Microsoft Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive (discontinued)

Review: For the price of $200 this unit it can turn your PC or Xbox360 in to a cutting edge movie playing machine. The first thing I like to say about this unit is the unit is loud comparing to my internal DVD drive. It is also large and has to have an external power supply.
But the good part is that this unit works like a normal hd-dvd/dvd drive. It's also the cheapest option around.

Review: Hi Everyone..
I'm a new user of CNET (in the U.K.) and, as it happens, a new owner of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive.
I purchased the drive only a couple of days ago and, like many people, was worried what its' performance would be like.
I definitely needn't have worried!!...
Pictures were absolutely rock-steady and of jaw-dropping quality!!..
I was one of the people who was going to wait until a definite winner emerged in the Hi-Def format wrangle.
However, when I found out the price of the drive, I thought, well... even if HD-DVD becomes the defunct one against Blu-Ray, I will have had a lot of Hi-Def enjoyment for a considerable amount of time without spending a huge amount of money buying a standalone player!
I'm really impressed with the drive and would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone wanting a high quality Hi-Def Drive right now without risking spending a huge amount of money.
Go and get one!! You know it makes sense!!..

Review: it seems as though some of the titles release dont broadcast in great hd quality (ex. miami vice) I think it is a terrible idea to buy a HD DVD disc that has both the hd format and the regular dvd format on it, this compresses the two sides more than they normally would be leading to worse quality audio and video files, I watched king kong and Fast and the furious in hd on my 101" hd mitsubishi projector and was thrilled, but when i played miami vice (which has each format on the disc) and I couldnt tell the difference in quality, I am not dissappointed so much in the unit as I am some of the titles, the unit was a great answer to the ps3 blu-ray, the blu ray player on the ps3 i believe will phase it self out, but i dont like how i have to choose new release titles based on which format they can come in ... will it one day be necessary for me to have a blu ray and hd dvd player??? hmmmm

Review: What is the percentage of people out there that have HDTV's?

Of the people that do have HDTV's, what is the percentage of those people that have dispalys that will accept a 1080p signal?

I am guessing that it is going to be a really low number....

With that said, I do not have a problem with the component video output (1080i/720p).

Review: Yeah, I might not be able to get 1080P, but I'm not willing to replace my 46" DLP just to get 1080P, when 720P or 1080i is good enough for me.

Review: I got this player this morning and hooked it up and watched "king kong" (the free movies that came with it) the sounds and picture clarity are amazing. For 200 for a HD dvd player. ITs the best money ive spent in a while.

