Xbox 360 finally supporting Divx and Xvid
I'm still puzzled as to why it took so long to add Divx and Xvid support to the Xbox 360 and wondered why Microsoft did not consider adding play back support for these popular formats to its Xbox 360 entertainment system.My old Xbox is playing all of those files without a problem and the main reason why I did not make the switch to the new Xbox 360 was, among other things, the non existent support for Xvid and Divx movies.
What I like is that the Xbox 360 plays those movies from CD or DVD directly and that you have options to stream videos over a computer network at home or from an Internet location such as Netflix or YouTube. I'm not that up to date when it comes to modchips for the Xbox 360 and possibilities to add a bigger hard drive to store files on it, but I'm sure some of you know the answer.
I would replace my old Xbox with the new Xbox 360 if I could use it as a media center again. I'd also like to know if the noise of the Xbox 360 has been finally reduced or if it is still that loud which would be another drawback.
Divx is supported back to version 5.0 which means that most movies should play just fine on the Xbox 360. Here is the full list of formats that Microsoft's Xbox 360 supports:
- Avi
- Divx
- Mov
- Mp4
- M4v
- Mp4v
- Windows Media Video (wmv) 7, 8 and 9
- VC-1
- Mpeg-1
- Mpeg-2
- WMV Image
- H.264/Mpeg-4
- Windows Media Audio (wma) 7, 8 and 9
- WMA Professional
- WMA Lossless
- Mp3
While the system does not support all formats that you throw at it, mkv is for instance not supported by the Xbox 360, it will play a lot of formats. You need to convert videos in formats not compatible with the Xbox before you can play them on the device.
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I have been very pleased with the divx/xvid support. I was excited to hear they now support it because I was sick of converting to wmv which took forever. I have not tried playing any from cd/dvd yet, as they stream over the network just fine. I will say that the disc spin noise is still pretty loud. I recently got a replacement 360 after my old one quit and I seem to think if I remember right that it is quieter, but still too loud IMO. But I have no problem living with it :)