Microsoft DVD Movie Playback Kit for Xbox
- Connectivity: Wireless
- Console: Xbox
- Brand: Microsoft
- Type: Remote Control
Available From
Why are these offers here?
Smart Buy!
Lowest price from a Trusted Store
Lowest Price!
- Overview
-
Reviews
- Compare Prices
User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit - Yet Another Reason to Buy the Xbox
Pros
allows you to watch DVDs, cheap, good quality picture, many features, cool looking remote
Cons
does not come automatically with Xbox, no eject/power button
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
For a mere $30, you can watch DVDs on your Xbox. Unless you own a DVD player, buying the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit is the right choice.
When I was purchasing my Xbox console earlier this year, I knew that there was one accessory that I just had to have right away. This accessory is the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit, which costs $29.99 at most major retailers.
The Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit allows Xbox owners to watch DVDs on their console right away, and this turns your gaming console into a home entertainment system. For people that do not own a DVD player, this is the cheap alternative because at $29.99, your Xbox will turn into a decent DVD player. The Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit consists of two items: an infrared receiver and a remote control.
Setting up the kit is extremely easy. You plug the infrared receiver into any of the controller ports on the Xbox. This means that yes, there will only be three controller ports available, however, if it is necessary to have four players, just take out the infrared receiver and put it back in later. The infrared receiver itself is very small. As you as you have plugged it in, you can begin to watch movies right away. Just place a DVD into the drive and the movie will load automatically.
The remote control is completely black and has a lot of buttons on the front. The Xbox and DVD logos are also visible. It is the size of most TV and VCR remotes, but it is very lightweight. It weighs less than a PDA, which might make some people think that it is extremely brittle or shoddily crafted, however this is not the case. It is made of very sturdy plastic, similar to the material out of which the controllers are made of. The remote is powered by two AAA batteries (sold separately), which easily slide into a back panel. All of the buttons are white, except for six light green buttons, which give the remote a look that matches the look of the console itself. The six green buttons actually glow in the dark, which is an unnecessary yet cool addition. The buttons are the right size in my opinion and they are well spaced, so even if you have pudgy fingers, you will never press the wrong button.
The quality of picture when playing DVDs is actually quite good, and is on par with other low and mid-end DVD players. There is a wide array of extra features available, however most of these are also standard with DVD players. The play, pause and stop buttons on the remote do exactly what they should. The forward and reverse buttons can rewind or forward the movie 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x or 32x, which is much faster than almost any VHS player. If you pause the movie and rewind or forward, you will have a slow motion effect. If you press the info or title buttons, you can see what Chapter (of the DVD) you are on, how much time is remaining and how long you have watched this movie for. With the Skip and Skip- you can skip chapters, which is much faster than rewinding or forwarding. The menu button returns you to the main menu of the featured DVD, while the back button returns you to your previous selection. A numerical pad (0-9) is available for choosing chapters.
Finally, with the Display, Select and 4 Arrow buttons; you can explore all of the extra features available to owners of the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit. By pressing Display, a menu full of options pops up. Here you can select if you want French, Spanish, English or no subtitles. Some DVDs can also be viewed in Spanish or French, and if you wish to do so, choose your language here. A wide array of audio options are available, as well as angle selection. You can play around with the A-B playback loop, which is for saving and playing scenes that you wish repeatedly. Finally, you can even zoom in, up to 10x, which is not too useful, but may come in handy once in a while for certain scenes.
The only complaint that I have about this remote is that there is no eject or power button, so if you wish to turn off your console or want to take the DVD out, you must do it manually. I can certainly live without it, but sometimes you feel so lazy that you really do wish for such a button.
Overall, the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit is a very useful accessory, and I do not regret purchasing it. For those that do not own a DVD player, for the mere price of $29.99 you can enable your Xbox console to play DVDs. I have watched about a dozen movies on it, and the picture quality has always been crisp, the features are plentiful, and I am very pleased with it.
The Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit allows Xbox owners to watch DVDs on their console right away, and this turns your gaming console into a home entertainment system. For people that do not own a DVD player, this is the cheap alternative because at $29.99, your Xbox will turn into a decent DVD player. The Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit consists of two items: an infrared receiver and a remote control.
Setting up the kit is extremely easy. You plug the infrared receiver into any of the controller ports on the Xbox. This means that yes, there will only be three controller ports available, however, if it is necessary to have four players, just take out the infrared receiver and put it back in later. The infrared receiver itself is very small. As you as you have plugged it in, you can begin to watch movies right away. Just place a DVD into the drive and the movie will load automatically.
The remote control is completely black and has a lot of buttons on the front. The Xbox and DVD logos are also visible. It is the size of most TV and VCR remotes, but it is very lightweight. It weighs less than a PDA, which might make some people think that it is extremely brittle or shoddily crafted, however this is not the case. It is made of very sturdy plastic, similar to the material out of which the controllers are made of. The remote is powered by two AAA batteries (sold separately), which easily slide into a back panel. All of the buttons are white, except for six light green buttons, which give the remote a look that matches the look of the console itself. The six green buttons actually glow in the dark, which is an unnecessary yet cool addition. The buttons are the right size in my opinion and they are well spaced, so even if you have pudgy fingers, you will never press the wrong button.
The quality of picture when playing DVDs is actually quite good, and is on par with other low and mid-end DVD players. There is a wide array of extra features available, however most of these are also standard with DVD players. The play, pause and stop buttons on the remote do exactly what they should. The forward and reverse buttons can rewind or forward the movie 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x or 32x, which is much faster than almost any VHS player. If you pause the movie and rewind or forward, you will have a slow motion effect. If you press the info or title buttons, you can see what Chapter (of the DVD) you are on, how much time is remaining and how long you have watched this movie for. With the Skip and Skip- you can skip chapters, which is much faster than rewinding or forwarding. The menu button returns you to the main menu of the featured DVD, while the back button returns you to your previous selection. A numerical pad (0-9) is available for choosing chapters.
Finally, with the Display, Select and 4 Arrow buttons; you can explore all of the extra features available to owners of the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit. By pressing Display, a menu full of options pops up. Here you can select if you want French, Spanish, English or no subtitles. Some DVDs can also be viewed in Spanish or French, and if you wish to do so, choose your language here. A wide array of audio options are available, as well as angle selection. You can play around with the A-B playback loop, which is for saving and playing scenes that you wish repeatedly. Finally, you can even zoom in, up to 10x, which is not too useful, but may come in handy once in a while for certain scenes.
The only complaint that I have about this remote is that there is no eject or power button, so if you wish to turn off your console or want to take the DVD out, you must do it manually. I can certainly live without it, but sometimes you feel so lazy that you really do wish for such a button.
Overall, the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit is a very useful accessory, and I do not regret purchasing it. For those that do not own a DVD player, for the mere price of $29.99 you can enable your Xbox console to play DVDs. I have watched about a dozen movies on it, and the picture quality has always been crisp, the features are plentiful, and I am very pleased with it.
