Xbox series X

This has been a wild two weeks of tech over here. Went full Linux, so I had to switch from an iPod for the gym to something more compatible. While checking out at Best Buy, saw a Series X sitting on the counter. Someone had returned it and the employee was slow-rolling putting it on the sales floor. Since I (the customer) asked about it, he had to sell it to me. Not your at the checkout normal impulse buy I guess.

So far, I am very happy I picked this up. Game Pass is impressive. My home office TV is the last of the good 65" Panasonic Viera plasmas, so although 1080p, the picture is gorgeous and I assume performance will be buttery at 1080p.

What have you been playing so far? So many choices. Oddly, I gravitated toward NHL 21 and got hooked. Halo Infinite is really solid too (although I need a LOT of practice).

Good pickup if you really wanted one but feel like it’s wasted if it stays on the plasma long term. Really does need a new HDMI 2.1 TV to take advantage of all the goodies offered.
 
Good pickup if you really wanted one but feel like it’s wasted if it stays on the plasma long term. Really does need a new HDMI 2.1 TV to take advantage of all the goodies offered.
I agree. I actually still own a old Samsung plasma that has not died yet. It is horrendous with consoles let alone current gen compared to new tech imo.
 
Good pickup if you really wanted one but feel like it’s wasted if it stays on the plasma long term. Really does need a new HDMI 2.1 TV to take advantage of all the goodies offered.
Definitely interested in this. I love my mancave plasma (Panasonic Viera TC-P65GT30) as it was a sleeper PQ-wise back in the day. The blacks are ridiculous.

I have 65" and 55" 4k Sony Bravia XBRs in other rooms that I can use if it's that big of a diff.

What will the HDMI 2.1 bring? A display swap or a new purchase (since I just looked it up and I bought the plasma in 2013) could be in order if it's worth it. I'll have to try the Xbox out in the living room for a bit.
 
Definitely interested in this. I love my mancave plasma (Panasonic Viera TC-P65GT30) as it was a sleeper PQ-wise back in the day. The blacks are ridiculous.

I have 65" and 55" 4k Sony Bravia XBRs in other rooms that I can use if it's that big of a diff.

What will the HDMI 2.1 bring? A display swap or a new purchase (since I just looked it up and I bought the plasma in 2013) could be in order if it's worth it. I'll have to try the Xbox out in the living room for a bit.
HDR, 120 hz frame rate, increased color gamut, to name a few advantages.
 
As well as 4k resolution.
Could be bad eyes, sitting distance or bad TV (or a mix of all of those), but the difference is really not a big deal to me (i.e. would not change a nice Viera for that).

Would be interested to see blind test of 55-65 inch a 9 feet of gaming on a 4K TV at 1080p-1440p-2160p resolution
 
Could be bad eyes, sitting distance or bad TV (or a mix of all of those), but the difference is really not a big deal to me (i.e. would not change a nice Viera for that).

Would be interested to see blind test of 55-65 inch a 9 feet of gaming on a 4K TV at 1080p-1440p-2160p resolution
4K aside there have been many advances in tv technology since the plasma days.

And that’s coming from a guy who still owns and appreciates a plasma for things like ota and movies. Gaming? Not for the plasma now on new gen consoles.
 
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Definitely interested in this. I love my mancave plasma (Panasonic Viera TC-P65GT30) as it was a sleeper PQ-wise back in the day. The blacks are ridiculous.

I have 65" and 55" 4k Sony Bravia XBRs in other rooms that I can use if it's that big of a diff.

What will the HDMI 2.1 bring? A display swap or a new purchase (since I just looked it up and I bought the plasma in 2013) could be in order if it's worth it. I'll have to try the Xbox out in the living room for a bit.
It's time you look at replacing the plasma with an OLED.
 
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It's time you look at replacing the plasma with an OLED.
I guess I am looking for the why behind this statement.

As mentioned, I will toss the console onto one of my 4k tv's to test the hypothesis for myself.

Thanks for the input folks.
 
It's time you look at replacing the plasma with an OLED.

Anyone go from plasma to OLED who can comment on the motion? Motion was better on my UT50 plasma (died) compared to my current XBR810C, but I’m used to it so as long as OLED is not worse I’m going to upgrade this year.
 
I guess I am looking for the why behind this statement.

As mentioned, I will toss the console onto one of my 4k tv's to test the hypothesis for myself.

Thanks for the input folks.

