360 on a LCD?

[Samurai]

I just bought a 360 this summer and I am loving it on my HDTV. However, in a few weeks I am moving into the dorms. I have two choices. Either I leave the system at home, or else bring it with and hook it up to my 19 inch LCD monitor (a Viewsonic vx922). I know in order to do this I need the VGA cable. So my questions are:

How is the picture quality when viewed on an LCD monitor? Have I been spoiled on my HD tv at 1080i?

Also, any ideas on how to best secure a 360 in a dorm room, if its even worth doing so. I'm am moving in with a roommate I don't know, but I don't know if I would seem like an asshole for using something like a  cable lock (if thats even possible to use on the system).

Thanks for the replies.

[Soulchilde]

I don't think you will lose any of the visual quality by using the LCD monitor.  I know a few other people on this board use a LCD monitor and are quite happy by it.


I can't help you with the room-mate thing.   I say until you get to know him and trust him lock your shit up when you aren't around

[CeeKay]

This thread has some info on the VGA adapter.  

As for securing it in a dorm room, beyond locking it up in something whenever you leave the room I'm not sure.  It's one of those sticky situations where you don't want to insult the person you have to live with for the next few months but you never know who might be in the room when you're not there.

[Kevin Grey]

Re: the roommate issue- my gut feeling is to try not to worry about it since you probably have other things in the room (like that LCD monitor, the games themselves, etc) that are potentially worth stealing too so it's almost impossible to secure everything.

If you do feel the need to secure it, I would try and make your roommate feel included in the decision- ie "hey, I brought this from home for us to play on.  WE should probably get a lock or something for it, don'cha think?" so that he feels like you are more worried about others in the dorm and not him personally.

[corruptrelic]

After reading the other thread from a few days ago about the guy getting back and having all his stuff stolen (including the xbox 360) I'd definitely say keep it secured when you're not there.
When you say you have a roommate, does that mean you each have your own room, or is it more "open" style where you sleep and can hear eachother snoring at night?
If it's your own room, personally I don't see what the big deal is about wanting to keep your personal stuff secure, and unless they're going into your room when you're gone, how can they be "insulted" by you keeping some valuable locked up?
A while back I lived in a house with 4 other people but we each had our own room (as tiny as it was) but we had locks on our doors, and then shared the kitchen, bathroom, laundry, etc.. At that time I had a 27" LCD monitor (which works fine on an xbox 360 by the way - although mine was a TV that could double as a computer monitor also) and just had trust that locking my door while I was at work would have to work.
I could care less if people got "insulted" by me wanting to keep my personal and private life, personal and private! They have no business going thorugh my stuff, just like I have no business going through their stuff. And for that matter, if I were your roommate and knew you did have a 360, how is that any of my business what you do with it when you're away? I could care less.. but hey, I guess we're all different.

[Jarrodhk]

Keeping it safe is pretty dependent on the individual room mate I think.  I'd definitely give them a call and talk to them before classes start, find out what they are bringing/etc.  Then you can also get a feel for what kind of person they are.  

Papasmurff and I are in the same situation this year.  Even though we're RA's we are getting room mates at least for the first part of the year.  At a minimum, I'm going to put a password on my (and moriarty's) live account.  I have no intention of losing my live accounts because someone else was an idiot while I was out of the room.

Also, make sure you record the serial numbers off the 360 and anything else valuable.  I've seem to remember hearing that microsoft can locate a 360 when it is online, so they could help if by some chance it was taken.  Dorm insurance is another good idea.  Sure it's an extra cost, but, the peace of mind is worth it, especially if you have a lot of valuables in your room.

You need to have some trust in your room mate, but that doesn't mean you have to leave things to chance either.

[Samurai]

Ok I decided to bring the 360. I am going to buy a VGA HD cable, but is there  an easy way to hook the sound up to my computer speakers?

[Thin_J]

Ok I decided to bring the 360. I am going to buy a VGA HD cable, but is there  an easy way to hook the sound up to my computer speakers?

That depends on what kind of computer speakers you have.

Do they hook into your computer with just a single 1/8" headphone-style jack?

[Misguided]

Ok I decided to bring the 360. I am going to buy a VGA HD cable, but is there  an easy way to hook the sound up to my computer speakers?

Check and see if your PC sound card has a line in jack. Assuming it does, all you need to do is get an adapter (a few bucks from radio shack) that lets you plug in the 2 rca jacks and gives you a stereo mini plug. You will probably also need an extension cable for the miniplug, unless your computer is right next to your monitor. Plug the mini plug into the line-in on the sound card and you're good to go. The computer will obviously have to be on when you play. If it doesn't work at first, make sure the line in jack isnt muted by your sound card's software control panel.

[Samurai]

Yup, just plugs in with the standard headphone size jack.

[Thin_J]

Yup, just plugs in with the standard headphone size jack.

You can get a little cable with female RCA audio plugs on one end, and a female headphone jack on the other that will let you hook the 360's cables up to your speakers.

The only issue there is you'd have to unplug the speakers from your computer everytime you wanted to use the 360.

[Harkonis]

the vga cable comes with the needed adapters to plug your xbox sound directly into the pc's line-in

[Samurai]

the vga cable comes with the needed adapters to plug your xbox sound directly into the pc's line-in

Cool, thanks. I'll have to try to pick one up today.