Xbox 360 HD DVD drive now officially $49.99

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Feb 25th 2008 at 3:32PM

Look, don't act like you didn't know this was coming. Microsoft has started selling its Xbox 360 HD DVD drive for the ultra-bargain price of $49.99. So now's your chance to get one super-duper cheap. Or you could just throw that $50 into the garbage... same thing.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: HD DVD

Tags: drive, hd dvd, HdDvd, price cut, price drop, PriceCut, PriceDrop, xbox 360, Xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Michael @ Feb 25th 2008 3:43PM

Even though it's so cheap now, I don't think I'd get one of these as a back-up. If my 360 dies, it's useless, whereas if I get an extra A3 and my HD drive or 360 dies... I've still got a stand alone.

Neutral

hueylewis @ Feb 25th 2008 3:45PM

alas poor xbox 360 add on. i knew him well.....
i will enjoy king kong in hd until your drive corrupts.

Highly Ranked

PhilxBefore @ Feb 25th 2008 3:49PM

"Or you could just throw that $50 into the garbage... same thing."

Wow, real professional 'journalism', much less maturity.

I guess thats why its cheaper to hire 'bloggers' than actual journalists.

Highly Ranked

StealthMonkey @ Feb 25th 2008 3:55PM

Yeah, it is comments like that one that make me want to no longer visit Engadget.

Neutral

Brian @ Feb 25th 2008 4:00PM

If I wrote that in a comment, I bet you anything it would be voted highly ranked.

Highly Ranked

Killer @ Feb 25th 2008 4:58PM

Haha, exactly.

If you want to talk about wasting money. An HD DVD isn't a waste at all compared to the U.S. Goverment. 60 million dollars (20 million per missle, yeah for some reason we had to have 2 extras?) to shoot down a 1.6 Billion dollar spy sat. that was dead when it got in orbit in 2006. That's money in the trash. This HD DVD add-on is a DEAL for the ages and if I didn't have one already, I'd hit that agian.

Highest Ranked

Xyzzy @ Feb 25th 2008 3:51PM

Garbage? Yeah, whatever...

I bought one today so I can rip my HD DVD collection to a PC. How much do you need to spend to do that on BD again...?

Neutral

bull3964 @ Feb 25th 2008 3:56PM

Precisely. I just bought one as insurance against my A2 kicking the bucket. I plan on just hooking it to my PC and ripping the discs to a media server so I don't ever have to worry about being able to play them again.

Neutral

PhilxBefore @ Feb 25th 2008 3:58PM

Great point. I almost always forget that the add-on Xbox 360 drive is compatible with PC.

And $50 cheaper than an internal HD-DVD ROM drive for your PC.

Neutral

treats! @ Feb 25th 2008 4:00PM

You need to spend $175 bucks on newegg for the BD PC drive. Same price the 360 HD DVD drive was before the format got owned and died.

Try again.

Neutral

Xyzzy @ Feb 25th 2008 5:24PM

"You need to spend $175 bucks on newegg for the BD PC drive. Same price the 360 HD DVD drive was before the format got owned and died.

Try again."

Actually, the drive has been around $129 for a long time...

And regardless, you're basically saying that it costs $120 less to be able to rip my HD DVD movies than it costs you to rip your BD movies... Assuming you can even rip them because of BD+.

Ok, whatever helps you sleep at night. *laugh*

Low Ranked

treats! @ Feb 25th 2008 5:30PM

I'm saying if HD DVD wasn't dead and a complete failure MS would still have the original price on the drive. But you're right, you can rip a dead format with some terrible transfers like batman begins to your HDD for cheap.

Low Ranked

treats! @ Feb 25th 2008 5:38PM

oops, the BD PC drive is $129 now.

Neutral

drewd @ Feb 25th 2008 6:31PM

Do you feel any urgency to buy it or are there plenty in stock...

Neutral

Jnas @ Feb 25th 2008 3:58PM

They could make it $1 and i still woundn't buy one.

