1. Do people still place their XBox 360's vertically? I'm wondering if the HD-DVD player will have the same disc scratching issues when placed in this position.

Posted at 4:41PM on Nov 9th 2006 by Ahsan

2. Interesting that it's almost impossible to make out any shape or detail on a PS3 because the things are so damn shiny.

I have my 360 set vertically and have never had any scratching problems. Apparently the scratching occurs if you move your console around while the disk is in there and spinning.

Posted at 4:54PM on Nov 9th 2006 by King Keepo

3. I have my wife's 360 sitting vertically because that is the best way to put it in our entertainment amoire in the bedroom.

We had it sitting in a cubby hole but it got too hot and was making alot of noise because the fans were working so hard.

No problems with it sitting vertically so far though.

Posted at 5:06PM on Nov 9th 2006 by Scott

4. I have it vertically now, it saves space that way. The scratching only happens when you move it, a friend of mine ruined his PGR3 disk moving it from vertical to horizontal. You can say that he learned his lesson.

Posted at 5:06PM on Nov 9th 2006 by SlyEcho

5. Yes, scratching is only if you move it while its spinning. Ask my 2 year old.

How noisy is this thing? That's what I want to know.

Posted at 5:08PM on Nov 9th 2006 by ciscomancer

6. "How noisy is this thing? That's what I want to know."

Reports over at the AVSForums say it is pretty quiet. You more than likely won't hear it over the noise from the 360.

Posted at 5:45PM on Nov 9th 2006 by Scott

7. That thing is huge! 360 + power boulder + HD-DVD drive + HD-DVD drive AC Adapter.

PS3 FTW!

Posted at 6:10PM on Nov 9th 2006 by patrick

8. Patrick... if there's one thing you can say about Xbox fanboys, especially those of use that have been fanboys since the original Xbox, it's that we honestly don't give even the smallest shit what kind of volume our console occupies vs the others. If your only argument in a post about the HD-DVD drive is size (and I don't blame you, I've read the side-by-side comparisons of the movies released on both bluray/hd-dvd too, so like you I know that bluray is shit by comparison) perhaps you should stick to the ps3fanboy blog instead?

Thanks for playing though!

Posted at 7:13PM on Nov 9th 2006 by AoE

9. Ugh...the PS3 is so damn ugly...It reminds me of 350z's, RX8's, newer Celicas, or Tiburons. Too many obnoxious curves and an overall aethetic nightmare.

Interesting...too bad they didn't have Wii to compare it to. I'm more likely to buy that instead of the drive.

I'm still not buying into Blu-ray or HD-DVD yet. The latter is likely to win out in the end, but I'm not taking the gamble.

Then again...I'm gambling that the $600 for the PS3 will be worth it.

Posted at 7:29PM on Nov 9th 2006 by SuicideNinja

10. DOES ANYONE KNOW AN OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE FOR THE HD-DVD DRIVE..... IVE HEARD AND/OR READ THE 7TH, THE 10TH, THE 17TH, THE 21ST..... !?!?!

Posted at 8:36PM on Nov 9th 2006 by CITYBOY

11. #8 Is that what you have to say about the ps3...a fanboy is defined as thus:

Fanboy or fanboi is a term used to describe an individual (usually male, though the feminine version fangirl may be used for females) who is utterly devoted to a single fannish subject, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession.

Thank you wikipedia for that one....now put that to say this.....

I am a 360 fanboy, PS3 Fanboy, Nintendo DS Fanboy, and PSP Fanboy...

I own PSP, PS2 *both versions, boxy and slim line*, an Xbox, a 360, Nintendo DS, and soon to own a PS3 *for the record, i'm not rich by anymeans, or get my money from mommy and daddy...I have a job like the rest of you working as a tech advisor for direct tv*.....

I say this for the fact that I love all the systems despite thier flaws...I may lean more towards sony more then M$....but you can be a fanboy all you want....but what is with the disrespect....just because Sony is the rival *and I do understand that this is a 360 FANBOY blog* why do you have to bash them...

Yes this is a console war...but if you take a look at PS3fanboy.com(which i know most of you would rather be the hyprotical system biggots that you are and take it up the ass before admiting let alone visiting the site* they are rare to bash the 360...if anything it was 360 fanboys comming over there to simply bash on the PS3...and for no damn reasion...

The blog posters are the ones that are the worst...you fail to see that M$ while putting out hella good games *the best for the 360 is GoW, i'm putting my money that it beats Halo 3 but thats a bold statment* but when will you see that they are raping you till no end....

I to am tempted to buy oodles and boodles of content....but these microtranscations are some times not worth it....while Sony and Nintendo plan on doing the same it is still the point that you bought a system that wants to you place your wallet into the hard drive and spits out a printed piece of paper that read "SUCKER" and an instruction manual that reads "PLACE ON FOREHEAD"....

This is next gen....granted next get takes alot of power and we need to make shure that our gaming systems don't over heat....but we are in the NEXT GEN...not CAVE MAN GEN erra of gaming...

