Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player by Toshiba
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List Price: Our Price: $78.00 You Save: $71.99 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player
Digital camera Review: A steal! Excellent bargain priced HD player!
Summary: 5 Stars
I own a Toshiba XA2 HD-DVD player and a PS3 Blu-Ray player. I think they are both excellent. I loved the XA2 so much, I bought one as a gift for my mother in law. When it was time to pick up something for my parents, I tried the A3. I set it up for them on Dec 25th and instantly updated the firmware to 1.3 (I suggest you do the same) and was really impressed with the player. So impressed that I bought one for my bedroom. Hooked it up last night to our 40" Samsung 1080p LCD and it looked fantastic. I was a littled worried about the 1080p vs. 1080i player, but worry no longer. This is a great player and a great buy. I put most of the free discs on eBay and the player almost paid for itself. I would recommend the XA2 if you have the money to spend, but if you are on a tighter home theater budget, look no further!Digital camera Review: A3 HDMI does not work with Samsung P6163W DLP TV
Summary: 1 Stars
After two different A3 units, upgrading the Toshiba firmware to 1.3/1.1, the HD-DVD player will not work with my Samsung HL-P6163W DLP TV through the HDMI port.
As an electrical engineer I can understand that HDMI and the HD_DVD standards have evolved. As a consumer, I am disappointed and would not recommend buying this Toshiba HD-DVD player if you own this particular Samsung TV.
Digital camera Review: A3 Review
Summary: 4 Stars
The A3 is a good buy if you are considering an upconvert player.
There was another review about not getting caught up in the upconvert format because the TV does the upconverting. True! However, almost exclusively the DVD Upconvert player will produce a better picture quality than getting, say a progressive scan player and letting the TV do the rest.
My TV, apparently, does a poor job of upconverting. I have compared my Philips Progressive scan against my Oppo 970 Upconvert against the A3. Philips looked terrible verses the other two. The A3 was closer than I thought to the Oppo. However, when playing an HD-DVD on the A3, it blew all of the other DVD formats away on any player.
Bottom Line: Buying this player now is good idea because it can serve as double duty-HD DVD and Upconvert. However, if you wait too long it will only be good for the Upconvert part. Then I'd recommend a stand alone upconvert player that can load faster. The A3 takes 30 sec. to power up and another 30 to read the disc. You can't even eject within the first 30 seconds.
Digital camera Review: Affordable yet simple HD DVD Player
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought two A3 units for a friends birthday and for my own. We played The Bourne Identity on his 50 inch Philips plasma and we were both amazed in the picture quality and sound. I have this hooked up to a Samsung 23in. LCD.
The A3 is very easy to setup and has an ethernet port for player updates and HD interactivity if the movie has that feature.
The only issues I have is the boot up time. Takes almost half a minute. The remote control is responsive to the commands. No 1080p output but it's hard for the naked eye to tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p.
In my opinion the A3 HD DVD player works great and is so much cheaper than other high definition players out there.
Up to now I have bought 3 HD-A3's for my sister, her boyfriend, and my friend and an HD-A35 for myself.
Pros: Affordable, looks great, and easy to use
Cons: Boot up time is a bit long, no 1080p output.
Digital camera Review: Almost Free!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't get the negative reviews; I paid $199 with 10 HD DVD's.
The player boots in about 20 - 25 seconds and the picture is spectacular. Is it the absolute prefect machine? perhaps not but for the money it is amazing!!!