Home > Consumer Reviews > Toshiba HD-E1 HD DVD High Definition DVD Player

I bought the Tosh E1 3 days ago. I already have a Denon DV 3910 and a Yamaha Z9 with a Pioneer 50" so I'm used to serious kit. But the E1 blew me away. On HD DVDs the effect is jaw dropping. And the upscaling of ordinary DVDs has knocked spots off my Denon 3910 which is 3 times the cost!! But one of the reviews here has got it wrong in saying it doesn't upscale standard DVDs - it does and it's fantastic... providing you use an HDMI cable.

I have only one drawback that stopped me giving the E1 5 stars - there's no multi region facility (believe me, I've tried - it doesn't exist). So if you've got a lot of Region 1 DVDs in your libarary, they won't play on this machine.

The good news, is there's no region coding on HD DVDs. Just get this machine, it's great.

I have just got this player and my first impressions are Mission Impossible III looked amazing the colour was sharp and so were the images. Have played Ice Age 2 DVD and was amazed at how well it upscaled the DVD the quality was excellent. It even upscales any DVDs that I have recorded on my Pioneer recorder to high definition. All in all I have to say that this is an excellent machine and well worth the £[...] that was spent. Well done Toshiba.

I just got the Toshiba HD-E1 HD player today. First impressions? Not bowled over,have tried 3 hd discs so far,The Departed,Enter the dragon and Batman Begins. Pic quality is excellent in hd but i wouldnt say that its really really mind blowing,yes there is some more detail but i was hoping for more to be honest,still it is better than regular dvd so it is a plus. On the downside i had trouble loading standard dvd's and had to phone toshiba for help,apparently there has been some trouble with the player recognising standard dvd's and was asked if i had a copy of the matrix,luckily i did! and it recognised that and then played the others,The matrix apparently is the only true r2 disc out there and as such the player needed to read this to accept the others. Upscaling of standard dvds is generally v good,though not sure if its as sweet as my old denon upscaler,still v good though. As stated Region 1 discs do not play but region 0 is fine,i have a few r1's which is a prob,i asked tosh if there was to be a firmware update for that and they said they werent sure,so dont hold your breath. All in all this is a good start to hd,no doubt things will improve but dont expect to be overwhelmed.

Excellent machine high quality and easy to use. I've never really been as happy with my 42'' Plasma in comparison to CRT.
This Toshiba HD dvd Player changes all that, the HD Dvd picture in 1080i is stunning, the colours are vibrant and full of life the blacks rich and Dark.
Serenity and Harry Potter looked better than the cinema.

The up scaling of DVD is far better than my samsung up scaler.

Forget the overly priced Blu-ray HD - DVD Quality is stunning and far more economical for the average movies buffs wallet.

Colin

I bought a HD tv last year, could not decide between "HD" or "Bluray" Dvd system . Both seem to do the same thing, but the big difference is the price !. Had shopped around and Amazon is Def cheapest, for HD player. The Toshiba is much better than i expected, HD movies are amazing !,really can see picture definition, and normal format DVD is also excellent quality !, upscales well. Was easy to set up, few minor issues with net connection, but got there. On some of the reviews i have read some have experienced problems, mine has been great, i guess sometimes with first models you expect few minor glitches.....
If you are on a budget go for the HD Dvd, excellent quality, good brand, good price.........