81 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent First Generation High Definition DVD PLayer
Being the first to market in the High Definition DVD Player area, with Blu-ray right on its tail, id have to say its one amazing box. I started with last samurai regular dvd popped it in and wow was a standard DVD simply AMAZING, the upconvert in this box is the best ive seen. I then followed up by putting in the HDDVD version of Last Samurai and I was definately more...
Two thumbs way way down
I have to say - I have been awaiting my first HD-DVD player for some time with great expectation, and this past Xmas my girlfriend bought this player for me.
The first experiences I have had have been really disapointing.
The unit constantly locks up for seemingly no reason requiring hard power downs (yank the plug). It gets very confused as to...
This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
Being the first to market in the High Definition DVD Player area, with Blu-ray right on its tail, id have to say its one amazing box. I started with last samurai regular dvd popped it in and wow was a standard DVD simply AMAZING, the upconvert in this box is the best ive seen. I then followed up by putting in the HDDVD version of Last Samurai and I was definately more pleased, stuff that was blotchy and pixelated no longer is so, most notable when standing or sitting close to an LCD TV the quality is noticably better. The price is a bit steep, but then again the first DVD Players were quite pricey as well. The prices for the HDDVDs are nice compared to costs for other new media standards such as the UMD Disc in fact about the same price as UMD Disc. The only cons I would have about this player is it takes REALLY LONG startup once turned on and HDDVD can take some time to get going and the thing is HUGE! It wont fit in most setups!
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
AND.........i'M GLAD i DID! There has been a lot of reviews out there and all the negatives and positives hold true, BUT most of the reviews, now that I experienced the HD A1, were more like nitpicking. Here's my take:
Bulkiness: yeah this thing is bulky when compared to today's 30-100 dollar cheapo dvd players...but when compared to the more expensive upconverters this thing is not big at all (just look at the denons, pioneers, and other high brand models that can put out the performance that the toshiba does when upconverting) Anyone who is looking to spend this type of money on a this dvd player or any other dvd player in its price bracket will probably deal with this issue.
Remote: yeah its bad....hard to see what button does what and has a bad, uncomfortable feel to it. My harmony 880 had no problem assuming control of the toshiba. Just buy a universal remote. Look into logitech's harmony line, no biggie!
Slow: This is where I scratch my head. I turned it on, pressed the eject button, pop in a dvd, and by the time I go to sit down and get comfortable this thing will start like in 5-10 seconds....everyone needs to go thru this routine to watch their movies! No one pops in a movie and watches it from right there...this slowness issue is a non issue in my book.
Video: SD DVD never looked better to my eyes . I have gone out of my way to look at all the upconverters that I have give thought to(oppo 971, denon 1930 and 2930, and the samsung 860 and 960) with the exception of the 2930 the toshiba IMO was better than the rest. Keep in mind the denon lists for over 800 and only upconverts. When I did HD DVD nothing that I have witnessed Has come even close, not even Blue Ray....so this is where I giggle when I look back and question why the heck I was on the fence about this product to begin with? when you look at the price it is a no brainer, good bargain , and versatile.
Sound: This is where I went crazy! My SD DVD's never sounded better, but then again I wasn't crazy about my cheapo dvd player that I had attached to my Home Theater, but this was the right move. everything sounds louder, theres more bass, vocals are clearer and most importantly the video and audio are top notch and envelop you into whatever you watch thru the Toshiba.
Gen 1 player: yeah gen 1 players are always a risk....anything that's new is always a risk. You become a beta tester for these companies when they first dish out there machines. But that's technology folks and coming from someone who for a living deals with servers and the likes in the IT world.....I'll be the first to say that no technology is perfect. But the fact that Toshiba has made it very clear that they will not neglect the A1 once the A2 comes out is enough for me to pull the trigger on this player which leads me to my next point.
Compatibility: This is a word that in my profession is very important. You don't want to get the biggest and baddest thing just to say that you did and then find out your other stuff doesn't like it. The fact that this gen1 player has analog out and firmwares tells me that: a. this player will stay in tune with most of the technologies (true hd and DD+ in the 2.0 firmware for example) and b. the 5.1 analog will let you keep your current receiver that you probably dished out alot of money for!
