Is watching DVDs on XBox damaging?
 

Heya everyone.

I am not a big DVD buyer/watcher, but lately I've started to consider buying a few TV show "Season" DVDs (The Family Guy, Seinfeld, etc).

In the past I've heard that watching DVDs on an XBox can ultimately damage the lense or cause other problems that lessen the life of the hardware.

Is there any truth to this or is it strictly a rumor?

Furthermore, all damage concerns aside, would it be a better idea to just buy a DVD player, or will a XBox suffice for my DVD viewing needs?

Thanks!

It will only damage the hardware in that it causes wear and tear just like an Xbox game. The only difference I know of is that the Xbox would be continually reading the DVD, where a game is read in spurts. It shouldn't really matter that much though.

You can buy a separate player if you want, but you probably won't notice the difference in casual watching. If you wanted you could even get the optional advanced A/V or high def. package. It would give you a better picture and digital surround sound. Personally I'd get a standalone player, but that's just my opinion.

DVD players have dropped to around US$49 YMMV

I use my XBOX for DVD's all the time. If the drive ever breaks eBay has replacement drives pretty cheap, that is the way I see it.

My xbox is still working fine after reading many dvds and xbox games. But if you want to make sure your xbox is fine, dvd players can easily be bought for cheap.

And to save you some time, there's no Seinfeld dvd yet. So don't bother looking for one.

But seinfeld is going to be coming out in time for the holidays[nov 23] (seasons 1-2 and 3 anyways)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...561801-7979266
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...561801-7979266

Every DVD you read on your XBox decreases its life slightly. Same with every game you play. The same would be true in a DVD player that wasn't also an XBox. It's called wear and tear--there's a finite number of times the drive head will move or the drive will spin up or the laser will fire or... you name it.

But that number is relatively high, right? I mean, there's a CD player in my parents house that has gotten almost daily usage for about 15 years...it's like the Energizer bunny of home electronics...
Personally, I'm trusting in the belief that by the time my X-box stops working due to overuse, my computer will be powerful enough to run my games in Emulation.
fingers crossed, fingers crossed.
Now....off to Crimson Skies!

This rumour may have come from early problems with the first generation of the Xbox. From memory, the Thompson DVD drives they shipped with (they now use Samsung or Philips iirc) had trouble reading certain games and DVDs, and for a while there were reports of the drives physically scratching discs.

The Xbox will not break anysooner than what it's supposed to. Normal wear and tear happens. Games to not read in spurts as someone above said, most of the data is coming off of the cd, not the hdd. On computers (desktop systems), most of the data comes off of the hdd, larger capacity. You should be fine playing dvds on them without any ill effects. But, you should also look into just a component DVD player as they are so cheap now. MFG's are making $1 profit on each unit, thanks to companies like APEX driving the cost down on theirs, therefore making the rest of the market bring their costs as well. Companies like APEX should be praised.

I've had an xbox for a couple years now and play dvds and games on it regularly (dvd's more so than games actually). I even have one of the "bad" original dvd drives, but haven't seen any issues about the drive breaking down because I play dvds in it.

Keep one thing in mind however, that the xbox is louder than just about any dvd player out there. Unless you listen to movies with a great sound system, you'll probably hear the hum of the xbox.

As Cynthetiq has mentioned, dvd players can be had for pretty cheap. And don't expect the most amazing dvd player in the world with the xbox. I'd say the xbox dvd player is comparable to any low end, standalone dvd player available.

For me, it's handy to have the xbox play dvds, but if I was to put together anything more than a ghetto, "college-student" level A/V setup, I'd go with the standalone.