I've been doing research into the new XBox 360 and could not find answers to these questions:

1) How quiet is it really?  I bought a Jasper after reading that it was quiet (which it is not) in a home entertainment/theater environment.

2) Where is the IR port?  Without that, how does one contol WMC?  Currently I use the XBox 360 Universal Media Remote.  I would prefer not to use the Game controller.

3) Did MS enable volume control in WMC?

4) Is the AV Port the same as before (so I can use the HDMI breakout adapter cable)?

Here's a video I found:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/14/xbox-360-250gb-first-unboxing/

1. It is VERY quiet... about half the volume of a jasper from 2 feet away.... It is not silent, but it is WAY better than any of the 360s so far.

2. The IR port is containted within the sync controllers button. Your remote will still work.

3. Same software as before, so no, it will not control volume.

4. The port is the same as before, although it now has a optical out right on the unit - so i'm not sure if the breakout adapter is needed anymore.

-Casey

Everything is as before. Just better, the IR is more responsive with my Logitech remote compare to before. WMC menus to me seemed a bit snappier than my 09 model. It is very quite. I have it under See through cabinet and before if i had the door open i would hear it. although no biggie for me, especially with the close door. Now when i open the door i have a hard time knowing if the fans are even spinning i have to put my hand on the vent to know its spinning. PS3 quite? NO but very very close to it. Oh one thing i have notice i dont know if others have but damm is the sound more dynamic now. Playing games and movies sound much better..

How is HD video?

Does it play smoothly on this new XBOX? I have a DMA2100 that stutters from time to time.

Opinions?

Thanks, Ray

I know I've zombied this thread but I just got my Xbox 250GB today and had a chance to play around with it. It is replacing a Jasper model in my bedroom. I have a Falcon model and a DMA2200 as well. I used to own a DMA2100, but sold it in favor of the Jasper Xbox.

Noise: For all intents and purposes, this thing is really quiet. I know that noise levels are subjective but I can safely say that this is what most will find. I too bought a Jasper in hopes that it would be quieter than my Falcon model. It wasn't really. Maybe a little less, but still what I considered loud. I can't hear this one from 8-10 feet away. If I walk up to it, I can detect that it's on but that's about it. Audiophile types may hear it more, but I would find it hard to believe they'd be distracted enough to turn their noses up at it. I haven't played a game or watched a DVD in it yet. I assume the noise would increase in those cases, but that's not what it's in there for. I've had mine laying on its side for over 6 hours now running and the fan hasn't gotten any more audible.

HD Video: I have played a varied assortment of HD content on it. 1080i recorded TV, 1080p MKVs, AVIs and MP4s, as well as some 720p rips. It has played them all at least as well as the other models. I would tend to think better. I know there aren't any graphical horsepower improvements but, on movies where there is a lot of movement occuring on screen (pans of forest greenery, shots of barley fields blowing in the breeze, fast chase scenes) the old models would sometimes skip. Those same movies didn't exhibit that behavior on the new one. Cooling? retooled die? I don't know.

Form Factor: This thing sure looks slick, especially laying horizontally. I love the touch buttons and refined front panel. It looks tons better in an A/V rack or sitting on a dresser underneath a TV. the power brick is a little smaller, but isn't a huge change from the original... except that it uses less juice now, which is a definate plus. The USB ports on the back don't allow for wider flash drives, so I'm still stuck plugging it into the front (Sandisk Cruzer 16 gb). The old Microsoft Xbox remote still works great. I don't use WiFi for my network, so I can't comment on it.

I really should have waited for an "Arcade" model to surface but I had to try this one out. It has already been mentioned by higher-ups at Microsoft that a model would replace them, once old stock clears off the shelves. I don't really have a need for the 250 GB drive in it, but I assume that will get cut. I think that it'll probably sell for $200-$230 range. Unless Linksys or anyone else can pull this performance off at the same price... they'd better just stay out of the extender market.

"HD Video: I have played a varied assortment of HD content on it. 1080i recorded TV, 1080p MKVs, AVIs and MP4s, as well as some 720p rips. It has played them all at least as well as the other models. I would tend to think better. I know there aren't any graphical horsepower improvements but, on movies where there is a lot of movement occuring on screen (pans of forest greenery, shots of barley fields blowing in the breeze, fast chase scenes) the old models would sometimes skip. Those same movies didn't exhibit that behavior on the new one. Cooling? retooled die? I don't know."

Is your HD content from ripped Blu-rays?  Which format would you recommend for best quality?

Sorry it took so long to reply Gnarley... been a bit busy of late.

With regard to MKVs... I HAVE NOT ripped a blueray to a container at this point. I have ripped them, file for file, to the hard drive on my HTPC. These are watchable using Arcsoft TMT 3 on the actualy HTPC, but are hardly a long-term solution. 2 seasons of a TV show on Bluray take up almost 300 GB... I've actually found that DLing a bluray rip from usenet is faster and more convenient than ripping and hassling with my copy.

I have done some testing with ripping my blurays and converting to mkv, but it takes entriely too long (over 24 hours for a 90 minute film. I know a lot of people use the "set and forget" approach, but I don't have any machines that can be dedicated to this task. The machine I'm doing encodes on is an older P4 3 GHz office computer. I also use it for research and gaming. My HTPC is pretty-much in constant use either streaming content or recording it.

I do make MKVs of DVDs... Since I haven't found a suitable H.264 process, I'm using ANYDVD HD to remove encryption, DVD Shrink to combine the desired components into 1 VOB, then using Handbrake to convert that into my final MKV. I don't apply any compression during the DVDShrink process and in Handbrake, using the ffMpeg codec, I leave quality at 96.6%. The resulting video quality is practically indistinguishable from the source DVD.

As far as playback on the Xbox 250GB, they all play fine. I installed the Divx Plus package for Windows and AC3Filter on the HTPC. Sometimes, in really high action or "mass pixel shift scenes" (like a field of corn blowing in the breeze, a pan shot of a lush forest), i'll get some stuttering. I haven't played around with limiting the bitrate, but from what I understand, the xbox should be able to handle at least 10mb and DVD doesn't even approach that.

Not sure, but it could be the hardware in my HTPC causing this. I'm using hardwired gigabit ethernet throughout the house. This may improve when I upgrade the HTPC with triple channel DDR3, an i3 550 and associated mobo...