Okay, call me stupid if you want. In this case, I'll accept that I am stupid, so it won't bother me. So, here gos:
I've been reading a lot about the Xbox 360 Slim, yet I have some basic questions that nothing I've read gives me what I consider a clear answer for the following:
Is it compatible with old Xbox games out of the box or do you have to download some sort of patch?
If you have to download a patch, is the supposed wifi capability going to let you use any sort of wifi connection?
Can you watch movies via the Slim' harddrive? If so, can a person simply connect their Slim to a thumbdrive and copy video files onto the Slim and use the Slim to watch the files on any TV?
Is the Slim less susceptible to the Red Ring of Death than the older Xbox 360s?
In the end, is it worth it to buy the Slim, or should a person just buy a cheap, used Xbox 360?
I think the XB1 games that work need you to download some emulation stuff, but that's a one time download, but you need the HDD as it's a few hundred megs. I'm not clear on your second question but if you mean, can XB1 games use a wireless N network, I think that's not handled by the game code, it's just passing it's packets on to the firmware.
Not sure about copying files to the internal hard drive. Streaming and watching from external HDDs and storage I am pretty sure works.
Not enough time has passed to really know if it's as susceptible to the RROD. Hasn't been getting in the news as much (Though it has a smaller install base.) but if MS hasn't fixed that mistake, they're really doing something wrong.
If you're going for a fat, try to get one of the more recent ones.
I'm not clear on your second question but if you mean, can XB1 games use a wireless N network, I think that's not handled by the game code, it's just passing it's packets on to the firmware.
That's kinda what I mean, thanks. In that question, I'm trying to ask, in an inartful way I suppose, if you can take your Xbox 360 Slim to the beach house you rented, and use the wifi they have at the beach house to get onto Xbox Live and stuff.
The XBox 360 slim is the same as all other XBox 360s. The only differences are in form factor, looks, price, and it has the port to attach the Kinect, and it has wireless built in. The wifi will work with any wifi, unless it's a really really weird one with all sorts of crazy locks on it. Even then, it might work. With that wifi connection you will be able to do anything online that XBoxes can do online the same as if it were using a wire.
As for watching movies, I wouldn't bet on watching anything on the hard drive, even an external one, unless it's a movie you rented from the Zune store on the 360 itself. Your best bet to watch movies is to use DVDs or use the Windows Media Center Extender. The way that works is you get a normal PC on the same network as the 360. Then you put whatever you want to watch in Windows media center. Then you open up the WMC extender on the 360 and connect to the PC. Now you can basically watch the Windows Media Center that's on the PC, except on the TV in HD.
Red Ring of Death, who can say? I suspect it will be less of a worry. I have an Elite, and I bought it relatively recently. It has had no red ring, yet.
If you need wireless, need to save space, care a lot about aesthetics, really want to use Kinect, or you're really worried about red rings, I would get the slim. Otherwise, save money and get an old one. Though, you might be able to get a non-used older model.
I've also have not had a RROD and I got mine what, a year and a half ago? The only issue is that used games sometimes get a little skippy or weird because of scratches, sometimes barely visible ones.
I think the XB1 games that work need you to download some emulation stuff, but that's a one time download, but you need the HDD as it's a few hundred megs.
I guess you have to log on to Xbox Live at lest once to do this, correct? Are they in the habit of giving a lad any Xbox Live time if he buys a new Slim?
If you need wireless, need to save space, care a lot about aesthetics, really want to use Kinect, or you're really worried about red rings, I would get the slim.
The RROD is the only reason I've been so skittish about buying one until now. I don't know if I could handle getting a RROD. I would probably weep a lot, and maybe even embark upon a life of crime because I'd know of no other way to assuage my grief aside from bloody, nihilistic vengeance upon the uncaring society that allowed a RROD to occur. It could only end in tears and blood.
I'd hazard that I wouldn't even want a Kinect for another couple of years. I can't imagine that one would need such a thing if one were not in the habit of actually moving about at home; which I usually don't, as it is my opinion that home should be reserved for sitting very still unless one is enaged in fixing oneself a very stiff drink. I have a pet sloth that moves faster than me when I'm at home.
I'd hazard that I wouldn't even want a Kinect for another couple of years. I can't imagine that one would need such a thing if one were not in the habit of actually moving about at home; which I usually don't, as it is my opinion that home should be reserved for sitting very still unless one is enaged in fixing oneself a very stiff drink. I have a pet sloth that moves faster than me when I'm at home.
Well, a Kinect will still work with a non-slim 360, it will just require a greater mess of wires. A slim has a special connector for it.
Is it compatible with old Xbox games out of the box or do you have to download some sort of patch?
