Average Rating: 
Rating:  - worth the money
Ok, kids, system loyalty or Microsoft hatred aside, this is a quality product. Yes, we all would have liked to have been able to watch DVD's without buying a remote. Nobody likes spending more money after shelling out the price of an Xbox. However, what some of you are'nt taking into account is that the Xbox is saving you money over the PS2 in other areas. Example: an included hard drive and ethernet port. Buying these things for a PS2 sure as heck is going to cost more than a remote for the Xbox. Last time a checked, PS2 memory cards cost as much as the Playback Kit, and guess what? You HAVE to buy a memory card with your PS2 if you wanna save anything. And as for the picture quality, it is MUCH better than the PS2 (and yes, I do have both, so I know what I'm talking about). If you don't already have a decent DVD player, just spend the money for this kit. If you're using a PS2 or a cheap player, this is definitely worth the cost.
Rating: - Well designed little guy...
1. put the dongle into the 3rd controller slot, it fits best there.2. the first time you pop in a video dvd disc, there will be a slight delay before anything happens. This is because the usb dongle containing the IR tranciever also contains a .5MB ROM used for *something* (yet unknown) in DVD playback. 3. this device is region specific -- do not buy one from the US if you live in the UK, it won't play region 2 DVD's. 4. the remote is surprisingly high quality. big, light, excellent overall button response and IR response. 5. no power or eject buttons, annoying but forgivable. 6. the dvd playback application included on the xbox puts out a great picture and fast-forwards and rewinds effortlessly. 7. much to my surprise, the xbox was able to handle several rented discs scratched to the point of being unplayable by me middle end sony player without a hitch. 8. if you don't have a DVD player, buy this thing. it's wonderful. yes, the money you're paying is mostly liscensing, but c'mon, [amt] for a CD that costs at most [amt] in it's entirty? no complaints here.
Rating: - Yup, as plain and functional as they come
Very functional, makes you feel like your Xbox is complete. As for the playback quality of the Xbox, couldn't tell the difference between it and the Pioneer DVC-302D that it kicked out of the shelf and being deployed to somewhere else within the house. Of course, you have to connect the Xbox to the Advanced AV pack or High Definition pack with an optical audio cable to get full Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS, and S-Video or Component video inputs as well for video. Not too shabby overall, even considering the lack of eject and power buttons that some people are complaining about. Gotta get up from the couch sometimes. Good for blood circulation.As mentioned by another reviewer, you can program your universal remote control with the codes for RCA DVD players and the Xbox IR receiver will respond to it. The power button on the universal remote still won't work though, because this particular button will be interpreted as the display button on the Xbox remote. Worth noting too, that my universal remote doesn't have an eject button. A very cool feature that I found out when playing audio CDs: when the info button is pressed, the mood display in the left panel zooms in to fill the full TV screen. Instant 32" lava lamp! Kinda looks like a mood setting screensaver. Break out the candles, turn off the lights, and let Peter Gabriel crank out! Lastly, any geek worth his remote will test this baby with the games. After all, it seems like some of the buttons in the gamepad are mapped in and have equivalent buttons in the remote, right? I popped in DOA3 and tried to control it through the remote, but alas, geek mojo ran out. The remote control does not function as a wireless gamepad.
|
