Xbox 360 to get a new HD DVD drive in 2008
By Nilay Patel 
posted September 20th 2007 4:29PM
posted September 20th 2007 4:29PM
Details are beyond sketchy at this point, but Personal Computer World is reporting that Mark Bennett, Microsoft's European HD DVD business director, announced that Microsoft would be shipping a revised 360 HD DVD drive in 2008 -- presumably one with improved support for HD DVD's HDi interactive features, which Microsoft is touting as being "nine months" ahead of Blu-ray. That's all the info we have for now, but you can bet we haven't heard the last of this one.[Thanks, ChronoZaga]
My guess is that it will fix the flaw that so many of us have come to know and love: a way around HDCP.
There are no real details yet. Maybe they're just coming out with one to match the colors of the Elite.
this article doesnt make any sense at all and is totally inaccurate. first of all, the 360 already supports hdi, and secondly, how the hell would a drive have any effect on what is done in software? its a freaking drive, all it does is read bits off of a disk.
For gods sakes already. just add the hd dvd drive in as a replacement for the normal dvd-rom.
there's nothing wrong with upgrading a console (keep games on dvd only, not hd-dvd so there's no issues).
the problem is, people complain if you update a console. instead of realizing it extends the lifespan of the device (good for everyone that owns it!!) they complain because it's now better than theirs... very short sighted. we'd still be on 486's if we took that attitude with pc's.
Sod this format war - I'm on both sides of the fence! (I have a PS3 & 360 HD-DVD drive)
Although, having got both & watched a few movies on both formats I'm a lot more impressed with the HD-DVD, and that's mostly because of the HDi stuff but I think that's really important as the difference in video quality between HiDef & DVD isn't worth the markup alone
God you guys are a bunch of wieners.
The current drive supports HDi, plays EVERY HD DVD title, is fast, output quality is EXCELLENT, it decodes EVERY video and sound format inc Dolby True HD and DTS HD, it's inexpensive . . . For what it is it is close to perfect.
What is it again all of you lot are complaining about . . ???? Oh yeah, thats it, any reason to complain.
"Early adopter" blah blah blah . . sheeesh.
The HDMI on the 360 only carries 2channel PCM audio audio streams. The other option is to send the audio over the optical connection. So the fact that the drive does decode Dolby TrueHD doesn't mean you actually get to hear it. It decodes the TrueHD and then encodes it into normal DTS (with the latest update). So you lose a lot of the audio quality present in the TrueHD soundtrack.
Maybe the new HD-DVD drive is going to be for a new 360 revision that will fully support HDMI v1.3
Honestly, the only thing that I could see them doing is adding high bit stream audio support to the player(not sure if USB 2.0 will be able to handle this, but perhaps that's the reason for the revision), in addition to DTS HD and DTS Master Audio on board decoding. As it stands the player already decodes TrueHD and the other lossless/lossy audio formats in the same fashion as a standalone player would, and you're really not missing out on that much.
On top of that the current player is amazing. I owned it for close to a year (bought it the day it came out) and just recently had to let it go after a direct lightning strike to my house fried the drive, along with my receiver. I have since upgraded to the 3rd generation Toshiba A30 and I'm loving it quite a bit, but I'm missing the incredibly fast load times of the add-on.
The bottom line? If you happen to have the premium that is equipped with HDMI(or even if you don't) the current add-on is the absolute best option for anyone who is interested in HD DVD. There is no question. Not to mention the fact that with the official announcement of the new add-on the price will drop even further for the add-on before the year is out. Perhaps even to $150 or $100 at some places.
acctually I think the bottom line there was that lightning + electronics = bad.
did you not have a surge protector? or did it blow right through it?
I feel like holding my computer tight in my arms and keeping it safe now from the vengeful spite of mother nature...
Actually, the irony of it all was that my modem and router had been fried a week before, and I went out to buy a battery backup/surge protector for my home theater, in the hopes that I would avert a similar tragedy. However, since it was a direct lightning hit (the lightning struck the front yard/side of the house) the protector isn't guaranteed to protect against direct hits. What's worse? The plumbing for our house is kinda old and the lightning happened to burst the water main for the house, and since no one was home until my roommates and I all got off from work/school the front yard was like a pool, and we were without water for two days waiting for the plumber to fix the main.
Altogether the experience was awful to say the least.
I wish I could make love to my sister's bitches. They're pretty hot.
9 months ahead of Blu-Ray...
