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[Hugh Verdam]

Here's the situation.  I'm not much of a gamer.  Let's assume for the sake of this discussion that I'll never play a game on the Xbox.  I don't even own one yet.

I recently bought a Samsung (DLP) 50" HDTV.  I started casting about for a DVD player to replace my ancient one.  That's when I noticed all the new hardware with Divx:) and network connections and stuff.  However, you really can't find everything you want in one package.  So I finally got a budget DVD player that has excellent DVD and DVD-audio playback.

But I'm still intrigiued by the other stuff.  I have hundreds of Divx:) and XVID disks and such.

After doing more research, it seems like the Xbox is the most robust solution for everything I want to do, given the relative ease of keeping up with new codecs and all.

So, I'm just about to pull the trigger on spending about $300 for all I need counting the mod and all, and then this question occurs to me.  What if Divx:) looks like crap on a widescreen HDTV?  My movies look great on my little monitor, but will I think they are unwatchable and full of artifacts and crap when they go big-time?  I would really love to hear others' experiences with this before I take the plunge.

Thanks for all advice.

[SeattlePrick]

I was in the same boat as you a month ago. I've got a sony HD a few inches smaller than your Samsung along with a nice collection of compressed movies. After hearing some good reviews I took the plunge and ordered a premodded box, then installed the most recent version of BIOS and Slayers. First DIVX movie I popped in was a 2cd vers of T3 and it looked no different from an actual DVD! Everything I've thrown at it since then (all versions divx/xvid/svcd, you name it) all look 10 times better than they did on my computer monitor. I am thoroughly impressed!

Not only that, but 4 days later I've got it playing burned xbox/psx/nes/snes/genesis games and soon to install LINUX to add browsing capability.

For 300 bucks this is a hell of a player. I say go for it man!

[thebrave]

Yes, I agree, the xbox is impressive. DivX look great on TV (often as sharp as an DVD)

Of course, best results on best DivX (2 pass on 2CD + AC3 rocks)

[BrianM]

It IS a great basic HTPC on the cheap and I watch a lot of compressed movies with it also (though I use it for gaming too).  I still occasionally get pretty bad pixelation, but it's rare and evident on my computer monitor too.

Go for it ~ it's the best you can get for the price.

[jm_007]

due to the xbox's superior video conections (rgb or even component for example) i find divx to be better on the xbox than it is on the pc.

[Hugh Verdam]

Thanks, everyone, for the great replies.  I am very excited about the Xbox now.  I still have one component video input and one optical audio input free in my teevee system, so it looks like everything will be jake.

I have one additional question that won't make a difference either way, but...when I wired my house network, I never thought I'd need a network port near the TV (yeah, I know...), and actually put one instead on the other side of the room.

She Who Must Be Obeyed would never let me run a line from the TV across the room, so I'm probably going to have to get a 54g wireless bridge that will connect the Xbox to my 54g wireless access point.

Will that be fast enough to stream Divx:) movies from one of my computers to the Xbox?

Thanks again for any brainpower.

[SeattlePrick]

Absolutely. 802.11g offers more than enough speed to stream any quality of dvd backup.

I still run my old ass 802.11b and it works alright for streams.

good luck on your project!