Home > Consumer Reviews > Toshiba SD330E Multi-region DVD Player

I had previously read all the reviews for this product, and decided after long deliberation, that this is the DVD for me to own. The DVD came with 5 days of ordering, and after buying another SCART cable (gold terminals). I plugged in the DVD player and switched on. There was nothing to set up, and since then I have thrown all types of CD's at the unit including MP3's both on CDR and CDRW (which is not recommended) and everything has played perfectly. I have not had a chance to watch other region DVD's but feel that this will be just as painless.

I have no hesitation in recommending this to others.

I bought this player as a replacement for an old Alba model which I loved to death. I own a Panasonic and while its a nicer player it doesnt have the versatility of the Alba. I was looking primarily for a budget player that could handle my collection of vcd, svcd, region 3 dvd and RCE dvd's all with ease. Being Christmas I didnt have much luck so I decided to try this little Toshiba. Boy was that a good decision. I got the best of both my other players.

The picture quality is everything you would ask for from a brand name like Toshiba, everything I've played on it looked really good (or as good as the transfer on the dvd allowed).
The options are great, the sound superb and its a slinky little thing that takes up very little room.

It's played everything I've thrown at it without complaining - and quickly and quietly unlike my old Alba. VCD, SVCD, DVD-R, Region 1,2,3,4,6,0 including RCE. Budget dvd media and cd media (including coloured bottoms) right through to ritek dvd media, even Region 3 Hong Kong dvd's that cost me around £1.50 to buy.

I'm not sure about macrovision, if thats important to you (it isn't to me) you'll need to check, but if multi region and all sorts of mpeg media is what your looking for and you can spare a few extra notes this does everything the budget players will but with a little more style. 5 stars.

Let's assume the great picture and sound and the other things the 5 star reviews give it are a done deal - they are.

What about the issues...

1) Manual in French / German ?

Mine was a pukka printed manual entirely in ENGLISH

2) R1 discs play in Black and White?

My R1 Quadrophenia played straight away, in colour, with no problems (what a scandal that one of the finest independent cult British films is crap on R2 at 4:3 with the same print used for the tired VHS release and no extras whereas the Yanks get a remastered print with a host of quality extras, anamorphic widescreen - and cheaper!!!)

I digress

3) No Scarts.

Big Deal - It's a 70 quid machine FFS! If you play a DVD with cheap scarts, you might as well stick to a 70s VHS player. I'd never use cheapo supplied scarts anyway. Buy some good 'uns and see the difference. Then you have 'em for life every time you upgrade your machines! Mega quality Thor scarts are just 18 quid at Play.com

4) No VCD Playback.

My home produced VCD played first time no problems

And audio cd's play superbly as well, so much crisper than my muffly old Phillips.

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For crying out loud, top quality sound and picture with DTS & Dolby, multi region, and zillions of disc media supported for 70 nicker - delivered! ?

What are you waiting for!

If you get a wrong 'un..... swap it for another!! This is Amazon, not shadydealer.com

This arrived today and I hooked it up to my Toshiba rear proj TV via component video leads. I am now watching Region 1 & 2 and have never seen such clarity and, moreover, gorgeous fine detail in the colouration. I am scratching my head as to why you need to spend more than the £** this unit cost, for any reason.

The picture is tweakable, with presents already prgrammed into the unit; "movie 2" is my favourite giving a balanced contrast and brightness for low room lighting, without flared or over-black areas in the picture.

If you want a DVD player this is the one.

At £80 for a high quality, highly featured, top branded multi-region player this must be the bargain of the year. Snap this up while you can.

I'm not going to repeat the other reviewers by saying that the sound and picture quality is simply superb. In addition you get to play MP3, WMA, JPEG, DTS (acronym overload).

The only minor downside to this excellent player is the JPEG picture view facility. Its a bonus to have this useful feature at such a price range BUT...
Firstly the JPEGs can only be viewed in 4:3 format, so if you have a widescreen TV you'll have to adjust your set accordingly or view the pictures stretched horizontally.
Secondly the JPEG pictures look too soft no matter how big or detailed the original JPEG file is. Sometimes the images suffer from interlacing (I'm going to get technical but it gives a shimmering effect). Its more than adequate for showing your your holiday snaps using the slideshow facility.

All in all I'm extemely pleased with the Toshiba SD330.