Which XBR do you have? Mine is 4K but you won’t notice that too much, but if it’s 120Hz or HDR you might notice that. I can’t tell cause I have an XBox One X.
 
They are X900H. Looks like they aren't 4k 120hz, so that particular test may not help so much.

I stopped in to look at some displays yesterday and may just upgrade within a month or so anyway. Thinner bezels mean I can go from 65 inch to 75 inch and barely take up any more wallspace. It's amazing what a really good TV costs nowadays. Less power hungry too.

This plasma is still in amazing shape and they have their fans still, so I'll be able to unload it pretty easily.

Now to get down to playing some games.

--- and I picked up a new TV (Sony XR65X90J) Super Bowl weekend. Xbox Series X looks and plays phenomenally. I contend that the plasma was an amazing picture, but this is definitely on that same level and the added resolution is killer.
 
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I guess I am looking for the why behind this statement.

As mentioned, I will toss the console onto one of my 4k tv's to test the hypothesis for myself.

Thanks for the input folks.
Brighter screen while still providing pure blacks, 4k resolution, HDR support, a hell of a lot lighter by weight. Color quality is close between the two. Motion isn't as good as a plasma, but it is a much better than a LCD. You're still dealing with sample-and-hold refresh on an OLED, but pixel response time is 0.1ms or better.

HDTVTest did a comparison video between plasma and OLED, doing a good job at pointing out the differences. They actually show that the plasma doesn't produce pure black. This makes the image resolve better on the OLED with its ∞:1 contrast ratio.



I've never owned a plasma, but have watched content on one in the past. I owned a DLP as the cheaper alternative.
 
Finally got a series X console, now to figure out how to get rid of the HDCP error to be able to playback Blu rays
 
Brighter screen while still providing pure blacks, 4k resolution, HDR support, a hell of a lot lighter by weight. Color quality is close between the two. Motion isn't as good as a plasma, but it is a much better than a LCD. You're still dealing with sample-and-hold refresh on an OLED, but pixel response time is 0.1ms or better.

HDTVTest did a comparison video between plasma and OLED, doing a good job at pointing out the differences. They actually show that the plasma doesn't produce pure black. This makes the image resolve better on the OLED with its ∞:1 contrast ratio.



I've never owned a plasma, but have watched content on one in the past. I owned a DLP as the cheaper alternative.

Depending upon the brand/model, Plasma will also have between 30ms and like 75ms input latency. They just werent' concerned with that, back then. Whereas an LG OLED (in game mode ) will have input latency comparable to a good gaming monitor. according to Rtings, the C1 is only 10ms at 60hz.

I always performed better in Bad Company 2, when I was playing on a 32 inch Panasonic LCD TV. Compared to playing on my LG 50 inch Plasma.
 
Any idea if the upcoming Forza Motorsports will be on Xbox Series X or if they'll wait until the next gen?

I'm considering picking an X up to play Halo primarily and be prepared for Forza when it drops.
 
Any idea if the upcoming Forza Motorsports will be on Xbox Series X or if they'll wait until the next gen?

I'm considering picking an X up to play Halo primarily and be prepared for Forza when it drops.
it'll absolutely be on Series S/X. Heck it'll probably be released on Xbox One still too.
 
Any idea if the upcoming Forza Motorsports will be on Xbox Series X or if they'll wait until the next gen?

I'm considering picking an X up to play Halo primarily and be prepared for Forza when it drops.
Development started on FM8 in 2018. Rumor is it will be released end of this year. Everything I've seen and heard so far suggests the game is developed solely for current gen systems, so you won't be able to play it on gen 8 (Xbox One/One S/One X).
 
Development started on FM8 in 2018. Rumor is it will be released end of this year. Everything I've seen and heard so far suggests the game is developed solely for current gen systems, so you won't be able to play it on gen 8 (Xbox One/One S/One X).
I hope this is the case. I want Forza 8 to blow me away. I have yet to have that "Holy shit! This is amazing!" moment with any game yet.
 
Any idea if the upcoming Forza Motorsports will be on Xbox Series X or if they'll wait until the next gen?

I'm considering picking an X up to play Halo primarily and be prepared for Forza when it drops.

Not to dissuade you too much, but your PC listed is fairly high end. Considered just playing them on PC instead? New FM will surely follow FH5 with a PC release Day 1.
 
