Xbox Brings Early Holiday Cheer With Free DVD Movie Playback Kit As someone mildly annoyed about MSFT giving away something I paid $30 for: Xbox is not an ideal DVD device for two reasons: the hard disk makes enough noise to be distracting, unless you have the console in cabinet you can close, and using DVDs means you can't plug the Xbox in through your VCR, as many people would otherwise default to doing (as DVDs won't play well, since the entertainment oligopoly was able to make it undesirable to record DVDs onto tape via VCRs). I'm pleased with my Xbox overall, in any case (in part because I have it in a cabinet I can close to reduce hard disk noise without overheating risks etc.); it's an adequate DVD player and a great game machine.