Well i bought the XDE player and all i can say is WOW.......this thing really does work........most of the time.Now i guess i will start first with the not so great.This player feels a little cheap and i think it was hurried out the door by toshiba.The LED display is a strange yellowish green and just does not look right and the machine seems very sensitive to disc scratches.I have a sony upconvert that never has a problem with scratches but the same disc in this machine will sometimes skip which is very irratating.The disk tray feels like the slightest touch would make it fall off.Now onto the good.This thing really does make most movies look much better.Now i am not a videophile and i am not a Cnet reviewer but i know what i like and i really like the picture on this dvd player.Does it look like true HD.................yes it does.......Sometimes!Now alot of people will say it is not possible but i sit 6 feet from a panasonic 50" plasma and on some of the movies i have watched on this player really do look like HD movies.And for the record i have a HD dvd player so i know the difference.Now granted you can tell the difference when you get really close to the tv but at 6 feet i can not tell the difference.Now of course this is not the case with every movie but anyone with alot of dvds knows not all dvds are created equal.Now to give examples i have watched several of my Stephen king movies and there is no difference at all,but they are no worst either.But i just watched Road house which is an older movie and the best way to explain it.........is it made the movie look like it was 10 years newer.I watched Irobot and it was like peeling off a thin layer a tint,the movie looked much brighter and more crisp.And the best one was the movie A knights tale.........that movie looked amazing on this player.Now i have read the cnet review on this player and they didn't like it,well maybe they are right and it does make the picture look unnatural.......well if i want to see a natural picture i will look out the window,but when i watch movies i want to be entertained and see an awesome picture and this dvd player delivers as far as i am conscerned.What is really exciting is that this is only Toshiba's first try,i can't wait to see what they are able to do when they put a little more R&D into their next XDE player.Will this replace Blu-ray...........no.......not at all.But for people like me who have a large dvd collection it is great.I mean would anyone want to replace all their dvds with blu-ray.......it would cost a fortunte.And until blu-ray comes down in price a player like this is a way to enjoy your existing dvds.I will switch to blu-ray when the prices come down and i am not just talking the players because i wouldn't mind paying $300 for a player if the disc themselfs were cheaper,but i can go into walmart and get a older movie on dvd for $5..........try that with blu-ray.Anyway if you have a large collection of dvds and a large HDtv then you really should give this player a try,i really don't think anyone will be disappointed.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 159.99