What an end of the week it was for me. On Thursday, I was lucky enough to spend some time at the Microsoft Zune Preview Party here in Los Angeles. Then Friday morning, I get a nice little package in the mail - my Xbox 360 HD DVD player had finally arrived from Amazon.com. Boy was I stoked folks. Thus, you know where I’m going with this article today. Yup - today we’re going to take a look at the latest peripheral to hit the Xbox 360 shores - the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from Microsoft. Let’s jump right into it shall we?

A look around..

The first thing that struck me when I picked up the packaging was how heavy the product was in my hands. I just wasn’t expecting the product to weigh as much as it did (Sorry - I don’t have the actual weight with me but I’ll try and get that info for you later on).

Here are pictures of the outside of the box:

Let’s open up the box shall we?

Here’s everything laid out in front of the camera.

The Xbox 360 HD DVD player comes with the following:

• Xbox 360 HD DVD Player
• Universal Remote Control
• Two AA batteries
• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable
• Power Supply
• AC Power Cord

Here are pictures of the HD DVD player itself. Doesn’t it look like a mini Xbox 360 console? I thought so.

One thing to note about the back - the Xbox 360 HD DVD player has a built in USB hub which is great for those who have several 360 accessories using the current USB ports.

Microsoft also packaged the Xbox 360 Universal Remote Control which is different from the remote control that came with my original premium system. Here is a close up snapshot of the two remotes.

I have no real use for this universal remote since I have the Logitech Universal remote but if you don’t have a universal remote, then you should enjoy the one bundled with the Xbox 360 HD DVD player.

One final thing - the player comes with a copy of King Kong on HD DVD for a limited time.

Setting things up

Setting up the new Xbox 360 HD DVD player is extremely easy. It boils down to the following steps:

1. Make sure your Xbox 360 is updated with the HD DVD player software installed (The package comes with a disc you put into the Xbox 360 drive)
2. Find a place to put the HD DVD player
3. Connect the player to the power supply
4. Connect the player to your Xbox 360 via the USB cable
5. (optional) Connect any devices to the HD DVD player’s USB ports
6. Configure your console display settings if need be for HD viewing

Let’s spend a bit more time on the setup portion.

First up - there’s the software installation. The HD DVD player comes with a disc which you place right into the Xbox 360 DVD drive. Once you pop it in, the 360 console will also inform you that there’s an update available. The whole software setup process took less than 30 seconds to perform on my console.

Now came the hardest part - finding a place for the player and hooking up the cables.  I have the Xbox 360 lying on its side beneath my Sony HDTV (which is a Direct View/Tube HDTV - one heavy motha..) so there really wasn’t a whole lot of room for another device. I finally decided to simply stack the HD DVD player on top of the Xbox 360 console as pictured here.

There are usually two downsides to external devices. One - you have yet another device to connect and two - you have yet another power brick to deal with. The Xbox 360 HD DVD player’s brick is definitely smaller than the Xbox 360 power brick.. but it’s still another brick to contend with.

All you have left to do is to connect the USB cable between the Xbox 360 and the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. If you already have something connected to the back of the 360 - no worries here. The HD DVD player comes with a built in USB hub offering two additional USB ports. I have an Xbox Live Vision camera which was originally connected to the back of the Xbox 360. It’s now connected to the HD DVD player instead.

Once everything was connected, the system was ready to rock and roll! Here’s a video that I took of the Xbox 360 and the HD DVD player connected:

Start up the 360 and you’ll notice practically nothing different. The only real indication that something is different is with the lower portion of the Dashboard where you now have an option of either opening the integrated DVD drive or the external HD DVD drive. You select which drive to open by selecting the upper or lower half of the circle on the lower left. You’ll know you’re dealing with the HD DVD drive because it’ll say so and you’ll see the HD DVD logo.

So what’s the point for all of this?

Ah yes - so why did we buy an HD DVD player again?

Well it’s all about the content of course! With the HD DVD player connected, you’;; be able to instantly enjoy the growing collection of HD DVD discs out there. Of course there’s a format war brewing between HD DVD and Blu-ray but we won’t really discuss that here.  The point is - if you own an Xbox 360, you now have the option of upgrading to HD DVD playback from the standard DVD playback that the Xbox 360 initially supported. Of course all of this really only matters to people who own HDTV sets with their Xbox 360.

You might be wondering - I own a 720p/1080i HDTV - will I be able to enjoy this? You betcha! HD DVD titles were clearly sharper on my 720p/1080i display vs the corresponding DVD version of the same title. For those of you curious - my Xbox 360 is connected to my home theater system via component cables.