I really think the toshiba HD A1 has its bugs and I'm sure future gens will be better, but this format war isn't really going to go anywhere right now so the prices will more or less stay the same for at least another year. So if you're on the fence and want to wait for this thing to be over with, you might wait a while. So why not enjoy this technology now and your current dvd collection as well. You will not be dissappointed.
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
I've only had this thing for a couple of days, and have been absolutely blown away by the video and audio quality of the two HD-DVD movies I've watched thus far: Sahara and Goodfellas. Both the picture and the sound (when the player is properly connected and properly set up) are far superior to that of DVD when viewed on a high-definition TV.
For video, I set the output to HDMI and the resolution to 1080i (even though my TV is an older 720p model). A supplemental sheet that comes with the manual recommends that, for HD-DVD discs, the resolution be set to the native format of the disc rather than that of the TV. Every HD-DVD I've read about thus far is encoded at 1080-line resolution, so I set the player at 1080i. I haven't yet noticed anything in the manual regarding what to do for regular DVDs, so I experimented a bit and concluded that 1080i is the best setting for DVDs as well. Thus, I set the thing at a resolution of 1080i and plan to leave it there.
I connected the player to my TV's DVI input using an HDMI-to-DVI adapter, then connected the six analog 5.1 audio outputs on the back of the player to the analog 5.1 inputs on my stereo receiver, then calibrated the audio for speaker size and distance using the "Setup" feature. Note: The owner's manual doesn't mention that the "Setup" button is hidden under a sliding panel on the lower end of the remote control.
My only complaint is that the remote control is an un-backlit version of the backlit remote that comes with the more expensive HD-XA1 player offered by Toshiba. The only way I can read it is with a flashlight. Fortunately, once I got things figured out, I found that I really only need to use a few key buttons, the positions of which are easily memorized. Also, there ought to be a label on the sliding panel that hides the setup button.
The menu of an HD-DVD disc can be accessed and operated while the movie is playing. This is much cooler than it sounds. The features that can be operated from the menu are much more sophisticated than those on a regular DVD.
Picture quality is phenomenal, even on my 42" 720p LCD rear-projection TV (a 3-year-old model that's already antiquated). It's obvious that HD-DVD is designed to be optimatlly viewed on a high-quality big-screen 1080-line TV (at least 60") in order to achieve a true home-cinema experience. I calculated that the ideal TV for my living room (viewing distance = 12 feet) would be a 65" screen with 1080-line resolution.
The picture quality is even better than what I get from HD satellite and broadcast channels. I could detect no video-compression artifacts in either of the HD-DVDs that I've watched thus far, even in scenes with lots of complex high-speed motion. In addition to extreme picture clarity, HD-DVD offers a very noticeable improvement in color gamut over DVD. Watch an HD movie, and you'll see real-world colors you've never seen on TV before. Once I switched back to watching a regular DVD, the color seemed a bit phony-looking.
What really caught me by surprise was the quality of the sound when using the Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack. Right now, the only way to listen to the DD+ soundtrack in its pure form is to connect to the analog 5.1 outputs on the back of the player, which involves a bit of extra cabling. It's well worth the trouble, however. DD+ apparently allows the use of a much lower compression ratio than ordinary DD or DTS. The surround effects are much more like those you'll hear in a good theater, and the realism and clarity of the sounds is absolutely electrifying. You can, alternatively, connect to your receiver via digital optical cable, in which case the DD+ track gets converted to ordinary DTS (possibly losing some of its quality in the process).
We're in the midst of the TV Revloution, with a combination of new display technologies, new audio/video formats, and new audio/video media. The biggest problem has been the scarcity of HD material to watch on your HD television, and the lack of pre-recorded HD media (the obscure D-VHS format having been the only option until now). It will probably be quite some time before a sizeable portion of the cable/satellite/broadcast universe converts to HD. Even the local ATSC digital terrestrial broadcasts in my area are still standard definition much of the time, and my HD satellite programming package only provides me with 3 full-time HD channels and 3 channels that are mixed HD/SD.
