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Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player
See it at Amazon.com for $199.99Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Works great and the 30 day price guarantee is helping with Warner Decision
(4 out of 5) by C. Walker on Jan 18, 2008The HD-A3 has been working great for both HD-DVDs and burned and regular upconverted DVDs. I ordered the unit on Dec.28th and had to upgrade the firmware (via CD ISO method) as it came with the older version 1.1. I have had no HD playback issues (other than it can be fussy about fingerprints).
The price has dropped $48 since the New Year and the 30 day price guarantee is in effect so that helps with the Warner decision since I console myself in the fact that this player is a nice upconverter as well. I have a new Samsung 5054 plasma and the upconversion on HDMI really fills out the screen much better at 720p than my old progressive scan DVD player at 480i.
The HD DVDs look and sound awesome and although future releases will be limited, there seems to be a nice catalogue of favourites that I intend to enjoy.
Slow functioning or cheap remotes don't really bother me. Overall, other than the Warner announcement a week after my purchase, I am quite satisfied.
The price has dropped $48 since the New Year and the 30 day price guarantee is in effect so that helps with the Warner decision since I console myself in the fact that this player is a nice upconverter as well. I have a new Samsung 5054 plasma and the upconversion on HDMI really fills out the screen much better at 720p than my old progressive scan DVD player at 480i.
The HD DVDs look and sound awesome and although future releases will be limited, there seems to be a nice catalogue of favourites that I intend to enjoy.
Slow functioning or cheap remotes don't really bother me. Overall, other than the Warner announcement a week after my purchase, I am quite satisfied.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Great Product!!!! Great Price!!!!
(5 out of 5) by Randall D. Jackson on Feb 18, 2008 (Atlanta, GA)Even though HD-DVD is going under, this is a great product. If it wasn't for such the limited titles available on HD-DVD this product will be soaring. None the less, you get 7 free movies and others are very low. Disappointed that HD-DVD is losing ground but at least it will up-convert other movies to HD quality.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Still best deal
(5 out of 5) by D. BARTLING on Feb 17, 2008 (NY,USA)Great deal.I dont plan on buying a hundred movies ,only the ones that make sense for me.Upconverts beautifully & with over 400 titles ,plenty for me.$119 & 7 free movies, buy it.You cant go wrong.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Great value for the price.. highly recommend
(5 out of 5) by R. Kelkar on Jan 25, 2008 (USA)Admittedly I havent had this for more than a week, so I cant really commment on the reliability, but thus far, this is a great product.
Pros:
- Price, paid the same price as a normal (decent quality and functionality) DVD player.
- Upconverts standard DVDs as well and does it very well.
- Includes 2 HD DVDs (though not advertised these days on the box) plus offer for 5 more.
- Looks sleek and has all the basic connectors - HDMI, component, optical
Limitations:
- No 1080p, not really an issue for me as I dont have a 1080p TV
- Boot times (though not as bad as some people have reported ~30+ sec). I did the firmware update asap. Burned a CD from the ISO image downloaded from the website. I wouldnt recommend messing with the ethernet port.
- Does not play SACD / DVD Audio and other music oriented formats
Overall a great buy for less than $130.
Pros:
- Price, paid the same price as a normal (decent quality and functionality) DVD player.
- Upconverts standard DVDs as well and does it very well.
- Includes 2 HD DVDs (though not advertised these days on the box) plus offer for 5 more.
- Looks sleek and has all the basic connectors - HDMI, component, optical
Limitations:
- No 1080p, not really an issue for me as I dont have a 1080p TV
- Boot times (though not as bad as some people have reported ~30+ sec). I did the firmware update asap. Burned a CD from the ISO image downloaded from the website. I wouldnt recommend messing with the ethernet port.
- Does not play SACD / DVD Audio and other music oriented formats
Overall a great buy for less than $130.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Best HD Player for the money
(5 out of 5) by Ray B on Jan 28, 2008 (Las Vegas Nevada)I already have a Toshiba X2 1080p player and was so impressed with it's performance that I decided to buy the HD-A3 for Christmas and once again I was immediately pleased by this players video output. I coupled it with my 1080i Panasonic Plasma and the picture was brilliant! I read one review giving this player low marks but the person didn't realize that to take advantage of the players superior picture he would have to buy an HDMI cable. Once you do that the upscaling is better than any Blu Ray player could ever do - not to mention the stunning crystal clear picture in 1080i. I highly recommend it especially for the new price. If you are not yet into HD video at a bare bones minimum you will get the best-up conversion player available on the planet. But be warned once you see how standard DVDs look you will run out and get HD DVDs and when that happens you will be hooked on this player and it's superb performance and wonder why anyone would spend more on a Blu Ray player.