53 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
Excellant HD-DVD player
When I first hooked this up, I thought I was going to have the same problem I had with my HD-A2 player-it wouldn't boot up. However, this player booted up just fine and I am very impressed with the picture. The sound on Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby True HD soundtracks is terrific when played through my Onkyo 805 receiver. I do have a quibble with the Dolby True HD on some...
178 of 243 people found the following review helpful:
A little disappointed
I bought this DVD player as my first entry into the world of HD-DVD. My expectation level was very high based on the reviews that this product has received and Toshiba's reputation as an industry leader. My experience, however, has not lived up to my expectations.
Initial setup went as expected and I immediately download the latest firmware (version 1.1)...
My HD-A35 is hooked up to a 50" widescreen plasma in 1080p. Short and sweet, as the owner I can tell the diference between an HD video and a regular DVD, none of my friends can. I am so pleased I'm not considering Blu-ray till their prices drop. I have far too many regular DVD's. No matter how the format war turns out you cannot go wrong with this HD player.
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I just upgraded from my first HD-DVD A1 player and I am very happy with the A35. The great audio choices made the A35 the clear choice. The up-conversion of SD titles is still great. I watch everything projected from a Panasonic HD projector onto a 106" screen, so minor details are very important. I also have a PS3 that I play Blu-Ray discs on. If you are still played old DVDs on your HD monitor, you should look into getting a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player. Both are so much nicer. Currently, my choice between the two is definitely HD-DVD. If you search the AV forums, you'll know why. Better compression, audio on most cross-platform titles, more content can be stored on their discs, up-conversion on HD-DVD nicer in my opinion, and most importantly all their players work on all their discs. Unfortunately, Blu-Ray players will not be able to play the BD Java that new and future discs use, so those features will be lost to the early adopters. PS3 will be able to be upgraded though. Either way, the A35 is a great addition to any HD set-up. No matter which format wins, you'll still have a great up converting player.
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Got this Toshiba HD-A35 player for my 21st birthday on march 20 2008 (upgrading form Xbox 360 add on). Great picture and bitstream audio capability + hd sound decoding (dtshdma core only) abilty makes this player a perfect fit for any hometheater. start up is a little slow next to my panasonic blu-ray player. however I am still very happy with this player and the qulity it delivers. DVD upscaling is far beter them my dmp bd30 player, but still upscaling is still no match for hd movies with good transfers. And to top it all off I got this HDMI 1.3 audio bitstream 1080p/24 capable player for $239.77 new and free shiping.
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I understand that the format war is over and that HD DVD is "dead" but I that doesn't keep me from loving this machine. I bought it for a great price (under $150) on ebay and I have no regretted it. I also have a PS3 and Toshiba A-2 and I have to say that it is right up there with the both of them and even exceeds them in a few areas. The fact that it can bitstream the HD audio is fantastic and even the PS3 (which I also love) can't do that. It's a great upscaler and it's nice that Toshiba is still doing the firmware updates for their defunct products. Currently I am snatching up as many HD DVDS as I can for dirt cheap. Since I have two HD DVD players (one upstairs and downstairs) I can watch them anywhere in the house. As far as picture and audio quality, it is an equal for any of the blu-ray movies I have (and their waaaay cheaper). I would encourage anyone with and HD DVD player of any kind to look at the bargain sites for these cheap movies in high def. You won't be disappointed.
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This is a great player, I bought mine from a merchant through Amazon for just over $200. No problems at all with it. But what's up with the prices now? $600?? I thought when a format dies it was supposed to get cheaper.
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This is the best DVD player I have bought so far. The picture quality is very vivid and clear. I have never had a Toshiba product before and I am very impress. Recommend the product by a mile. It plays both standard and HD DVD's and well worth the price of Amazon.com. If anyone is looking for an HD DVD player this is the one to buy.
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Yes it sucks that the hd dvd format died out. That still doesn't change the fact this is an amazing piece of hardware. What may make this hardware still worth buying to anyone is the fact that it is an amazing hd upconverting dvd player and on top of that a top of the line hd dvd player. Keep in mind people that if you want a hd upconverting dvd player that is any where near as good as this one it could easily cost you $120. Also keep in mind that this player goes for around $190 (if you shop around) so for an extra $70 give or take a little you can have a player that can play hd dvds also. Which also keep in mind there are around 800 titles worldwide released on the format. If any of you detail freeks too by the way are thinking there might be region code issuse with hd dvd disc think again, since the hd dvd format is region free. As for the regular dvd format keep in mind that it will be around for years to come. So if you tally up the amount of regular dvds and hd dvds to choose from to play on this player that is a lot, not to mention play both very well. So do yourself a favor and check out the hd a35 hd dvd player.
