BlackDragon480Bluster KerfuffleMaster of Windy ImportRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I'll third the recommendation for rechargeable batteries.
I use a set of 4 NiMH Duracells. They can recharge in less than an hour (a lot faster than a Play and Charge kit), last well over 12-15 hours of gameplay, and I always have a set ready to plug back in.
BlackDragon480 on
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
Sooooo, does anyone think there's an ounce of truth to this Xbox Ultimate? Kotaku is running it as a rumor and in a Seattle Times article earlier this week on CES the author stated Bill Gates might have a surprise announcement for the Xbox, then speculated it would be a new sku with HD-DVD and all the junk listed in that link.
Because...if they release that at the current Elite price and knock the rest down in price... shit.
Sooooo, does anyone think there's an ounce of truth to this Xbox Ultimate? Kotaku is running it as a rumor and in a Seattle Times article earlier this week on CES the author stated Bill Gates might have a surprise announcement for the Xbox, then speculated it would be a new sku with HD-DVD and all the junk listed in that link.
Because...if they release that at the current Elite price and knock the rest down in price... shit.
Well, stuff like 1080p HDMI and 65nm chips are already in the regular 360, so really the only difference here is a bigger hard drive and built in HDDVD, neither of which seem particularly likely right now.
Sooooo, does anyone think there's an ounce of truth to this Xbox Ultimate? Kotaku is running it as a rumor and in a Seattle Times article earlier this week on CES the author stated Bill Gates might have a surprise announcement for the Xbox, then speculated it would be a new sku with HD-DVD and all the junk listed in that link.
Because...if they release that at the current Elite price and knock the rest down in price... shit.
Well, stuff like 1080p HDMI and 65nm chips are already in the regular 360, so really the only difference here is a bigger hard drive and built in HDDVD, neither of which seem particularly likely right now.
Yeah MS has said before that they won't build a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive. Personally I'd like to see an external Blu-ray drive that is stackable with the HD-DVD drive. I'd like to see built in wifi but then MS wouldn't be able to gouge people for the current wifi adapter. I'm not trying to take shots at MS when I say this because from business stand point they actually need the money to pay for all the repairs.
MS might show off the Jasper model, which will have a 65nm GPU & 65nm chips on the memory. The current Falcon only has a 65nm CPU and a new heat sink that uses screws instead of X-clamps. And as usual the step backwards is that the 65nm CPU & new heat sink do not have the heat pipe that some Zypher models and all refurbs have because MS said it isn't needed.
The OP should note that he's in canada, and is therefore not eligible to download any TV or movies over live. None. Not for you. This may change in the future, I guess, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
I connect my 360 to the internet via a wireless bridge from my laptop. It's not perfect but it's not a 120$ network adapter cockslap in the face, either.
if you're shopping for cables, I can't recommend monoprice enough. 65$ for a hdmi cable is retarded.
Zonkytonkman on
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kaliyamaLeft to find less-moderated foraRegistered Userregular
The OP should note that he's in canada, and is therefore not eligible to download any TV or movies over live. None. Not for you. This may change in the future, I guess, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
I connect my 360 to the internet via a wireless bridge from my laptop. It's not perfect but it's not a 120$ network adapter cockslap in the face, either.
if you're shopping for cables, I can't recommend monoprice enough. 65$ for a hdmi cable is retarded.
Yeah, it's ridiculous what best buy charges, compared even to newegg, which is probably what i'd use. I guess the argument for the Xbox proprietary cable are the audio outs if you have a separate speaker system. Why can't we just run an audio out from the TV to the stereo system, though?
The OP should note that he's in canada, and is therefore not eligible to download any TV or movies over live. None. Not for you. This may change in the future, I guess, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
I connect my 360 to the internet via a wireless bridge from my laptop. It's not perfect but it's not a 120$ network adapter cockslap in the face, either.
if you're shopping for cables, I can't recommend monoprice enough. 65$ for a hdmi cable is retarded.