Review: I have been following the Xbox 360/Playstation 3 war and also the HD DVD/Blu-Ray war for a while, and it has been quite interesting. I?m very happy with the Xbox 360 as a gaming console/multimedia center and I have also been leaning toward HD DVD format over Blu-Ray. I have noticed that Sony has lost their consumer market touch for quite a while now...As an example, when Blu-Ray was introduced it did sound very good as a project?on paper...maybe too good to be true...And now a couple of years later we notice the very shaky position that Sony is in: from the bad movie transfers and somewhat inferior picture quality, to expensive players and the PS3s constant and consistent delays...For now we only have words, words, words...
On the other hand Microsoft has been surgically precise with their marketing strategy. A year head start, great possibility of personalization (with the core system all add-ons are optional ? you decide what to buy according to what you need), tons of games (I think there are at least a hundred of them now), amazing Xbox Live experience (well I think they have about 4 years head start to Sony on that), making the Xbox to be not only a gaming system but also a multimedia center, which as far as I know is the best and the easiest to use on the market right now. And a couple of weeks before the PS3's release date, Microsoft released their HD DVD add-on player for the Xbox 360.
This release had provoked a lot of forum battles - the cons, the pros, who's better - Xbox or PS, Microsoft or Sony - the usual stuff, just more fierce...
Now that I've had the player for a couple of days and watched a couple of movies on it I feel it's time for a first look at this product.
I want to first address the HDMI issue, which supposedly seems to be the biggest con for a lot of people.
To me the difference in the picture quality between HDMI and Component inputs is non-existent. There is no way that someone would guess what connection is used just by looking at the picture quality. Especially if you don't have two of the same sources, two of the same TVs, next to each other, one hooked through HDMI and the other through component for A/B comparison. I refuse to believe that without A/B comparison someone would really know the difference. And the same, for that matter, is with the HD resolutions (i.e. which one is sharper, which one has more detail, which one is better). For example watching a 26? TV at 720p from 15 feet will look actually better than any 1080p TV seen from two feet. It?s just funny when you hear someone saying: ?I have a 1080p TV at home and, believe me, the difference over 1080i is huge.? Yeah, and how so? They have the same amount of pixels. How did you notice it? You put a second TV like yours next to it, fed it with the same signal and then noticed less flickering on the ?p? versus the ?i?? Or maybe watching an action movie would cause a drastic blur at 1080i compared to the 1080p. It?s all just talk; believe me. Not that it?s not cool to have it, don?t get me wrong, but 1080p is still more of an ego booster with the friends than a huge picture quality leap. It is more like knowing it?s one of your TV features that really matters.
Let?s get back to the review. The thought I had before buying the player was:
?The player costs $200 ($208 w/tax) of which $50-$70 is going towards the King Kong movie and the remote control which are both included. The lack of HDMI could potentially be a problem if the movie studios decide to restrict (and downgrade) HD content over any non-HDCP compliant connection. But on second thought we know that that will not happen (if ever) at least for the next couple of years (I have read speculations about 2012). So if you do some math $200 - $50 (the movie and the remote would still be usable) / 24 months = $6.25 a month. Even if in two years I have to throw it away, with a cost of $6.25 per month during that time, it is fine w/me. Plus I?d expect more 1080p capable and inexpensive TV sets to appear on the market (and a lot of them would be 1080p compatible through the component inputs) for the next 2 years. And it?s not like the player is $1000. So bottom line is that HDMI is great, but I?m perfectly fine without it.
Now, to be honest, I didn't like the picture quality of the built-in DVD drive in the Xbox 360 and I have used it only once for movies, back when I bought the console, almost a year ago.
I also hadn?t read any reviews (professional or consumer) on the new drive and I felt scared that it was going to be the same poor quality, just in HD. Last Friday, however, I spontaneously called Strawberries store in Downtown Boston, MA and they had it in stock. I quickly went to the store and bought it on my lunch break.
Set-up later on the same day went really smooth. USB cable connects the HD DVD player to the back of the console where the wireless is and a separate power cord goes in to your outlet. If you have a wireless on the back of the console, you detach it from there, mount it on to the player, which comes w/ two USB ports in the back, and you plug it in one of them. With the player you gain a USB port. There is an installation disc that you install - very easy and fast procedure. You just put it in the console, connect the player to it and it's all set. It is important to REBOOT THE CONSOLE AFTER THE INSTALLATION, as I've heard that it causes stability issues; it?s also recommended in the manual.
My TV at home is a 34" Sony, Model Number 34XBR960N. It?s a great CRT HDTV with amazing black levels, great contrast, and wonderful picture quality. I would put it up against any plasma or LCD on the market in a heartbeat; I get true cinematic experience from it.
Until the moment I used it with two DVD players: my older player is Cambridge Audio Azur 520D, hooked up w/ component cable to the TV (never ended up selling this dvd player since my girlfriend loves its styling) and set-up to 480p. My newer player is a Denon 1920, hooked up through the only HDMI port I have and set up to up-convert to 720p.
For sound, due to space restrictions, I can't really have a full Home Theater solution set up, so I have a 5.1 set of active speakers-Logitech Z-5500, which can accommodate my 2 DVD players and the Xbox 360 through its analog output. It sounds pretty good for what it is and it was a great value.
After the installation I rebooted the console and popped in the King Kong movie. To compare the picture I have a number of 720p trailers from Xbox Live and my cable.
It's a feast for the eyes! Contrary to my fear, it?s definitely better than the built-in drive and it?s comparable to Toshiba's HD DVD players picture quality. It looks more vibrant than the trailers (I tried MI-III, Narnia, The Wicker Man, The X-Men etc) and had the same depth and crispness as ESPN (without the macro blocking), even though one is a sport channel and the other one is a movie. It definitely looks better than any of the cable movie channels that are at 720p or 1080i.
I have set up the player through the Xbox menu to 1080i, although, as we said above, it doesn't really matter that much, unless you sit really, really close and count the pixels.
The King Kong movie looks great - there are a couple of sunset shots with King Kong and the girl on the top of the mountain that are outstanding. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has great stylistics as a movie and the colors are great. It just comes out of the screen and it's alive!
Overall I don't miss the HDMI at all. The player is hooked up through the Xbox?s component cable. I hear that a number of people used the VGA connection to obtain 1080p and had some stability issues. I also hear that Microsoft is aware of the issues and is preparing a fix. Can?t talk about that since I don?t have VGA and thus haven?t tried it.
I'd recommend sticking with component, even if your set doesn't support 1080p through component. The difference in the PQ is only on paper, unless you have a 65"+ TV and sit pretty close, seriously.
Sound wise I don't feel comfortable to judge, since my speaker set is not that great but it did sound more open and created better soundstage, sounding a little bit more 3D and a little bit clearer.
In conclusion I think this is a great product. Hopefully I won?t have any hardware issues, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who is an early adopter and is ready to choose one of the HD formats. Plus, since it's not that expensive, even a mistake is forgiven (not so much w/ a $1000 Blu-Ray player.
And if you still can?t decide, wait until Microsoft puts HD and SD movies and TV shows on the Xbox live. If that suits you better, just stick with it, save $200 and take your girl out to a fancy restaurant.
I will try to update over time with any new info - good or bad. And maybe sometime next year when I buy PS3 I will be able to write a review of the built-in Blu-Ray player and even compare it with this one.
I apologize for the long review; I hope it?ll help some people to make a decision.