I had a few movie titles on hand where I had both the HD DVD version and the DVD version. The titles were King Kong, Apollo 13 and Batman Begins. I played back both the DVD versions and the HD DVD versions and it was just so obvious that the HD DVD versions were WAY better. The HD DVD versions of the titles were sharper, brighter, and more vibrant at times than the DVD counterparts. I wish I had snapshots of the pictures but you’ll just have to believe me when I tell you that the video output from the Xbox 360 HD DVD player was worth it for the price. Your mileage may vary depending on the title of course. Certain older movies won’t show as much or any gain but newer movie titles should look better on HD DVD.

The good stuff…

Let’s briefly sum up some of the positive aspects about the Xbox 360 HD DVD player.

• It’s inexpensive. At $199, you get the player, the cables, a King Kong HD DVD disc, and a universal remote control. Let’s also not forget that an Xbox 360 + HD DVD player is a far better value than a standalone HD DVD player right now.
• It’s EASY to set up
• You’ll instantly see the beauty of HD DVD as long as you have a 720p/1080i or better HDTV
• The drive is quiet and easy to use

On final note - if you want 1080p resolutions, you’ll need to connect the Xbox 360 to your television set via the VGA output (and of course assuming your televion set supports 1080p resolutions).

UPDATE: Nov.25th, 2006

Some people have noted that they are getting 1080p to work over component. If you have an HDTV that can actually handle 1080p over component, then you can probably do 1080p out from your HD DVD. However, this does not mean you can upscale your DVD content to 1080p over the component lines.

and some of the bad stuff..

The answer to that is simply - YES. The Xbox 360 HD DVD player is an external option which means more wires and another power supply to deal with.

I felt it was necessary to mention this - I did run into two instances where the HD DVD player seemed to crap out on me. The first time was in playing the included King Kong HD DVD where the video would stutter every so often. A simple reset fixed that. The second time something happened was when I was playing back Batman Begins. Right in the 2nd chapter, the video completely freezes resulting in a reset. I haven’t had a problem since but I thought it was important to mention this. Of course, given the complexity of the software decoder used for the HD DVD player, I’m sure we’ll see some glitches here and there. The nice thing? It’s easily patchable by Microsoft via Xbox Live.

The other problem is more of a problem with the Xbox 360 itself. The console currently does not offer HDMI output which could lead to a problem. Movie studios COULD program HD DVD discs to display at a lower resolution when outputting via component video cables. Why? When video is sent over the component cables, it’s unencrypted which means you’ll potentially have the ability to record it. With HDMI in place, HDCP couild be used to protect the content. The titles that I’ve played with thus far are all far better on HD DVD than in DVD formats but who knows if that will continue.

Finally, the biggest problem is the format war of course. No one knows who will win but if Blu-ray does win, then you’ll probably find less and less HD DVD content available for sale (if any at all over time). If you enjoy your HD DVD titles, then it’s important to spread the word! Make sure movie studios realize HD DVD is a viable path for movies.

A little Q&A:

Here are some questions (and answers) about the Xbox 360 HD DVD player that people have asked on the Xbox.com forums.

Q: Will the HD DVD player upconvert current DVD titles

A: If you use component cables, the player will not upconvert DVD titles. If you connect a VGA cable between the 360 and the TV set, you can upconvert your DVD titles to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p - depending on what your TV supports

Q: What resolutions can the HD DVD player play back HD DVD titles at?

A: If your 360 player is connected via component cables, then you can play back at 720p or at 1080i. Update (11/25/2006) - If you have an HDTV which supports 1080p over component, then you can view 1080p from your 360 via the HD DVD player (but no upscaling of other content mind you). If you are connected via the VGA cable, then you have the option of displaying HD DVD titles at 1080p. AGAIN - this is assuming your television set supports the resolutions in question.

Q: Will the HD DVD player play back regular DVD titles?

A: Yes!

Q: Is the HD DVD player noisy?

A: Not at all. I don’t even think I can hear it when it’s on. Once the movie is going, I definitely don’t hear a thing!

Summary

HD DVD finally comes to the Xbox 360 via the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player. With the player in hand, you can easily start enjoying the HD DVD revolution now - assuming of course you have an HDTV on hand. Yes - there are some open issues that are not yet resolved. What will movie companies do with component video output playback? Will Microsoft ever release HDMI connectors for the 360? Will HD DVD prevail or will Blu-ray kick it’s butt?? All important questions that just can’t be answered right now. However, if you want an inexpensive way to get into the HD DVD revolution, then the Xbox 360 HD DVD player is the way to go - assuming of course you already own an Xbox 360. If you don’t have the game console and you don’t want the game console, you’ll probably be better served with a standalone HD DVD player. For the gamers out there - this a great easy solution for the here and now.

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