Highly Ranked

Killer @ Feb 25th 2008 5:05PM

"They could make it $1 and i still woundn't buy one."

Sir, you are an idiot. For a Dollar you wouldn't buy a add-on that cost a company 120 dollars or so to make? That's like giving money away to consumers. I would buy 20 if they were $1.

Neutral

Jnas @ Feb 25th 2008 5:30PM

"Sir, you are an idiot. For a Dollar you wouldn't buy a add-on that cost a company 120 dollars or so to make? That's like giving money away to consumers. I would buy 20 if they were $1."

Sir, you are an idiot for taking my statement literally.

Neutral

PhilxBefore @ Feb 25th 2008 3:59PM

And what if your A3 dies?

Highest Ranked

trmacdonal @ Feb 25th 2008 4:15PM

"Or you could just throw that $50 into the garbage... same thing."

What the hell is wrong with you? Did this thing kill one of your family members? I for one enjoy watching DVDs through my 360. I don't have an upscaling DVD player and the 360 looks much better than my standalone dvd player. I am going to buy one of these to save the wear and tear on my 360's dvd drive. I lost an original Xbox and a PS2 to over use as a movie player, this would solve that problem. It also means I don't have to take out my game to watch a movie, a minor convenience. I will also get 5 free HD-DVDs and the ability to play the hundreds of bargain movies out there. If you think thats not worth $50, then I don't know what to tell you.

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 25th 2008 4:26PM

You might want to just wait until the inevitable Xbox 360 Blu-ray add-on drive comes out and get that instead, unless you already own a lot of HD DVDs. Just some friendly advice.

Highest Ranked

Will B @ Feb 25th 2008 4:24PM

hey Topolsky, wanna come over and watch The Matrix in HD? 'Cause I know you can't do that at your house!

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 25th 2008 4:27PM

... YET.

Neutral

ethertoad @ Feb 25th 2008 11:31PM

I supported HD DVD to its unfortunate death, but I've learned to deal, and Mr. E, I must say that that was a hilarious come back to Will B's Attack... lol, seriously.

Neutral

eric @ Feb 26th 2008 8:06AM

ROTFL! .... mr reeves choose a category... I will take "baloons for 600" "mr reeves that's not a category" ... "my mistake i will take balloons for "800"...

Neutral

DEEZNUTZ @ Feb 25th 2008 4:27PM

"Or you could just throw that $50 into the garbage... same thing."

Thanks for the laugh! Especially all the HD DVD fans going off on a rant.

Highest Ranked

_JK_ @ Feb 25th 2008 4:33PM

I bailed on HD-DVD when the stuido support got sketchy. Sold my A2 and media for a loss (nothing like I woulda lost now) on ebay. I had $20 in RewardZone cash burning a hole in my pocket, so I ordered one from Bestbuy online this morning. I'm out of pocket a grand total of $31.27 (including tax) for 6 HD-DVD movies (King Kong, plus rebate flix), making the media $5.22/disc, plus I get a media remote I can hawk on eBay for 5 or 6 bux, sweeting the deal even more. HD-DVD Planet Earth boxset is $29.99 shipped from Discovery Store, and I can move the player to the PC if the wife is watching High School Musical or something on TV and I want a HD movie fix, or I can use it to rip some media.

Granted, my wife is gonna throw a fit because I "constantly sell and re-buy the same crap" (her words), but it's $30 for another option for cheap HD lovin'.

Neutral

plozen @ Feb 25th 2008 4:44PM

Did you buy the Planet Earth HD DVD online or in the store?

Neutral

_JK_ @ Feb 25th 2008 4:47PM

http://shopping.discovery.com/product-65763.html?jzid=40588073-0-0

The $50 discount shows at checkout. For whatever reason, it didn't come up (the discount) when my buddy in TN tried it, so I grabbed a copy for him too. Very weird, but it's worked consistently for me.

Neutral

Ryan @ Feb 25th 2008 5:11PM

No discount for me....79.99 still....ahhh man.

Neutral

drewd @ Feb 25th 2008 6:31PM

No dice.

