Toshiba HD-XA2 1080p HD-DVD Player by Toshiba
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List Price: Our Price: $340.00 You Save: $259.99 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Toshiba HD-XA2 1080p HD-DVD Player
Digital camera Review: Surprised!...plays DVD Audio too!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've only had the unit a few days, but I'm very happy with it. Popped it out of the box, wired it up (HDMI to Mitsu. WD-Y65 DLP, Ethernet port to router, S/PDIF coax out to 2-ch hi-fi system), went through setup, flashed firmware to V 2.5 and voila!, ready to go.
SD-DVD's look better on the XA2 (over HDMI) than on my previous Pioneer DV-578A-S (over component) and HD-DVDs look marvelous. Watched "The Shooter" (HD-DVD) last night and would find it difficult to have to settle for watching regular DVDs again. SD-DVDs have more detail with this unit over my older Pioneer, but I wouldn't confuse them with an HD-DVD. And oh yeah, this unit plays DVD-Audio (Steely Dan's, Two Against Nature).
Have read reviews regarding lip-synch issues, but I've yet to see it on mine (build date: 06/07). Hasn't crashed, frozen, skipped frames, or had any other issue (yet) playing either SD or HD-DVDs. No issues connecting to Internet either. The only issues I've had so far are:
a.) Amazon needs to package the units more securely as on mine, one corner of the Toshiba box ripped (though unit was fine)
b.) The remote's backlighting was inoperable (Toshiba's replacing it and if my first issue with Toshiba tech support is reflective of their customer service, I'm happy I purchased a Toshiba).
In closing, I know prices will come down, future players will probably end up being dual-format (BD & HD) to satisfy everyone, planned obsolescence will have me upgrading sooner than later, but I'm still happy I took the plunge now.
Digital camera Review: Close to perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
A very nice device. The SD upscaling through the Reon chip is very good on my Samsung 4254 plasma. I have a direct connection via HDMI, no receiver...yet.
Why 4 stars, and not 5, because:
- I'm running the September firmware update (v2.5), but I still see annoying lip-sync drift. I have done side-by-side comparisons with the same disc on the PS3, and there are no sync issues on the Sony.
- The remote has poor ergonomics. A big slab with a huge array of similarly shaped buttons. Not a big deal, but I expect better from Toshiba.
I'm looking forward to the next firmware update, and hope that it fixes the lip-sync issue.
Update:
I applied the November update (version 2.7), and the audio lip-sync issues I had before have been fixed.
Digital camera Review: So close, but not ready for prime time
Summary: 2 Stars
I really, REALLY wanted to like this player. Hell I wanted to love it. For $500, you should love your purchase.
The video and sound are stunning - really they are. The problem is the performance. DVDs and HD-DVDs alike would hang. Sometimes rebooting the player would work. Sometimes the video would hang and the audio would continue. Sometimes the player would just lock up hard and I'd have to power it off/on.
This player is simply not ready for the real world. I've returned mine and I'm going back to my Sony upscaling DVD player until they can get this technology stable enough that it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of a movie.
I so wanted to like this player...
Digital camera Review: WOW!
Summary: 5 Stars
This Toshiba HD-XA2 1080p HD-DVD Player breath new life into my DVD collection by up converting them to 1080P, they almost look like they're HD-DVD's. Add to this HDMI 1.3 and you can't go wrong. I think I got a good price on the unit, still more then I would like to pay, but I feel it was worth the money to be finally a little ahead of the curve. My Mitsubishi WD-65734 65" 1080p DLP HDTV and Onkyo TX-SR705 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver which both have HDMI 1.3 make my home theater perfect. Digital camera Review: hd dvd
Summary: 5 Stars
wonderful unit, caution though make sure you install the up grades that you can get through a eathernet connection or when you register the toshiba unit on line request the latest up date disk, took me 3 weeks to get it but what a big difference in the quality of picture.Sincerely, Robert Hadlock