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Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD Player
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$134.12

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Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: yudansha18

Updated:01-05-08

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Great output with HD DVD's, ability to jump to favorite scenes on the player, inexpensive

Weaknesses: Slow start up time, cheap remote

Overall Evaluation: I like this player. It's clear and everything was very easy to setup. When I first started the player I thought it was broken. The player took forever to start-up. I called them to verify that this was how normal for the player. There are different ways to get the updated content. I requested that they automatically mail me a disk with the updates. For some reason they just sent me the first update a second time. Using an HDMI cable the picture is great. I've had absolutely no issues in that sense. The way bonus content is accessed on some HD-DVD's(using the ABCD buttons) is seamlessly integrated even though the graphics (popup indicators on bottom right of screen and shifting of the overall picture appear to be specific to Toshiba's player (haven't tried other HD DVD players so I'm not sure if it's part of the disk's programming) Using the remote is a real pain. You can change it so that there's audio confirming you pushed a button. The audio is a small beep that doesn't quite fit with the player in that it's high pitched and might be associated with a 5 to 10 dollar piece of electronics. Having it on helped prevent me from repeatedly hitting the button and jumping to far ahead or doing something else that I didn't intend to do.
Overall Rating
2 Star Review

Reviewed by:

Updated:12-27-07

Duration of ownership:1 Weeks

Strengths: Price point. A very sharp picture when playing HD DVDs.

Weaknesses: Very slow response to remote commands: forward,skip,chapter change etc. When playing a standard DVD, there is a highly noticeable pause when it needs to change layers. No Coaxial. Plenty of bugs.

Overall Evaluation: As many have noted, the loading time is slow and you'd think they would have improved this in this 3rd generation player. However, most HD players are still plagued with this issue and I've yet to hear of a fast loading player so I won't take away for that. Moving on, I suppose for less than $200 this is decent buy, but I think I will be looking for a new player soon.The main problem with this player is its? performance for standard DVD play. I know this is intended for HD DVDs, but let's face it; we all probably have a lot more standard DVDs right now. When playing ANY standard DVD and using the optical output, the audio display on the machine ALWAYS reads "2 CH" as in 2 channel stereo. However, my receiver says it receiving 5.1 or DTS respectively so maybe it is just a bug in the display. Even my old standard DVD player tells me what is being outputted. It would be nice if this one would. Someone else here did mention that the audio was downgraded. That is a little more complicated so I will discuss downgraded sound and video later on.Now, the remote is a total piece of junk - cheap doesn't even cut it. This is the kind of remote you'd expect to get with a $30 Wal-Mart DVD player. It's not backlit and it is totally clumsy. The desciption here is inaccurate as it does not have glow in the dark buttonsThe unit also lacks the "resume from last start" after you have powered off the unit. My 4 year old standard DVD player stores the exact point of the last 5 DVDs it played, so if you insert it again it will continue where it left off. Again, Toshiba took a step backward here and doesn't provide it at all.Firmware update itself is bugged. If you attempt to acquire a firmware update and none is available, a message displays telling you that it will exit promptly, but it NEVER does. In the manual it tells you to NEVER touch anything while it is in this mode, but I was forced power down.OK now, the following is not directed at this player, but all HD-DVD and Blue Ray Players. If you don't have an HDMI equipped TV or receiver, you will experience the following downgrades.If you are not using HDMI you're not going to experience ANY up conversion on standard DVDs. In fact, even though the player could output up to 1080i, it won't due to HDCP rules (if you don't know what HDCP is, you should Google it). A flag is set on all DVDs, which tells the player not to allow the full 1080i resolution output over an analog output like Component Video. Instead you will get a message on the screen letting you know the resolution has been downgraded to 480P. This was put in place to avoid users from making a "perfect" copy. It's actually silly because almost all DVD backup software removes this flag, so a copy actually does play at 1080i where the original will not. I think it was a very unfair move by the industry to acutally punish early adopters of HDTVs, which many only came with Componenet Video. Shame on them.The optical audio being downgraded I read in another review here might not be accurate. The fact is that if you're only option is optical, then should know that optical doesn't have the necessary bandwidth to carry the full signal of any of the HD audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD. Therefore, the player has to downgrade the signal on those formats so you're non-HDMI receiver can actually process it through the limited optical output. HDMI has a much higher bandwidth and is not compressed.There are devices that cost around $150-$200, which will convert the HDMI output of any deviced to Componenet Video output. These devices send a proper handshake to the HDMI port so it thinks it is sending the signal over a secure digital tube, when it is acutally being converted to analog. These devices are illegal in the USA, but popular around the world.
Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: swimmerslice921

