Like many early adopters of the Xbox 360, my console is severely lacking an HDMI port. It wasn’t until well after release that Microsoft revised the hardware and made HDMI a standard feature of the console. Those of us that got in early were left out in the cold… until now.

MadCatz has heard the call for a resolution and has come to our rescue with the HDMI Conversion Kit. The Kit consists of an adapter that plugs into the AV slot on the back of the console and provides you with an HDMI out and an Optical Digital (Toslink) output for a separate audio feed.

The adapter is small, but very well built. It doesn’t feel like a cheap knock off adapter, and it shouldn’t. MadCatz also went the extra mile and included an HDMI cable AND a Toslink cable. These aren’t your standard cables either. They have an extra tough shield on them that provides extra protection to the cable, making them look pretty slick.

Installation is very easy–just unplug your stock AV plug, insert the Converter and hook your cables up to it. The included instructions explain the exact order you need to do this in, and I had no problems getting up and running in just a few minutes.

I’ve noticed no degradation in picture quality and this Converter has allowed me to move up to 1080p, improving my visual experience.

At $75, you’ll need to weigh the cost heavily. There is no doubt this is a quality product, but many are perfectly happy with component cables and 720p. If you have a 1080p set and an older model X360, this is definitely something you’ll want to consider purchasing.