Home > Consumer Reviews > Toshiba SD220 DVD Player

I bought this as a present for my parents for Christmas, but after playing with it for a while (I'll have to explain to them how to work it) I decided to keep it for myself and get another one.
The picture is fantastically crisp on my Sony Wega TV, and the stereo output is great when converted into pro-logic surround.
As others mentioned, for best results use good quality cabling (for both picture and sound). The cheap and nasty free cable should not be used.
As for the price, it could not be beaten at any of the shops I looked in.

I have owned this DVD player for a couple of weeks now and would recommend it to anyone.

The picture and sound quality are excellent and it has all of the features that I require. My old DVD player went wrong and so I looked through websites and magazines to find a player that suited me and got good reviews. After going through many magazines and looking through a lot of websites I decided that this player was ideal for me. It was in my price range and offered all the features that I needed.

I have mine connected to a Kenwood 5:1 Dolby Digital Amp and it works perfectly. I also use CD-R and CD-RW discs on it and so far have found no problems. It plays MP3's and Audio CD's perfectly. Mine has been chipped to be a multi-region player.
Another good thing about the machine is that it displays CD text that I have found very useful.

I have got a few quibbles about the machine. When I play Audio CD's or MP3's the display panel on the player does not show the track number, which I found to be rather annoying, as I have to have my TV turned on. Also the MP3's description on the TV could be better. You are shown the track you are playing by the first eight characters of the MP3 filename. This is rather limited but these are only minor faults.

The machine is excellent in what it does, is relatively cheap and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a DVD player that has got all the features that you could possibly want.

An excellent budget priced player from Toshiba. First impressions are good, sitting on the AV rack with your other equipment the 220 cuts a dash, the only problem is that your existing equipment may look dated in comparison.

The front panel and remote are thoughtfully laid out, with a reasonably solid feel.

Pictures and sound are nothing short of brilliant. Vibrant colours and clear, audible audio at all times.

All round, an excellent buy.

Originally bought a Pioneer 454s but decided to return it and try this Tosh out instead. I used to have a Toshiba SD100e and was used to the great quality of picture. To my suprise, the SD220 is better still!

For...[the price]...this DVD player is superb - yes, there area few minor niggles (such as the poor quality GUI interface compared to the Pioneer) and the lack of support for long filenames for MP3's but hey, a DVD player is for playing DVD's and thats what this does with style.

I have tested it with MP3, VCD, sVCD and all on cheap non-branded cdr's and they all work perfectly. The picture you get when running the player through a RGB scart cable is fantastic, every bit of details is picked out and no blocky / fuzziness to be seen. As many of the home cinema magazine reviews have mentioned, the picture has an almost 3D effect to it, such is the contrast and detail.

Sound when playing DVD is again superb, much clearer and crisper than the Pioneer. The opening battle scene in Gladiator is fantastic to listen to, the Toshiba makes superb work of the Dolby Digital (or DTS) soundtrack. The downside - the Tosh is not quite as natural sounding as the Pioneer when it comes to playing audio CD's but it still does a decent job (so much so, I have sold on my separate NAD cd-player). The sound is not as punchy but if you do get better clarity.

Compared to the Pioneer 454 / 350;
__________________________________

Toshiba wins hands down in the video quality - amazing for..[the price]... Pionner was not as sharp and lost details in black / shaded areas.

Toshiba wins for DVD audio - superb

For CD audio - the Pioneer may make a more likeable CD player but the Tosh still cranks it out decently.

Pionner interface is a lot smarter than Toshiba - nice GUI interface and use of colour graphics. Toshiba is utilitarian in contrast.

Overall:

For...[the price]...you cannot go wrong with this DVD player, very very highly recommended. I have it connected to a Toshiba TV, Denon 3801 amp and KEF KHT2005 speakers and what a combination - wow! This player would not be out of place in a high spec / price home cinema setup. Does anyone need to spend any more than this for a DVD player?

I got this player a few months back and would recommend it to anyone. The picture is crystal clear and it plays more formats than most other players. There are three ways of connecting it to your TV, so you will always have enough sockets to plug in your PS2, VCR, Cable telly etc without getting in a mess.
If you get the region 2 SD220 it is easy to convert to play all regions including RCE disks. The conversion file can be found easily using an internet search.

The sound is fine on my Nicam TV, but I can't make a great assessment on this as I don't have a surround sound system.

The menus are user-friendly and the remote control is well designed.

The DVD is quite compact although not slimline this does not matter as it looks appealing especially in silver.

Well done Tosh.