I got a too good to pass up deal on the 360 HD drive (had some GCs, it came w/ some DVDs and w/ the 5 free DVDs expiring at the end of the month I decided to jump now) even though I don't have a 360 yet. That should be corrected in a couple of months but until then since it is USB based has anyone worked out a way to use this on it's own yet? I found this article http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/17/x...o-pcs-via-usb/ from when the drive was first announced and they said someone might/probably would work out a hack, but I can't seem to find any evidence this was actually done yet. Anyone know anything about this?

BTW it would be an XP Media Center OS, not Vista. I'll try to just plug it in when I get home, but the drive just arrived at work so I thought I'd ask to see if I can get an idea of what I may be in store for (wrt finding drivers/programs/etc)

TIA

I was under the impression that it worked with a PC no problem from the start.

Yes, do a google search....you will need some drivers I believe.

yeah it's doable. you just need a couple of programs to make it work. i'll see if i can find which ones you need to make it work

I got mine to work with DVDs just fine with the Toshiba drivers. You'll also need the HD version of PowerDVD. I couldn't get HD playback becasue my monitor is not HDCP compliant and my processor is only 2.6ghz. Here is a list of requirements.

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/sup...equirement.jsp

Yep. All you need is a couple of drivers and one of the super-duper DVD playback softwares.

And balls-to-the-wall PC specs if you want to play higher than 720p.

Where did you get the free DVDs + 5 DVDs deal? If I get the 360 I might bite

Amazon had a deal (might still be active) for a free HD DVD w/ the purchase of the drive (it also comes w/ King Kong). Then there is a form on line (similar to the 5 free Blu-Ray DVDs) for 5 more titles. I'm pretty sure the receipt has to be dated before 30 Sept though.

Here you go http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...d_i=B000JHO4L0

$180 for the HD-DVD drive?

Do you think it will come down in price within the next year or so? Is the quality the same as if you had a standalone? And I'd be watching the movies on a computer LCD... would this really make a difference over standard DVDs?
Thanks!

This thread should probably be in the HD forum. And yes, the video quality of the 360 add-on is just as good as a stand alone player. It doesn't support all of the HD audio formats but neither do most people's audio receivers so I really wouldn't worry about that.

Finally plugged it in and the drive itself was recognized right away. However are there any other players besides the PowerDVD Ultra? Since I'm only going to be using this for a couple of months at most I really don't feel like shelling out the money for that, plus I have an older version of PowerDVD that I like better than the newer releases so I'm a bit wary of trying to install the Ultra and having it mess up my other install.

WinDVD 8. It's pricey also though. Those are the only 2 I know about.

Looks like it's a lost cause anyway I found this http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/suppo.../diagnosis.jsp and there are several can't support/upgrade (primarily the processor, graphics card and display ) so it looks like I'm SOL until I get the 360. Oh well it was just a thought. Thanks for the help everyone