Customer Reviews

Toshiba SD-4109X 6-Disc DVD Player

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having used the 4109X for the past six months, I must say that I'm disappointed with the product and would recommend buying from a different manufacturer. (I've heard that Onkyo makes these for Toshiba, so watch out for their products as well!)

First, the good: Picture quality is fabulous, and so is sound reproduction. The "enhanced black" mode makes the picture especially rich while colors remain vibrant. The carousel feature is great, especially if you have kids -- you can jump from Tarzan to Pocahontas without putting the baby down (and without letting your older ones put fingerprints all over your discs!)

Now for the bad: 1) The 4109 gets confused when switching from CDs to DVDs, and I've frequently had to shut it down and restart to get discs to play. 2) Sometimes it thinks it's playing a DVD even thought it's not, and at those times it won't let me swap a disc out of the carousel. (I've heard a number of other users complain about these same functional items, so I'm sure it's not just my unit that has problems.) 3) The carousel may be quiet, but the unit itself hums loudly during playback. This is very annoying if you don't have your unit in a closed cabinet. 4) The remote is HORRIBLE. True, it is loaded with features, but the layout is illogical and the small buttons are not friendly to anyone with normal-sized fingers. Plus, it lacks backlighting -- just try finding those tiny function buttons in the dark. 5) The lack of random multidisc playback is annoying, but can be overcome by programming the tracks you want to hear. (And no, it's not because the machine can't distinguish between CDs and DVDs as someone wrote below, as the machine does have a "CD only" mode that ignores DVDs during playback.)

With its great picture quality, this could easily have been a five-star product. Adjusting for Toshiba's spotty quality control and that darned remote, it only gets three. As such, I'd probably go with the 3-disc Pioneer or the 5-disc Sony instead.

The Toshiba 4109X is an awesome piece of machinery! The picture clarity is unparalleled and the 5.1 audio outputs really make the sound incredible. You can change discs while you are watching or listening to another one, which comes in handy at parties where you want continuous music. I highly recommend this product to anyone who is interested in upgrading to a home theater system!

I just recieved this DVD player and I LOVE IT! I bought this player for the 6 disc changer and HDCD feature. I also own the 2109 model and was please with that one but the movie collection has grown and I got tired of getting off the couch to change movies. The carousel is very quiet, the picture is excellent, and the additional operating features are great. Now for my take on this random play controversy. DVD players are first and foremost a DVD player that happens to play audio CDs. DVD movies load up into the player while audio CDs do not. Once a DVD movie is loaded it must play that awful WARNING screen first and any other thing the maker of the DVD wishes you to see. So with that said, every time the disc would change on random mode while its playing DVDs you would first have to see the dreaded WARNING screens, which basically ruins the random play feature. Now maybe one day in the future they will have a different random play mode for DVDs and CDs, but thats not the case now. So I hope that kinda solves the random play mystery for some of you, others will just never understand it. (Maybe they should buy a dedicated multiple CD disc changer)

Oh yeah this changer also plays CD-Video disc, but dont think you can transfer your movies from VHS to CD-Video and play it on this player since it does'nt play CD-R disc.

Ok, I'm done.

Got one of these about 2 months ago and it has been perfect. My first DVD player, so nothing to compare to, but not even a hint of any problems. They were out of stock for quite a while, get one while they're here! Easy setup, looks and sounds great. No lip-synch problems as have been mentioned with many other players. As another reviewer stated, I have not yet been able to find a random mode which will randomize both the disc and track, which would be useful when playing a bunch of music cd's. (which the six disc carousel comes in handy for.) Also, I am not sure if this is the case with most players, or just this one, but there is no coaxial output, so if you have an older tv with only coaxial in, beware! You need S-video or RCA Video to hook this up. Highly recommended.

I have had my 4109X for 8 months now, and absolutely love it.

For reference, I have it hooked up to a Toshiba 32" TV, Harman Kardon AVR45 Receiver and B&W speakers.

The good : - Picture quality : Incredible ! - Playback problems : None, ever...and not only do I play my own DVDs, but I tend to rent at least one or two a week.. - Sound quality : Again, awesome. Ok, so it does not have random play for CDs, but I can live with that, as it saved me buying a separate CD player. - Recognition of DVDs / CDs : Again, never a problem.

Cons : - Noise (humming) on playback : Commented on by other reviewers. This has happened occasionally, but I have discovered it has nothing to do with the carousel. Oddly enough, it depends on the disk you put in. I think the play mechanism must be overly sensitive, as certain CDs and DVDs I play tend to result in that humm, no matter which slot in the carousel and how clean they are. Mind you, this happens less than 10% of the time. - The remote : I don't think it is horrible, just a little over complex. Personally, I have programmed the universal remote that came with my Harman Kardon receiver, and both my 6 year old and my wife can work that ok with either the TV, VCR or DVD player !

Bottom line....incredible that you can get so much technology for such a low price !

It doubles as a CD player. If you are putting together a new home theater system you are getting a DVD and a Carousel CD player for less than the price of the individual components.

I really like this thing except I can't play CD-Rs in it. This is a major downfall for all the CDs I have created myself.

I bought this to replace my existing CD player with the added bonus of a DVD player and I haven't had any problems playing normal CDs or DVDs.

It does a great job on DVD's and CD's...sound and sight.....HOWEVER it can not play CD's that I have recorded from my other CD's.....where I have just my favorite numbers...so I had to purchase another CD player than has that capability........I wanted to save space......and in that it failed........so its 4 stars for performance......and 1 star for other features that were critical such as space-saver

I actually bought the SD-3109 which is no longer offered. But I thinkthe problems I am having with it warrant a review of how disappointed you will be if there is any problem with your Toshiba DVD. I am having a problem with playing audio CDs. The audio fades in an out when playing a CD. Toshiba said they would either exchange or repair the unit if I would ship it to one of their service centers at my cost...Now I will be out the purchase price and shipping/insurance to fix a unit that was not right in the first place. Just a warning to buyers, make sure to check every function of the product and return it right away before no one wants to stand behind it. I guess you get what you pay for and I should have known better...

I purchased this player because of the 6 disc capacity carousel. I assumed I would be able to load 6 audio discs in and play them in random mode. This is not the case with this unit. You can only play one CD in random mode at a time. After this is completed it will switch to the next disc and play that one in random mode. Very annoying if you want to load in six discs and have an afternoon of continuous music. Also, the carousel is very noisy! Not worth the money, keep looking!