While I will avidly play the PS3, and 360 accordingly it scares me to no end that I would have another "HOT BIRCK OF DOOM" if i was stupied enough to buy this HD-DVD drive....

Point and case....be a fanboy all that you wish till your blue in the face, obsession is a serious problem and if not identified quickly..but don't look line an ingorant ass by posting this shit on here or any where else...

"Next time you have a thought....just let it go..."- Ron White

Posted at 3:29AM on Nov 10th 2006 by Carnie

12. looks ok better than Microsoft could of made it

by the way either my 360 or cd wallet is scraping my discs like crazy

my Halo 2 won't load some levels anymore but I've yet to try fixing the disc

Maybe I should run a DvD cleaner might be something in my 360

Posted at 6:22AM on Nov 10th 2006 by Cdaghostie

13. Any one knows what power inputs have HD-DVD drive AC Adapter? Multi-region one like Xbox 360 Wireless Headset(100-240v) or region “locked” like Xbox one et 100-130v?

Posted at 7:07AM on Nov 10th 2006 by Stratege

14. Honeslty could care less about the release of HDDVD for my 360. I would never use it for my DVD player as the system is so damn loud already that the white noise would just kill a quiet point in a film.

Posted at 9:49AM on Nov 10th 2006 by glen

15. Got my HD-DVD drive this morning and overall, I am very impressed. I was a little worried about the picture quality because there is no hardware acceleration, but picture quality is fantastic on my 40" 720p LCD. Of course, I've never owned another next-gen player so I can't really compare. But I have seen HD content on cable and 720p and 1080i h.264-encoded files played back on my TV through my computer and it's the best quality of what I have seen.

As for noise, the drive is not completely silent but it's pretty quiet. Unfortunately, the 360 itself makes about 5x as much noise as the drive, but not as much as when playing a game. Basically, the 360 sounds like it is idling. Quieter than my laptop and about as loud as my CPU HSF. I had to put my ear up to the HD-DVD drive to really hear anything over the 360 itself.

A few more random notes. The remote sucks. You can't change language or subtitles, A->B looping, jump to chapter, or any of the standard things we have become accustomed to with DVD remotes. There doesn't seem to be any PUOs (Prohibited User Operations), so I could skip through the FBI warnings, etc. Not sure if this is an HD-DVD feature or the drive itself simply does not enforce PUOs. The remote has a "Guide" button but it doesn't work like the Guide button on the game controller. In fact, it doesn't seem to do anything at all - maybe it's for Media Center. So, you need to power up your game controller if you want to go back to the dashboard... lame.

Posted at 3:52PM on Nov 10th 2006 by Tonicboy

16. @Glen-

The sound is not bad at all. There are several things in my apartment - the hum of the refrigerator, the vent in the bathroom (damn noisy POS) and even the hum of my laptop in the next room - which are louder than the 360 when it is playing a movie. I sit 8ft from the 360 and I can only hear it when there is complete silence in the movie. Otherwise, it's just not noticeable.

Also, I have to retract what I said about the guide button. There is a button marked "Guide" on the remote, but this is not the Xbox Guide button. I totally missed the big round "X" button at the top of the remote. Unfortunately, the remote still sucks.

Posted at 5:35PM on Nov 10th 2006 by Tonicboy

17. picked one up off the shelf at Toys R Us in Glendale CA. I had an order at Amazon, but they pushed it back a week.

I have a standalone Toshiba HD-DVD player. S L O W is the word to describe the Toshiba standalone player, so I was hoping that the 360 would be an improvement and it is! It loads up a HD-DVD as quickly as a standard DVD. The picture quality on my 47" 1080p Westinghouse LCD is fantastic, equal to the Toshiba. Remote is a non issue as I use a Harmony remote and it controls the player with no problems.

Noise, yes the unit has more noise than I would care for, but as long as you are watching a movie at normal levels you are not going to notice it.

So far I'm VERY happy.

Plus the add in of King Kong...HD King Kong is SO much better than the DVD. The DVD is plain blurry compared, a title I have been looking forward to.

Posted at 8:11PM on Nov 10th 2006 by Randy

18. Just picked mine up last night.
Picture quality is AMAZING. I only have a 32 inch 1080i in the game room (where my setup is...) but, you can tell the difference between that and a normal dvd no problem.

I have a 55inch sony in the other room I might try it with later today.

The unit itself doesn't really seem that large like some people are saying. And it's actually pretty quiet.

Now if only the HD-DVD/DVD combo discs would come down in price. I figure if you go with the combo ones, if HD-DVD ends up losing the war, at least I can read them on blu-ray players anyways

Posted at 11:29AM on Nov 11th 2006 by Mekker

19. That picture just made my fill my jeans with my genes. Another week or so and I'll have that set up.

Posted at 6:26AM on Nov 12th 2006 by Steve

20. I used to have my 360 horizontal for a long time, but with lots of space above and behind. When I put it into a cubby for a entertainment unit it simply was not happy. Now I have it vertical and it works fine. When playing games the 360 does get hot, and it needs more than adequate airflow.

Posted at 12:55PM on Nov 12th 2006 by Lyme