HD-DVD and BluRay discs could enable people to gain access to a lot of high-quality HD material while we wait for the cable/satellite/broadcast industry to catch up. After that, HD discs will be able to fulfill the same function that DVDs and VHS tapes currently provide, enabling you to own or rent a wide variety of programming for viewing at your convenience. Now that I've watched a couple of HD-DVDs on my HDTV, I may never want to buy or rent a regular DVD again (even though, admittedly, the HD-A1 does a very nice job of playing regular DVDs). Sales of HD players and discs could also drive sales of big-screen 1080-line TVs as well, as this is the only type of TV that would enable the home-theater enthusiast to really take full advantage of what HD-DVD and (theoretically) BluRay have to offer.
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
Gathering from all the positive reviews in Amazon, I decided to purchase the HD-A1 after mulling it over for the past few months. I originally planned to put off buying it till the holiday season but I couldn't wait much longer. I needed to see with my own eyes what it would do to my existing home theater setup. No longer a stranger to HD progamming as I'm an HD subscriber to Comcast, I eagerly hooked up the HD-A1 to my Panasonic HDTV using HDMI Monster cable; furthermore, I connected the audio via optical cable to my THX 5.1 surround EX sound system. Initially, I played "The Chronicles of Riddick"; I wasn't impressed-- I was totally flabbergasted! The opening preview of the movie was pure eye candy-- six-times sharper and with an exceedingly brilliant color saturation than a standard DVD. The special effects sequence, particularly in the planet Crematoria looked so real you wouldn't have realized it's computer-generated. Details I haven't noticed before came to life-- like intricate patterns of the necromonger's armor and facial blemishes of Vin Diesel. The fight sequences are even further enhanced by the Dolby Digital Plus signal it feeds my THX receiver-- my system decodes it as DTS-ES + THX. I was in rapt attention all throughout the movie; "Chronicles of Riddick" for me was one forgettable movie when I watched it in the theater two years ago-- watching it now is a completely different experience. I was acutely aware of the nuances in picture and sound; it gave me a renewed appreciation of movies I have long forgotten; Sahara, The Bourne Supremacy, Van Helsing, Serenity-- these were movies I just browsed through-- not anymore. For the first time, I could see picture clarity and hear high-fidelity sound in a format that not only plays HD DVDs but regular DVDs and CDs as well-- and all these for half the price of Bluray. On top of it all, HD DVD boasts more titles in its library than Bluray. Only time will tell when all the major backers of Bluray will jump ship to HD DVD.
Update: 9/11/2006
Two major issues found on the HD-A1 are the slow loading times (45 seconds on the average) and the unwieldy remote control. To cut the load time, I simply hit the "open tray" button right away and push the play button once the disc is in the tray (that way I bypass hitting the "power" button and the "close tray" button). I also have resolved the remote control issue by buying the Sony RM-VL600 universal remote control. I have watched over a dozen HD DVD movies and all of them were in pristine high-def glory. I'm just waiting for the firmware update disc coming from Toshiba (I declined to use the ethernet hookup coz I didn't wanna mess up my HD-A1 if I did things incorrectly). The new 2.0 update should add Dolby TrueHD functionality and resolve some HDMI interface issues. Anyone on the lookout for an upconverting DVD player-- do yourself a favor and invest a few hundred dollars more and buy the HD-A1 since it outperforms all other upconverting DVD players in the market today; regular DVDs definitely looked twice as sharp as rendered by the HD-A1.
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
As most of you have probably done periodically coming to amazon and checking the reviews for this player you might have noticed the steady increase of reviews[very positive reviews] each week. I was also curious as well and ever since this piece has hit the market I've continued to read those new positive reviews and statements which have finally convinced me to purchase a player and leave a review myself.
