quick xbox hdmi + optical question

[kenshin-dono]

so my 360 RROD on me. Im going to pick up a new elite but i got to thinking. My old one used component out to 1080p on my tv. it had a little optical out dongle on the plug. Do the new elites have an optical out built into the system? I want to do hdmi to my tv directly (so i can have it on a different input than my ps3, ect) and optical to my reciever for surround sound. The 360 only supports hdmi 1.2 anyway so using the hdmi out wont really help audio at all

i need to verify i can do that though. I notice the 'official' MS hdmi cable has an adaptor for the audio which has me worried

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-HDMI-AV- ... 005&sr=8-1

the stupid things 40 bucks, thats a total rip off. I can get a good HDMI cable from monoprice.com for a couple of bucks

So anyone with a newer elite that can tell me whats up? Im looking at the spring bundle that has halo odst and forza 2.. i was gonna get the splinter cell one but the spring bundle actually has a newer mfctr date. Plus the splinter cell one is lame, it has nothing special about it at all.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I0 ... d_i=507846

thats the one im looking at

[superlarz]

As far as I can tell you cant plug an HDMI cable and the standard xbox av connector in at the same time, they simply wont fit.

[Niode]

There's nothing stopping you plugging them both in at once though, aside from the physical bulk of course. There's no software locks or anything dumb like that. So you can cut a notch out of the cable so you can fit your HDMI cable in.

[Droid party]

There's nothing stopping you plugging them both in at once though, aside from the physical bulk of course. There's no software locks or anything dumb like that. So you can cut a notch out of the cable so you can fit your HDMI cable in.

Yeah, I just cracked open the plastic case on the Xbox cable and threw it away and it worked just fine. Gave me hdmi to the tv and optical to the amp.

[Ducky]

Yep, it's just another way to force you to buy another of Microsoft's peripherals. I have one of the HDMI AV cables myself (yeah, I caved in) although I have heard that people have popped off one side of the AV cable's plastic shell with a knife to save themselves from shelling out a small fortune.

[Niode]

Yeah it's such a sneaky design.

[Ducky]

Which makes you wonder, considering that Xbox 360's didn't initially come with HDMI slots, why did they make the AV cable's plastic shell bigger than it needed to be?

[avrame]

I believe it was done to ensure you have a snug fit on the back of the unit. The original Xboxes had issues of the video port being screw up from repeated unpluggings and repluggings. Either way, I agree it was a unnecessary move. I bought a HDMI AV knock off on ebay for $4, and it works fine. I also cut the plastic shelling off an old component plug, and that worked fine as well.

[kenshin-dono]

LAME so it physically does not fit with the old cable and an hdmi cable, nor does it have a built in optical? That really pisses me off. there is no reason for them to have done that other than to intentionally screw customers. I really wish xbox had crappy games, or the ps3 ports were better quality so i could say the hell with this system *sigh*

well i guess it would probably be better to just use the old cable with the refurbished system i get back anyway, but that sucks it doesn't just have an optical slot like... well pretty much every other non MS system. I have a few HDMI cables lying around i could have used

the cheapest i can find the HD cable is 40 bucks online i guess im just going to have to shell that out if i wanted to keep them on seperate inputs. Anyone know any good game sites or places that may have it cheaper? I even checked ebay, no luck. I want the official one since generic 3rd party stuff can tend to suck for stuff like that