Yeah, it's ridiculous what best buy charges, compared even to newegg, which is probably what i'd use. I guess the argument for the Xbox proprietary cable are the audio outs if you have a separate speaker system. Why can't we just run an audio out from the TV to the stereo system, though?
people on the internet seem to be having a lot of luck just popping the plastic case off of your regular old cable, and plugging both hdmi and cable into the xbox at once, which gives you audio outs.
It never really worked for me, but i gave up on it pretty quick
I thought i'd post this here too, incase someone can help me. Saves me making another thread.
I have a few .mkv movie files in 1080p and 720p that I want to play through my 360, but because the 360 doesn't handle .mkv, I have to convert them. This is the first time I'd be doing this, and so I have a few questions for anyone that has done it.
What programs do you need? I don't want to lose any quality when converting, but I understand that I will probably lose a little as .mp4 is a rather lossy format.
I also know I won't be able to carry the 5.1 sound over into .mp4 Is there any way I can keep the 5.1 sound and convert? What is the best file type to convert to, that the 360 will play? I read I needed to "demux" the audio and video, as the 360 doesn't play AC3 audio, which is what .mkv files carry.
I was looking at WME assistant. Has anyone used this before?
In short, what is the easiest, quickest, most user-friendly way to do this? Any good programs or guides would be very much appreciated! Thanks guys/girls.
I'll defintely be getting those monoprice cables once I get the interweb set up in my new place. Shit, you could be 3 pair for the price of one from Best Buy or wherever.
The more I think about it, I'll probably just run a cable to the back of my TV and plug my 360 in to the web directly. The fact that I'm moving into a new home means I have some options on where wires can run and can hide them. Then I don't have to worry about it.
Also, I'll likely be getting a 20 gig HD. I have no interest in running media off of my box, and even if I could, I wouldn't download any TV shows or anything from the Markteplace. I like to use my game systems for games, though I may look into that airport thing a little more.
If an XBox Ultimate is released and the rest of the SKU's go down in price, I will kill someone. The only reason I have this Arcade pack is because the Pro was slightly higher priced. If the Pro drops to below $300, I will be so sad:(. ALthough, with an HD DVD player built in, it seems like it would be a slightly higher priced SKU.
Also whoever said stackable Blue Ray drive... fuck yes! Although I don't see it happening, MS wants you to download movies after all. They only released the HDDVD drive to keep the war going didn't they?
Also whoever said stackable Blue Ray drive... fuck yes! Although I don't see it happening, MS wants you to download movies after all. They only released the HDDVD drive to keep the war going didn't they?
I would buy one like a shot though.
Yes it's in Canada
I don't know why the other guy said it's not but it's been since around the same time it did in the UK.
I second the poster who said to use rechargable AA's.
I have 8 batteries currently(going to buy 4 more when the 360 comes) that I cycle through 2 wiimotes, wireless Wii sensor bar, and soon to be 360 controllers. Quick and easy, and cheaper usually than the official rechargable batteries.
I bought one of the official play/charge kits for each of my controllers... It's been over a week and I still haven't had to do any charging, and I've been doing a lot of playing.
I tried encode360 for file conversion, and windows media encoder, and both, at the highest quality avaliable, made the videos look like shit. Any other suggestions?
is it maybe how you have your Xbox hooked up to your TV? Do you have an HDTV? are you running the xbox at at least 720p?
This is before I hook it up to the TV. I just previewd them on my PC. They are 720p, and 1080p videos. So far:
windowsmedia encoder= no go
encode 360= bad quality, even at highest
WME assistant= works. but have to buy it to get more than 3 minutes of video
videora= trying now...going to take 6 hours.
I toyed around with this other method, using an avisynth script, but I didn't understand it, and couldn't get it working properly. I might just fork out for WME assistant, as it should convert both the audio and video so I get 5.1 aswell. Seems to be the easiest way to get 5.1 audio.
