XBOX with 60G hard drive?

[flobadob]

What does the 60G hard drive do on the XBOX. Is it used for memory for storing games or could it also be used for films and music like on a PC? And, if so what formats will it play, for example, will it play DVD's, mp4's, DIVX, or AVI files? Also will it store mp3's?

[Richard1966]

Yes your right its for storage and Microsoft have made it compatible with most current formats. The xbox has several usb ports and you can plug devices in directly, including ipods, or you can link your xbox to a windows PC using media centre.

[flobadob]

That actually sounds pretty cool, sort of like a media player.

[daffy654]

If you plan to use the 360 for downloading films from Microsoft then you would be better advised to get the 360 Elite with a 120gb hard drive,it isn't that much more expensive than the 60gb one.

[flobadob]

Can you also load films onto it in AVI format?

[bemore]

The hardrive basicly-

Saves your gamertag (the little account you first create which stores info on your gaming achievments)

Saves music from a cd or MP3.

When you play games online sometimes you will get updates for the game (which are compulsory to download if you want to play the game online). The updates are basicly things which either add things to the game or improve the game because sometimes it may have "glitches" (games are thouroughly testes by people before release but obvioulsy they all cant be picked up until they are played by millions of people)

Games sometimes bring out downloadable content, things like new multiplayer maps, characters etc etc. One game I have in particualr is Ghost Recon 2 and that has two downloadable map packs and a extra weapon pack and that alone takes up 3.5 GB of space on my harddrive (dont panic though, not all games take up that much space)

You can download films off xbox marketplace, to do this you need to buy microsoft points. Once downloaded you have a month to view it and once you do start viewing it you can only watch it for a 24 hour period.

There is no option to download films onto your hardrive from cd or other sources BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have windows media center on your pc then you can link up your xbox with your pc and stream photos, films, music etc etc. Which then can obviously be viewed/listened to through your television/sound system.

[bemore]

Its not a difficult thing to do and on your xbox and in the manual you get there are step by step instructions.

If your gonna buy an xbox and go online you have 2 choices.

1. Buy a xbox 360 with either a 40gb or 60 gb hard drive.
2. Buy a xbox 360 ELITE with a 120gb hard drive.

The pluses to the elite is they are built better, there black, and they come with a HD lead for your HD telly. If you buy a normal xbox then you will have to buy the HD lead spearatly which cost I think about �20.

My last piece of advice to you is if you do buy one then you can either stand it upright or have it laying down. If you stand it upright it WILL scratch your discs i can guarntee you that. Allways have them laying down flat.

Ive owned my xbox for 2.5 years and it has broken down 3 times. Everytime microsoft have picked it up for free, repaired it and sent it back with free Xbox live Gold time.

Good news is though the parts that they put in now DONT break and microsoft have extended the machines gurantee to a whopping 5 years.

Ill keep my eye on this thread and if you have got anymore questions then dont hesitate to ask : )

[flobadob]

When you say Windows media centre do you mean the same as Windows media player like on Windows XP? Also as I asked earlier,if I have a dvd, load it onto my PC and then convert it into AVI (to save space), can I load the AVI format onto the XBOX and play it on tv? Also does it store permanently until deleted if I load it on that way?

[Mattk]

windows media centre is the ideal for linking to your 360 but is not essential. you can network your pc using standard xp but this can be problematic.

[bemore]

To be honest im unsure of the AVI. What I do know is though you cant store it on your xbox hardrive.

No its not the same as windows media player, i believe you can download windows media center and run it on xp but like the dude above me says it can be problematic.

[Cakeboy]

The 360 will not play an avi file, the only thing you can connect to it is an MP3 player or USB stick with photos on it. It doesn't have the required software to do anything other than that.

[flobadob]

Right, well that's an onion in the ointment. I was planning on getting a media drive for christmas but then thought an XBOX might do the same thing with the added bonus of being able to play games too. Doesn't sound like its gonna work now but, unfortunately.