Great Value
Written: Sep 08 '99 (Updated Dec 03 '99)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Dual trays, HDCD
Cons: none
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| scottjoy's Full Review: Toshiba SD-3109U DVD Player |
In May, I purchased home theater speakers with a Sony Dolby Digital receiver from Cambridge SoundWorks, and though I liked the setup, I knew I wasn't experiencing it fully without a DVD player.
After reading reviews at deja.com and the rec.video.dvd.players newsgroup, as well as looking at the products in person at Best Buy and other local stores, I decided on the Toshiba SD3109 in June. DIVX died just days later--I knew I was making the right call!
I like the dual trays. My CD player has a 5-CD magazine which I never bother to fill, but I do actually fill the DVD player's two trays with music sometimes before dinner. I also like the HDCD capability (see http://www.hdcd.com/). I had a couple of discs in this format without having known it, and they sound really, really good.
Most reviewers are hard on the remote control. The only tricky thing is rewind or fast forward. The track skip buttons serve double duty. If you press and hold them, they change purpose to 2x rewind or fast forward. A second press changes to 8x; a third, to 30x.
I connected the DVD player to the receiver with a Sony digital optical (Toslink) cable that I bought at Sears and to the TV with an S-Video cable that I bought at Radio Shack. Don't even think about using the cables that come in the box if you want to hear what you paid for.
I've purchased several DVDs from Internet stores like 800.com and Reel.com. I also watched more movies in a short time than ever before in my life to use the 15 free NetFlix rentals (which must all be ordered within a 30-day period). Somehow my request for the 5 free DVDs must have gotten lost in the mail, though I was eventually able to straighten things out, and I did receive the promised movies five and a half months after buying the DVD player.
Since I was able to find a good deal by shopping around (I bought through NetMarket's Haggle Zone), I was especially pleased with the value.
Since we have four young children, getting to the movie theater (except for the occasional Disney flick) is hard work. Now watching at home is almost as good, and listening seems even better. And if you need to pause the film (try that in the movie theater), the still image is beautiful!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
scottjoy
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Member: Scott Joy
Location: Stratham, NH
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
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