Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

It's quite hard to see the date on the bottom when its in its packaging.
Is there anything on the serial number labels that are on the boxes too?

Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

playstations for example have some big diffrences between versions, the first bbatch are very good and being crap then the ones over 50000 have all the extra dvd stuff

Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

Just get whatever you can-you won't be able to dictate what 'version' you get anyway.

You will almost certainly get the v1.5 or 1.6 XBOX anyway.

Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

i would still prefere to get a new version of the software on it, even if it doesnt affect anything

I mean does the LIVE update come pre-installed on new xboxs?

Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

As soon as you connect to XBL if your live needs to be updated you should get a request box asking you if you want to install the upgrade or it will just auto update anything that needs updating, i forget which as it has been awhile since my XBL did the updating.

Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

LIVE is already on the Xbox and fully installed, just you need to "activate" it by using a LIVE enabled game, because at the launch of the Xbox, Microsoft were keeping there Online plans secret.

Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

Having both PS2 and Xbox I reccomend the Xbox as it is so much better.

Re: I may be Getting an Xbox
 

Can you play dvd-r / dvd+r backed up movies with it?

Re: I may be Getting an Xbox
 

Like those 5.1 home movies in Richard's thread? ;)



It depends on the DVD drive.

M$ have used different makes/models of DVD drive since the XBox was released.

The 1st ones used a Thomson drive, which didn't like CDR (& I think DVD+/-R??) & was prone to die an early death (hence many people with launch XBoxes had to get repairs/replacements from M$ due to the DVD drive going kaput).

They've since changed to Philips drives, & then to Samsung drives.

AFAIK...

The Philips drives are more likely to read CDR/DVD+/-R than the Thomson drives.

And the Samsung drives should read pretty much everything.


Although I think it does also depend on the media used. It seems to tolerate some more than others.

Re: I may be Getting an Xbox
 

Just for those ones yup :)

I am looking to replace my old dvd player and upgrade my gaming machine at the same time....

I can't really decide between a ps2 and an Xbox...

I'm assuming that if I go out and buy an xbox now it will have one of the newest drives?

Maybe I should get it from argos (with their 16 day money back thing) so I can take it back if it's the wrong type.

Re: I may be Getting an Xbox
 

I think the prices are pretty similar for each console. So I guess it depends on what games you like, etc.

But having had both, I'd say XBox ;)

And the XBox is definitely a better quality DVD player than the PS2.

I think so. Although apparently some newer ones have Thomsons again, instead of Samsungs. But hopefully they'll be better quality than the original Thomsons.

Yeah, could try that I guess. Also gives you a chance to see if it will play the discs anyway (even if it's an older type of drive...never know, might be OK).


One thing though:

Although the XBox should play "backups" of DVDs perfectly fine (well, depending on the drive, & maybe the media), you can't play non-Region2 DVDs (e.g. US Region 1 DVDs) unless the XBox has been "chipped"/"modded".

That's one plus point the PS2 has over the XBox for DVD playback (as you can get a region unlocking disc for the PS2, so don't need to chip it just to play R1s).

Re: I may be Getting an Xbox
 

Thanks for all that - I'll have to decide when I get paid I gess (5th:))

As for the type of game - racing - and space games. (I'm looking forward to playing battlestar galactica).... Oh and I quite fancy playing 'The Thing'

Cheers for your help.:D

Re: I may be Getting an Xbox
 

Cool. No problem :)

Re: I may be Getting a Xbox
 

Yea Doom3 is live enabled with co-operative onine play for the single player game, i dont think there is multiplayer on live, but that could happen, not too sure. :)

Re: I may be Getting an Xbox
 

You can also get a CD for unlocking the region capability of the Xbox it's called Region X, which makes the Xbox perfect and the good thing about Xbox is that you don't get green screen problem with the advanced RGB scart unlike PS2 which also mucks up the postion of the screen on some TV's.