Xbox 360 - can I attach a external hard drive to it, using USB?

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brentbart

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#28529 3-Dec-2008 11:11

Can I attach a external hard drive to my Xbox?

Read that it is possible for a PS3 on a old Geekzone forum but couldn't find anything about it for the 360.

I know I can use Media Player Extender, via my laptop, but it might be easier to have the harddrive attached as I can't figure out how to copy from Media player to the Xbox hard drive. Want to put some "driving" music on the Xbox 360 harddrive.

Any help appreciated.

billgates

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#181741 3-Dec-2008 11:28

You most certainley can. It has to be in FAT32 format though.

Do whatever you want to do man.

brentbart

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#181746 3-Dec-2008 11:43

I know this a dumb question, but how would I tell that my hard drive is FAT32 format ?

Its at home and I am at work so perhaps its as easier as looking on my laptop and checking the external drive??

gehenna

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#181752 3-Dec-2008 11:59

load the drive in Windows and then right click on it in explorer, and bring up the properties. Near the top it should say File system: FAT32 if it is fat32, or NTFS.

The Xbox should pick up these files and run them smoothly: mp4, .m4v, mp4v, .mov, .avi, .wmv, .divx.

chiefie

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#181758 3-Dec-2008 12:36

gehenna: lThe Xbox should pick up these files and run them smoothly:? mp4, .m4v, mp4v, .mov, .avi, .wmv, .divx.

Oh.. that's the most completely list of file formats that Xbox 360 can play... Where else can you get more info about this from?

We're deciding between Xbox360 and PS3 for playing divx movies on our big tv but we want on would be worthwhile, so far it's PS3...

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gehenna

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#181760 3-Dec-2008 12:41

These codecs were added last year in the update that went out over Xbox Live, so all current Xboxes will have support for those formats. I'm not sure if the recent NXE dashboard update added support for any other formats such as mkv, but I think they will show up eventually via an update.

Check this document for more info on the 2007 update that added more multimedia support to the Xbox: http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2007/11/30/december-2007-video-playback-faq.aspx

I rate the Xbox over the PS3 anyday, but then I'm more of a gamer on mine than a media user considering I use the HTPC for that. Also the Xbox is a bit louder than the PS3 in dashboard mode. But, one good thing about the Xbox is that if you use it as a media center extender you can watch pretty much ANY file format in it's Media Center app by installing a transcoder. Put Transcode360 or similar on the HTPC and it will live-transcode any video file to a compatible format that can be viewed on the Xbox - handy! but you need a HTPC with media center on it for it to work.

brentbart

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#181764 3-Dec-2008 12:54

I've a PS3 and a Xbox 360.

Bought the PS3 as my 10 year old son likes the PS games better ... but I rate the 360 over the PS3. Better online gaming, IMO, and better controllers for adults.

Granted it can sound like a helicopter about to take off but with the volume up so high (so you can hear other players movements), who notices

Apart from the neighbours that is ...

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gehenna

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#181765 3-Dec-2008 12:59

brentbart: I've a PS3 and a Xbox 360.

Bought the PS3 as my 10 year old son likes the PS games better ... but I rate the 360 over the PS3. Better online gaming, IMO, and better controllers for adults.

Granted it can sound like a helicopter about to take off but with the volume up so high (so you can hear other players movements), who notices Apart from the neighbours that is ...

yep, but with NXE and installing games to hard drive those days are over. The dashboard is still a bit loud to consider it an always-on media player solution for the lounge, but it's much more acceptable than it was a few weeks ago before NXE came out.