Review: Seamless integration with the 360, easy integration with my harmony remote, and it looks incredible even via component connections on my 1080i display. If ICT ever gets used by studios, by the time they implement, there will be stand alone players in this price class that will probably be better performers. For now, this is a great high def fix.

Review: Being such a tech geek, I knew I had to get one of these. For $200 it was a no brainer (could always sell it on ebay). The drive came with a nice remote control and the King Kong HD-DVD. The set-up was simple and I was ready to go in 10 mins. I was on the fence about how good HD-DVD would look, but now I am a believer. King Kong looked awesome. I am not a big fan of that movie, but the look of it in HD kept me glued to my chair for 3hrs.
Also, none of the many dvd's that i have played sounded nowhere near as good as this. Even Kong on regular dvd. I went back and checked. Kong is the only movie I have right now, but I am hooked. I ordered Serenity and Constantine on Deepdiscountdvd.com last night and with my Netflix subscription, I will get a lot of use for my $200.
The only bad things I can say about it is that it is slow to load the movie. Takes about 30 sec and the screen is blank. But that is a minor problem for me. Also wish there were more movies available and little cheaper. I mean who is going to pay $37. for Sliver?

Review: I'm glad that the Xbox 360 didnt include a High Definition player into the console from the start like the PS3 did. Instead of having 2x speed on the PS3, the Xbox 360 has a 16x DVD drive for games while also having a 2x HD DVD drive for movies.

This means extremely short load times for games compared to the PS3 while also being able to have a Next-Gen DVD player. The PS3 will have painfully long amounts of load time, exponenitially longer than the Xbox 360.

Review: Xbox 360 HD DVD is $99 at Amazon.com. It cost $200 but King Kong, the remote and shipping are free so you pay $130. And if you apply for the Amazon Visa you get $30 off! So you actually pay $99. Plus it works with Windows Vista. And the fact that if you don't have an HDTV you dont have to get this is a plus, but once you see HD DVD you and for this price you have to get it!!!!

Review: these guys seem to do software pritty good so i doubt if they can get it wrong too many nerd however i really doubt the 1080p picture im hearing with out hdmi it just wont fully put out 1080p. microsoft sould have went hdmi to begin with. think if they did how much potential the 360 would have over sony. yet for the price who would complain get it 240$ dollars ez pic up
i'll give it a 10 when i see it

Review: The lack of an HDMI port is going to keep discerning videophiles at bay. Although the size and price of the 360's HD-DVD player are appealing (especially considering you get a movie and a remote), this is the essense of a product that is NOT "future proof." Many HDTVs can only accept 1080p via HDMI (since most HDTVs now exclude VGA ports), so despite Microsoft's intentional vague comments/doublespeak, the ONLY way to get 1080p for movies is via the VGA cable that most HDTVs don't have. Via component cable, you will only get 1080p on games (not movies). It is completely absurd on Microsoft's part to not release an HDMI cable of some sort, and until they do, this is a purchase only for those who have no worries about their product both underperforming and possibly being obsolete if the movie studios opt to turn ICT protection on in the next few years.

