Job Discussion Forums

cgjamil · Joined: 26 Sep 2011 Posts: 5

I'm debating on bringing my Xbox 360 with me. I wanted to see if anyone has done this before and if it hooks up just like back home. Is it easy to get on Xbox live? If so, does it lag a lot? Also, can you watch Netflix and Hulu off of it? I had a friend who told me I might also have to buy a new kind of plug-in in order to plug it into the TV's in Vietnam because the ones there don't use the standard red, yellow, and white plug-ins. Anyone know if this is true? Thanks.

cgjamil · Joined: 26 Sep 2011 Posts: 5

Btw, I guess I should specify that we will be staying in Saigon.

1st Sgt Welsh · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:43 am Post subject:

Hi cgjamil,

Welcome to Daves! In regards to Xbox live and lagging - sorry I wouldn't have a clue. But the TVs here do have the red, yellow and white connections. However, the power outlets here are different so it might be worth buying an adapter prior to getting here (they might or might not be easy to get in VN but I've never tried it). Hope this helps.

CThomas · Joined: 21 Oct 2009 Posts: 380 Location: HCMC, Vietnam

I can play TF2 w/ 8ms ping on a very good day. Always under 50ms. There's no reason to think that xBox Live is somehow plugged. It depends on MS servers. When TF2 went free, a LOT more server went up everywhere.

Netflix and Hulu, though, are subject to all that other "Not available in your country" BS. You're on your own there, man.

tonyjones01 · Joined: 20 Aug 2010 Posts: 67

Netflix isn't available, unless it's changed in the last few months.

I never tried using Xbox live but I guessing you'll have a hard time with the slow connections.

You won't have any troubles hooking up your Xbox to the TV's here.

CThomas · Joined: 21 Oct 2009 Posts: 380 Location: HCMC, Vietnam

Good bandwidth is here. 6 down, 1 up + movies on demand for $20 and change /mo. One of the perks here.

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

Hey cgjamil,

I'm not sure where you're coming from, but I suspect it's the US. You will need to have a wall adapter for your xbox, which is easy to find near the backpacker district. Should cost only 10,000 dong (about 50 cents) unless the price has gone up. Same thing can be used for a computer/laptop. I'm pretty sure that your xbox has a power converter on it, just like laptops. Check your power cord. If there's a box on it about 4 inches long, then have a good look at it. Most will say that you can handle a range of voltage, from 100-240 volts. Viet Nam has 220 volts, so if you have the box, then it can convert the power. If you don't have this box, for heaven's sake, don't plug your xbox into the wall unless you want an expensive paper weight!

One thing that would concern me is that Xboxes have known overheating problems (The red ring of death often comes from this, though I'm reading that newer xboxes are less prone to this. It has something to do with the soldering metal they use). Because the voltage runs higher here, so does the heat in your xbox. I never used an xbox here, but I did bring my laptop here. I'm in Canada and I rarely have overheating problems in spite of hours of usage. In Sai Gon though, I was overheating a lot: laptop freezing in the middle of playing a movie or whatever. You can combat this by blasting AC, but I'd still be concerned about marathon gaming sessions. This is my personal theory, but there are quite a few gaming stores where you can pay a rental fee, sit down and play ps3s on flat screens, but I never saw similar stores with xboxes.

Like I said, I didn't have an xbox there, someone could tell me that I'm full of it. But after living with roommates that had multiple red rings of death in a year in Canada, I'd hesitate to risk it over there, especially with less support available.

Anyway, best of luck if you do bring it!

loerzel · Joined: 30 Nov 2007 Posts: 21

Hello cgjamil,

I purchased a power converter for my US Wii at Lotte Mart in District 7 and it works great. Nearly all newer TVs will have the red/white/yellow inputs as well as HDMI and composite.

I don't know about playing games online but I do use Netflix on the Wii and it works fine. The movies take a few minutes to load but once they start there are no pauses. I used the instructions on this site to change the settings on my Wii so Netflix thinks I'm in the US. Here's a tutorial for the 360:

http://portal.unblock-us.com/knowledgebase/31/Setting-up-XBox-360.html

There's a decent gaming store on Pasteur St. in District 1 that sells original and copied games and also offers mod services. Here's the site:

http://www.haloshop.vn/ (It's in Vietnamese but if you use Google Chrome it can translate it fairly well)

Enjoy Vietnam!