The XBOX One

Galadin · 2013-11-25T10:35:34.000Z

Telefrog:

Hmm. I’m not liking the fact that there’s no pass-through of cable without the Xbox One being on as well. I get what they’re trying to do, but sometimes, I just want the TV on to watch some news without any distractions.

I understand, and that is my wife’s interface with the system. Just want to watch TV. However, it is actually very elegant. Just turn it on (with your voice to be even easier), and then use your standard remotes and you never have to know the XBox1 is on.

Wendelius · 2013-11-25T10:38:52.000Z

One nice thing is that the XBox One is so quiet you can’t tell it’s on. Whether playing a game or watching TV, I can’t hear it at all. What a difference compared to my 360. I read the PS4 will be noisier, especially playing games. The roomy design and external power brick paid off when it comes to having a very quiet device for when you are watching a streaming something.

Wendelius

Gendal · 2013-11-25T10:40:37.000Z

Either my xbone is bad or MS built in super loose tolerances for their HDMI port. If I look at it sideways it looses the HDMI connection and I have to go wiggle the cable until its juuuuust right. Tried 4 different cables, all which work fine on my PS4.

Also the passthrough feature doesn’t work with my W7 HTPC, only the tivo. Apparently others have the same issue was well.

Wendelius · 2013-11-25T11:30:18.000Z

Gendal:

Either my xbone is bad or MS built in super loose tolerances for their HDMI port. If I look at it sideways it looses the HDMI connection and I have to go wiggle the cable until its juuuuust right. Tried 4 different cables, all which work fine on my PS4.

Sounds like a bad unit to me. I can even move the console around and the HDMI connection stays fine.

Wendelius

Telefrog · 2013-11-25T11:36:44.000Z

My buddy at work got an Xbox One on Friday. Over the weekend, the Kinect unit died.

He’s on the phone right now with customer support. I’m laughing at him because his end of the conversation, sounds exactly like my initial Red Ring call.

“Why do I have to wait 3-4 weeks for a replacement? Shouldn’t you guys send me a new unit and have me ship this one back when I get the new one? Because that’s how it’s supposed to work!”

Jake_Plane · 2013-11-25T12:43:49.000Z

Galadin:

I have bought both new systems this release, and so far I would recommend most people getting the XBox One. My wife loves the media integration, the ability to walk into the room and just say Xbox On / Watch TV and all our components (TV, FIOS, Receiver) turn on is awesome. Also, we only have one FIOS remote, so if someone else needs to pause the show, its easy to say XBox Pause.

I hesitate to endorse any system this early in the life cycle, but I would agree with the sentiment above. I also have both systems and like both but I prefer the Xbox One.

I always felt that the 360 was a half generation ahead of the PS3… and I feel that way about the Xbox One and the PS4. I know some people here don’t think it’s a big deal that you can seamlessly switch from TV to Netflix to your game and back, but it is. And while I’m not a Kinect gamer per se, I had non-gaming friends over this weekend and at one point someone asked if they could watch ESPN for a bit. There was definitely a “no way” reaction when I said:

“Xbox On” and the Xbox One, Receiver and TV all turned on at the same time…
“Watch TV” and live TV appeared
“Watch ESPN” and the TV switched automatically to ESPN

Basically, if you want your console to play both games AND entertainment, it’s a no brainer.

Galadin:

As for the games, I like both systems, but love the XBox Snap capability when playing games and want to quickly check on the news or such. I was playing Dead Rising 3 while an episode of Nova was playing in the snap section. I am glad I bought both systems, and expect much enjoyment, but if I was going to recommend one to most people I know, it would be XBox One by far.

On the games front, this is a bit of an unfair matchup. Right now, there are more games I want to play on the Xbox One but that might change over time. Further, I do care about resolution. So when it comes to third-party games, if they look better on the PS4 (AC4: Blackflag) I will buy them on that platform. If they look the same (Madden 25) or basically the same but have extra features (FIFA for the Xbox One), I’ll go with Xbox One since I like how easy it is to switch from gaming to other stuff and want that convenience for my gaming sessions.

