Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD Player Wins Sound & Vision Product of the Year Award (1 Viewer)

[ppltd]

Having owned one, I concur. This is a fine player.

 

[RAF]

Personally, I find it hard to justify the XA-1 as being honored as a "product of the year." Yes, it was the flagship player for the HD-DVD launch and I am an XA-1 owner, but I find many "features" including the agonizingly long startup and load times, the stopping of the player when it senses the loss of an HDMI path, the horrendous remote, etc. as reasons not to award it such an honor. In fact, any one of those items would drop it from my ballot.

I realize that Sound & Vision was probably really honoring HD-DVD but if they wanted to do that they probably should have honored the less expensive HD-A1 since it at least comes in at a lower price with essentially the same functionality.

My vote probably would have gone to the Sony VPL-VW50 1080p SXRD 3 chip projector at under $5,000 since it sent a shock wave through the FP industry and has completely restructured the pricing for all HD projectors. And it doesn't suffer the same frustrating kind of flaws as the 1st generation Toshiba HD-DVD players. Another contender in my book (if we limit the selection to DVD players)would be the PS3 (which I also own) for its ability to play Blu-ray discs quickly, quietly and efficiently. Even though it's a combo game/BR player it's one heck of a Blu-ray player at under $600. But I realize that its late 2006 debut, as well as the idea that it's a gaming console, probably keep it from consideration.

This is not an indictment of HD-DVD by any means. I love it and actually have two HD-DVD players (the XA-1 and the Xbox 360 add-on.) However, I will probably be selling or trading in my XA-1 for the 2nd generation Toshiba shortly (if I don't wait until CES to see what new players arrive). That's certainly not something most people would do with a "product of the year."

 

[Tim Glover]

It probably is more for HD DVD in general but still the XA-1 did put out stellar image quality inspite of the really long loading times. ....but it's a nice award nonetheless coming from a prestigious magazine. These guys are typically pretty hard to please in terms of audio stuff over the years.

 

[Chris S]

Hmmm.... with all the initial issues (and some continuing issues) I am surprised to see this as Product of the Year. Most innovative for being first HD media player to market or something along those lines I could see. IMHO, they should have honored HD-DVD directly and not just the player.

 

[RAF]

Like I said, I would have no problem with HD-DVD being named the "product of the year" since these awards sometimes take liberties with what constitutes a "product" but then I would have thought that the HD-A1 would have been a better choice since the image is the same (along with the sluggishness) but without the lofty price. Oh well, I guess my opinion of S&V isn't the same as some others. I don't have it on my list of "prestigious" A&V magazines. It serves a purpose but it is a bit more mainstream than enthusiast oriented, IMHO.

 

[Tim Glover]

Correct, S&V is more mainstream for sure. Didn't they used to be called Stereo Review and combined with the magazine Video? Seems like I remember that many years ago....

I'll add the remote issues...last night I had to nearly turn ALL the lights on to see the dang buttons! ...That's probably the biggest thing I look forward to getting from a next gen model is a MUCH better remote.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Time to get one of these ...



Works great!!!

Phil

 

[Chris S]

I'll second the recommendation for the Logitech Harmony 880. A friend of mine has one and its a darn nice device. Well worth the very low price Amazon is currently selling it at.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Moved the the HD-DVD area.

 

[unotis]

ou have abad cable?)
I also own an XA1 and after the first day or so I don't even notice the long start-up/load time any more (the excellent PQ and SQ more than make up for the slight wait).

After loading the firmware update, I've had no stoppages and never have had any stopping because of the loss of the HDMI path (maybe you have a bad cable or connection?).

I was intially disappointed with the remote but when I replaced the Toshiba Batteries with new Duracell batteries it seemed to clear up any problems present and I've had no problems it at all and love it and use it even though I have a Harman Kardan TC30 universal remote (which is the best universal I've ever owned).

So, I can definately see why they picked it for this honour.

 

[SherardP]

I concur, I own the A1 but I firmly believe the XA1 deserved the reward, Im willing to guess the XA1 was picked for the slight differences it has over the A1. Either way HD DVD is a pleasure to watch and enjoy.

 

[unotis]

Sometimes when I read a posting that states or repeats something that from my experience just doesn't sound right, do you think it might be someone posting with an agenda in mind?

Like when someone posts that his such and such is freezing and stops all of the time and is just not that good of a unit in his opinion, when I and everyone I know that owns one loves it and not having those problems.

I think maybe that person doesn't own one at all but has read the rumours posted on the forums and is trying reinforce any negative views he can by pretending he is also a victim of the problems.

(Not indicating anyone in this thread)!