I tried encode360 for file conversion, and windows media encoder, and both, at the highest quality avaliable, made the videos look like shit. Any other suggestions?
Do the Elite models fix the red rings of death? Thats.. Pretty much the only thing stopping me from getting one I guess.
The majority of RROD's are heat related issues. Microsoft has recently switched to a 65nm process for producing their chipsets and mobos, this setup is codenamed Falcon.
Falcon based systems started coming off the production lines back in October. If you're shopping around for a new 360, you can check the manufacturer's sticker on the box and look for anything with a lot number over 739 and/or a power rating of 175W (the Falcons use less power, hence a smaller power supply. The original 360's and the first redesign (codename Zephyr) both ran on 203W).
I recently switched to a Falcon based Elite, and I haven't had a single problem with it. It runs very cool to the touch (have to play for more than 5-6 hours at a strech to start feeling any heat on the outside of the unit) and I lucked out and got one of the new Ben-Q DVD drives, so it also runs a lot quieter than my old Premium.
I still need to pick up a transfer kit to move all my saves and XBLA games from the 20GB to the 120GB though.
That's good information, but the RROD problem has nothing to do with the main chip, which is the one you're describing. The RROD was caused by a problematic GPU heatsink, which the 65nm die for the main CPU has nothing to do with. Even if you had a 65nm CPU and the heatsink fell off the GPU it would most definitely still crap out on you. That said, all of the 65nm 360's will probably have the better GPU heatsink, so you'll still be ok going this route.
Do the Elite models fix the red rings of death? Thats.. Pretty much the only thing stopping me from getting one I guess.
The majority of RROD's are heat related issues. Microsoft has recently switched to a 65nm process for producing their chipsets and mobos, this setup is codenamed Falcon.
Falcon based systems started coming off the production lines back in October. If you're shopping around for a new 360, you can check the manufacturer's sticker on the box and look for anything with a lot number over 739 and/or a power rating of 175W (the Falcons use less power, hence a smaller power supply. The original 360's and the first redesign (codename Zephyr) both ran on 203W).
I recently switched to a Falcon based Elite, and I haven't had a single problem with it. It runs very cool to the touch (have to play for more than 5-6 hours at a strech to start feeling any heat on the outside of the unit) and I lucked out and got one of the new Ben-Q DVD drives, so it also runs a lot quieter than my old Premium.
I still need to pick up a transfer kit to move all my saves and XBLA games from the 20GB to the 120GB though.
That's good information, but the RROD problem has nothing to do with the main chip, which is the one you're describing. The RROD was caused by a problematic GPU heatsink, which the 65nm die for the main CPU has nothing to do with. Even if you had a 65nm CPU and the heatsink fell off the GPU it would most definitely still crap out on you. That said, all of the 65nm 360's will probably have the better GPU heatsink, so you'll still be ok going this route.
Um no, the GPU Falcon heat sink is still the same as before. The Falcon model on focused on the CPU with the new heat sink that uses screws instead of Xclamps, but doesn't have a heat pipe that was added to Zypher models. MS says it isn't needed, probably because the 65nm CPU produces much less heat.
I tried encode360 for file conversion, and windows media encoder, and both, at the highest quality avaliable, made the videos look like shit. Any other suggestions?
I have used this before, but alas it only does 2 channels of sound. I'm giving it a go anyway. Thanks.
edit: seems like it's going to take a very long time.
edit 2: apparently for 5.1 audio I need to: "encode it to WMV with WMAPro 5.1 audio."
edit 3: super only did 27 minutes, and at the highest quality, made it look like shit aswell.
Falcon based systems started coming off the production lines back in October. If you're shopping around for a new 360, you can check the manufacturer's sticker on the box and look for anything with a lot number over 739 and/or a power rating of 175W (the Falcons use less power, hence a smaller power supply. The original 360's and the first redesign (codename Zephyr) both ran on 203W).
