i plan on getting a xbox soon, and as i understand it most stores only have the newer versions 1.4/5 in stock. do all the newer ones have the samsung drive? is there any way check without opening the box? i need one that will read dvd-r

noway to check which drive it has without opening. All xbox dvd drive will read DVDr

what! so even in the newer xbox's they are just randomly putting in one of three drives. of the samsung, phillips and thompson, i thought the thompson would not boot dvdr

No, the Thompson is b*tchy about the media brand of DVDR, some will work on others that wont, but, I think it's what proggy you used to burn it and the dvd burner =).

my Thomson drive will read almost any brand DVDr (plus or Minus) i use. And if the Thomson drive was picky (as most ppl suggest) about DVDr then i'm sure M$ would have made it standard to all xbox.

my brother and i just bought new xbox mine got a phillips drive and it worse an my old xbox with a Thomson drive! my brother had a samsung drive in his it reads cheap media better but it DON'T read DVD+R only -R

from all the various accounts of the three drives reading or not reading certain media, it sounds like it really does depend on how they are burned. i have heard an account of just about every drive reading or not reading just about every kind of media from various forums.

Originally posted by redwolf
noway to check which drive it has without opening.

You can easily check what drive you have without opening and voiding the warranty. Just plug in the xbox and eject the tray. The samsungs will have 2 circles cut out in the tray that the others don't have. Get a samsung if you can. The last 6 xboxes that I have bought in the last few months (most in Illinois and some in Wisconsin) have ALL had samsung drives. But its not that way in other areas I have heard.

quote:
Originally posted by redwolf
noway to check which drive it has without opening.
Originally posted by smokafatty
You can easily check what drive you have without opening and voiding the warranty. Just plug in the xbox and eject the tray. The samsungs will have 2 circles cut out in the tray that the others don't have.

he asked "is there any way check without opening the box?"

i didn't mean get the screws off:rolleyes: i don't think any shops will let you power up the xbox to see what drive its got. then you go say "i don't want that, lets open another box" and so on. :tup:

my bad man I thought he meant the xbox as the box. :)

^ no prob :D

At the end of the day its a hit or miss to what drive you'll end up with. But you won't be disappointed cos all 3 of them drive WILL read DVDr discs.

go to a used game store and look at their used systems... ask to see them operate ;) . works a treat.