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"Excellent signal quality, however ....." on by melhxi
Pros: Handles HD well. Good output signal.
Cons: VERY SLOW to start up and react to other commands NO remote control codes.
Summary: I've owned the Toshiba HDDVD for about 4 months. Once you can get it going, it handles all modes/formats of dvd disks well (except the rival High Def format of course). But from a red (standby) light to ready to play a disk is a VERY LONG WAIT after you press the power button! It's about 30 to 45 seconds. Also 10 plus seconds for other commands. Not long you say? Well, maybe, but it can get to be quite annoying after about the 50th time.
Then there is the remote codes for operating the Toshiba with your favorite universal remote controller. There aren't any! Unless your remote can learn codes, which isn't always fully satisfactory or successful, by "sniffing" the IR from the Toshiba's remote, you are out-of-luck. Local media equipment retailers can't get the codes from Toshiba. There's nothing on their web site. The excuse? The Toshiba is just too new?!!! Come on Toshiba, please get the codes on your Web site!
Bottom line is, it handles the dvd formats it says it will, very well. Puts out a great signal. But telling it to start and other commands from anything other than it's own remote is problematic, and once it does know it's supposed to start or do something else, it takes the player a LONG TIME to get to "go". -
"Excellent...when it works" on by Tre Clack
Pros: DVD Upconversion - better than my Oppo; HD-DVD movies- excellent
Cons: Froze on one movie, stopped playing sound, No 'resume playback' option--and that's REALLY annoying.
Summary: The A20 would be a perfect dvd player if it would work consistently (and quicker). My A20 was working fine, until one-day I decided to play a CD. The next day, I put in a standard definition movie, and there was NO sound. I checked the movie in my Oppo and it worked well, and played sound. I even tested the input jacks on my Denon to see if they were broke. The problem only seemed to happen if I left a dvd (or in the one case a CD) in the player for 30 minutes or more without playing (...I guess no one at Toshiba decided to see if the player would still work if you had to stop the movie because of a phone call).
I called Toshiba Customer report but all I got was a recording telling me to update my firmware (it never asked what my problem was) and then it hung up on me...several times--so, I emailed customer support. Said they'd never heard of the problem so connect it to the internet and do a firmware upgrade (which I find to be annoying, when I want to watch a movie I don't want to waste time makeing a dvd that might not even fix my problem). I was also told to initiate my player (one of the settings on the setup menu) and powerdown for 30 seconds.
Anyway, it turned out that the only way to fix my problem was to insert an HD-DVD movie, wait the 30 seconds it took to load, and then eject it and replace with the desired standard DVD. If the picture quality hadn't been so good, there's no way in hell I would have gone through this madnes...but the picture quality was that good, so I did.
So, after a couple of weeks of constantly having to preload an HD-DVD movie to watch my blockbuster rentals, I returned the player. I was told that the A20 was no longer being sold (HALLELUJAH)so I was given the A30. If this one breaks I will get my money back and jump to the blu-ray camp (and I guess you'll be able to see my HD-DVD collection on ebay or craigslist). But for now...I'm still rooting for Toshiba (note: if you work for Toshiba and you're reading this--tell your staff to start TESTING these products before pricing them putting them on the market; consumers actually like their products to work when they buy them...true story). -
"What a LEMON" on by glolar
Pros: Beautiful 1080p output, (when the machine works)
Cons: High Price, Poor Quality Control
Summary: Downloaded the most current firmware update, and popped in one of the Planet Earth HD-DVD discs. I was blown away by the picture. However, two weeks after purchase, the audio output went out. Returned the unit for a new one. Five weeks later, the video locked up on a Heroes HD-DVD. Disc would not eject. Could not even power the unit off. Had to take it apart to retrieve the DVD. Returned it for a 3rd unit. Two weeks later, same video lockup problem, and not able to power off the unit. Unplugging/plugging in the unit didn't help. DVD tray was non-responsive, as were all remote control commands. Returned this 3rd unit to the retailer for a complete refund. Will never buy another Toshiba HD-DVD player.
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"Toshiba has poor quality control" on by ajd1170
Pros: Sleek appearance
Cons: It is a gamble
Summary: I recently purchased this unit; the first one caused sparklies and then intermittent video. I exchanged it for another of the same unit, and this one continually "hiccoughs" when trying to play audio CDs. I'm returning this one for a refund. I'll probably switch to Blue Ray. My advice: stay away from Toshiba.
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"High Quality Performance and Features" on by toothdoc1
Pros: HDMI and Component Video and SD DVD Upconversion
Cons: Does not return to point of play when stopped on HD DVD disks. Limited picture quality settings.
Summary: I have always had Sony DVD players except for my inexpensive Cyberhome DVD Recorder. I tried a Toshiba upconverting DVD player several years ago and did not like the features and returned it for a Sony. I purchased the HD-A20 to replace a XBOX 360 HD DVD Player. It's performance is great improvement both in video and especially audio. It does a great job in upconverting SD DVD's but their appearance differs from movie to movie. Dune the extended version and the Superbit disk of Lawrence of Arabia look nerly as good as HD. The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King upconverts to good but not great. I am using the unit with a Sony 1080i LCD rear projection TV with HDMI input. Some DVD-R disk recordings made off the DVR look good and using the analog output thru a Yamaha play nicely. I have seen some negative reports of the unit having a long start-up time, but the delay is not a hugh factor and isn't so long to be annoying. Sony units have a few more picture quality options but the TV settings can compensate for these. All in all the Toshiba is a fine unit that will meet the needs of most videophils. I have no plans to upgrade to a 1080p television soon, but this unit is ready for the upgrade, and for now, the 1080i performance is great.
Toshiba HD-A20 HD-DVD player user reviews
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