Originally Posted by InitialDMP5

yeah, the whole HDMI issue is something that shouldn't be. I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't make an HDMI cable!! Its not that hard.

They use the excuse that they are waiting for more customer demand, and higher market penetration for HDMI, but its been a fixture on every HD tv for the last 3 years.

Even so, they could manufacture a smaller supply of HDMI cables and see how it goes. Nintendo did this with the component cables, and then sold them online. At the time there was not a strong market for the cables, but now its almost required. Nobody knows the real reason for Microsofts blunder here.

As far as 1080p goes for games, you can do that with component just as GLOW said. And all of the movies released in both Blu Ray and HD DVD up to this point have not applied the encryption token, so they can run 1080p through component, but once HD movies start to get copied and ripped online, HDMI will be required.

This is where it gets sticky. If you have a device that doesn't support the method of watching the movie, you have a giant paperweight.