RickH · 2013-11-25T12:53:33.000Z

Jake Plane:

I hesitate to endorse any system this early in the life cycle, but I would agree with the sentiment above. I also have both systems and like both but I prefer the Xbox One.

We knew that a month ago. : P

ARogan · 2013-11-25T12:55:38.000Z

So after some significant time with xbox one (ryse, dead rising 3, forza, kinect sports rivals, crimson dragon) I’m pretty evenly split between the two systems. I really don’t care about the media stuff since I have far superior dedicated streaming boxes for that

PS4 - More horsepower, vita remote play which is all kinds of awesome, drastically improved controllers but still not great. With all the hype and praise around the new DS4 I was expecting something that would at least be as good as xbox 360. That just goes to show you controller preference is pretty personal.
xbox one - games look and play pretty much as well as ps4 though I’m playing different titles on each, xbox downloads take forever, great controllers (the new bumpers don’t bother me all that much, and didn’t take long to get use to).

Something about DS4 still bugs me. It feels too small and cramped in my hands. After a few hours I get claw hands and odd pain points where pressure is applied to my right hand middle finger. It’s a combination of the triggers feeling a bit too close and a bit too small (would want a slightly taller controller), the wings need to flare out a bit more and be a bit longer, the lower positioned left analog stick doesn’t feel as natural, L3 and R3 are a bit too hard to engage (think lots of running in cod). My hands aren’t all that big but the DS4 really doesn’t fit all that well. Maybe I can get use to it or adjust my grip but it doesn’t seem likely. It’s not horrible but the XBOX One is just so much better at least for me. I was going to make the ps4 my primary platform for cross platform titles but now I’m not so sure. Vita + better framerate/graphics/resolution vs a better controller. It’s a really tough call, and I’m not sure what to do yet.

Wendelius · 2013-11-25T12:57:20.000Z

Telefrog:

My buddy at work got an Xbox One on Friday. Over the weekend, the Kinect unit died.

He’s on the phone right now with customer support. I’m laughing at him because his end of the conversation, sounds exactly like my initial Red Ring call.

“Why do I have to wait 3-4 weeks for a replacement? Shouldn’t you guys send me a new unit and have me ship this one back when I get the new one? Because that’s how it’s supposed to work!”

I guess the Kinect must be seen as less important (which is kinda ironic considering the MS marketing telling us it’s at the heart of the XBox One experience), because that’s definitely how it should work otherwise for a console issue: http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/22/5134804/microsoft-we-plan-to-take-care-of-customers-with-faulty-xbox-ones

“We’re working directly with those affected to get a replacement console to them as soon as possible through our advance exchange program. Rest assured, we are taking care of our customers.”

Through Microsoft’s advance exchange program, “Customers have the option for us to send a replacement console right away without waiting until they have returned their old one. This means a customer only has to wait a matter of days, rather than weeks to get back up and running.”

If Kinect is such a central component to the console experience, they should replace it as quickly, IMO. I hope he can argue them into it.

Wendelius

Jake_Plane · 2013-11-25T12:59:06.000Z

Wendelius:

One nice thing is that the XBox One is so quiet you can’t tell it’s on. Whether playing a game or watching TV, I can’t hear it at all. What a difference compared to my 360. I read the PS4 will be noisier, especially playing games. The roomy design and external power brick paid off when it comes to having a very quiet device for when you are watching a streaming something.

My cable box is louder than my Xbox One. It is bone quiet. In a normal room with the typical ambient sound I typically have going in my home, I cannot hear it running, ever. The PS4 is noisier but it’s still quite quiet. The only time I hear it at all is during Killzone. And even then, it’s not distracting.

Jazar · 2013-11-25T13:05:05.000Z

ARogan:

Something about DS4 still bugs me. It feels too small and cramped in my hands. After a few hours I get claw hands and odd pain points where pressure is applied to my right hand middle finger. It’s a combination of the triggers feeling a bit too close and a bit too small (would want a slightly taller controller), the wings need to flare out a bit more and be a bit longer, the lower positioned left analog stick doesn’t feel as natural, L3 and R3 are a bit too hard to engage (think lots of running in cod). My hands aren’t all that big but the DS4 really doesn’t fit all that well. Maybe I can get use to it or adjust my grip but it doesn’t seem likely.