The discount showed up before you inputted your CC#, right?
And you're not a Discovery Rewards member or some $hit?

For constellation to those who can't get this to work, I hear the version w/o Sigourney weaver is the one to get... But 29 bucks is A GREAT DEAL!!

Bummed this doesn't work in Florida

Highest Ranked

plozen @ Feb 25th 2008 4:43PM

Couple things to think about that I wrote about this morning on my blog:

http://philsplace.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/dead-technology-get-your-dead-technology-cheap/

1. If you use the 360 as an extender for TV, pics, vids, etc. the HD DVD add on comes with the Xbox remote, which I think is 20-30 bucks by itself.
2. Not sure, but I think the 5 free by mail is still going, which means you get the drive, the remote and six movies (King Kong inside) for 50 bucks.
3. It still does a decent job of upconverting.

And my goodness people, the whole point of a blog is to get news in a different vehicle from the standard media. That's why this whole blogging revolution started, to give people not named Rupert Murdoch (yes I know Engadget is owned by a larger company) a chance to comment on news in non-traditional ways. I say again, if you don't want opinions, read the WSJ.

Neutral

_JK_ @ Feb 25th 2008 4:34PM

I have the rebate form printed out (reason below). It's valid if you purchase your player by 2/28, needs to be mailed in by 3/31.

Highest Ranked

trmacdonal @ Feb 25th 2008 4:45PM

I don't have any Blu-Ray or HD-DVD's, but I have 400+ DVDs. Right now for $50 I can get a drive that will save my 360 dvd drive from the strain of watching movies. I also use a VGA connection. I have never seen a VGA upscaling dvd player, but this will do it for $50. Mabye some day I will get a blu-ray player or add-on, but I only have a 37" 720p HDTV. The difference between upscaled dvd and blu-ray just isn't worth it to me now. I would buy this drive for $50 if it only upscaled dvd's through a VGA connection. Being able to watch some dirt cheap HD-DVDs is just a bonus.

Neutral

eric @ Feb 26th 2008 8:09AM

i do that too... i avoid putting dvds into my regular xbox drive unless they are the ones that have a whole bunch of divx on them or they are the 360 games... my buddy just got the 360 HD addon for the cheap movies.

Highly Ranked

Killer @ Feb 25th 2008 5:10PM

"Please do not buy one of these anymore. Microsoft has pulled the plug on this product."

Are you serious? No, Microsoft just felt like dropping the MSRP by 100 dollars, because they like consumers. Where have you been the past 4 days? Besides, Microsoft has pulled the plug, but will continue to support the add-on service wise and warranty wise.

Neutral

DrXym @ Feb 25th 2008 5:47PM

$50 is a bargain. Even if you only use it as an external USB powered DVD drive. I'd also recommend one to anyone with an HD DVD collection. At least that way they stand a chance of preserving their collection by ripping it to the PC and transcoding it to another format.

Neutral

Nfinity @ Feb 25th 2008 6:09PM

What's absolutely sad is the realization that there are so many people that are complete and utter idiots. The comments some Blu-Ray fanboys make are beyond moronic.

and let's not get into this Joshua who writes for Engadget. I mean are you for real or just a natural idiot? How did anyone give you a pass to write on Engadget is beyond me. You are a disgrace. Go finish a school or something, learn how to write, get down to earth and then maybe you may be ready to write in COMMENTS area.

This site has become an utter joke. If they closed down Engadget tomorrow it wouldn't be too soon.

@Xyzzy

Right on man.. that's exactly the point.. $50 for a PC drive that will rip any HD DVD with AnyDVD HD software will make sure that HD DVD owners still have a much better value then Blu-Ray even postmortem.

Neutral

MegaZone @ Feb 25th 2008 7:06PM

If Engadget/EngadgetHD is such a joke, why do you still hang out and comment here?

Neutral

H Choi @ Feb 25th 2008 6:25PM

Phew! I sold mine for $110 of craigs list last week. SUCKA!

Highly Ranked

HDpurist @ Feb 25th 2008 6:25PM

Why not just burn $50 cash.

