Posted by Ub3rG33k on Jan 28, 2012 in Tech, XBOX 360
While playing Call of Duty: MW3 on my old Xbox 360 Elite, I noticed some strange black lines appearing in the background. I switched around cables, ports etc as I assumed it was a cable issue, but the problem stayed.
So ‘google is your friend’, and I found a handful of forum posts suggesting that the Xbox was on it’s way out, and these black lines were early signed of the Red Ring of Death, and I could soon expect to see the E74 error message.
Now Microsoft have given an additional 2 years warranty to cover the RROD, but unfortunately the Elite is nearly 3 and a half years old…..so time to buy a new shiny one !
Same as the Halo Reach special edition Xbox, it comes with a custom paint job, custom sounds and 2 custom controllers, and obviously a copy of Gears of War 3. The guy who served me at Game also threw in a copy of Crisis 2 (via download code), so all in all quite a bargain at considering it has the 320Gb hard drive.
One final thought, the controllers are the new type with the transforming D pad, it’s still early days with it, but WOW what a difference !
Since buying C an Xbox for her birthday, I’ve spent a lot more time in the computer room playing on my Xbox Elite than playing in the front room on limited edition Halo Reach Xbox, on the 52″ TV, connected to the TrueHD 7.1 Amp.
To be honest, I actually prefer it, as we’re being a more sociable with each other. In the past, I would normally spend a good couple of hour playing on the Xbox downstairs, and C would lose hours on a “Dinner Dash type” time management game.
In the computer room we both have an LG LED 23″ FullHD Monitor/TV which we have the Xboxs connected to, which we then use as a 2nd monitor. The LED TV’s are great and give a great picture, however the sound quality is only average at best. I’ve spend the last week or so with a pair of £10 Sony headphones on, which does give a lot better sound, but….I do miss the surround sound.
Now we have the history out of the way, you now know why I’ve been out and bought this headset. As I mentioned above, I tend to spend more time in the computer room being “sociable”, but miss the surround sound. I knew there were headsets out there that could product a surround sound experience, as this type of stereo expander has been mainstream for quite a while.
I did look as some headphone which actually had multiple speakers in each earphone which would give an actual surround sound, however these are advertised as being able to give a true 7.1 using only a stereo headset….obviously I was intrigued and bought them.
The DPX21 is essentially a bundle. It’s the Ear Force PX21 headet, with the Ear Force DSS digital processor. The processor itself has an optical input, which then passed 7.1 / 5.1 to the headset giving you the 7.1 surround sound experience.
Now to be honest, I was a little dubious, as everything in my head suggests, that stereo headphones and and will only produce a stereo sound ….surly ?…….I wrong was I !!! These things are AMAZING !!!
Once I’d got everything wired up (which was slightly messy to be honest), I fired up Red Dead Redemption on the Xbox and was totally blown away the the ambiance. I then fired off a couple of shots, and just sat there with the biggest smile on my face. I have to say, that my expensive amp and 7.1 speaker system in the front room has been equalled if not beaten by this £100 headset !
I then plugged these into the PS3 and put on the Black Hawk Down bluray (my Bluray of choice when testing an audio system), and again… AMAZING !
As you can probably tell from the above, the headset is universal, it works on the PS3, Xbox and Mac/PC (assuming you have an optical port)
The headset itself is very comfy, it is a little weighty, but the head strap is adjustable enough to take the weight.
All in all, this is an amazing headset, and suggest to anybody who is playing games on a Xbox, PS3 or even PC/Mac in 2 channels due to not having room to place the speakers….and have a £100 spare, go buy theses, they are amazing !
I found these at Amazon for about £110, however with shopping around I found them at just over £90 at shopto.net with free shipping.
As always, unboxing photos below, as well as the official blurb from Turtle Beach describing how these work.
On one of our many “I need some toys” visits to the local Toys R Us store, I noticed this little beauty, and felt I neeeeeeeded it. I’d originally gone over there to pick up a remote control helicopter, and ended up leaving with both.
The box read “Fly the Millennium Falcon”, “Easy to Fly”, and had the Hasbro logo in the corner which ticked the boxes for me.
I have to admit, it’s not bad looking, granted there is is a big hole in the middle of it, however the rest is highly detailed, and they’ve made some effort on the controller.
As this chargers from the remote, I have to admit, hiding the charge cable under they “cockpit type flap” was a nice touch.
So how does it fly ?…pretty bad in my opinion. I have various “change and fly” polystyrene helicopters and can successfully control them, and keep them in the air for the time it takes the battery to run down, this however was a mare !
I found I had to get within about a foot of it to initially respond, and the it would take off. Upon attempting to adjust the trim to it stopped spinning, it would just flip over and head for the ground ?….I then adjusted the trim while on the floor….great it flew straight….for a second or two….then would just flip over and head for the floor again ?
Maybe it will just take a little getting used to, but the other helicopter I bought, I was able to fly out of the box.
I’ve checked YouTube and they are flyable, I guess I’ll just have to master it….will post a video if/when this happens.
As always, unboxing pics below, and a YouTube video of one of these in action.
edit 31/12/2010
Please find below, my attempt at flying, this was unfortunately also the death of the Falcon
