Toshiba HD-A1 Player HD-DVD Player

Pros: Good build quality, handles SD DVD very well
Cons: Quirky, needs "updating" via patches

I was extremely excited to get this player. I have been reading about BD (blu-ray) and HD-DVD for a long time, and with the recent reports of Sony’s stumbles with BD and the generally high praise of HD-DVD’s launch, I took a plunge into HD media ...

Pros: The picture is quite gorgeous, especially with the HDMI input
Cons: Unless you have HDMI input you won't benefit from upconversion or HD DVD

It's started, the biggest war since VHS v. Betamax. Who will win? The contenders for the new high quality DVD format are HD-DVD and Blue Ray. I decided to check out the first salvo in this battle, Toshiba's entry level HD-DVD player. It is the first of ...

Pros: Great Upconverted DVD playback, HD DVD playback, Enhanced Audio, Excellent Picture Quality
Cons: Quirky bugs, Slow Load/Boot TImes, Limited HD DVD Material

If you are reading about this Toshiba HD player - then you no doubt are aware that there is a "war" of sorts taking place. There are two formats for HD (High Definition) - HD DVD and Blu-Ray. What is the difference you ask? I will leave that up to the ...

Pros: Excellent build quality, great picture, great sound, many features
Cons: Slow load times, definately need newest firmware to work their best

I own two RCA HDV5000 HD DVD players, which is the same unit internally as the HD-A1, other than the nameplate there is no difference, all that I write here will apply operationally to the HD-A1. I purchased these two HD DVD players after having used ...

Pros: Amazing picture quality Very high build quality Excellent DVD upscaling
Cons: Slow loading time Occasional bugs No 7.1 audio Poorly designed remote First-gen bugs

Express Section: This HD-DVD player, the first of its kind, is a great buy for anyone with an HDTV. The picture quality is better than anything you've seen before, even with HD broadcasts. In my opinion, HD-DVD is a better format that Blu-Ray since it ...

Pros: The price of the player compared to Blue Rays intro price of $1,000.
Cons: Does not scale the image to remove the black bars from standard def DVD’s.

Ok, lets get started. Hopefully this will give those of you who are looking to purchase a HD Player some insight to what it is all about. What to expect and what not to expect HD DVD is a format that was designed to give you better picture and ...

Pros: The only way to watch HD-DVDs - today.
Cons: Unacceptable picture quality in some cases. Cumbersome remote control, and poor UI.

TOP LINE HD-DVD pictures do look pretty sharp, but the player falls short in several dimensions, mostly in the user interface and usability, but more critically in digital image processing. OUT OF THE BOX The packaging is fine, but the player is ...

Pros: Stunning picture, noticeably superior to standard DVD
Cons: Clunky remote, slow boot-up time

SURVIVING A FORMAT WAR I feel like it's December of 1996 once again. At that time the manufacturers and studios were announcing their plans for a 1st quarter 1997 rollout of a new video format called DVD. At that point, I had a few hundred ...

Pros: Currently the BEST pic quality available bar none!
Cons: Slow boot (computer inside) time and disc loading.

I bought this player over 1 month ago and I have been researching it for over a year now, so I am saying this from research AND more importantly personal experience and use. OVERVIEW (to correct a lot of misinformation out there about the new HD ...

Pros: FIRST HD player out;can be made to play HDV->HDDVD
Cons: HDMI not synching;SLOW loadup time;feels like a linux PC

So you want a HDDVD player. Parts Included : - A bulky remote - HDMI cable - no component video cable - no HDDVD movie Let's face it. It's going to be a while before the bulk of movies get released in HD format, and anyone buying a HD ...

Pros: HD-DVD picture, excellent CD player, affordable for features
Cons: Can't really match my upscaling Denon DVD player on standard dvds

I used the following system to compare the performance of a Toshiba HD-A1 Player to a Denon 2910 Player on standard DVDs and CDs: TV: Panasonic PTAE900 Projector (LDC, 720 Native, via HDMI) Screen: 73" Da-lite High Contrast Matte White Screen (16:9) ...

Pros: HD picture lovely at 1080i almost no motion artifacting at all. Great color.
Cons: Slow response on startup especially on HD DVD and lagging remote.

I have had the Toshiba HD-A1 since the late spring of 2006. I had originally planned to purchase the Sony but it was delayed. The Samsung's high price at a thousand dollars seriously put me off the whole Blue Ray standard. Discouraged I started doing ...

Pros: Great picture but...
Cons: HORRIBLE REMOTE, SLOW player and NOISEY FAN

CONS:

REMOTE CONTROL: Very poorly designed remote! Impossible to read labels on the buttons in a dimly lit room with out a flashlight (and a magnifying glass)! The buttons all look the same. The remote is too long, too heavy, is not ergonomic and it is made of metal which feels cold in your hand.

COOLING FAN: The cooling fan is loud. This unit is as loud as some desktop PCs!

SLOW: Overall the player is very slow… When stopping, starting, exiting setup mode, ejecting or inserting a disk the player may take up to one or two minutes!

CONCLUSION: I am returning this player to BestBuy on Monday and I will wait to buy the new Sony Blu-ray BDP-S1 player when it becomes available.

SUGGESTION: Wait for the Sony Blu-ray BDP-S1 player

Pros: Not the best remote around. Start up time is a bit slow
Cons: Nearly perfect HD picture! It's hard to tear yourself away!

It's true that early on, it had it's problem. However, Toshiba has addressed them, beautifully, with each firmware update.

You won't believe the picture that you'll find on your HD set when you connect it to this machine. Blu-ray has a long way to go just to catch up with HD-DVD -- and the Toshiba is half the price of any Blu-ray player yet announced.

Buy it. You won't regret it!

Pros: Superb Picture Quality Excellent Audio Quality Excellent DVD upconversion capability Price
Cons: HD-DVD load times a little slow Other than that, I'm extremely happy with the purchase

I purchased an HD-A1 at the local Best Buy(had 5 in stock) along with Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick, and Serenity. The player I bought had 1.2 firmware, so immediately updated the firmware via download to 1.4. No issues at all with playback of HD-DVD's or upconversion of DVD's via HDMI with my Pioneer Elite PRO-730HD RPTV. The Pio doesn't have an HDMI input so I connected via an HDMI to DVI cable without a problem. I've since watched all of the movies purchased and all had EXCELLENT video and audio. I've also watched many standard DVD's through the player and the upconversion feature worked flawlessly and produced a much better image than my previously used DVD player over component.

I had previously compared the Samsung Blu-Ray player with the HD-A1 HD-DVD player and there was no comparison with the picture quality - HD-DVD produces a better picture at a lower cost. I would not hesitate to make this purchase again.