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Geek Culture / 360 Owners - Few questions

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Richard Davey
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 03:55
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Hi guys,

I know some (well, a lot!) of you own 360's so I wanted to fire some questions at you as I'm thinking of getting one:

1) Can you get HDMI cables for it? I have 2 HDMI inputs on my LCD so I want to connect it there, plus of course it'll give me true HD. A (very quick) glance on Amazon.co.uk didn't reveal anything beyond component cables though.

2) Can you plug an ethernet cable directly into the console?

3) Can it connect to a wireless base station 'out of the box', or would I need to buy something else?

4) Can it play audio CDs? I suspect yes of course it can, how about ones with MP3 files on?

5) Is 20GB as big a drive as you can get?

Thanks

Heavy on the Magick
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Steve J
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 04:07 Edited at: 30th Dec 2006 04:10
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1) Not sure
2) RJ45, yes.
3) Not sure
4) Of course!
5) Not sure

Hmm, I cant seem to find the link, I might be wrong. I know for sure that it would void the warranty... so I think it might be.

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Everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.
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Raven
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 04:11 Edited at: 30th Dec 2006 04:14
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1) HD Component comes on the AV cable, but the HDMI connector hasn't been released yet.

2) Yes
3) Depends on how you want to connect. I'd assume by ethernet, in which case yes. Although you might have some routing issues, make sure to set the MAC address to what it is set to by you're ISP. Check my topic on "xbox live issues" about 2-3weeks back.

4) With the December Update (either burnt and updated from the xbox website back compatibility default.xex or downloaded from xbox live itself) you can use all forms of media on disc, ipod, psp, mp3 player, usb memory stick, or windows xp pc (updated with either media connect 2 or media player 11)

5) for the moment, yes. you have 14GB physically free and microsoft tend to cram some freebies on it for you so generally get closer to 13GB until you delete the crappy game trailers on there. they'll soon be releasing a new accessory for larger hard disks, but no idea when exactly.

[note] The firmware for the current HDD Expansion makes it impossible (even if you void the warrenty) to replace the hard disk with anything other than one of the same type and size.

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Richard Davey
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 04:15 Edited at: 30th Dec 2006 04:30
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Damn, that's annoying about the HDMI cable - the component sockets on my TV are already occupied by the Wii, and I don't intend swapping them out every time I want to play the 360. I think I'll wait until they release HDMI for it.

Edit - From further reading online it appears the 360 doesn't output a digital signal anyway, so a native HDMI cable isn't going to happen. The best I can hope for I guess is an HDMI adaptor, which is daft as it removes the whole digital element of the signal, but at least it will let me connect my 360 and Wii together.

Or my TV has a VGA input, so I guess I could try that providing I can route the sound in somewhere too.

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Raven
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 04:22
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If your monitor has it (my Philip 19" Widescreen HD came with it) there is an optical-out for HD, plus there is a VGA/DVI cable for it that fully supports the HD resolutions.

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Jeku
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 04:37
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Quote: "Damn, that's annoying about the HDMI cable - the component sockets on my TV are already occupied by the Wii, and I don't intend swapping them out every time I want to play the 360."


Hey you just answered the question I had. I'm faced with the same issue as you--- my HD cable box and Wii both plug into the only 2 component inputs on my TV, yet my HDMI port is free, so I have to keep switching the Wii for the 360 for the time being. I will pick up the HDMI 360 cable when it's released.

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Richard Davey
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 04:53
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Yeah I think I'm going to have to do the same Jeku. I mean I could put the Wii via scart, but I really don't want to have to! And the AV connections are on the side of my TV which is unsightly (they're only designed for connecting camcorders, etc).

I can run the cable box into one HDMI socket, but that still leaves the Wii and 360 fighting over one set of component sockets. If one of them releases an HDMI cable I'm sorted until I upgrade to an HD DVD player, then I'm back to square one

I wonder if there's such a thing as a single unit into which you can connect all your devices, and that just outputs on a single HDMI channel (and to the speakers) so you switch the inputs on that device rather than the TV itself. Something like an AV receiver I guess, but designed with consoles in mind

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indi
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 04:53
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you can buy switchers for multiple devices.

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Raven
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 05:33
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to be honest the Wii doesn't really warrent the HD-Component, as the graphics don't tend to look much better from SCART.

I don't understand why SCART itself wasn't used for adding HD instead of creating a new interface, honestly very annoying having to constantly adapt to new outputs.

TV we have in the front room has 2x SCART, RGB, S-Video, HDMI, HD-Component, 2x VGA, DVI and USB on it. Would make far more sense if it could all be set-up to use a single connection format. Anyhow, as I said the VGA/DVI Connector is honestly probably the best option unless you want it on you're TV, then personally I'd move the Wii to SCART and use HD-Component for the 360.

Annoyance but honestly only the 360 really looks much better with HD, especially when using the HD-DVD player. Not that HD-DVDs are honestly worth while unless you have a HD-Sound System (7.1/8.1) as it's only really the sound you notice.. additional colour depth and resolution does make some movies look better but mostly it's the games that really shine with it.

Gears of War on SD looks nice, but on HD is gorgeous. Same with Viva Pinata, and a few others.