XBox-to-360 backwards compatibility listing from MS - You can also download the latest compatibility patches, burn them to DVD, and install them that way, so if you don't have a 'net connection for the 360 it's not going to totally screw you over.
If you have to download a patch, is the supposed wifi capability going to let you use any sort of wifi connection?
The new slim unit has 802.11n, so it'll work with any a/b/g/n router unless there is some jacked-up proprietary crap on your router.
Can you watch movies via the Slim' harddrive? If so, can a person simply connect their Slim to a thumbdrive and copy video files onto the Slim and use the Slim to watch the files on any TV?
As for watching movies, I wouldn't bet on watching anything on the hard drive, even an external one, unless it's a movie you rented from the Zune store on the 360 itself
A little research is a wonderful thing, Scott: XBox 360 Video Format Compatibility List - You can stream video off a removable hard drive or USB stick as long as it's in the proper video format and the drive is FAT32 formatted and will run at USB2.0 speed.
Is the Slim less susceptible to the Red Ring of Death than the older Xbox 360s?
Yes and no. There's no "ring of light" on the new unit, so technically there's no RRoD. It's supposed to be constructed warn you and then shut itself down if it detects overheating. There aren't enough of them in the field, so we can't say what the fail rate is going to be yet.
In the end, is it worth it to buy the Slim, or should a person just buy a cheap, used Xbox 360?
Don't get a used one. You don't want to be buying someone else's problems. If you must go the cheap route, get one of the retail packs that have just had the price dropped and go from there.
A little research is a wonderful thing, Scott:XBox 360 Video Format Compatibility List- You can stream video off a removable hard drive or USB stick as long as it's in the proper video format and the drive is FAT32 formatted and will run at USB2.0 speed.
Sorry to bring this up again, but I can't get a straight answer out of the web (which on this subject is basically all ads or hacker stuff that's way over my head), or "YahooAnswer"-types sites.
Here's what I want to know if a Slim will do: Can I use it like an external hard drive, import movie files into it from my computer, and then play the movies on my TV? Example: I have Duck Soup on my computer. I want to watch it on my TV. Can I "hook up", for lack of a better phrase, an Xbox 360 Slim to my computer, copy Duck Soup onto the Slim (and any other video files I happen to have lying around), disconnect the Slim from my computer, connect it to my TV, and then watch Duck Soup on my TV?
I understand that a better solution might be to just "hook up" my computer to my TV and use my TV as a monitor, but I have read that this gives some uneven viewing results. Also, Jason told me once what sort of cables to buy to do the connection and then I forgot to buy them and I'm too embarrassed now to ask him again what cables I should get (I have an old Compaq Presario 2200 laptop running Windows XP. Yeah, I hear you kids laughing, but it works for me.).
I don't know about putting movies on there other than downloading them through Xbox Live. However as long as your XBox is connected to your computer through either ethernet or wifi, you can use the Windows Media Player to watch movies from your computer.
You don't copy the movie file to the XBox. You setup network sharing so the file is still on your computer and the XBox streams it off of the computer's hard drive over the network. It also depends on what codec the movie is in. If it's some ogg video, the XBox doesn't know how to play it. It can only play videos that Windows Media Player knows how to play.
You don't copy the movie file to the XBox. You setup network sharing so the file is still on your computer and the XBox streams it off of the computer's hard drive over the network.
To someone like me, that sounds like Star Trek Technobabble. I guess I'll just have to google how to do this.
Or . . . is there some way to do this in some sort of Xbox setup protocol?
Also, I'm going to want to be able to do this at a rented beach house that *gasp* has no WiFi or internet access if theat matters.
Or . . . is there some way to do this in some sort of Xbox setup protocol?
On your computer, if you have Windows Media Center, go to the Video Library and right-click to manage your library. Add the files you want to share to your Xbox.
Go to Xbox, and go to network settings and locate your computer and connect to network.
Go to Xbox Dashboard to the Windows Media Center and instant success.
I don't think I missed any steps, but I'm not at home to check.
Also, I'm going to want to be able to do this at a rented beach house that *gasp* has no WiFi or internet access if theat matters.
Might just be easier to put the files on a hard drive (E.g. an iPod in disc mode.) and plug it in (Though this raises the problem of encoding.).
Problem with not using a router is that you then have to set static IPs (Which isn't that hard but takes a while to make sense of.) and you'll need a crossover cable if your PC doesn't have auto-crossover-detection.
Even if there is no Internet at the beach house, you can still bring your router. Just plug the XBox and the PC into the router with wifi or ethernet cables, and they will network with each other, even if they aren't connected to the Internet. Also, remember the power cable for the router.
