Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player user reviews

4.5 stars

"As a owner of this, I can say CNET was wrong in their review on some key points." on May 12, 2006 by jefftittor

Pros: Excellent upscaling ability for old DVD's. HDTV 1080i output via either component or HDMI, improved sound, amazing picture for HD-DVD's, easily updatable firmware

Cons: price, size, small (but quickly growing) library, slow startup on HD content. Very weak zoom function.

Summary: After doing a fair amount of research on this item, I decided to give it a try. Unfortunatly, they were sold out.
I stumbled upon a second shipment player at a local Best Buy and picked it up. Along with it I purchased 5 movies, which I will tell you, range in visual quality from slightly better than the upscale of a standard dvd on this unit (the upscale is that good), to breathtakingly superb.

First off, let me clarify a few misconceptions.
1: CNET clearly stated the front blue display can not be dimmed. It infact can be dimmed, even shut off during play. I would like to point to the little button labeled 'Dimmer' on the remote control. If the editors would be so kind as to point it at the player and push it....

2: The picture in most Best Buy's is simply put, awful and does not represent the players ability at all. Look at the players display when it is on. If it says anything other than 1080i, it is not displaying HD content.
For some reason, for 720p it downrezes the 1080 signal to 480p then back up to 720. This HAS to be a glitch. My advice, set the signal to 1080i and let the tv downscale it to 720p for HD content in that format. Thus preserving the HD content.

3: You must have a HDMI capable tv to use this. At this time, there is no content using the HDCP requirement. While many people say it is coming, it at the moment is not. The player DOES output a full 1080i signal via component cables.

4: I have seen many complaints that the player can not resume, has no bookmark features, does not fast forward, reverse, and does not have chapter jump functions. Again, false.
I found the bookmark function with ease and managed to accidently set 12 of them before I figured it out. The other functions listed above also existed and worked very well.

5: Many of the low user reviews on this come from NON OWNERS! How can you review a item you have never used?

Now my review.

Upon opening the box, and installing this unit. I realized two things. First, this unit is huge. Second.. The unit really does have a slow startup. Faster than a VCR by far, but slow by modern standards.

Note to buyers, read the instructions.
You have to use the remote to change the output to hdmi, component and the proper resolution (1080i).

I popped in Apollo 13, then Phantom of the Opera, Swordfish, The Last Samurai and Serenity. Played each for a few minutes to judge picture and sound. Then I settled on finishing Swordfish.

Let me say now, the picture on the Phantom was breathtaking. The picture on the rest of the films was slightly above CBS HD content such as CSI. Very good to say the least.

I will say that the player loads HD movies very slowly. I timed about 30 seconds on each movie load. Standard DVD movies loaded as fast as my normal players.

Upscaling, fantastic! This player made the beginning of Episode 3 smooth, sharp and eye popping.
King Kong had details jump out at me that I had not noticed before.
I played with about a dozen other standard disc's and will say, the upscaling results on each were very good. Easily the best I have yet seen.

The sound was also above par. Richer, deeper and if possible, clearer.
DTS and Dolby tracks are recorded at double what standard DVD's are, and the difference is evident. Even on my mid range 6.1 Yamaha receiver, my daughter and wife both mentioned the sound was good. This was the first time we had no issues with dialog being to low.

While my wallet is lighter, I am happy with the purchase. As a movie lover, the upscale alone almost justifies the cost. My huge DVD collection is now still viable.

I am also quite happy with the results on the HD DVD's and will continue to purchase them in place of their cheaper standard cousin's in the future.

I would like to recommend this format and player. Yes, the price is high. But so was the $2500 hdtv I bought.

To me, the change is similar as that from VHS to DVD. A noticable jump to many, and negligable to some.