How can I play my Xbox 360 on my laptop?

June 15, 2007 9:48 PM

Is there a way to hook up and display an Xbox 360 on a new laptop screen via, well, anything?

I am going to college in a few months and my dorm has less than ideal living space. I want my laptop to be able to everything, I've already got it streaming media from orb on a computer at home, I am getting a slingbox, and the final piece to my puzzle, I would like to be able to play the 360 on my laptop in the best possible quality (I would some me some 720p). What solutions are there for such a thing?

posted by Apo11o to computers & internet (7 comments total)

I have a TV tuner for mine that has composite and S-video in. I know that doesn't give you 720p, but you might be able to find a tuner that can take in component or something.

Another option would be to get an LCD monitor that has HDMI or component in, and also use it for your laptop--but I know that's getting away from what you intended.

I'd do the tuner thing--you'll get TV out of it, too.
posted by DMan at 9:56 PM on June 15, 2007

There isn't any way that will yield high resolution or high quality.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:59 PM on June 15, 2007

An input box that will digitize HD without downscaling it will probably cost a lot of money.
posted by rhizome at 10:49 PM on June 15, 2007

Latency is what kills you. We did a bunch of work on this at a gaming center, and most equipment we found introduces quite a delay even on TV signals. It can be made vaguely playable, but it's never great.
posted by effugas at 10:55 PM on June 15, 2007

You could spend a little bit of cash on a USB tuner as DMan suggests (which, being an Xbox user, you're not going to appreciate the loss in image quality) or for just a little more you could invest in a reasonable good quality LCD monitor which not only wouldn't take up much space, but would also double as a larger monitor for your laptop when docked/charging. Budget $50 or so for a quality wall mount and you could have your LCD monitor up and completely out of the way.
posted by wfrgms at 11:21 PM on June 15, 2007

From the "Let’s play games for the first time…and fail." site: the Adaptec Gamebridge. There's a bunch on ebay for under $20 (shipping and all), and in most reviews I've heard there was minimal noticable latency. I have one on the way.
[via Projects]
posted by niles at 11:55 PM on June 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hmm, thanx all for the help, i have thought about a tuner, however, are they all compatible with Vista? And if not how much would a decent LCD monitor go for? one that can display HD and is about 17" give or take.
posted by Apo11o at 5:24 PM on June 16, 2007