Fucking balls. Are you shitting me? This kind of shit *would* happen to me.
The day Bioshock came out last August, my 360 Premium's video output completely crapped out. It didn't get the RRoD, it just stopped outputting video at all. Still output the sound, but no video. So the day after Christmas, I bought a 360 Arcade from Best Buy, because I'd read online that the Arcades were shipping with the 65nm chip now. I didn't know about this lot number and smaller power supply business, so I had no way to verify, other than to trust the information I'd read about. So after reading this thread, I went and checked the box, and lo and behold, the lot number is 739 and the power rating is 203W. Fuck yes. Now I get to look forward to my 2nd 360 crapping out on me. Gotta be honest, it kinda makes me want to kill people.
Encode 360 is fantastic. how can you say one looks like shit and go to another program and say it doesn't? they're all using the same damn codec. it's all in the settings man.
That's good information, but the RROD problem has nothing to do with the main chip, which is the one you're describing. The RROD was caused by a problematic GPU heatsink, which the 65nm die for the main CPU has nothing to do with. Even if you had a 65nm CPU and the heatsink fell off the GPU it would most definitely still crap out on you. That said, all of the 65nm 360's will probably have the better GPU heatsink, so you'll still be ok going this route.
Um no, the GPU Falcon heat sink is still the same as before. The Falcon model on focused on the CPU with the new heat sink that uses screws instead of Xclamps, but doesn't have a heat pipe that was added to Zypher models. MS says it isn't needed, probably because the 65nm CPU produces much less heat.
So, any rumors of arrival date for 65nm GPUs? And is there any generally accepted (i.e. not from MS PR) data about reduced failure rates in the new models? I wouldn't mind joining the current generation, but life is too short for me to fart around with console failure (thus no 360 yet) or store camping (thus no Wii yet).
I've been checking xbox.com, and they talk about connecting your Windows PC to your Xbox over Live. I'm a Mac user, though. I'd probably need to get Vista or something to do hook that up, right? Is it worth it? What is the point, even?
The point is some people just share a connection through their PC to their 360 without getting a router. No idea how it would work with a Mac.
You can do it with a Mac. I know, because that's how I do it.
Only hitch is that sometimes, as it the case with me, I can't find a way to make my NAT settings "Open." It is always "Moderate." Mostly this is not a problem, but in some games, it bounces you out of connecting.
Do the Elite models fix the red rings of death? Thats.. Pretty much the only thing stopping me from getting one I guess.
The majority of RROD's are heat related issues. Microsoft has recently switched to a 65nm process for producing their chipsets and mobos, this setup is codenamed Falcon.
Falcon based systems started coming off the production lines back in October. If you're shopping around for a new 360, you can check the manufacturer's sticker on the box and look for anything with a lot number over 739 and/or a power rating of 175W (the Falcons use less power, hence a smaller power supply. The original 360's and the first redesign (codename Zephyr) both ran on 203W).
I recently switched to a Falcon based Elite, and I haven't had a single problem with it. It runs very cool to the touch (have to play for more than 5-6 hours at a strech to start feeling any heat on the outside of the unit) and I lucked out and got one of the new Ben-Q DVD drives, so it also runs a lot quieter than my old Premium.
I still need to pick up a transfer kit to move all my saves and XBLA games from the 20GB to the 120GB though.
That's good information, but the RROD problem has nothing to do with the main chip, which is the one you're describing. The RROD was caused by a problematic GPU heatsink, which the 65nm die for the main CPU has nothing to do with. Even if you had a 65nm CPU and the heatsink fell off the GPU it would most definitely still crap out on you. That said, all of the 65nm 360's will probably have the better GPU heatsink, so you'll still be ok going this route.
Um no, the GPU Falcon heat sink is still the same as before. The Falcon model on focused on the CPU with the new heat sink that uses screws instead of Xclamps, but doesn't have a heat pipe that was added to Zypher models. MS says it isn't needed, probably because the 65nm CPU produces much less heat.
