Want to get going with DVD, try this!
Written: May 16 '01 (Updated May 16 '01)
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Pros: Has all the features you will see for $200.
Cons: Remote layout is mediocre, unintuitive. Chassis has no menu access buttons.
The Bottom Line: It's got all features you will get in this price range. Exceeds the older models 1600 and 1700.
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| hansmuff's Full Review: Toshiba SD-2700 DVD Player |
I have just bought this player about 2 weeks ago and explored all it's features, but let me explain first why I bought this:
I like going to the movies, but since the birth of our daughter there is little opportunity to go out for a few hours to have dinner and movie night. The only other way to keep up with the new releases is to rent them when they're out on.. TAPE. And this is where I would normally insert my rant about the expensive rental places that give me low quality movies on low quality tapes and where the movies are formatted, cut and whatnot. To me, renting a movie on VHS is like eating ice cream after it melted.
Then came the DVD standard, and it promised uncompromised quality, and uncut widescreen format movies. And those first players were very expensive, and not in my budget. I have kept up with DVD player reviews to see what's out there, and almost went for the Toshiba SD-1600, but it was lacking some higher end features that I'd like to have. Then came the 1700 which was better but still had no optical or coaxial audio output, and as far as I know could not read CDR and CD/RW discs.
So 2 weeks ago I browse the weekly ads of local electronics stores, and lo and behold, there's the shiny new SD2700 model in all it's glory (i will only list the features the i think are outstanding):
- Component output (they call it ColorStream but it's just another name, and works great on my JVC with component input)
- Reads DVD, CDR, CD/RW, Video CD, HDCD, DVD-R
- Coaxial and optical audio out
- standard outputs; S-Video and analog audio
- dolby digital and 5.1 output but not a decoder. That means you can hook it up to a digital/5.1 receiver and get the correct sound but the receiver needs to have a decoder built in
.. and some other handy features like
- dialog enhancement mode which does work quite well. Very few times do i have to lower/upper the volume because i can't hear the dialogs; now the dialogs and the music are almost always on a level that permits you to hear both and not wake the baby. No more playing with the TV remote all the time to upper/lower the volume (well sometimes you do have to). I love this feature.
- Can select view format (4:3 letterbox, 4:3, widescreen) to fit your taste
- The black level enhancement mode works good seemingly, but I cannot compare to a reference. It just seems right when you watch a movie and someone wears a black jacket, and it's really black, not dark grey.
So how's the quality, you want to know?
Picture quality:
Unfortunately I have no reference, but I will say that using the component video output, it looks flawless to me. Let me say right here though, a component video cable will cost you about $30 (cheap and what I use) to $80 (high quality) or even into the hundrets (people who need the highest-end stuff).
Colors are so vibrant and black is so black, it makes me really feel like this is what it's really supposed to look like. The colors do not bleed, everything is sharp and defined, it's just really awesome. Watch 5 movies on DVD and then pop in a VHS tape, you'll start to cry, I promise.
The player has 4 video modes: black level enhanced (a little too dark for me), movie 1, movie 2 (movie 1&2 use different contrast and black level enhancements), and "animation" which in my opinion is the best one, balancing black level and contrast just perfect.
Audio quality:
I use my TV speakers which are pretty good, but I only use the analog audio out so I can't comment on the surround modes. The SD2700 has a spatializer that simulates surround on my 2 speaker system and sometimes it really gives a good effect, but it certainly is no substitute for true surround sound. CDs sound great, and CD-R and CD/RW discs work fine.
I have no HDCD's, so I can't comment on that either.
Other things that I consider important:
While playing back movies, the player is very quiet. I've had one disc that I could hear spinning, and oddly enough there was a lot of dirt on it so after cleaning it and putting it back, I could not hear it spinning again.
Loading times are not annoying, it's about 5 seconds until the disc plays and the player will show an icon on the screen indicating it's loading.
The menu to change settings is allright, I'll say. It's easy to navigate and change settings, but for some reason seems like it could use some improvement. Neutral here.
The negative thing about this player is definately the remote control. It has too many buttons, they are small and hard to memorize or find in the dark. Toshiba should really invest a few bucks in a more organized remote control layout. The remote can not be programmed for basic TV set controls, which is another minus. It has no glow-in-the-dark buttons either. The only positive thing about it is that it's small.
The player itself is pleasant to look at, has a black chassis with the basic controls on it (play, pause, stop, skip and open/close) and is very light so stacking onto something else is no problem.
I do not like the fact Toshiba didn't put menu controls on the chassis. If the remote ever dies, you can't get in the menu!
So much for the player. Here are some general things about DVD that I think are worth mentioning:
- When watching a 4:3 version of a movie, you're not seeing everything. To fit your TV, the sides of the picture are cropped and the whole picture just blown up. I've also read that sometimes the picture needs to be panned while you view so you do not miss an important part of the scene. That's where DVD shines when you either have a widescreen TV, or you deal with the 4:3 letterbox format which I do. It does not bother me at all that there are the large black bars because I have a 32" TV, but I have seen it on 27" and it gets painfully small if you're not close to the set.
In any event though, VHS releases are 4:3 releases only in most cases, so even if you stick to this, you get the far superior image and sound quality
- Still picture is now a real still picture, not some flobby image with white dots at top or bottom (depending on the tape) with VHS
- It's nice to be able to jump to any time in the movie within seconds
- The discs are smaller than tapes and take up less space, also they will outlast any tape by far
This player has everything one can ask for at the price. It does not have the 2 features that high-end players have which are progressive scan and dolby decoders built-in. That's understandable because this is another market. In the more value oriented market, you cannot beat the SD2700 for $200 and that's why I give it the highest rating.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
hansmuff
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Location: PA, USA
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 3 members
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