UNBOXING: XBOX 360 HD DVD Drive And A First Look

The wait is finally over for me… the XBOX 360 HD DVD drive finally arrived and here is the unboxing:


The box and some HD DVD movies


What you see when you open the box.


After you pull the drive out.


Everything in the box, exposed.



Back Connections.


The HD DVD drive.

Here is the first image from the HD DVD player display on a 50″ plasma. The image is spectacular and I’ll report back once I spend more time with the drive. The next step for me will be hooking up the drive to the 110″ screen running Vista Ultimate Media Center… stay tuned.

Danny Mavromatis: Seattle, WA

View Comments (10)

  • I take it your are not getting the new $499 Toshiba Player?
    I'll be interested to know how this looks on the plasma. The XBox drive doesn't support 1080 yet right?

  • I take it your are not getting the new $499 Toshiba Player?
    I'll be interested to know how this looks on the plasma. The XBox drive doesn't support 1080 yet right?

  • Will,
    No, no interest in buying dedicated players. I went down that path before. I'm sticking to computer based devices so I can just swap out the drive.
    As for the 1080p, my plasma doesn't support it. It's native resolution is 720p but supports 1080i. The projector does support 1080p (if I force it) XG135 (reference CRT based with moome DVI interface). Now that I mention that, I wonder if the moome card even supports 1080p. I'm happy with 720p... even at 110".

  • Will,
    No, no interest in buying dedicated players. I went down that path before. I'm sticking to computer based devices so I can just swap out the drive.
    As for the 1080p, my plasma doesn't support it. It's native resolution is 720p but supports 1080i. The projector does support 1080p (if I force it) XG135 (reference CRT based with moome DVI interface). Now that I mention that, I wonder if the moome card even supports 1080p. I'm happy with 720p... even at 110".

  • Interesting. I'm at a point where I am rebuilding my entire audio and video system. The sound is being covered by a Sonos system and I have not settled on the video yet.
    I think the initial cost of a PC (dedicated to media) plus the continued cost of upgrading the box (frequently) scares me. Whereas my Denon DVD player lasted me I guess 7 years before I replaced it to get better upscaling. Total cost for DVD players - $700 over seven years.
    And of course, I am unsure as to the quality of PC based playback for the big screen.

  • Interesting. I'm at a point where I am rebuilding my entire audio and video system. The sound is being covered by a Sonos system and I have not settled on the video yet.
    I think the initial cost of a PC (dedicated to media) plus the continued cost of upgrading the box (frequently) scares me. Whereas my Denon DVD player lasted me I guess 7 years before I replaced it to get better upscaling. Total cost for DVD players - $700 over seven years.
    And of course, I am unsure as to the quality of PC based playback for the big screen.

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