fact, I'm surprised that Sony would even consider letting the BDA license Blu Ray to MS...but I'm guessing the studios are probably putting pressure on Sony to get as much Blu Ray hardware out there.

Read:


So, to sum it all up: the gentleman who insists that my belief that an internal X-Box BR drive is improbable is a sure sign of SONY worshiping - a veiled way of calling one a SONY fanboy. Furthermore, he is also the one who has been insinuating here, hence my call for an analysis that justifies his accusation above. My initial remark revealed improbability, an observation you seem to be content with as well.

Ciao,
Pro-B

It boils down to this for me: before I got a killer deal (at the time) on an HD DVD player, I was going to purchase the 360 add-on. I already had the 360 and it was the cheapest way to get in the game.

If they come out with a Blu-ray add-on for 360 that is cheaper than an actual player, I'd rather buy that than a PS3, since I have no interest in any PS3 games. So from my perspective, it would be a great option.

That's why I'm hoping they do it.

The logic in this thread makes my head hurt.

All issues with the 360 aside, unless you have a 360 with HDMI, why would you prefer to watch high-def video over component video?

IMO, these drive add-ons only made sense while the format war was going on. Now that the winner has been determined, buying an add-on seems like an inefficient way to get into the game.

Because they were so good at making HD-DVD successful.

Because Microsoft's success has historically come from taking other companies' technologies, and making them more accessible to "he masses.

Why not? My HDTV was bought long before the days of HDMI. I still enjoy HD-DVD.

And every 360 comes with HDMI standard now anyway and has for awhile.


Do you really think they tried? They made a peripheral and that was it. I never saw them push HD-DVD once.

What's wrong with component video? It passes a 1080i signal, and you'd be hard pressed to really tell a difference between a 1080i and a 1080p signal coming from a Blu-Ray disc.

Sony has made all the smart moves re: Blu-Ray so far. I think it's likely they'll continue to do so.

If Toshiba had stepped it up a notch, then it could've been successful.

My projector only does 1080i anyway, so it doesn't matter. And it doesn't have HDMI - I used an adapter to try it out and I couldn't tell the difference between the component and the HDMI images, flipping back and forth.

I want the cheapest Blu-ray player, period. And I don't want to pay for something I'm not interested in using (PS3 gaming). So again, the add-on option is ideal for me.