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Microsoft nixes HD DVD drive for Xbox 360

gkarris

gkarris

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http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9877624-7.html

February 24, 2008 12:25 PM PST
Microsoft nixes HD DVD drive for Xbox 360
Posted by Erica Ogg | 36 comments


Microsoft will end production of the external HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 video game console, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The company said it would, however, continue to offer warranty support for the peripheral.

"HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own," Blair Westlake, a corporate vice president of Microsoft's media and entertainment group, said in a statement.

The drive, which currently costs about $130, was intended as Microsoft's answer to Sony's PlayStation 3 console, which contained an integrated Blu-ray Disc drive.

Microsoft is just the latest top-tier tech company to abandon the failed high-definition disc format. Along with Toshiba, Intel, and NEC, Microsoft was one of the most prominent supporters of the standard. Toshiba said last week it would no longer make HD DVD players. Wal-Mart Stores, Best Buy, and all the major movie studios have all now said they will exclusively support Blu-ray.

The biggest proponent of Blu-ray, Sony, now stands poised to become the standard bearer of HD video mostly because of its strategy in including Blu-ray playback capability into the PS3. It's unclear if Microsoft now plans to make an attachable Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360.
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360EpicFail.jpg


For $49, might as well go and buy one if you have a 360.
 
Just so you are aware, the XBOX 360 HD-DVD drive actually works on Macs and PCs. A cheap alternative for those MBA owners who don't want to burn discs from their Air.

TEG
 
TEG said:
Just so you are aware, the XBOX 360 HD-DVD drive actually works on Macs and PCs. A cheap alternative for those MBA owners who don't want to burn discs from their Air.

TEG
Click to expand...

Its a dead format, why put any money in to it? I have a Laserdisc player I can sell you if you like obsolete stuff!

Ed
 
Ed H said:
Its a dead format, why put any money in to it? I have a Laserdisc player I can sell you if you like obsolete stuff!

Ed
Click to expand...

$50 is cheaper than some external DVD players. If someone needs an external drive for the MacBook Air, then why not? Just more loss for Microsoft :)
 
GFLPraxis said:
$50 is cheaper than some external DVD players. If someone needs an external drive for the MacBook Air, then why not? Just more loss for Microsoft :)
Click to expand...

When you put it that way (the loss part) it makes me want to buy one. However I would need proof that its a MS loss before I did it. So find me proof that its a loss and you have yourself one compliments of me.

Ed
 
Ed H said:
When you put it that way (the loss part) it makes me want to buy one. However I would need proof that its a MS loss before I did it. So find me proof that its a loss and you have yourself one compliments of me.

Ed
Click to expand...

Do you really think they just dropped the price from $180 to $130 to $49 within this short a period of time, plus 5 free movies, with the intention of making a profit? :D

Heck, the five free movies cost more than $50.
 
GFLPraxis said:
Heck, the five free movies cost more than $50.
Click to expand...

I'm hearing that places are closing out HD DVD movies for cheap. I have yet to find these places.

Best Buy is still selling HD DVD's for their normal near-retail prices. So is Circuit City.

Amazon.com is selling many titles for $13.49, which includes no-tax and free shipping for orders over $25.

If you figure that the movies are worth about $8 each. You get 5 free movies, plus the one included, that's $48. That's $1 for the drive and $1 for the media remote. :eek:

MS on their website has it for retail for $50:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360hddvdplayer/default.htm
 
gkarris said:
I'm hearing that places are closing out HD DVD movies for cheap. I have yet to find these places.

Best Buy is still selling HD DVD's for their normal near-retail prices. So is Circuit City.

Amazon.com is selling many titles for $13.49, which includes no-tax and free shipping for orders over $25.

If you figure that the movies are worth about $8 each. You get 5 free movies, plus the one included, that's $48. That's $1 for the drive and $1 for the media remote. :eek:

MS on their website has it for retail for $50:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360hddvdplayer/default.htm
Click to expand...

It's $50 on Best Buy's web site as well, they probably haven't updated the in-store systems or price tags.
 
I picked one up on the way home for most of those reasons above... and like some have pointed out, its a real cheap external DVD drive for OS X :)

I'm just hoping for the off chance that someone makes it easy to encode HD-DVD to h.264 files for the Apple TV sometime in the not-so-distant future.

Here's to wishful thinking! :)
 
I saw the xbox 360 HD-DVD drive for $35 today at Best Buy, I thought about buying it but I was wondering if it is really worth it or not now?

I already have the xbox remote, and don't have any plans to buy a ps3 or bluray for the moment. I tried to look up any alternate uses for the drive, but the only useful thing that I found out was that it can be hooked up to an EEE pc to play normal dvds on that system.

I was unable to find any hd-dvd's in the store, and online (amazon) it looks like the movies are still selling for $15 to $20 each, so no real fire sale yet for them that I have seen.

Does this drive work out of the box for normal dvds on macs or pc's? I was thinking of using it to save some wear and tear on my macbook's superdrive when I use mac the ripper and other dvd intensive software.
 
buy it

If you use your 360 for the sole purpose of playing games - don't buy it.

If you use your 360 to watch movies or play other media, buy it (at $49).

Standard DVDs do look better with it, it's far quieter, and it spares your 360's disc drive any unnecessary wear and tear (for those of us who sometimes fall asleep watching movies and don't turn off the 360 until the next day).
 
Standard DVDs will not look any different then using the internal drive of the 360.
 
I went ahead and purchased it to play around with on the xbox 360, mac, and pc.

I suspect that I will use it much more use as a normal dvdrom with the mac/pc than with the xbox, as $35 for a USB dvdrom drive is a good deal. I guess several of the eee PC owners (and some Macbook air owners) have been buying them up to use as a primary dvdrom drive for their machine.

Any movies I get to watch in HD on the xbox is just a bonus feature (now that they won't be making more.) They do look nice vs a normal dvd, to bad sony won the HD war this time.

Thanks for the input on the drive.

(I'm going to send the xbox remote that came with the unit off to a friend, so it will get some use too. ;) )
 
I'm planning on getting one for my upcoming MSI Wind (like an Asus EEE but better, they're just not out yet). Can't wait for either really. Plus a 2nd USB DVD drive will make ripping my DVD collection that bit faster.
 
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