Updated:12-27-07

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Plays HD DVDs excellently, PQ is amazing, Upconversion on this unit beats that of any sub $100 consumer unit, on-board HD sound processing

Weaknesses: Optical Output puts a cap on quality of sound going to receiver, loading time can be slow ~30 seconds. Initial firmware has bugs but can be fixed with update.

Overall Evaluation: The player is excellent in that HD DVDs look awe inspiring, extra features such as interactive extras and PIP commentary is very cool. Upconversion on this unit is better than any consumer-level standalone unit you would pick up at your local B&M store - being a videophile believe me when I say this thing can beat a $100 upconverting DVD player in terms of PQ and probably sound quality. Quality of the HD-A3's upconverting probably comes close to that of $200 Denon and Oppo units...that in itself can justify buying the A3.As for the "its not 1080p argument", Toshiba is smart in their marketing, offering an a la carte option for consumers who don't have 1080p HDTVs and for the consumers who are knowledgable enough to know that a 1080i can be just as good as a 1080p signal on a 1080p TV, with proper deinterlacing of course. On board processing of DTS-HD and Dolby Digital HD means that all you need to enjoy HD audio is having a receiver that can accept HD audio thru HDMI (the HDMI receiver itself doesn't need to have the capability to decode DTS or DD HD to play it, since the HD-A3 does the decoding from DTS and DD-HD to PCM for you, and PCM is pretty much a universal language all receivers can understand). It is my understanding that the A3 puts a cap on the bitrate of audio thru the optical output, somewhere at 768kbps or something but for the most part you probably won't hear that big of a difference. This bitrate cap, luckily does not apply to audio thru HDMI.The initial firmware 1.1 that most players are shipped with is buggy - it will not let you playback some HD DVDs. Paying a visit to the Toshiba site and downloading a Update CD is a quick fix to this issue. An update can also be done with the unit's Ethernet connection via the internet. For the price I paid of $160, with 5 free instant movies and 5 more thru mail-in rebate, this deal is a snag. Definitely recommended.
Overall Rating
3 Star Review

Reviewed by: edavid

Updated:12-26-07

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: - video quality

Weaknesses: - boot time, load time, no DivX support, no 1080p

Overall Evaluation: This player is very solid, with excellent HD-DVD video quality, which is the most important feature. It also does a good job upconverting plain DVDs.Boot time and disc load time are still pretty sluggish. I would not want a player that was any slower than this one.What I really can't understand is the lack of DivX support in a player this expensive. It's kind of ridiculous to have to have another player in the living room just to handle DivX.
Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: ajg51

Updated:12-26-07

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Eay to setup. Slim design a plus for low profile. Firmware updates simple. Upconverting excellent.

Weaknesses: No 1080P. Very slow response time to commands.

Overall Evaluation: I originally ordered the HD-A2 at a discounted price. They ran out and sent me this player for the same price. The five free movies was okay, but the selection was strictly limited. The two free DVDS were recent movies - 300 and the Bourne Ultimatum. So, for the price I paid, it was a good deal. The picture is fantastic on my 56" HDTV. A must buy for your Home Entertainment system that's not expensive.
Overall Rating
5 Star Review

Reviewed by: snagx

Updated:12-19-07

Duration of ownership:25 Days

Strengths: The best picture quality! HD + standard DVD up conversion.