I don't think a single word you said disagreed with me.
So, any rumors of arrival date for 65nm GPUs? And is there any generally accepted (i.e. not from MS PR) data about reduced failure rates in the new models? I wouldn't mind joining the current generation, but life is too short for me to fart around with console failure (thus no 360 yet) or store camping (thus no Wii yet).
All that's known is late '08. But you can bet word will spread across the intertubes when the Jasper comes out.
Posts
I use a set of 4 NiMH Duracells. They can recharge in less than an hour (a lot faster than a Play and Charge kit), last well over 12-15 hours of gameplay, and I always have a set ready to plug back in.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
Because...if they release that at the current Elite price and knock the rest down in price... shit.
Well, stuff like 1080p HDMI and 65nm chips are already in the regular 360, so really the only difference here is a bigger hard drive and built in HDDVD, neither of which seem particularly likely right now.
Yeah MS has said before that they won't build a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive. Personally I'd like to see an external Blu-ray drive that is stackable with the HD-DVD drive. I'd like to see built in wifi but then MS wouldn't be able to gouge people for the current wifi adapter. I'm not trying to take shots at MS when I say this because from business stand point they actually need the money to pay for all the repairs.
MS might show off the Jasper model, which will have a 65nm GPU & 65nm chips on the memory. The current Falcon only has a 65nm CPU and a new heat sink that uses screws instead of X-clamps. And as usual the step backwards is that the 65nm CPU & new heat sink do not have the heat pipe that some Zypher models and all refurbs have because MS said it isn't needed.
I connect my 360 to the internet via a wireless bridge from my laptop. It's not perfect but it's not a 120$ network adapter cockslap in the face, either.
if you're shopping for cables, I can't recommend monoprice enough. 65$ for a hdmi cable is retarded.
Yeah, it's ridiculous what best buy charges, compared even to newegg, which is probably what i'd use. I guess the argument for the Xbox proprietary cable are the audio outs if you have a separate speaker system. Why can't we just run an audio out from the TV to the stereo system, though?
people on the internet seem to be having a lot of luck just popping the plastic case off of your regular old cable, and plugging both hdmi and cable into the xbox at once, which gives you audio outs.
It never really worked for me, but i gave up on it pretty quick
I have a few .mkv movie files in 1080p and 720p that I want to play through my 360, but because the 360 doesn't handle .mkv, I have to convert them. This is the first time I'd be doing this, and so I have a few questions for anyone that has done it.
What programs do you need? I don't want to lose any quality when converting, but I understand that I will probably lose a little as .mp4 is a rather lossy format.
I also know I won't be able to carry the 5.1 sound over into .mp4 Is there any way I can keep the 5.1 sound and convert? What is the best file type to convert to, that the 360 will play? I read I needed to "demux" the audio and video, as the 360 doesn't play AC3 audio, which is what .mkv files carry.
I was looking at WME assistant. Has anyone used this before?
In short, what is the easiest, quickest, most user-friendly way to do this? Any good programs or guides would be very much appreciated! Thanks guys/girls.
I'll defintely be getting those monoprice cables once I get the interweb set up in my new place. Shit, you could be 3 pair for the price of one from Best Buy or wherever.
The more I think about it, I'll probably just run a cable to the back of my TV and plug my 360 in to the web directly. The fact that I'm moving into a new home means I have some options on where wires can run and can hide them. Then I don't have to worry about it.
Also, I'll likely be getting a 20 gig HD. I have no interest in running media off of my box, and even if I could, I wouldn't download any TV shows or anything from the Markteplace. I like to use my game systems for games, though I may look into that airport thing a little more.