I love the 360 as a gaming device, but this add-on leaves something to be desired.

Review: $200 for HD DVD is phenomenal! Microsoft and the HD DVD camp are geniuses for coming up with this plan!

There are millions of current Xbox 360 owners who have HDTVs right now in their homes who would naturally jump on this bandwagon! This player guarantees the HD DVD camp millions of sales without breaking any sweat! I already have the HD-A1 and guess what? I am definately getting one!

Review: O.K.,I was forced into giving this product a rating even though it is not even out yet.I gave it a 10 based on what I know about it and what I think that this HD-DVD drive really is.This is the cheapest way to be able to watch HD-DVD`s but you must own an XBOX360.
I am also going with HD-DVD and not Blu-Ray,although both formats may stick and spin thier wheels(See...SACD/DVD-Audio)
Blu-ray boasts of all the capacity it has available but my question is what will be on that disc.Yes,there are people who buy the DVD`s that have the audio commentary,and maps,extra pictures,and so on...but is it necessary or is that just fluff.I want to watch the movie in HD and who cares if the featurette is in Hd,or the extras for that matter.
This is kind of like when the music industry went to CD`s and now all artist put out 15,16,17 songs on thier albums and there are 4 good songs and a whole lotta junk and so we got tired of paying for that and started downloading the 4 songs we like !
Wait...
THERE IS NO HDMI !!!!!
You dont need it.Lets face the facts that most of us who jumped on board and bought our HDTV`s a couple of years ago have no HDMI available.The industry will wait about 5 years to make it so.If not you are really limiting the HD market,and the bottom line is to make money.5 years will give all us consumers time to but yet another HDTV...and you will want to because you will NEED to have a 1080p native set and one that gives you a HD signal without needing a set-up box.
The people at Microsoft also know that by that time XBOX360 will be an old concept and there will be something new to replace it.
Is Sony PS3 the last gaming hardware that Sony will make ?
Sony is banking on selling it with the HDMI for all the paranoid people who think that without it you cant go on.You will have a very hard time finding a PS3 before next spring.There have been glitches with the PS3 as well,and not to mention that Sony is replacing laptop batteries because they catch on fire.I have Sony products and generally have no complaints about them,but Sony is losing money fast.If the PS3 dies,so will Sony and possibly Blu-ray since most people cant fork out a grand for a player.
So....I`m going to go with the XBOX360 HD-DVD drive,watch my HD-DVD`s on my perfectly fine SONY plasma HDTV,and wait until I have no choice and buy a new HDTV w/1080p.

Review: Like I said before it will be good for people who already have the system and are ready next-gen DVD.

Review: Let's see. How much will your XBOX 360 system cost with this addon? How much volume will this add to the XBOX 360? How much additional heat will this addon generate? How much more power will this consume? If you are a XBOX UNCONDTIONAL FAN, you will make any arguments to support this.

Anyone who has ever had A COMMODORE 64, AMIGA 500, ATARI ST or similar, knows how ugly having multiple parts can get. Best solution is to have it all in one box. Playstation 3 gets this one.

Review: Everyone is worried that the Hd-dvd might turn on some super copyright thing that will downsample anyone who isn't using HDMI this is BS and will never happen. First of all all of the rich people who were early-adopters have HD-TV's that probably only have component video. And people like me who have a TV with HDMI shouldn't be worried to use component video because I'm sure that the copy right protection that there worried about component people circumventing won't effect xbox 360 people since the processing of the HD is done within the xbox 360 itself not the hd-dvd player, this is how they can sell it for $200. If the processing is done within the Xbox 360 then so will the copy procetion, which means the HD-DVD is most likely fine for the long run of the format.

Review: Since everyone feels obliged to post prior to even trying this product, I'll jump in.

No HDMI? Very short sighted... this is the reason I will pass.

Review: Don't understand why you would make a high def player without HDMI. This means as soon as HD movies are pressed with the Image Contraint Token all you are left with basically is a normal dvd player. Plus how many games are going to be pressed on HD disc seeing how it is just an add on componet, probably not to many. So when there are few games that take advantage of the HD discs and you can't watch HD movies in high def what are you left with? A paperweight?

