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MS Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player: Who's getting it?

Brimstone said:
For those of you curious about the HD-DVD directors cut of Miami Vice some details have started to surface. It's got 28 and 1/2 more footage than what was shown in the theaters. The Director Michael Mann apparently has highly tweaked the movie. The movie was shot with digital HD cameras.




Link to Hollywood Elsewhere
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Hmm...since I didn't get to see the Theatrical cut, will have to wait and hear impressions of people and how they compare it to the "Uncut" version...

...still very much plan on picking up the HD-DVD though :D
 
AgentOtaku said:
Hmm...since I didn't get to see the Theatrical cut, will have to wait and hear impressions of people and how they compare it to the "Uncut" version...

...still very much plan on picking up the HD-DVD though :D
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The Miami Vice HD-DVD is a combo disc. The DVD side has the theatical cut, and the HD-DVD side has the directors cut. You'll be able to compare the two different versions.
 
saw the frys advert for this weeks hd dvds for 14.99...here's what I got to add to my ever growing hd dvd clollection from frys.com.

Constantine /HD DVD 14.99
SEARCHERS /HD DVD 19.99
We Were Soldiers /HDDVD 14.99
Italian Job 2003 /HDDVD 14.99
Aeon Flux /HDDVD 14.99
Batman Begins /HD 19.99
V for Vendetta /HD 19.99
HD DVD - 12 MONKEY / 19.99
Terminator 3: Rise /HD 14.99

Total $: 154.91

to find the hd dvds at the site just do a search for [HD] with the [] and then goto page 4-5-and 6 for hd dvds. I already owned the other 14.99 films like troy, etc.
 
Norse said:
saw the frys advert for this weeks hd dvds for 14.99...here's what I got to add to my ever growing hd dvd clollection from frys.com.

Constantine /HD DVD 14.99
SEARCHERS /HD DVD 19.99
We Were Soldiers /HDDVD 14.99
Italian Job 2003 /HDDVD 14.99
Aeon Flux /HDDVD 14.99
Batman Begins /HD 19.99
V for Vendetta /HD 19.99
HD DVD - 12 MONKEY / 19.99
Terminator 3: Rise /HD 14.99

Total $: 154.91

to find the hd dvds at the site just do a search for [hd dvd] with the [] and then goto page 4-5-and 6 for hd dvds. I already owned the other 14.99 films like troy, etc.
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must be sold out cos I cant search it anymore :(
will it be at the store for $14.99 this week?
just got the player too :)
 
Well I found a player at Walmart on the weekend and I ended up getting. BTW my wife was not happy about this because she was going to buy it for me for xmas.

However my reasoning was that if it wasn't that much of an improvement over my hdmi dvd player that upconverts then i would take it back and get something else(maybe a wii).

Anyone I popped in King Kong, and the picture is alot clearer, and it looks pretty good, but then I went to look at the library of movies coming out and its just kinda bleh. I have a blockbuster online membership, so I'm renting a bunch of movies, and I think I'm going to buy Christmas Vacation tonight. I am looking forward to Miami Vice, and Superman Returns. Also I understand Band of Brothers is supposed to be released to and that is an instant GET!

I don't know. I just feel like this thing is going to die or not become the standard and that its a waste of money of a little picture quality improvement. Walmart does have a 90 day return policy. Anyone else feel this way.
 
Snookie said:
I don't know. I just feel like this thing is going to die or not become the standard and that its a waste of money of a little picture quality improvement. Walmart does have a 90 day return policy. Anyone else feel this way.
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I think that's to be said about all of the next gen formats. Unless you have a really awesome setup you're not really going to see much of an improvement over DVD, not for current titles anyway.

My pal has a 106" screen with a stupidly expensive projector and even he's not sold on the whole new generation of formats. Not that they aren't better just that there really isn't much wrong with what we have now. He's still going to be buying HD-DVDs instead of DVDs when they come out but only because he got the addon drive for cheap and it augments his setup really well.
 
BioFan said:
must be sold out cos I cant search it anymore :(
will it be at the store for $14.99 this week?
just got the player too :)
Click to expand...


sorry..edited my post...search for [HD] and starting on page 4 the hd dvd's will start to be listed....and yes, the sale is on at the store as well.
 
Snookie said:
I don't know. I just feel like this thing is going to die or not become the standard and that its a waste of money of a little picture quality improvement. Walmart does have a 90 day return policy. Anyone else feel this way.
Click to expand...


some movies are ho hum while others are amzingly better quality...its only 200 dollars in the long run..and with frys.com hd dvd prices as they are, I dont mind paying 19.99 or less for a better product. The thing places and upconverts via vga regular dvds as well, so it not like you lose everything if hd dvd doesnt stick around.....it will last you until the real next movie format winner is known...and then those prices will have dropped. I look at it as a win/win for us.
 
pr0cs said:
I think that's to be said about all of the next gen formats. Unless you have a really awesome setup you're not really going to see much of an improvement over DVD, not for current titles anyway.
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Well, I have a 27 in. Westinghouse and watched King Kong over the weekend (one of my favorite movies), and it looked amazing compared to what normal DVD looks like. I do sit pretty close as my dorm room is small, but the 5.1 speaker setup I have sounded awesome (I'm using an HD-A1, btw). If you sit close enough, you'll still see a difference even on smaller HDTVs. The colors and detail are amazing even without 1080p.