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Jeku
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 06:00
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Quote: "I wonder if there's such a thing as a single unit into which you can connect all your devices, and that just outputs on a single HDMI channel"


Well, I was looking at getting one of those component selector devices, but then realized I'd have to buy a cable to go from the device to the TV, as well. In total it might cost $100-150 more, so just a proper 360 HDMI cable would be cheaper by far.

But Raven's right, the graphical jump for Wii to component 480p doesn't look half as good as the graphical jump for the 360 to 1080i. If I were you for the time being I'd leave the 360 plugged into component and the Wii into the regular SCART (or whatever you called it).

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Evil Star
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 11:14
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5. there soon will be a 50GB hard-drive


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Richard Davey
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 11:23
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The problem with the Wii over Scart is the horizontal banding - you get the 'marching ants' effect on certain colour combinations / displays. Notably the main Wii menu. Over component, when you alter the Wii system display settings, this vanishes. It's a reason enough for me to want the Wii over component at least.

I agree Raven, all of the damn connection types is very annoying indeed - but Scart is so old now I wonder if it even has the bandwidth required for a digital connection, never mind the fact it's analogue in nature. But really, you'd think they would have come up with some kind of standard by now (well prior to HDMI that is)

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Chris K
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 12:27
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There is an official wireless adapter for 360, it's a ripoff at about £60... it's USB I think. I would imagine you could use a standard one though.

Ethernet cable plugs straight in.

-= Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals =-
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SageTech
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 22:56
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Boy, I really am behind, as far as I'm concerned plugging it in to a standard TV looks fine. Is this digital and HD stuff THAT much of a difference?

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Battle Legacy has gone MMORPG! Nah, Im just kidding. But seriously, check the WIP

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 23:04
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Quote: "I don't understand why SCART itself wasn't used for adding HD"

Apart from any techinical things - money is the answer. Once everyone's bought SCART stuff they wont buy anymore, so releasing a new and required standard means they can sell all kinds of new cables.

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Jeku
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Posted: 30th Dec 2006 23:22
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Quote: "Is this digital and HD stuff THAT much of a difference?"


To put it bluntly, playing Gears of War with composite cables literally made my brain burst a vessel. Everything is just so--- clear. With SCART the picture kind of blends in with a washed look.

I would compare it with the jump from VHS to DVD. Back when VHS was the standard, it seemed just fine, but when you put in a DVD for the first time you can really see a striking difference.

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Raven
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Posted: 31st Dec 2006 01:06
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Quote: "Boy, I really am behind, as far as I'm concerned plugging it in to a standard TV looks fine. Is this digital and HD stuff THAT much of a difference?"


If you have Half-Life 2, or even better Doom 3 (and a fairly powerful pc)...

play through a level at 640x480/768x480 then at 1280x1048/1280x720

previously games like Half-Life(original) upping the resolution just ment less jaggies in the graphics output, but with Shader games the difference is the depth which the Shaders output at.
The more screenspace the better definition a Shader Surface can get. I mean I'm sure you've seen Gears of War television adverts (the one with the R.E.M. song), and also played it on your television.

You can clearly see on the advert there is a difference in how chrisp the shaders look, leaving you wonder when playing at an SD resolution given the TV advert is in SD (but rendered from HD output) why you're TV can't do that.
The difference in graphics for just the Shaders alone is incredible, but then also take into account that your colour depth goes from 4million to 16billion so you have far more depth of colour providing a better picture quality plus the larger resolution means that with the MSAA (anti-aliasing) in GoW the edges look sharp but flawless. Same goes for shadows and lighting, they all benifit from extra colour depth and sharper picture quality.

The difference itself is like playing GRAW or NFS:MW on the Playstation 2 then on the XBOX360-SD. That honestly is the sheer difference in graphics you get from High Definition. Feels like you're playing it on an entirely new platform, and the SD graphics for the 360 are hardly chicken feed to begin with.

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RUCCUS
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Posted: 31st Dec 2006 02:12
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Just thought Id point out, about the audi CD's and MP3 files, 360 actually has 3 (I think 3...) USB ports that you can plug your MP3 into to play muisic right from it. Though you may need an adapter depending on the dimensions of your MP3, as the USB slots are inset, my MP3 doesnt fit due to the case being stupid.

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Raven
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Posted: 31st Dec 2006 02:16
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should have 2 on the front (ment as controller ports) and 1 on the back underneath the ethernet

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Dot Merix
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Posted: 31st Dec 2006 09:08
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Rich.. I noticed you said that the xbox 360 does not send out a digital signal. If you have an lcd with a vga input you should use it with the 360 as this is a pure digital signal.

Not sure if you guys knew this, but as far as the hd-dvd attachment for the 360 goes... Some movies that come out for it are 1080p, however from my understanding component cables can not support that resolution standard.. However, if your tv has the vga input then it can indeed send the signal in 1080p.

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Richard Davey
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Posted: 1st Jan 2007 13:27
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Dot Merix - my TV does indeed have a VGA input, so I will certainly have to try this option. Just for the record though, VGA isn't a digital signal at all, it's still analogue (DVI is the true digital equivalent), but it can handle the resolution required for a true HD display, which is probably where the confusion comes in.

Heavy on the Magick
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David R
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Posted: 1st Jan 2007 14:23
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Quote: "(the one with the R.E.M. song)"


Isn't it the "Mad World" track by Gary Jules (but a cover of Tears for Fears)? Unless there's a new advert I haven't seen


"History shall be kind to me, for I intend to write it" - Winston Churchill
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