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bobobologna on 29 March 2009
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smbu2000 said:
pearljammer said:


9. No optical out. Not a major complaint, but I really wish there were.

To get optical out on the 360 you need to purchase the "Xbox 360 HDMI AV cable"

Which comes with an hdmi cable and it also comes with another attachment(breakout box) which has a red/white audio connection(e.g. rca), it also has a digital optical out connector(toslink).

The combo(hdmi cable + audio breakout box) also comes with the 360 Elite if you purchased that. That was one reason I picked up my Elite, as I have the digital optical out on the 360 connected to my 5.1 surround sound receiver.

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-HDMI-AV-Cable/dp/B000UODATY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1238359033&sr=1-1

"Product Description
The Xbox 360 HDMI Cable provides gamers with separate audio and video connections via the included Audio Adapter. The Audio Adapter allows HDMI video to be routed to the HDTV with the audio routed SEPERATLY to the home speaker system. Without the Audio Adapter the video and audio signals are both carried by the HDMI cable. This means users without an HDMI receiver (new/costly) must listen to their Xbox 360 game and movie audio via their TV speakers. * One wire for both digital audio and video * Experience high definition movies and games at up to 1080p resolution * Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound output * Optical/RCA Audio Adapter included for non-HDMI supported stereo systems * 2 meter (6.5 feet) shielded cable"

 

Holy crap that's expensive.  And although I could live with just using the component cables, it would have been nice to just include the optical out on the console itself.

Here are the reasons I haven't bought an XBox360 again:

1.  XBox Live Gold - What a joke.  When all you are paying for is the ability to play games using someone else's connection, it's ridiculous that they make you pay for it.  Can you imagine the uproar if Valve decided to charge $40/year for Steam?

2.  Proprietary hardware - Let me use my current bluetooth headset, instead of spending $50 for yours.  Let me stick in a 320GB HDD for $50 instead of spending $100 for a 60GB.

3.  Lack of built-in wifi - Seriously, even the DS has it.  The DS has wifi and your home console doesn't.

And while these next 3 won't stop me from getting an XBox360, they annoy me:

4.  D-pad - Fix it.  Fix it.  Fix it.  Fix it.  It's easily the worst d-pad ever made.

5.  Power brick is ugly.