And it comes out when in 2008? 2nd quarter or so. LOL
Keep your lols to yourself...HDi's interactivity features are 9 months ahead of Blu-ray's (so far non-existent) advanced interactivity features. :)
WTF? The HD DVD drive is just that, a drive. HDi is handled by the XBox360. Pretty much everything to do with actually playing an HD DVD is handled by the XBox.
The "revised drive" I'm betting is nothing more than using cheaper Lite-On drives instead of Toshiba drives that it's currently using.
Wow - keep taking the pills, dude!
Wow, I saw this coming. I'm willing to bet this is why they are doing it too - With the old HDDVD drive you could hook it up to a computer and use it to pirate HDDVDs really easily. So they are going to make a new and improved "better" version with more features that could have been done with software probably, just so everyone who doesn't realize this gets rid of the old "crappy" one for this one. I was surprised they didn't issue a re-call.
They had to stop the piracy somehow, and this probably is the most effective method, unfortunately an Xbox 360 HDDVD drive isn't the only way in existence to pirate HDDVDs :P
I must admit I've had a few wonky issues with my HD-DVD drive. Nothing major, but a few discs read inconsistently, and there's been a couple times where it's spun up for no reason while I'm doing other things on my 360.
If the new version is a bit more elegant and matches the Elite, I might upgrade. But I'm happy with my current drive. I was one of the biggest scoffers of HD-DVD until I tried it. The movies look GREAT and the software feels nice. Good stuff.
"JUST LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE ALREADY!"
No problems. Rumor was false.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/rumor-smashed/relax-no-new-xbox-hd-dvd-drive-in-2008-302183.php
everyone can stop freaking out, this is a false report. microsoft has chimed in to say that they are NOT producing a new drive and that they are happy with the one they have.
Everyone knows the Xbox720 will feature a built-in HDDVD-RW/BD-RW drive, so there's really nothing to see here, people. Move along, move along...
Hey, remember this "debunked rumor?"
"We're always working on prototypes and new technologies and just playing with stuff in Redmond to see what's interesting," Satchell told GameSpot. "At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we're thinking about announcing."
Microsoft will "officially deny/debunk" rumors until the release date. They don't want people to stop buying them in anticipation of an upgrade.
See..
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/rumor-smashed/relax-no-new-xbox-hd-dvd-drive-in-2008-302183.php
Nilay - the HDi stuff is done through software. It wouldn't need a new drive. So it's anyone's guess what the new drive is for. Maybe just cheaper, faster?
Why don't they just integrate this dumb thing once and for all and get it over with? Nobody wants an external drive.
Maybe it will be a slimmer version. HDi is handled in software, it's got nothing to do with the drive.
I have a PS3 and the 360 HD Drive and I go by how well made the player is not by what features it might have.
The PS3 has it all integrated in the PS3 so no need for this cheap a** drive like the 360 HD drive is.
Don't breath on the HD Drive or it might break.
The scary part is you can hear things moving in the HD Drive were you can't in the PS3.
The PS3 might be a lot more but your paying for many years of study and research in putting there technologies together.
Unlike the 360 and Wii that you need to get some other drive in order to view the HD part of movies.
I am all for putting the HD into the 360 I hate the seperate drive stuff.
It makes my 360 look junkie.
And for that matter the Wii only plays games and a few other features.
And for that matter I still get Standard DVD's cuzz both formats are still new and both have a big price tag on them.
They run about $25 to $130 depending on what movie or if it is a tv series etc.
When I can pay about $10 to $30 for standard dvd that looks fine.
And I don't care about picture in picture feature.
I don't use them.
I just watch the movie.
This is just another BetaMax Vs VHS tape and guess what the VHS which was crappier won out.
So neither of them may win it might be Standard DVD that wins out in this whole stink on me I stink on you war.
And too there are always bugs and product features that get added or taken off.
Just look at the early Standard DVDs it just had the movie on the DVD and nothing else.
This is similar with these two formats of HiDef discs
More features will come when they figure out how things work more on both formats etc.
And if I had to choose between them?
I would not pick either I would actualy pick Standard DVD since they have been around for about 10 years or more and have been going strong for awhile now.
Eventualy SD DVD's will go away like VHS has but for now SD DVD is still the winner here for being cheaper and not that much video quality lost on them.
Trie sticking a full 10GB DVD on a VHS it won't work very well so in the respect VHS is anchient.
Not saying SD DVD is not anchient either but it is newer then VHS.
So I guess my point is that these things are just rediculus as to which format will win out.
I personally could give a flying fig which one wins.
Later,
Daiwin