If an XBox Ultimate is released and the rest of the SKU's go down in price, I will kill someone. The only reason I have this Arcade pack is because the Pro was slightly higher priced. If the Pro drops to below $300, I will be so sad:(. ALthough, with an HD DVD player built in, it seems like it would be a slightly higher priced SKU.
Switch - SW-3699-5063-5018
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/04/xbox-video-marketplace-in-europe-canada-dec-11/
Also whoever said stackable Blue Ray drive... fuck yes! Although I don't see it happening, MS wants you to download movies after all. They only released the HDDVD drive to keep the war going didn't they?
I would buy one like a shot though.
Yes it's in Canada
I don't know why the other guy said it's not but it's been since around the same time it did in the UK.
I have 8 batteries currently(going to buy 4 more when the 360 comes) that I cycle through 2 wiimotes, wireless Wii sensor bar, and soon to be 360 controllers. Quick and easy, and cheaper usually than the official rechargable batteries.
This is before I hook it up to the TV. I just previewd them on my PC. They are 720p, and 1080p videos. So far:
windowsmedia encoder= no go
encode 360= bad quality, even at highest
WME assistant= works. but have to buy it to get more than 3 minutes of video
videora= trying now...going to take 6 hours.
I toyed around with this other method, using an avisynth script, but I didn't understand it, and couldn't get it working properly. I might just fork out for WME assistant, as it should convert both the audio and video so I get 5.1 aswell. Seems to be the easiest way to get 5.1 audio.
edit: Videora was going to take 30 hours...
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html
That's good information, but the RROD problem has nothing to do with the main chip, which is the one you're describing. The RROD was caused by a problematic GPU heatsink, which the 65nm die for the main CPU has nothing to do with. Even if you had a 65nm CPU and the heatsink fell off the GPU it would most definitely still crap out on you. That said, all of the 65nm 360's will probably have the better GPU heatsink, so you'll still be ok going this route.
Um no, the GPU Falcon heat sink is still the same as before. The Falcon model on focused on the CPU with the new heat sink that uses screws instead of Xclamps, but doesn't have a heat pipe that was added to Zypher models. MS says it isn't needed, probably because the 65nm CPU produces much less heat.
I have used this before, but alas it only does 2 channels of sound. I'm giving it a go anyway. Thanks.
edit: seems like it's going to take a very long time.
edit 2: apparently for 5.1 audio I need to: "encode it to WMV with WMAPro 5.1 audio."
edit 3: super only did 27 minutes, and at the highest quality, made it look like shit aswell.
Fucking balls. Are you shitting me? This kind of shit *would* happen to me.
The day Bioshock came out last August, my 360 Premium's video output completely crapped out. It didn't get the RRoD, it just stopped outputting video at all. Still output the sound, but no video. So the day after Christmas, I bought a 360 Arcade from Best Buy, because I'd read online that the Arcades were shipping with the 65nm chip now. I didn't know about this lot number and smaller power supply business, so I had no way to verify, other than to trust the information I'd read about. So after reading this thread, I went and checked the box, and lo and behold, the lot number is 739 and the power rating is 203W. Fuck yes. Now I get to look forward to my 2nd 360 crapping out on me. Gotta be honest, it kinda makes me want to kill people.
PSN: super_emu
Xbox360 Gamertag: Emuchop
So, any rumors of arrival date for 65nm GPUs? And is there any generally accepted (i.e. not from MS PR) data about reduced failure rates in the new models? I wouldn't mind joining the current generation, but life is too short for me to fart around with console failure (thus no 360 yet) or store camping (thus no Wii yet).
You can do it with a Mac. I know, because that's how I do it.
Instructions here:
http://www.ofzenandcomputing.com/zanswers/358
Only hitch is that sometimes, as it the case with me, I can't find a way to make my NAT settings "Open." It is always "Moderate." Mostly this is not a problem, but in some games, it bounces you out of connecting.
Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
I don't think a single word you said disagreed with me.
All that's known is late '08. But you can bet word will spread across the intertubes when the Jasper comes out.