Topic: Xbox One: $399 w/o Kinect, media apps w/o Gold

[Cobra951]

We've tried QOS settings and such, but the router just doesn't have the right options. All it allows is to assign 3 different devices high or low priority. I do have some ports forwarded to the Xbox One, and disabling that might help, but then I'd get a strict NAT and have connection issues with party chat and some games. I play online a lot, so I don't want that happening. It's also not my router, it's my brother's. He's not willing to put custom firmware on it, and he doesn't let me have the password to it. (I once blocked someone's PC from the internet because they were killing the network with torrents, so he changed the password and won't let me have it.)

It might help if we had more than 8Mbit down and 1Mbit up, but I don't pay the bills around here, and everyone else thinks that's plenty.

I did have an issue once with torrents slamming my own internet access, but it turned out to be an issue with the stupid-slow upload speeds of consumer cable internet.  Clamping down on upload bandwidth in the torrent client fixed it.  I doubt that the Xbox needs to upload enough data during downloads to make that a problem.

All I have is an honest 16 mbps down.  (Roadrunner claims 20, but I've never seen it.)  I'm really tempted to try out the brand-new fios service in the area.  (They laid the cable across our poles last Spring.)  But I'm chicken.  Roadrunner has been super-reliable (a couple of problems that persisted more than a day, in a span of over 10 years), and I've never gotten a nasty letter from them, about anything.

I understand about the port forwarding and the strict NAT without them.  I use a static IP on the system and forward all the ports I read about at portforward.com.  I doubt they're all really necessary--there's like 7 of them.  That's a permanent allocation, though.  Even with your Xbox shut off, it would cause a problem for users on the network if what they were doing needed any of those ports.  So don't worry about that.

[Cobra951]

So, Xessive, you joined the dark side?  Cool!  How's the X1S working out?  Did you get it for the nifty 4K disc player, or have you been wanting to play some X1 games?

I have to admit that I'm tempted.  If I was getting a 4K TV, I'd probably look for a bundle deal with one of these.  The extra bit of speed and lower power consumption get me in an impulsive mood.  (Hey look!  It will pay for itself in lower electric bills!  Yeah, right.  Rationalize away.)

Anyway, I guess I'll be seeing more of you under Friends and Community feed.

[Xessive]

So, Xessive, you joined the dark side?  Cool!  How's the X1S working out?  Did you get it for the nifty 4K disc player, or have you been wanting to play some X1 games?

I have to admit that I'm tempted.  If I was getting a 4K TV, I'd probably look for a bundle deal with one of these.  The extra bit of speed and lower power consumption get me in an impulsive mood.  (Hey look!  It will pay for itself in lower electric bills!  Yeah, right.  Rationalize away.)

Anyway, I guess I'll be seeing more of you under Friends and Community feed.

Haha yeah, it was a combination of reason but the real drive was that I had some reward points that were about to expire with this local electronics/appliances store, and the options on what I could spend them on were limited (Vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, home theatre system, etc.). Then an Xbox One S showed on their store front, I asked if I the points could be used towards it, and the rest is history

Having a true 4K video player is great. Even though I already have a PC hooked up to my TV but it doesn't have a Bluray drive, so the XOS can fill in that gap.

I have to admit the new interface is quite a leap from the original UI (from 2013) and much more in line with the Windows Modern UI visual profile. I like it. By contrast, the PS4 UI has not changed (save for some minor tweaks) since 2013.

If you already have an Xbox One I'd argue against going for the Xbox One S unless you're already shopping for a 4K Bluray player (which are generally more expensive than the Xbox One S anyway) or if your Xbox One breaks down and you're looking to replace it. The Xbox One S is the new standard.

I've been watching Netflix, streaming 4K, and it's definitely gorgeous but realistically at the distance I usually sit it's extremely difficult to distinguish between 1080p and 4K. I'll sometimes sit up closer to try to appreciate the resolution.

Other than the minor issue I mentioned in the other thread, the experience has been pretty awesome. I kinda like the seamless integration with my Windows 10 PCs too.

UPDATE:
Good news! The X360 profile downloaded and Forza Horizon is working! Looks like it was related to that Xbox Live alert after all.

I never had an Xbox 360 so being able to play some is great perk! If Forza Horizon is any measure to go by, these games have aged well. I mean, I know they're older but they still look and play very. They make it clear that the gap between the last generation and the current one is minuscule.

[Cobra951]

Some have aged very well; others have not.  Like I've been touting, FH1 is one of the top open-world racers, in my experience.  It was technically superlative on the 360, and it holds up fine against the 8th-gen competition.  The controls, once you get into the groove, are terrific.  All cars handle differently, and take different techniques to use best.  There's a long campaign of personal progression and races.  I like most of the music.  And I want to go to that damn festival in Colorado.  Where is it?  

They tried to emulate the amazing vibes of this game in the sequel, and only partly succeeded.  And the second game has more tech problems than the first--some stutters and an unforgivable bug in the changing pitch of the engine as you accelerate.  (I went on at length about that travesty in FH2's thread.)  There's more music, but l like fewer songs than in FH1.  I also hate the weather.  Someday game devs will learn to do believable weather patterns, instead of just random, annoying sudden changes several times per day.  (Rain every other hour in Nice, France during the Summer?  No, sorry.  I've been there.  That's very wrong.)  Let's see how the 3rd installment turns out down under.

I'm glad your issues solved themselves.  I guess that was what I experienced too, though a simple reboot got me past it.  Have fun with your new toy.  No, I'm not really thinking of buying one.  My X1 is doing just fine.