I haven’t held the Xbox One controller yet but I agree with your DS4 assessment. Do you use your pointer and middle fingers to grip all the shoulders buttons at once? That’s what I do and some people call it crazy. My middle fingers get jabbed by the small triggers. Using only your pointers help but then you don’t have as much control.

Telefrog · 2013-11-25T13:10:02.000Z

Wendelius:

If Kinect is such a central component to the console experience, they should replace it as quickly, IMO. I hope he can argue them into it.

It was likely that the underlings just hadn’t gotten the policy memo. He got it worked out after a couple of transfers up the chain.

Crisis averted!

ARogan · 2013-11-25T13:14:03.000Z

I tried all 4 fingers at once but couldn’t get use to it. Instead I usually just use the pointer finger for all the shoulder and trigger button work. That makes the controller rest on top of the middle finger which supports all the weight. I guess I’m gripping too tight . But the way the xbox one controller is shaped (especially the back and grips) I don’t have any issues.

stusser · 2013-11-25T15:37:12.000Z

ARogan:

I tried all 4 fingers at once but couldn’t get use to it.

That’s what she said!

Ginger_Yellow · 2013-11-25T15:46:48.000Z

OMG. From 30.00 in this video, GiantBomb create the Xbox One streaming singularity.

Kadath · 2013-11-25T19:49:02.000Z

That is fing awesome

olaf · 2013-11-25T20:15:52.000Z

Gendal:

Either my xbone is bad or MS built in super loose tolerances for their HDMI port. If I look at it sideways it looses the HDMI connection and I have to go wiggle the cable until its juuuuust right. Tried 4 different cables, all which work fine on my PS4.

When I first hooked mine up I had this problem…hooked everything up, Xbox was on, TV was on, no picture, no audio. Reseated the cable and it started working. I was using an HDMI cable that I already I had, I switched to the one they included, no problems since.

fuzzyslug · 2013-11-25T21:22:22.000Z

My Kinect died on mine today. It says “Kinect is Unplugged” and no amount of reboots or customer support could help me. They are sending me a new Kinect or a new console or something. I ended up spending about 3 hours on the phone due to “high call volume in their hardware department”, being hung up on instead of transferred, and dealing with some confusion of what they were going to replace (the whole console or just the Kinect).

Ugh. I have a Kinect that doesn’t connect.

At least the console reminds you that it is broken by putting an icon on the top left on the home screen. It’s like a warning to stop buying games.

More seriously, it’s really a disabled console without the Kinect. The UI and TV integration isn’t nearly as good when you need the controller to do anything. It also doesn’t log me in automatically. Even my 360 could do that.

intruder · 2013-11-26T00:29:15.000Z

Not sure if you qualify fuzzyslug but give it a shot in any case:

Eurogamer.net

Microsoft gives free game to those with faulty Xbox Ones

After a small number of customers received botched Xbox Ones, Microsoft has decided to reward these early adopters by offering them a free game to make up f…

As reported by Polygon, an Xbox customer care e-mail said that those who’ve received defective consoles will be able to pick up a free game of their choice from four Microsoft published titles: Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome and Zoo Tycoon.

Brad_Grenz · 2013-11-26T04:57:17.000Z

Galadin:

It has to be on, the TV pass through is actually another app on the system (just like IE, store, and all of the other capabilities.)

Personally, it is very quiet and I have no problem it being on, but no, standby won’t work for watching TV through the pass-thru. Heck, I wouldn’t even really call it a pass-thru, because of this.

I think the bigger issue is power use. The Xbox One uses something like 70 watts while “idle” which is an awful lot of power when it isn’t doing anything but standing between your cable box and TV. If they can’t get the power management to a point where TV viewing is down to something resembling their current “Stand-by” power usage of ~15 watts that will be incredibly wasteful. I’m already not crazy about how much power the 360, PS3, PS4 and Xbox One use while streaming when you consider a Roku or Apple TV can do the same job in under 5 watts. But in the case of the Xbox One where it’s literally just passing through your TV signal, that is really awful.