I am a professional custom audio/video installer in a city with a very competitive market for high dollar high end equipment and have simply been blown away with this piece. Installing and being around $10,000 plasmas, audio/projectors/screen setups neighboring in the range of $40,000-$300,000 has given me a fair standpoint of reference I'm confident enough to say. The bottom line is this player outputs the highest quality video I've seen and it's not insanely expensive either compared to other would be high end players that aren't even as advanced. All of you home theater buffs out there considering buying a "high qaulity" standard DVD player with upconverting capability stop in your tracks and save your money for crying out loud. Regular DVD players cannot begin to compare even if they do have great upconverting ability. This isn't your father's DVD player. This is a whole new technology and a whole new format.Yes I know this player doesnt have a name that starts with a D or it's not a boutique-esque brand with years of history or it might ,and I certainly hope not,cost as much as a set of cables you own; don't furrow your brows any further and rest soundly in knowing this player will make your monitor/screen look it's very best. If you think your Sat/cable HD receiver makes your set look great get ready for a whole other ballpark. I laugh at HD broadcasts now.
Whats this I hear? The loading time is long? Really! you can't spare 1.5 minutes to be bathed in glorious resolutions like many people have never seen before? Fine! Be that absurd then and let everyone else enjoy what is the finest in video reproduction.
The remote is horrible? Yeah, and, so what? With a picture like this I'll gladly shrug off a tiny tradeoff such as a crumby remote and still be happy without a universal remote to replace this one. Yeah it's big and bulky and will be smaller as they refine their manufacturing procedures ,but so what. When you see your set look the best it's ever looked you'll be in utter awe and will have the satisfaction knowing you are watching movies as they were intended to be watched.
As far is blu-ray is concerned and the rage over 1080p I really don't get it. It's twice the price and I don't see twice the qaulity by any means and I certainly don't see as many titles available. I looked at the blu ray demo and then walked away to look at the HD-DVD demo as many as 6 different times back and forth really watching for what I regarded as the best picture and blu-ray couldn't convince me to spend $1,000. Will blu ray make your larger than 50 inch monitor look better than HD-DVD with it's so called 1080p resolution? I can't say with certainty yet as I've yet to see both formats on anything bigger than 50 inches. I do know however that if you go HD-DVD with anything 50 inches or less you will be immensely satisfied. Additionally from what other reviewers have claimed that have purchased both formats HD-dvd simply delivers the goods better at half the price....
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
I got the HD-A1 last week as a business investment--I write multimedia books and do a lot with video. (To be honest, I probably would have waited to get for a second generation HD DVD player if I wasn't employed to research multimedia.) But if you're a die-hard High Definition (HD) video fan, then I would get this unit *if*:
1) You have an HDTV unit with an HDMI input. Last year, I bought a Sony BRAVIA 40" LCD, and it features an HDMI input. HDMI is the one of the latest input technologies that is digitally uncompressed (no analog signal) straight into the HDTV unit. Many devices now feature HDMI outputs, such as my Comcast HD DVR (made by Motorola). If you don't have a TV with an HDMI input, then I'd probably not get this model because the standard definition DVD signal can not be "upconverted" to an HD signal unless you have HDMI.
2) You get the latest firmware. Several home theater online forums have posted links to the first firmware update for the Toshiba HD-A1, and it solved a lot of issues for a lot of people. For me, it fixed an audio signal problem with DTS on my Sony AV receiver. Prior to that firmware update, I noticed an audio glitch on the center channel while watching HD DVD's such as Jarhead or The Chronicles of Riddick.
3) You don't mind being a bit of a guinea pig, and you are patient. This unit is very slow compared to regular DVD players. When you first turn it on from standby, it can take about 1 minute to go through the boot cycle (the unit is essentially a computer--it has a Pentium 4 processor with 1GB of RAM!), and an additional wait time (around 30 seconds) to load an HD DVD disc. Once the disc has loaded, though, it's smooth sailing.
I'm a little unnerved that the audio CD player functionality isn't more comprehensive. This unit has an ethernet port to connect to your home network and the Internet--why can't album information display when I pop in a new audio CD? It just displays a generic "CD PLAYER" title at the top of your TV screen (if it's turn on) when you insert an audio CD. Seems to be a huge waste of processing power to just display that title.
