Is Xbox a good DVD player? (1 Viewer)

[Tim Kline]

I'm sure this has been asked 100 times already but one more can't hurt
I'm planning to get an Xbox, prolly not till after xmas. I don't have a massive home theater, just a decent TV (planning to upgrade to the new Sony widescreen Wega HDTV I've been seeing, soon) and newbie but goodie 5.1 setup and all that. I currently have the Sony 360 DVD player which was their cheapest model last year when I got it.
How well does Xbox handle DVDs? Both video and audio? Would it be a wise move to use this as a replacement for my stand-alone DVD player, and buy the remote for it? Does the remote have to take up one of the game controller spots like the PS2 does, making me have to switch back and forth when I want to watch a movie or game (or can I plug it into the 4th controller slot where I'll rarely have to move it?)? And speaking of my remotes, can I program it into a Pronto remote? If all goes well I'll be getting one for Xmas :p What about the connections for component video and optical audio connectors, does that work good? Is the xbox progressive scan so it will look better when I get that $4000 HDTV?

 

[James Nguyen]

Tim,
all in all, the Xbox makes a rather good DVD player. It's far from being feature rich enough to compete with higher end players like my RP91, but it does do a fairly good job. Color reproduction seemed rather good (I did notice the chroma bug in Toy Story however...not as much as I'd seen with my old Apex however). Interface wise, the DVD playback menu system is far and away better than my PS2's playback.
The dvd playback kit's sensor will work just fine sitting in the 4th control slot so placing it there will allow you to play games without having to swap out the IR receiver often unless you play w/ 4 players regularly.
Some HTFers have experimented and it turns out that the remote although produced by Phillips, uses standard RCA dvd remote codes. Literally if you have the IR receiver in there, you can use an existing RCA remote to operate the xbox. So given that, yes, it ought to program into the Pronto without a hitch. I've been meaning to work on my Pronto ccf lately to add the xbox (and my several month old Malata) but I've been lazy. Shouldn't be a problem there however.
Given that you're looking to replace a relatively low end player, I have no qualms recommending the xbox as a dvd player. It does a rather fine job considering DVD playback is more or less a "bonus" on top of a rather fine gaming machine. It's a shame they had to take out progressive playback for DVD due to issues with Macrovision, but for the price, you're getting one hell of a gaming console with rather good DVD playback.

 

[Tim Kline]

Thanks for the extra informative reply, that's all I needed to know
But 1 more question now ...
Since they took out the progressive scan part as you said.. when I do get this nice new HDTV, will movies look crappy? I'd say this TV is 6 months away at least... so it's not a problem for me right now, but of course when I get my great tv I'll want the best picture I can get I guess I will have to just buy a progressive scan player too when the time comes? But until I do, will the picture be bad on a really good tv? (I guess that's more a general dvd question than xbox releated though)

 

[James Nguyen]

I personally wouldn't say you'd have a "bad" picture with a good interlaced image on a progessive capable TV....the videophiles here may disagree, but by no means would you be getting bad video quality IMO. In the end it'd just mean that you weren't using your display set to its fullest capabilities.

 

[MaxY]

Well for the most part DVD playback on the Xbox is not bad but there are some things I have issues with.
The remote really kind of sucks. It is non-intutitve and the buttons just don't feel right and work as easy as they should.
The Zoom function should be a single button push from the remote not buried in the display settings. The scan modes are pretty jerky when you get beyond 2X speed.
I am being a little over critical but I would prefer the Sony 360 as my DVD player then an X-box and I have been spoiled by my Sony 9000ES, Sony 650, and Toshiba 6200 so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Max

 

[Camp]

it turns out that the remote although produced by Phillips

Are you sure the remote is made by Phillips? It sure looks like an RCA remote to me.

 

[James Nguyen]

yah, as I said it looks identical to RCA remotes and produces RCA codes...
however, in an unrelated Reuters article I read about shortages of xbox and gc related accessories, they namely specified the Xbox dvd playback kit and how a backlog at the phillips manufacturing plant was the cause of the part shortages...
so either shoddy reporting or RCA/Phillips have some form of agreement to share manufacturing facilities is my guess.