The 360 thread!

[Flabio]

This weeks Zero Punctuation is on Condemned 2. It spoils the ending, but hey, it's not like you're going to play it...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... unctuation

[Chunk]

Hope this is the right place for this.

Been tempted to invest in an x360 for a little while now. I've seen play.com are doing the premium version + GTA4 for £200. Seems too good to pass up.

However ... I don't have an HDTV and can't really afford to get one. Does anyone have any experience with the VGA lead you can get. I'm planning on connecting it to an old 17" CRT monitor and Im wondering what kind of picture quality I can expect. I've read really mixed things, so some first hand accounts from trustworthy people would be good.

Anyone have any advice about which model to get? I want to use live and download the odd demo etc, so Im thinking the arcade isnt the one for me. It's difficult to make a decision between the premium and elite though. I can't imagine ever using it for full on media purposes, so I'm sure the premium will be adequate.

So yeah, any advice etc. Thanks.

[PVB]

Anyone have any advice about which model to get? I want to use live and download the odd demo etc, so Im thinking the arcade isnt the one for me. It's difficult to make a decision between the premium and elite though. I can't imagine ever using it for full on media purposes, so I'm sure the premium will be adequate.

So yeah, any advice etc. Thanks.

If you're not likely to buy an HDTV in the next 6-12 months, then the Premium sounds the one for you (instead of the Elite).

Dunno about VGA myself, but I'm wondering how good the picture will be on your admittedly old CRT monitor.

[Phineasfool]

It looks decent through the VGA cable, however like PVB said, not sure how it will look on an older monitor. I tried it on a 19" flat panel myself before I got my HDTV.

[Chunk]

Through a VGA cable on a CRT ... can it look as good as on an HDTV thought? My monitor is just a standard CRT monitor, it isnt THAT old.

What makes you say that its better to get the premium if Im not planning on buying an HDTV? Isn't the only difference between premium and elite, the HDMI cable you get and the larger hdd?

Thanks for the help.

[Flabio]

It's fine through VGA on a monitor. If your monitor isn't widescreen aspect you'll get black bars, but as long as you ramp the console to display as close to 1080p as your monitor goes the scaling is good. You might need to select a different colour 'warmness' setting on the xbox though, as the default output is set for tv's.

I've only ever used mine on monitors, my old CRT was fine, although it's a slightly better picture on my new widescreen one.

[Misfit]

If you're not likely to buy an HDTV in the next 6-12 months, then the Premium sounds the one for you (instead of the Elite).

Why? I'm pretty sure the only difference between a premium and an Elite is the size of the hard drive and the colour.

£199 delivered for a premium with GTA IV seems to be a no brianer to me. An Elite + GTA with come closer to £300 and I'm not convinced the hard drive is worth that much unless you must have a black console.

[fog]

Just tried the Condemned 2 demo - that's another game I won't be buying. Kerrap.

I'll add the recent Universe at War to the crap demo list. It's generally bad with a horrible interface, bland graphics where several units look the same, and a torturous and flawed tutorial, but a special mention must be made of the graphical bugs I encountered trying skirmish mode.

I assume the landscapes are randomly generated because the hills created were higher than the camera resulting in the worst clipping and graphics corruption I've ever seen. Untextured polys, flickering textures, distorted models etc over the whole screen. Add slowdown with only a couple of units on screen, and you have possibly the most bugged demo I've ever played.

[Phineasfool]

It's fine through VGA on a monitor. If your monitor isn't widescreen aspect you'll get black bars, but as long as you ramp the console to display as close to 1080p as your monitor goes the scaling is good. You might need to select a different colour 'warmness' setting on the xbox though, as the default output is set for tv's.

I've only ever used mine on monitors, my old CRT was fine, although it's a slightly better picture on my new widescreen one.

Actually you won't get black bars. When you hook it up through VGA it actually gives you resolution choices like 1024x768 and whatnot.

[PVB]

If you're not likely to buy an HDTV in the next 6-12 months, then the Premium sounds the one for you (instead of the Elite).

Why? I'm pretty sure the only difference between a premium and an Elite is the size of the hard drive and the colour.

My point was that it's less important to buy the HDMI Elite if he's not likely to buy an HDTV soon.

Even if he did in a year or two (and his 360 lasted that long ) then the Premium still does 1080i, so he's not stuck with SD only.

[Phineasfool]

If you're not likely to buy an HDTV in the next 6-12 months, then the Premium sounds the one for you (instead of the Elite).

Why? I'm pretty sure the only difference between a premium and an Elite is the size of the hard drive and the colour.

My point was that it's less important to buy the HDMI Elite if he's not likely to buy an HDTV soon.

Even if he did in a year or two (and his 360 lasted that long ) then the Premium still does 1080i, so he's not stuck with SD only.

The premiums have the HDMI port, so he could just buy an HDMI cable later and still get 1080p. So really the only reason to get the Elite is if you know you want the bigger HDD, which I did.

[Misfit]

If you're not likely to buy an HDTV in the next 6-12 months, then the Premium sounds the one for you (instead of the Elite).

Why? I'm pretty sure the only difference between a premium and an Elite is the size of the hard drive and the colour.

My point was that it's less important to buy the HDMI Elite if he's not likely to buy an HDTV soon.

My point is, the ONLY difference between the systems is the colour and the disk drive size!

[teamonkey]

My point is, the ONLY difference between the systems is the colour and the disk drive size!

And the cables that come packaged with it.

[Chunk]

Yeah, I was looking at it that way. The only thing Im not getting by buying the Elite is the larger hdd. I can alos invest in an HDMI cable, if I upgrade my TV in the future.

But in terms of just using it for games, is the 20GB hdd large enough or is it likely to fill up quick? As people that have an x360 and use it for dowloading demos and playing online etc ... what do you think?

From investigating further, it seems the best you can get out of the VGA cable is 720p. I dont know enough about HDTV standards to really know what that means .... *goes off to investigate*

[Mark]

Yeah, I was looking at it that way. The only thing Im not getting by buying the Elite is the larger hdd. I can alos invest in an HDMI cable, if I upgrade my TV in the future.

But in terms of just using it for games, is the 20GB hdd large enough or is it likely to fill up quick? As people that have an x360 and use it for dowloading demos and playing online etc ... what do you think?

From investigating further, it seems the best you can get out of the VGA cable is 720p. I dont know enough about HDTV standards to really know what that means .... *goes off to investigate*

The 20Gb should be fine. I've got about 50 arcade games, one of the Xbox Classic games (about 2 gig in size IIRC), and a smattering of DLC, and I've still got plenty of room to watch movies from the store and try any demos I fancy.