XL201 HD DVD dirve

[andysp5]

I've got an XL201 which has got a normal DVD drive as standard. What HD DVD drives are available that can be a simple replacement for my existing drive? I ask because the DVD 'slot' on the front of the XL201 is not a normal 'slot' is it?

[Blencogo]

Hi Andy and welcome to Club Vaio.

I would certainly wait because HD DVD/Blu-Ray drive prices are falling fast. Prices seem to have fallen from £900 less than a year ago to $250 today.

I have not seen a "Slot In" HD drive yet - another reason to wait.

Most HD drives are 'Read Only' for HD Media. In such a rapidly changing marketplace you are best looking at Google to see what is availabale - but generally it is still a field full of prototypes. There are lots of manufacturers rushing to make a drive that will handle both formats.

You will of course have to consider if it is worth having any sort of HD Drive in a PC as Vista doesn't seem to support 1080p so it is really a bit of a waste of money.

Can anyone hear actually tell the difference? I'm not sure I can!

[andysp5]

Thanks Blencogo.
The TV and projector I have only support 720p/1080i, and that is good enough for me in the foreseeable future. Also, my XL201 is XP, and with the issues I've heard about, I'm not going to even try to upgrade to Vista.
So with the special 'slot' that the Vaio has, I presume even when more drives become available, I can't just go for any drive, it has to be a special one to fit the 'slot'?
Also, I presume all the HD DVD drives will do 'upscaling' of SD material as the norm?

[Chris23x]

Hi Andy,

I use a Xbox HD-DVD drive on my XL202 and it works without any problems.

Of course you will also need to buy a software that plays HD-DVD like PoverDVD7.

The drive is cheap but a little bit loud.

Chris

[mobile-IT]

Hi,

Just reading through the posts, how do you hook up the Xbox HD Drive to the XL?,

Cheers,

Dave

[kee-lo_]

It's USB so it should just be detected by Vista

[andysp5]

Hi Chris, but your XL202 already has a Blu-ray drive doesn't it? Or did you want Blu-ray and HD-DVD?
Also, I've heard rumours that even if I managed to get a Blu-ray drive for my XL201, it can't be played because windows XP doesn't support it? Is this correct? I've already played downloaded HD clips through the XL201 with no problem. Or is it that XP only supports 720p/1080i and does not support 1080p?
I'm confused, any help please?

[jamesbramsdon]

Has anyone sucessfully used the Xbox HD drive with an XL201 & Windows XP?

If so, how? My setup causes stuttering and 100% CPU usage.

I have the above and am using Nero 7's Showtime player with the HD plugin, and it's rubbish!

Do I need to buy better software i.e. PowerDVD Ultra, or is Vista the answer?

Thanks