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I bought this as an early X mas present for myself. (thanks honey) I based my decision to buy HD DVD over Blue Ray because It is the better format and has far superior features. I also took into consideration that Sony lost out in the Beta, mini disc and dat markets. I also felt that no matter which way the hammer fell The discs are the same just the format is different and the looser would be a firmware update away from converting their player into a dual format player (like the LG) and you wouldn't have a door stop. I have emailed Toshiba twice and the reply is that the format is different and blue ray discs won't play in it. Maybe I am wrong but could anyone tell us if this could be possible. All that we would need would be Sony's blue ray decoder ring so to speak and away we would go.
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This machine is simply AWESOME! I got this as a gift for Christmas (from me to me) to accompany my Onkyo SR705 receiver and I love it! I have to admit, at first I was skeptical when watching the first HD DVD movie (Evan Almighty) with my kids because it started to act up part-way through the movie...and this was after the firmware update! After returning the movie back (it was brand new) to get another new copy it worked just fine. Turns out that some of the double-sided HD DVD titles had some manufacturing defects...so folks, just return the movie and NOT the A35. Planet Earth (HD DVD version) is just stunning due to the ability to set the output at 1080p/24 on this model. For newbies, the "24" means 24 frames per second (fps), and most movies and t.v. shows (at least the non-reality ones) are shot originally in this format. This means that you would get playback from the HD-A35 pretty much as the director had intended. Once the final specs of Deep Color (which will take the current color we see from millions to billions of color pixels) finally comes into place, the A35 is ready (and so is the Onkyo and Epson 1080p projector...all HDMI 1.3a compliant). HDi (web and content interactivity) also makes the HD-DVD experience all worthwhile since Blu-Ray is still working out the bugs in this department. In addition to all this, the A35 is probably one of the BEST upconverting DVD players on the market...in my opinion of course as I have not tested the others who "claim" to do this scaling very well. Listen folks, upconverting WILL NOT make your standard DVD's look like HD, NEVER...period, but the A35 does a great job at making them look better!! This is very evident on seeing things at 100+", not necessarily on a 65" or smaller t.v. set.
Don't let me forget to mention the sound. Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 is a very nice compressed sound surround format (much better than the original Dolby Digital 5.1), but Dolby TrueHD lossless format (via HDMI) is the most incredible sound I've ever heard to date (like on V for Vendetta)...thanks to the High Bit Rate Audio capability. However, I still have not experienced the DTS HD Master Audio surround sound format yet, but I know that too is suppose to be awesome. If nothing else, this machine has much more than you'd expect at $299 or less (it was $499 originally)...it's a steal!
Lastly, I know most people don't have/own a 1080p projector, but IF your t.v. is capable of handling 1080p/24, this machine can output it and it is well worth the extra cost above the HD-A3 (not 1080p and lacks future Deep Color support) and HD-A30 (also lacks future Deep Color support) models. Also, if you do NOT have a newer surround sound receiver with HDMI...the A35 has the extra analog outputs for each surround channel and the other two previously mentioned 3rd generation models do not, so be careful in your choosing! As usual, Amazon.com came through for me once again!! Thanks guys!
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Connected to the router, firmware update was a snap. Don't rush it though, it'll let you know when it's finished. Also, if you disconnect power to the A35, it'll send you to setup next time you turn it on.
I feed the A35 into an Onkyo 705 over HDMI. It bitsreams TrueHD on down as advertised and can force 1080P/24fps, which looks great on a Sammy 5084. The aerial city scenes in the Bourne Ultimatum are stunning. 300 came in the box and sounds awesome in TrueHD.
Playing CDs, I'll compare it to the PS3. The A35 allows the 705 to offer more sound choices, is simpler to use, and silent. It doesn't play SACDs though and if you have any DVD-A discs, they'll both play the DD or DTS tracks but the PS3 is much quicker. Which brings up the biggest flaw: the A35 seems slow - at everything - compared to the PS3. Initial start-up, loading a disc, changing tracks, etc.
If you have an HT system that can display 24fps & work with bitsream lossless audio and it makes sense to you to own an HD-DVD player given the state of the format, the A35 is the one - especially at what they're going for now.
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