Omnutia hit the answer right on the nose. There's no need to go to the trouble of dealing with setting up media center streaming or a network share if you have the files saved on a FAT32-formatted USB2.0 removable drive. So long as the files are in a format that the 360 will recognize, all you have to do is jack in the drive, let it catalog your files, and then watch whatever you want. Once again, see the official XBox 360 video playback FAQ. It has the answers you need as far as what formats will work and how to play back video.
Yeah I think I am going to get that. And I am going to get the new Left4Dead 2 in two days. Any suggestions for indie games?
I made a game with zombies in it is pretty good. And "breath of death" is kinda fun as an oldschool rpg parody. Jumper robot adventure is alright too. Plus they are all only $1 but I still recommend playing the trials first.
I just bought it today and got through with playing a few hours of it. It's pretty good. One of the few high-profile indie games that is exclusive to XBLA, so might as well get it since it probably won't end up on the PC anytime soon.
Blockey and Zombie Estate are two more indie games that are well worth the dollar admission, although I suppose they are both multiplayer-centric choices.
Comments
I've been reading a lot about the Xbox 360 Slim, yet I have some basic questions that nothing I've read gives me what I consider a clear answer for the following:
Is it compatible with old Xbox games out of the box or do you have to download some sort of patch?
If you have to download a patch, is the supposed wifi capability going to let you use any sort of wifi connection?
Can you watch movies via the Slim' harddrive? If so, can a person simply connect their Slim to a thumbdrive and copy video files onto the Slim and use the Slim to watch the files on any TV?
Is the Slim less susceptible to the Red Ring of Death than the older Xbox 360s?
In the end, is it worth it to buy the Slim, or should a person just buy a cheap, used Xbox 360?
I'm not clear on your second question but if you mean, can XB1 games use a wireless N network, I think that's not handled by the game code, it's just passing it's packets on to the firmware.
Not sure about copying files to the internal hard drive. Streaming and watching from external HDDs and storage I am pretty sure works.
Not enough time has passed to really know if it's as susceptible to the RROD. Hasn't been getting in the news as much (Though it has a smaller install base.) but if MS hasn't fixed that mistake, they're really doing something wrong.
If you're going for a fat, try to get one of the more recent ones.
As for watching movies, I wouldn't bet on watching anything on the hard drive, even an external one, unless it's a movie you rented from the Zune store on the 360 itself. Your best bet to watch movies is to use DVDs or use the Windows Media Center Extender. The way that works is you get a normal PC on the same network as the 360. Then you put whatever you want to watch in Windows media center. Then you open up the WMC extender on the 360 and connect to the PC. Now you can basically watch the Windows Media Center that's on the PC, except on the TV in HD.
Red Ring of Death, who can say? I suspect it will be less of a worry. I have an Elite, and I bought it relatively recently. It has had no red ring, yet.
If you need wireless, need to save space, care a lot about aesthetics, really want to use Kinect, or you're really worried about red rings, I would get the slim. Otherwise, save money and get an old one. Though, you might be able to get a non-used older model.
The only issue is that used games sometimes get a little skippy or weird because of scratches, sometimes barely visible ones.
I'd hazard that I wouldn't even want a Kinect for another couple of years. I can't imagine that one would need such a thing if one were not in the habit of actually moving about at home; which I usually don't, as it is my opinion that home should be reserved for sitting very still unless one is enaged in fixing oneself a very stiff drink. I have a pet sloth that moves faster than me when I'm at home.
Here's what I want to know if a Slim will do: Can I use it like an external hard drive, import movie files into it from my computer, and then play the movies on my TV? Example: I have Duck Soup on my computer. I want to watch it on my TV. Can I "hook up", for lack of a better phrase, an Xbox 360 Slim to my computer, copy Duck Soup onto the Slim (and any other video files I happen to have lying around), disconnect the Slim from my computer, connect it to my TV, and then watch Duck Soup on my TV?
I understand that a better solution might be to just "hook up" my computer to my TV and use my TV as a monitor, but I have read that this gives some uneven viewing results. Also, Jason told me once what sort of cables to buy to do the connection and then I forgot to buy them and I'm too embarrassed now to ask him again what cables I should get (I have an old Compaq Presario 2200 laptop running Windows XP. Yeah, I hear you kids laughing, but it works for me.).
Or . . . is there some way to do this in some sort of Xbox setup protocol?
Also, I'm going to want to be able to do this at a rented beach house that *gasp* has no WiFi or internet access if theat matters.
Go to Xbox, and go to network settings and locate your computer and connect to network.
Go to Xbox Dashboard to the Windows Media Center and instant success.
I don't think I missed any steps, but I'm not at home to check. Use an ethernet cable.
Problem with not using a router is that you then have to set static IPs (Which isn't that hard but takes a while to make sense of.) and you'll need a crossover cable if your PC doesn't have auto-crossover-detection.