Home > Consumer Reviews > Toshiba SD4800 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

Toshiba is one of the top brands in TV sets and DVD players. When I recently bought a new TV set and progressive scan DVD player I shopped all of the available sets very critically because picture quality is very important to me. Toshiba and Sony were clearly the two brands with the best picture quality, but Toshiba was less expensive. So I bought a Toshiba TV and progressive scan DVD player at quite reasonable prices and I'm thoroughly satisfied with both. As a bonus, Toshiba products have an excellent reputation for quality and reliability.

However, if you're primarily interested in playing CDs rather than DVDs, get a Sony Super Audio CD (SACD) player. They sound significantly better on both Super Audio CDs and other CD discs than any other CD players I've ever heard.

But if you're primarily interested in playing DVDs, and want outstanding picture quality at a bargain price, I don't think that you can beat this Toshiba.

I don't pretend to be an expert, but when I replaced the Toshiba 5 disc player with the 4800, I couldn't believe the difference. The picture on my Mitsubishi HDTV was sharper and more akin to what I had seen in the video store when I bought it. I will never play cds, mp3s or anything like that on it. For sheer entertainment, you can't beat it.

After an arduous journey through the world of HDTV, Progressive Scan, and Dolby/DTS 5.1, I have to say that I have finally found my golden fleece. As a beginner, I thought Sony was the brand to buy, but I was much chagrined after seeing the Toshiba.

I first had a Sony DVP-NS715P that I exchanged for a Sony DVP NC655P 5-Disc Changer. On both Sony models, the progressive scan image quality was terrible. The reds and blues would appear blurry and horridly undefined. The only way I could get it to look halfway decent was to run the player through S-Video on Interlaced, defeating the purpose of having progressive scan. At first I thought it was my TV, but when I tested it out with the same TV with different settings at the dealer at which I bought my TV (A Sony KV32HV600 HDTV Monitor, mind you), it still looked bad. I tested the Toshiba SD-4800 and the image quality between them was like night and day. The clarity and definition was more than what I had expected from HDTV/Progressive scan. I took the DVPNC655P back to Best Buy and got the Toshiba, and I won't be looking back!

This player works well as a DVD player only. Nice touches include being able to play CDRW's and MP3's.

But I bought this for the DVD-audio portion. Well the sound is mushy and bloated in the mid-range. Not unpleasant but rather uninvolving. My player skipped when the picture on the screen changed. Not always but at times. Distracting to say the least.

As a DVD player it works fine. And it is a low cost intro to DVD-audio. I just wish it was a wee bit better.

Great dvd player. mp3 play back is good. even does dvd-audio which is a plus. great deal for under $$$. progressive-scan is truely amazing on an hdtv set.