Xbox 360 as entertainment center?

[Vinda-Lou]

I just read a brief article in my parent's Consumer Reports magazine touting the 360 as an entertainment center for the living room.  It got me thinking...  Now I know plenty about the 360, I even owned one for about a month even if I only used it twice.  (It was bad timing, we needed money, otherwise I probably wouldn't have sold it.) 

I guess my question or point of discussion here is that I'm wondering how useful it is as an entertainment center.  I am also trying to sell this to my wife so we can get a new one!  

Questions:
-Do you use it as your main dvd player?  And does it play burned dvds and cds?  (My dvd player is almost 5 years old and doesn't play burned dvds or cds).
-Have you viewed pictures on the tv with the 360? 
-Basically, do you use it for games only, or truly use it as an entertainment center?

Thanks!

[coopasonic]

I have a DVD changer so I wouldn't use it for that, but based on my friends list a LOT of people use it as a DVD player. No idea on the burned stuff as I don't have any.

I have used it for slideshows, pulling pics directly from my PC. I have also used it to play music from my PC through my stereo. It handles both tasks just dandy.

I use mine for games primarily, but it would certainly serve if I didn't have a DVD player I preferred (the changer and netflix go together so well )

[metallicorphan]

since the update i have had no problems viewing DVDs with the 360,it is good in my opinion

i played south park series 3 that was on a burnt DVD,and it worked fine...no idea on burnts CD s though...or pictures im afraid

[warning]

Yeah mine plays burned DVD-R's just fine.

[stiffler]

Warning, said it plays DVD-R fine.  Anybody have any experience with DVD+R?

[corruptrelic]

I use it as my DVD player as well (mainly because I don't have a DVD player..) it's played everything I put into it including at least 30 burned DVD's that I've bought on the net I'm sure they're mixed up between DVD-R DVD+R and so far I've yet to put a burned DVD in my 360 and have it not play it.
Only slight problem I've come across is every once in a while it locks up or goes real slow and I have to restart it, but then it's fine.

[Andrew Mallon]

The 360 has handled every type of disk I've thrown at it, including DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, DVD+RW DLs. The dual-layer disks are prone to freezing on menus, but seem to play fine once the video starts playing.

I've found that the DVD playback quality of the 360 is noticeably inferior to my low-end progressive scan DVD player. If you're using your 360 with an SDTV, the 360 playback is fine. If you have a nice HDTV, you should definitely consider going with a standalone player.