I just wonder when someone will release a 1080p 32 in. TV. Best Buy is having a sale on their 32 in. Westinghouse 720p for $500 (same price I paid for the 27 in. last year), but I'm holding out until someone release a 1080p one...
 
Was anyone able to pick one up recently? I tried all nearby Best Buy, Circuit City, and Gamestop in my area and they were all sold out and have not gotten any new shipments.
 
rage1973 said:
Was anyone able to pick one up recently? I tried all nearby Best Buy, Circuit City, and Gamestop in my area and they were all sold out and have not gotten any new shipments.
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That's pretty odd, here in Calgary Canada the drives are all over the place, the Best Buy and Futureshop closest to my house had at least 10 units (each store) sitting on the shelves.
 
I snagged an add-on yesterday from CC using the $40 off coupon. It is quite a value for $159 with KK and the remote (which admittedly I probably will not use). The picture quality is tremendous - a definite step up from my upconverting oppo at my normal viewing distance (9' away on 50" plasma) but the DD+ sound needs some work. Supposedly TrueHD encoding sounds amazing but I don't have a disk yet with that option.

Now I get to stock my x-mas list with HD DVDs and open that BB online account...

:D
 
I believe it all gets converted to Dolby Digital
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That is true but supposedly it does a much better job converting TrueHD than DD+ at this point. Software update will hopefully fix this...
 
rage1973 said:
Was anyone able to pick one up recently? I tried all nearby Best Buy, Circuit City, and Gamestop in my area and they were all sold out and have not gotten any new shipments.
Click to expand...

CC told me they get their shipments in every Friday, so go back there this friday or saturday, and make sure you tell the sales associate to just 'go and check your god damn stock in the back before telling me none have come in' - and voila - just like that he'll pop out with one - well he did for me at least.
 
so question:

ive been playing my 360 on my LCD montior through VGA(22" 1680x1050). Would i see a noticeable difference between DVD and HDDVD on this monitor? im somewhat considering this add-on.
 
Sgt. Killjoy said:
so question:

ive been playing my 360 on my LCD montior through VGA(22" 1680x1050). Would i see a noticeable difference between DVD and HDDVD on this monitor? im somewhat considering this add-on.
Click to expand...


Yes you would see a remarkable difference from your desk chair, but at 22 inches, your screen is kinda small for relaxed movie viewing. One of the probs with both new HD formats is that they really only show off what they can do at 30 inches and up. But if you're cool watching movies close up, there's a lot to see.
 
oh yea this is my main movie watching monitor.

im more likely to get this now. superman and batman are hela tempting, among other movies of course.
 
TerryLee81 said:
Hey MS, how about releasing this player in Europe NOW and not sometime in 2007?

What's holding them back??
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was there a delay?

I thought the official date given recently was Dec. 1st (at least for UK).
 
got mine today. Imported from the US (movietyme.com) because of the doubt and uncertainty around the UK launch (plus my preorder was with amazon.co.uk and I don't trust them)

I'll try it out tonight and post impressions. Hope I was right to sell my A1 for this...
 
mrklaw said:
got mine today. Imported from the US (movietyme.com) because of the doubt and uncertainty around the UK launch (plus my preorder was with amazon.co.uk and I don't trust them)

I'll try it out tonight and post impressions. Hope I was right to sell my A1 for this...
Click to expand...

Can you use it with your PAL Xbox?
 
@ TerryLee81:
Are you german? Got one in a normal Saturn.
They did know nothing about it, and I told them to please take a look if they already got any.
Guess they were not allowed to sell it already, but just didn't have a clue.
 
neondriver said:
@ TerryLee81:
Are you german? Got one in a normal Saturn.
They did know nothing about it, and I told them to please take a look if they already got any.
Guess they were not allowed to sell it already, but just didn't have a clue.
Click to expand...

I'm from Switzerland, normally we get the stuff on the same day as you. I'm going to check at Media Markt later if they got some in.
 
TerryLee81 said:
I'm from Switzerland, normally we get the stuff on the same day as you. I'm going to check at Media Markt later if they got some in.
Click to expand...

Only the UK, France and Germany get the HD DVD addon this year (official release: tomorrow). Other european countries will get it at arround March 07.
 
Frankfurter said:
Only the UK, France and Germany get the HD DVD addon this year (official release: tomorrow). Other european countries will get it at arround March 07.
Click to expand...

Thx for the info. What's the best shop to order one online? amazon.de? I won't wait until 2007, it's a joke that they release it only in these countries this year.






Edit: Seems like it's not available to preorder at amazon.de/amazon.co.uk/play.com :(
 
Futureshop in downtown Vancouver has a stack of these. I'd buy one but it is getting close to X-mas and my GF or brother are likely picking it up for me. They were $199cdn which was surprising to me as I thought that was the US price. King Kong was of course included.
 
