A not so audio question

I now have an XBOX 360 (my key to going HD). Anyway, a friend told me that component cables produce the same quality picture that HDMI does. The sytem came with component cables, and if that's true then there should be no need for me to pursue an HDMI cable for this system. Your thoughts...................

It is true that component will deliver similar picture quality as HDMI. You should not be able to tell the difference on most systems. Also, only the XBOX 360 ELITE and XBOX 360 Halo Edition supports HDMI out of the box.

Currently the best audio option for the XBOX 360 is the Digital Optical Output option that can deliver Dolby Digital to a capable receiver.

Thanks for the input. About the audio connection, my receiver only has one fiber optic out and is currently running to my Hi Def cable box and my digital coax is running my upconvert DVD player. To me, movies take priority over video games so, for now, the XBOX will just have a nice stereo spread. Thanks again!!!!