Neutral

Killer @ Feb 25th 2008 6:47PM

Well you can burn that 50 dollars get arrested and convicted for a federal crime. Have fun with that, While other people spend it on this great deal. Personally I can think of a million things to spend 50 dollars on (even this) instead of burning 50 dollars. But hey, it's your money, just alittle stupid thats all.

(Ps. Shouldn't your avatar show all the aspects at the moment like HD Downloads, HD DVD (its still selling), etc? Just seems alittle ERROR filled thats all.) Just because Blu-ay won, doesn't mean its the only HD format selling movies right now. I guess in your world of burning 50 dollars, it must seem like it.

Neutral

SheepCloner @ Feb 25th 2008 9:34PM

I think it's fair to say that $50 is a damn good deal for 6 HD movies, although not the best titles. Throw in another $50 on deals from Amazon and you've got ten HD movies, a player, and a remote for $100.

It's still HD people. Everyone here would salivate over 10 BR movies for $100.

Neutral

Devron @ Feb 25th 2008 10:52PM

I own a PS3 and I rushed to the store to get one. People are breaking their necks to buy "dual format" -- why is this such a bad idea? Hey, this way when the low price fire sales come, like the ones at Deep Discount right now, I'll be able to get a few steals.

Heads up - I went to Best Buy and the shelf price still says $119, but I picked up with the intention of bringing it back to get my $60. When the cashier scanned it....$49. I know Joshua was just making an off hand comment about not retrieving it from the trash, but from where I stand, this is a great deal. King Kong comes in the box (now, not the biggest fan of the film, but,)....retail price for HD King Kong is probably $25 bucks. Which really makes the drive hard to pass up -- especially if you have a 360.

Neutral

Leonardo DiCrapio @ Feb 26th 2008 12:51AM

I guess the ten million people who bought DVD players in the first seven months of 2008 must have been dumping money (approximately $50 per player) in the garbage, too. Seriously, I spend more than $50 for three months of service with Blockbuster Total Access. This is the the way to see high-definition movies on the cheap for the time being.

I don't even own a XBox, and I may get the drive just so I can get King Kong on HD DVD (and I am still eligible for the five free rebate since I bought my RCA HD DVD player off of EBay in December of 2007). I'd probably just end up reselling (quickly) the drive sans UPC on EBay.

Highly Ranked

sporty-spice @ Feb 26th 2008 2:59AM

@ Michael - what if your tv takes a turn for the worst?

@ Xyzzy - you CAN copy BD+ titles and playback on your pc *laugh*

@ trmacdonal - it DOES upconvert thru the VGA

@ MegaZone - i am here for the lulz

@ Leonardo DiCrapio - you can hook the player up to your pc also.....HTPC...*cough*

Swag Saturday: Droplitz (XBLA) Happy 4th of July! Here's Alex Mercer with boobs, Cole McGrath in a bikini IGN shows us Milo's future	Symantec's Hall says free antivirus is for chumps Hulu blocks Skyfire mobile browser from accessing videos StatCounter data shows Windows 7 pre-release use closing in on Linux
Sega giving away Columns on iPhone for free all this weekend Road Tested: AT&T Navigator for iPhone Rolando 2 out now on the App Store	All-American stock #1: McDonald's (MCD) Comfort Zone Investing: Survival of the fittest -- letting some banks fail Three All-American stocks for portfolio fireworks
Celebrate July 4th with adorable Kodu fireworks Gears of War 2's Title Update 4 now live Metanet: N+ next week's Xbox Live deal	VIDEO: German man takes delivery of his 135th BMW Born to be Bentley: One-off Crewe chopper Happy Independence Day from Autoblog
Dead Island still shambling along to a release someday BioShock 2's concept art reveals first ideas for characters New America's Army 3 patch available via Deploy Client	10 Quarterback Battles Worth Watching Apparently, Fans Shouldn't Expect NFL Players to Be Perfect Cris Carter, Motivational Speaker, Breaks it Down for NFL Rookies