Review: I was planning on sitting out this format war for another year or two, but this has convinced me to join a side. My TV maxes out at 1080i right now, but an upgrade a year down the road is likely, so now I will make sure it has a VGA input. I'm hoping MS doesn't skimp on the video quality, but the price is a steal compared to the Toshiba machine and the remote is way better to boot.

Sony will try and ram through their format, assuming that the PS3 will win it for them... I think the $700 price point will kill the casual gamer market. Hopefully by then, HD DVD will have an 80% market share and they will surrender when they see billions being flushed away with their arrogance in refusing tomake nice and agree on a HI Def format. Just like Betamax, it is a better format with more space, but their heavy handed licensing requirements (ie. studio friendly, anti user) will lose them early adopters, and the inability to play on a standard player will make Joe Businessman have to buy two copies of a movie or forgo taking it on the plane with him.

HD DVD's backward compatibilty hooks me in like the old Dolby Digital Laserdiscs did (with Dual Audio formats)... worked fine on the Matrix Surround receivers, but discrete 5.1 awaited those who upgraded their receivers in the future.

Now I just hope they make the cords long enough (will it hook to the 360 with just a standard USB cable?)

Review: Funny how the reviewer here says that at $500 to $600 this is a "terrific bundled value". But most in the poular press won't say the same about the PS3, even though it's the same price, has HDMI and will be a step up in graphic processing power! Not to mention the PS3 is one unit where this is a cumbersome two-piece set. Wow, people are really hung up on the extra $200 for the PS3 as a gaming system. The only benefit with the 360 (compared to the PS3) is you have the option to upgrade to hi def dvd. So I can see that being a decent positive. Heck, I've got a 360, but can't wait for the PS3 to come out. I'm a fan of both consoles, but think it's stupid how everybody is ripping into Sony for the price of the PS3. And funny how everyone is drooling over the silly Wii with it's horrible wand controller that you are supposed to wave around. What a gimmick. Nintendo hasn't delivered on a console in so long, I doubt this wand controller is going to make it the dominant player it once was. But I digress...

Review: I personally feel watching movies on a gaming platform is a bad idea. but then again get the warranty and use it tell it drops! I say wait for a cheaper hd dvd solution. Iam using an LG upconversion on my old dvd library with my new 1080p 50 in sony 50A2000. that will keep me happy till the new formats drop and are more reliable.

Review: Microsoft nails it with the Xbox and the low cost HD DVD player adds to the growing evidence that the company's platform is very sound - combine well known and easier to use development tools that are common to both the Xbox and PC, with industry standards based compression and production tools for HD DVD [Microsoft's WMV9 encoder made standard as VC-1 with industry partners] and developers and content creators have a solid platfrom from which to build profitable solutions that are superior in performance and much less costly to produce and replicate. Sony does not have nearly as well integrated or widely adopted a platform.

Further, HD DVD benefits from two additional characteristics - beginning with its name, "HD DVD" - nearly all consumers know what HD and DVD mean. HD DVD as a brand name is clear to consumers as to what it means. "Blu-Ray, BD" offer only confusion - not to mention, inferior and less consistent transfers.

Finally, as regards content protection and component video vice HDMI - so far, no HD DVD's are content locked and likely will not be. If they are, Xbox, driven by the standards and features inherent to Xbox and is connected "Live" ecosystem will provide a pathway for Microsoft and industry partners to validate the legality of a content protected HD DVD and allow it to play regardless of protections.

When one considers the much larger potential base of consumers who may not have HDMI/HDCP compliant sets, against those who do have and can afford at least one component video capable set, it is a no brainer. Xbox is far more likely to offer a much larger number of people the options they want and need at prices they can accept as the HD/BD format issues are resolved.

One last thought... titles are being released in dual formats - both HD DVD and standard defintion on one disk usable by all people - HD DVD adopters and the exisitng base of SD DVD owners [virtually all of us]. As such, production costs, which are already much lower for HD DVD, remain lower as more and more content is made available on the HD DVD standard - the same VC-1 based standard driving most HD quality media. This combination makes sense for all - content producers, developers and most of all, consumers.

Xbox, HD DVD, Microsoft's HD DVD add on and consumers win. Sony and Blu-Ray are done, toast, irrelevant and lost.

Review: Why would anyone want a PS3? You would pay more more for a system with inferior graphics and lower performance than an Xbox 360 and you get stuck with a Betamax V2 player. With the Xbox 360 - the HD player is optional. Oh - and a free HD DVD disk too (of King Kong!).