The unit's look also harkens back to the days of the first VHS VCR's that hit the market in the early 80's. I mean, seriously, this thing is huge compared to today's technology like an Xbox 360 or a slim DVD player. I have a feeling that Toshiba is making this unit much bigger than it needs to be so that Americans think they're getting something for their money. Maybe that's just the wannabe Canadian in me talking. But, I honestly don't think the internal hardware needs all of that room to function properly.
At the end of the day, though, it's currently the most affordable way to get the _best_ HD picture on your brand new HDTV. The picture is way better than the HD picture quality I get from Comcast with HBO HD. I have yet to see any compression artifacts show up when watching fast paced action scenes. If you love watching movies at home and have the budget to buy this piece of equipment, I think you'll be happy with the results.
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
From the very beginning, even before Blue Ray was announced, It made sense that the name for the next generation DVD would be HD DVD!. When I bought my TOSHIBA HD-A1 player, I was totally convinced I had made the right choice. Having been a part-time film projectionist and film collector before DVD was born, I have always watched my movies on a BIG screen. With the Toshiba HD-A1, and my OPTOMA HD76 projector, I am projecting on a 10x5 foot PANAVISION screen, and the image is comparable to a superb 35mm print and almost reaches 70mm quality. It definetly surpases Super 8mm and 16mm film quality.The sound quality is at least as good if not better than present day DTS. Being the first player of its kind on the market, it is not so overpriced, (Remember the prices of the early DVD players were $300-$400, ten years ago). All the reviews about how big and heavy it is, and how slow it is in loading the discs, they are insignificant when the projector iluminates the screen, and I forget where I am, other than in a pure CINEMATIC experience!. The TOSHIBA HD-A1 is a heavy-duty DVD player.
I now own a SONY BDP-S1 Bluray player. It was worth the wait. This is a well built machine, very similar to the TOSHIBA in quality and workmanship. It has added features such as customized video controls (color, brightness, hue, etc). The quality of the Blue-ray movies is just as good as the HDDVD discs. The early reports of substandard picture quality may have been due to the first SAMSUNG Blueray players which had some bugs which were resolved with a recent firmare update.I have also tested the SAMSUNG player, and it has excellent picture and sound quality, but I preferred the SONY because of its better built frame and features, and thus, the higher price.Regarding the uncompressed PCM 5.1 channel sound option in the Blueray movies, if you can connect the SONY player to your receiver via 6 channel individual RCA connectors, you will enjoy the most spectacular sound.
Humberto Martrinez, Coral Gables, Florida
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
I've had my HD-A1 since July and I'm extremely pleased with it. Its true I've had to upgrade the firmware twice, well, I am an early adopter and upgrades come with the territory. - insert the upgrade disk and hit "play" - no big deal. I had to call telephone support when I first got the player, it wouldn't talk to my new Samsung display over HDMI, the response was quick and knowledgeable and they got me the new firmware within a week. I've received another update automatically.
The picture quality depends on the source material. Some disks are better than others. The surround sound is excellent. I've had some rental disks that made the player gag until I got in the habit of cleaning them before playing them. It only makes sense that with greater data density fingerprints etc would cause more problems.
What surprised me most is the image improvement when up-converting standard definition DVDs. I'd had another up-converting player and this one is much better.
It seems that the remote was designed to look at, not use. My eyesight isn't bad but I have trouble reading the button labels even in bright light. As many have said before me "what were they thinking?", but who uses the factory remotes anyway? You have a programmable multi-function remote don't you?
This machine is really a Linux-based computer with upgradable software - and how long does it take your PCs to boot?
As consumers we would do well to note that Sony owns film and TV production facilities and it may not be in our best interest to cooperate with their efforts to control the delivery technology.
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This review is from: Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player (Electronics)
I bought this at Best buy and have watched, Aeon Flux and Chronciles of Riddick and they are AMAZING looking, Charlize theron looks amazing in HD. For the money you cant go wrong. I would say get this right now instead of Blueray, Blueray at the moment doesnt have as good of picture and has tons of bugs currently. HD-DVD is the way to go.
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