Just watched The Thing HD-DVD last night.....I did NOT think the film could look that good with a print thats nearly 30 years old

esquisite to say the least :D
 
AgentOtaku said:
Just watched The Thing HD-DVD last night.....I did NOT think the film could look that good with a print thats nearly 30 years old

esquisite to say the least :D
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Grrr! You're making me want to buy this thing.
 
Ive been extremely impressed with this player at this point. I wasnt honestly sold on the technology and thought DVD was "good enough". Then I watched Batman and King Kong and that misconception went right out the window. The scene where Kong is falling fron the top of the Empire State building in slow mo (top down view) with a slow pan of the camera looks uncanny.

The other nice thing is some of the older movies I bought. Dazed and Confused and Enter the Dragon both looked REALLY good. Not as good as the newer movies of course, but really nice.

Troy however didnt look that good. In parts it looks remarkable, but they have some cheap ass CG effects in this movie.. especially the boats on the water and some of the set pieces that are obviously CG. They just stuck out as looking very fake. I honestly thought this would look the best of all of them.... hopefully LOTR trilogy, Gladiator or some other "epic" will come out and look great.

Edit: I'm on a 44" LCD RP thats only about 8 feet from my couch (condo has a wacky layout, dont ask).

To people on the fence about this technology.. GO GET IT. If there are any movies out for this thing that you like (there should be several given the number out there) its worth it. The movies pop out of the screen... everything looks better than anything Ive ever seen over the air in HD. Even if this format dies tommorow, the movies I have right now wont stop working and its worth it just for whats out now.. but with the movies coming out next year things are only looking better. The format war sucks.. but its only a 200 dollar investment. THats not a whole lot if you enjoy movies.
 
Also recently purchased the Mission Impossible box set. My thoughts:

MI-1 - Looks good for a film released back in the early ninties, the picture is a tad on the soft side, but the overall colors and such are solid

MI-2 - Came out in 99' I believe, but wow! Australia looks excellent and alot of the film takes place during broad daylight so some amazing detail comes out. Think what you want about the actual film, but the IQ is excellent

MI-3 - The best of the 3 obviously. Definetly reference material for the medium and an excellent movie as well

I love all 3 movies equally for different reasons btw

Amazon was selling the set for $69, when it retails for $100

Hopefully I can get Superman Returns this week from Netflix
 
Yeah, the CG is awful in Troy. The thousand ships was awful. You could even see that the water hitting the ship as they sailed was just a still texture. It never animated. It was ****ing awful.

But you got to see Brad Pitt with more detail than ever
 
Older films will hold up just fine as long as the film stock was good and the cinematographer didn't shoot in too much low light. The res of film is still much higher than 1080p even though there is inherent grain. Movies like Alien, Blade Runner, and Apocolypse Now, should look incredible as I've seen them projected recently in a theater and they were incredibly pristine looking. Sadly nothing is going to help Predator or Aliens look any better.
 
AlanHemberger said:
Yeah, the CG is awful in Troy. The thousand ships was awful. You could even see that the water hitting the ship as they sailed was just a still texture. It never animated. It was ****ing awful.

But you got to see Brad Pitt with more detail than ever
Click to expand...

Yepp.. the meeting hall in Troy where they make battle plans looks bad too. The large statue in the back looks as bad as the old movies with paintings as the backdrop. The CG for the troops in the large battle scenes looked pretty terrible as well.

None of that is HDDVDs fault, just shitty cheap production values.
 
I've been very happy with my HD-DVD drive purchase, which I got on its launch day. I've had zero issues, and a ton of great movie watching. So far I've bought the following:

Goodfellas
Unforgiven
Troy
Serenity
The Thing
Casablanca
Batman Begins
King Kong (pack-in)

I've also Netflix'd Sahara and Out of Sight. The picture quality is stunning :D
 
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but V for Vendetta is awful for showing off HD DVD. Just awful. It's always really dark in the film and there's not much going on most of the time. There are a few moments when it shines, but a lot of the film, the difference isn't that apparent because of the lighting.
 
Does anyone know of any internet sites that have this product available? I checked out all of my local Gamestop, EB, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Fry's to no avail.
 
I dont think its just that V for Vendetta is dark. I havent seen it yet, but Batman is really dark for most of the film and it still manages to shine. The scene where he is spray painting the batsuit looks insanley good.
 
I saw a couple in Circuit City today, didn't know if the improvement was worth it. I have a Samsung LNS-46d92. 46 inch LCD flatscreen, 1366x768, from most of the impressions im assuming ill see a noticeable difference and it'll be worth it right? I have my 360 hooked up with a VGA cable....so is it worth it?
 
dante786 said:
I saw a couple in Circuit City today, didn't know if the improvement was worth it. I have a Samsung LNS-46d92. 46 inch LCD flatscreen, 1366x768, from most of the impressions im assuming ill see a noticeable difference and it'll be worth it right? I have my 360 hooked up with a VGA cable....so is it worth it?
Click to expand...

GODDAMMIT YES!
 
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