I think that they should have made it optional for games support so that companies can write games for HD DVD if they wish. I expect they will allow that if they bring out an Xbox with integrated HD DVD - as they are rumoured to be working on.

Review: Format wars suck; the most dedicated people, the early adopters, are invariably the ones penalized for selecting a format in the beginning stages. Thing is, the whole reason this is even being offered for the 360 is because Sony is a main purveyer of Bluray. Were a rival not responsable for the format and using it in their console no less, I have no doubt that this would not even be in existance.
Because the PS3 uses Bluray for games, even if the format were to fail, dispite its myriad producer support (~90% of hollywood), bluray would still become an excellent format just for games. The games would still be playing on bluray discs, so your five or six hundred dollars is justified down the road. Here, with this add on, if HD-DVD goes belly up, then you're S.O.L. You've just blown 200 dollars on something that is obsolete. So ask yourself: do you really love HD-DVD/hate Bluray enough to wast 200 dollars of your own money?
Plus, there is the whole issue of it not being in true HD (ha! like that's important on an hd-dvd player. . .oh wait). Good look finding a TV that will display 1080p through component factors; the odds are about those for finding a four leaf clover outside of Ireland.
The bottom line is that unless you wake up every morning and say, "Gee, I think I'll risk wasting 200 dollars today. . .again!" this isn't a smart buy. Sure, it's cheap, it's still a great HD player, but it remains an unproven format, and one that isn't even solidified in terms of quality. It's in your best interest to wait this format war out before commiting.

Review:

Review: I think the add-on approach that Microsoft took is a good one for the consumer. Games really don't need storage beyond the current DVD-9 format in this generation of system. Sony's decision to include a Blu Ray drive as standard equipment on the PS3 is a questionable one. The added cost and production problems just do not seem worth it. This will very likely be an affordable, quality product, where the expense is purely an optional one as the HD-DVD drive will only be used for movies and not game content. Lack of HDMI may be a problem, but Microsoft has considerable weight to throw around when such a decision could adversely affect its interests.

Review: I think that it is great that we are not forced to buy this if we dont want. As of now, it will only be used for HD movies. It will probably be 3 years or so before the games will need the extra storage space.

Review: I have been looking at the picture quality of the bluray vs hddvd and I have to say the hddvd looks better(for now). I will buy one of these for my 360. Its a lot cheaper than buying a $500 hddvd player or $1000 for a bluray dvd player. Many Ps3 people are very upset with the poor picture quality of the ps3 and the sony bluray player. Maybe, thats just because of some problem right now. The Bluray disks are to expensive to make. The HDDVD are the way to go so thats why the price for this 360 add on is a good idea.

Review: I am having flashbacks to my Turbographix 16 add-on CD player and my Sega Genesis / Sega CD add-on. You would think that after several generations of consoles, they would plan for the future. The thing looks stupid, and the CNET review state all of the non-existent connectivity options. Plus, how confusing is it going to be when you buy games? Are there going to be double versions of each game to take advantage of the drive? Will the HD-DVD version cost a premium? Obviously I have more questions than answers, but this is poor planning on Microsoft's part. I should have saved my $400 toward the PS3. Lastly, Is it worth the jump when this tech could go the way of the Betamax?

Review: Assuming the same price for the US version, a 360 with a 20GB HDD, HD-DVD player and wireless network adapter would run you $677 vs $600 for the most expensive PS3 with a 60GB HD, Blu-ray player, wireless network adpater. And the 360 still doesn't support HDMI nor can you browser the web with it. And the 360 doesn't support compact flash/SD/memory stick. Hell, a 1GB SD card is cheaper than a 64MB memory card for the 360.

I supposed if you're just looking for a game machine then the 360 would be the better choice, but if you're looking have a DVD player that support HD along with a gaming mahcine then a PS3 is the way to go. Unless Microsoft drops the 360 by $100 or more. Which they said they weren't going to do. You take a risk of owning the next betamax no matter which you choose.

Review: The Xbox 360 was supposed to be the all-in-one system, right? Well, now we got this new HD-DVD player to add to the marriage.

Personally, if Microsoft wants to make all future games in HD-DVD format.. they might as well implent the player in a second generation Xbox 360. This new HD add-on for the moment seems like a tacky option. I don't think I'm that willing enough to go out and fork out money for HD movie viewing at the moment.