sailingshot's Full Review: Toshiba HD-A2 Player HD-DVD Player
What is It?
The new Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player is one of the lower priced units on the market. This is the compeition to Blue Ray. Now that Paramount and Dreamworks have signed on to HD DVD, it has a significant leg up over Blue Ray. In addition, HD players are less expensive than Blue Ray. Sadly, if you want to watch a wide range of movies you'll really need both formats. The A2 is a good way to get started with HD viewing while waiting for dual system players to come down in price. This format war will go on for a while, so why wait?
How does it work?
For HD content you'll need to buy or rent HD DVDs. Like Blue Ray, many will look better than regular DVDs and others will show less improvement. Connect this unit to your system via HDMI or component cables and you're ready to rock. Most of the functions are controlled from the remote while a few basic functions are also duplicated behind the unit's flip down panel.
How's the remote?
It's awful. Toshiba should be ashamed. No backlighting, tiny buttons and a poor layout make this one of the worst remotes I've seen since the days of laser disc. You can struggle with it or get a good all-in-one model. I don't care about the cost. Toshiba's really needs to hang their heads.
Start-Up?
Gone are the long wait times. This unit boots up fast and discs are quickly ready to be played.
What's the Catch?
Okay, hold on to your seats. This is NOT a great 1080i model. It's video performance at it's highest setting has artifacts. Folk with more technical savy than I have explained why at various websites, but this is not a good idea for 1080 playback, especially for LARGE screens. Another small catch, is that this unit will only upscale ordinary DVD's through the HDMI port.
Why do I want it?
Well, here's the beauty of the A2. At 720p or 480p, it's capable of amazing quality. Blacks and color are fantastic. As expected, the audio quality is just about perfect. Why is this all good news? Because many of us are driving projectors like the Optoma HD70, which only display 720p anyway. The HD player is a perfect match for that type of display. Many folks will also enjoy this on LCD panels with 720p resolution. Even with a In Focus 4805 at 480p, the image was a nice improvement over my old reliable JVC progressive scan model.
Final suggestions:
If you've got a 3 thousand dollar 1080p projector or a 60 inch 1080p LCD screen, you'll do better by buying the higher end units which are just a lot nicer at the top end. But if you've got 480 and 720 projector fever, like so many people do, then this is a great way to get into HD DVD and test the waters. I'm giving 4 starts, but it's really 3.5.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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