UPGRADE XL301 TO HDD-DVD FOR £110 WITH XBOX 630 HD-DVD DRIVE

[Goatman]

Apologies if this is already common knowledge, but I've just discovered it and have to share!
I have an XL301 Living Room PC. Although I'm really interested in HD DVD, I couldn't justify the extra cost of the XL-302 with its Blu-Ray Drive. But I've found a much cheaper way to go HD. I've just purchased the USB HD-DVD external drive for the XBOX-360 (£109.98 delivered from Amazon). It's plug and play in Vista. Once you've let the drivers automatically install, your system will report that it has a Toshiba HD-DVD drive installed. To watch HD-DVD movies (or to watch your existing DVD's upscaled), the only other thing you'll need is software that supports HD-DVD playback (Vista Media Centre unfortunately doesn't). Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra does it for me. I now have brilliant HD-DVD playback on my Dell 37" HD TV. I'm going to buy another drive specifically for our XBOX-360, so we'll have HDD-DVD installed in two rooms for what I think is a budget price. I almost can't believe how easy and cheap this solution is!

If you're thinking of doing this yourself, just make sure that you have all the latest Vista updates installed, so it will automatically find the XBOX-360 HDD-DVD drivers when you plug it in.
Have fun!
- Mike

[ChalkyWhite71]

After going out and buying an expensive DVD-ROM player years ago for my PC, then DVD writers followed very soon after, I'm tempted to wait until DVD-HD recorders arrive, by which time there'll be a better selection of pre-recorded films at a good price.

Nice tip though Goatman! 😉

[Goatman]

Agreed, it's the price of HD movies at the moment that's the main issue. The price differential between HD-DVD (or Blu-Ray) and regular DVD is about the same as the gap between DVD and VHS was when DVD launched. The clincher for me is that getting a HD-DVD drive now for £110 enables me to watch my existing DVD collection upscaled to 720p HD without burning a hole in my pocket.
New toys, eh?

[ITTroll]

Yes this is a good option and one I have been considering too. How does the HD DVD playback behave alongside Media Center? Does PowerDVD integrate well?

There is also a nice black slimline Toshiba drive (PA3530U-1HD1), however this only seems to be available in the US and is a bit more expensive.

[@0264405400002079]

Hi Goatman, great advice about the hd dvd drive.I have a blu-ray vaio laptop and would love to have the best of both worlds.Will the hd dvd drive work with xp mce.
:smileygrin:

[ITTroll]

I believe it will work on XP but you will need to install a device driver (Vista has native support). I think it is easy to search for and download.

[@0264405400002079]

Thanks man, am hoping to purchase one in the next few weeks and will search for drivers. :smileygrin:

[Goatman]

Hi Guys,
Sorry I've been away for a while. Nice to see the thread's still alive!
Regarding integration into Vista Media Centre - it doesn't! Vista Media Centre simply doesn't support HD playback. I understand that even on the XL302 the Blu-Ray playback isn't integrated into Media Centre - am I right? I've purchased and installed Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra for watching HD-DVDs on the XBOX 360 Drive. It works fine, but I have to drop back to Vista Desktop to run it. I did put a shortcut to PowerDVD in MC's "Online Media > Program Library". It worked, but playback tended to stutter (HD playback really does take some rendering!) I've found that actually shutting down Media Centre (and any other unnecessary apps) is wise because HD playback is so demanding on the system that it can sometimes stutter unless you give it the whole machine to work with. But the results are gorgeous for relatively little outlay. It's a great way to dip your toe into the waters of HD-DVD without breaking the Bank.

I notice that Drivers for the XBOX 360 HD-DVD drive have been mentioned. I didn't need any additional drivers - just make sure you've installed all the latest Vista updates, and the driver will be found automatically when you plug the drive in (it reports as a Toshiba HD/DVD drive).