Weaknesses: Slow operation. POC remote. Hope HD-DVD technology is here to stay and more movies are available in HD-DVD format

Overall Evaluation: Bought this player on a deal and hoped for marginal improvement from my Sony up converting player. But what a pleasant surprise! The picture is beautiful on my Panasonic 720p LCD projector. It came with 300 and Bourne Identity HD DVDs. Already watched 300 and the quality is amazing! 5 more HD-DVDs are in mail - free!! It is also playing my home made DVDs on DVD-RW DVD-R disks with no problems. So no regrets of spending extra for a HD-DVD player, its well worth it. Only thing I did not like was that its slow and takes time for booting up, loading disks etc. They mention it as well in the manual that its not a so called DVD player - whatever that means. It is also web enabled - improvement from HD A2. Remote is POC - not back lit and pretty mundane like those $10 remotes - very basic.
Overall Rating
5 Star Review

Reviewed by: GASTURBO1

Updated:12-01-07

Duration of ownership:4 Weeks

Strengths: Cheapest HD DVD yet, amazing video quality!

Weaknesses: Slow loading time when playing HD DVD.

Overall Evaluation: Forget the format war. This DVD player's performance and recently reduced price will make you take a chance with the new HD DVD format. I've been keeping my eyes on this unit for a little while and did not hesitate to get it the minute it dropped bellow $200. The video performance of this player is as good as any current high deff format in the market. Don't let the "i" on 1080i discourage you from getting it because recent side-by-side comparisons revealed no noticeable difference between 1080i and 1080p when displayed on a "progressive scan" capable displays (check out cnet.com for more info). I did noticed, however, that this player takes up a bit too long to load up HD DVD's, which I found a bit disappointing specially for a 3rd generation player. But regular DVD's seamed not to take as long. So even if the HD DVD format fails to prevail in the next few years at least you didn't throw away $400 like most BlueRay players are still priced at.
Overall Rating
2 Star Review

Reviewed by: kay_jay

Updated:11-26-07

Duration of ownership:3 Weeks

Strengths: free hd-dvd movies

Weaknesses: many....loading time, doesn

Overall Evaluation: Toshiba made me return my Philips 5982 DVD player only because it is a HD DVD player. I was very disappointed with its performance espcially the loading time and the time it takes to recognizes the DVD-R, DVD R movies and most frusting thing is it freezes when the DVD is not regonized. My home made movies in DVD-R format and very few DVD R formats are recognized. I need to pull out the power cord and replug again to make it work. Quite awful set for $199 I paid. I dont think I got a lemon. In any case, I am going to return it to Bestbuy.
Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: DaffyDuck

Updated:11-25-07

Duration of ownership:1 Days

Strengths: Size, look, HD up-conversion, cheap

Weaknesses: can not do 1080p, load times still slow, eject slow.

Overall Evaluation: This is the next generation HD DVD player. It is lighter (like a dvd player), smaller (like a dvd player) and is quicker at loading (still slow though compared to most dvd players). It offers resolutions up to 720p (can do 1080i but 720p is better). It also has a good up conversion (given you are using HDMI to connect to your TV). It is good value since most of you do not have 1080p TV and probably will not get one for a bit.
Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: wrtoyworks

Updated:11-17-07

Duration of ownership:2 Weeks

Strengths: Inexpensive, free movies with purchase, slim design, starts up fast.

Weaknesses: I guess if you want 1080p, you don't get that.

Overall Evaluation: Fantastic HD DVD player. DVDs load very fast, the player starts up fast, and it's simply a very nice looking mostly black player to put with your TV and other equipment. Plus it comes with two hd movies in box-- 300 and Bourne Identity. And a mail-in rebate for five more hd movies, including Italian Job and others. So a new model A3 player, plus 7 movies for less than $200. Great deal! Have had the player for two weeks so far, and works flawlessly so far. The remote is nice too--very small, but the buttons are easy to use and laid out very nicely. The only drawback I see is if I ever have a need for 1080p, this player is only 720p/1080i. But not sure that is an issue, unless you have a TV that truly can handle 1080p (mine can't). Also, this player upconverts regular DVDs great--watching non-hd DVD is even a pleasure on this player. Can't go wrong with the player unless you absolutely feel you need 1080p.