XBOX - how to use/find out what type it is?

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

This may sound odd but we've inherited an Xbox and Kinect. Have never used XBox before and know nothing about them. Is there a way to tell which sort it is and if it has a hard drive etc.

We're not gamers but could we use it as a media player to download and play BBC iPlayer etc? We don't have a broadband though, we use tethering from a mobile phone for internet connection - would it work with this? Or would we be better off selling this and buying just an ordinary media player like the Western Digital

Clueless really - so any general hints and tips much appreciated! Many thx in advance.

beater

Hmm, not sure if you can use iplayer without purchasing an Xbox gold subscription (~£30 per year), which may not be suitable. I could be wrong though.

As for which model it is, can you plug in the console, connect it to your tv, start it up and go into the settings? The information should be in there for the storage device if it has one.

If you're not going to use it for games, it's possibly better to sell it and get a cheaper media player, or maybe a PS3 as you can watch iplayer for free on that and watch blu-rays.

Lifeforms

whatever way you go to get iplayer/catchup tv, you will struggle watching it on a tethered connection. Speed wise but also how much would be streamed/downloaded data wise.

Even if you have unlimited data usage, and are allowed to tether with it, you'll find somewhere in the T&C' will be an acceptable usage policy.

misiek404

What colour is it?

You don't need hard drive or any paid memebership to watch BBC Iplayer, 4oD, 5 on demand, youtube etc. All these apps are free and can be downloaded easily from the main menu. Just register with basic free membership.
Even if it doesnt have hard drive, there is enough internal storage for these apps.

Tethering is possible but requires a wifi antenna (costs around 35 pounds).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Datel-Wireless-Network-Adaptor-Xbox/dp/B003UYTGGW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359046096&sr=8-1

New version called Slim (all black with silver circle at the front) has built in wifi.

DCFC79

If your not games and to get it online would cost you £35 for the antenna Id sell it and buy a media player like you suggested OP.

Johnmcl7

misiek404 wrote: »

What colour is it?

You don't need hard drive or any paid memebership to watch BBC Iplayer, 4oD, 5 on demand, youtube etc. All these apps are free and can be downloaded easily from the main menu. Just register with basic free membership.

Unless it's changed recently 4oD needs a gold subscription unfortunately:

http://support.xbox.com/en-GB/apps/4od/4od-setup

John

misiek404

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

Unless it's changed recently 4oD needs a gold subscription unfortunately:

http://support.xbox.com/en-GB/apps/4od/4od-setup

John

Yes you are right. My mistake. I recently cancelled Gold and it was still working for a while so I assumed it doesn't require full membership. 5 on demand also requires gold.

BBC iplayer doesn't require gold, just checked a moment ago and it works fine.

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

Many thanks for the very helpful replies.

I will plug it in and go into the Settings to check what it says and will try the basic registration suggested to see whether it can pick up BBC iPlayer as it is.

It is black and when I last plugged it in I noticed that it did seem to be picking up wifi as it showed that it had found the name of my phone's wifi and gave an option to connect - which I haven't tried yet.

Thanks for the advice re tethering and watching iPlayer. I know the speeds can be slow as I have watched on my phone & PC before but actually downloading to watch works okay. Am with 3 at the moment and data usage is uncapped and I haven't had any "fair usage" problems with them so far...

Will investigate what sort this XBox is and what it might be worth before considering whether to sell and buy a media player instead but it seems that might be the better way to go as we really aren't likely to make full use of the XBox capabilities.

Thanks for the advice re PS3 - I didn't know anything about these, but will also consider these when looking into media players - though I'm not sure how expensive they are.

Thx again. You really need some youngsters in the household to keep up with all this stuff...

DCFC79

Sounds like its got wifi built inside. Is a hard drive attached to the side ? i know mine says on the HD what size it is.

Lifeforms

Frankly if it does pick up wifi, and you dont need to buy anything else for it, I'd just use it for at least bbc iplayer. If you want something to watch other catch ups (and don't want to pay the subscriptions) look at a media player.

If you have access to a laptop, why do you not just plug in the laptop to the TV? Then you can download at least on bbc iplayer, stream on the others (if it's possible) ie 4OD, itv player, 5Demand etc. Even buying a second hand cheap version, if you limit the junk that is on it, can be used to play catch up TV. You could get enough from the sale of the Xbox to buy a cheap 2nd hand laptop.

StuC75

If it is black with wifi built in then the hard drive will be kind of internal (accessed through the side grille) rather than the older ones that have a visible drive on the side & show the storage amount..

so in short best way of checking storage is via the control panel \ settings looking at storage..