Not to dissuade you too much, but your PC listed is fairly high end. Considered just playing them on PC instead? New FM will surely follow FH5 with a PC release Day 1.
I have a theater room upstairs that I'd like to use for casual gaming to get me out of my office in the evenings. 4k native projector, 7.1.2 Atmos, etc. Figure an Xbox could let me slowly work my way back through the Halo franchise too..
 
I have a theater room upstairs that I'd like to use for casual gaming to get me out of my office in the evenings. 4k native projector, 7.1.2 Atmos, etc. Figure an Xbox could let me slowly work my way back through the Halo franchise too..

I haven’t tried NVidia Gamestreaming with more than stereo audio, but I will say as soon as I picked up a used 2080Ti, I haven’t touched the XSX much. It’s just as easy to stream the games over the LAN to the TV when I want to sit on the couch.

And it was a bit of a fear going into it if I could ever find a better GPU this would happen but was hoping it would still have a use. Once in awhile one of the kids will play on it while the other is on the computer. Just not really enough in my situation that is justifying it over the original Xbox One I have still. Think just once so far they’ve both played on the Xboxes together.

But if you were also going to use it as a source for UHD, or needed to use it for Audio Codec conversion, etc I could see justification for it.
 
Anyone install retroarch without setting up a dev account? Some places say it's fine, some places say i might get banned.
 
Anyone install retroarch without setting up a dev account? Some places say it's fine, some places say i might get banned.
I wouldn't risk it. Microsoft has handed down console bans for installing custom software and connecting online in the past, though I haven't read about any bans recently.
 
Anyone install retroarch without setting up a dev account? Some places say it's fine, some places say i might get banned.
Ive had retroarch installed on my series x running in retail for over a year now (since Dec 2020) and I've had 0 issues. Keep in mind I didn't have to modify anything on the console, it was a simple click and install process for me and all games are transferred over via ftp.

Heres the invite link to the discord server of the guy who made the retail version I got the install from - https://discord.com/invite/cmVZuhj

This is the specific discord channel - https://discord.com/channels/538519561230745605/870657621554782208
 
So, 2 weekends ago now you may now count me as an XBox Series X owner. Picked 1 up at my local GameStop downtown in a bundle that featured the console and a $50 gift card to the store. I think there was some luck behind it as with where this GameStop is located in my hometown? Half the city's population doesn't know where the Heck it is at the mall. There is a longer story behind how it all went down (if you want to read that story let me know) but yeah, I am an XBox Series X owner now. Out!
 
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Probably the most bad ass Xbox skin I've seen.

Practical? No way. It just looks cool AF.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/thor-mjolnir-xbox-series-x
 
Our Walmart has them in stock considering picking one up for Senua Sacrafice 2 I think they look cooler than the PS5. But if the game is on PC not really necessary. Update" Talked to the electronics morning guy said he got about 8-12 of them in said they are coming in every week or so.
For the past two years the only thing I saw come in were controllers and games.
 
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Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 - Core

Microsoft just revealed the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 'Core' controller, launching later this month for $129.99...aside from the new white color scheme, the Elite Series 2 Core features the same design and features as the Elite Series 2 controller

the Core controller doesn't ship with a charging case full of interchangeable thumbsticks, d-pad, and paddles, usually bundled in the original Elite Series 2 controller...you have to buy the complete component pack separately for $60 but it does come with a thumbstick adjustment tool that will tweak the tension on the joysticks, and a USB-C charging cable...

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-xbox-elite-2-core-controller-white-announced



Xbox.jpg
 
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 - Core

Microsoft just revealed the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 'Core' controller, launching later this month for $129.99...aside from the new white color scheme, the Elite Series 2 Core features the same design and features as the Elite Series 2 controller

the Core controller doesn't ship with a charging case full of interchangeable thumbsticks, d-pad, and paddles, usually bundled in the original Elite Series 2 controller...you have to buy the complete component pack separately for $60 but it does come with a thumbstick adjustment tool that will tweak the tension on the joysticks, and a USB-C charging cable...

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-xbox-elite-2-core-controller-white-announced



View attachment 507831

Don't know why anybody would buy it. The draw of the Elite controller is the rear paddles and all the interchangeable parts, so you'll just end up paying $10 more than just buying the full thing to start with.
 
Don't know why anybody would buy it. The draw of the Elite controller is the rear paddles and all the interchangeable parts, so you'll just end up paying $10 more than just buying the full thing to start with.
I figured they were just trying to get ahead of Sony's new Edge controller.
 
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