Thanks for the great review. Based on what I am reading here, I returned the Sony upconverting player I bought over the weekend and got the HD-A1. My HDTV doesn't have an HDMI connector (another reason for returning the Sony), so I can't get the full benefit right now. I plan on getting a new monitor in about 2 months, so I'll be able to take full advantage of the HD-A1. I am going to the Outer Banks on Saturday for a week, so I only have 2 days to use the player! I bought Apollo 13, a film & disc I am well familiar with to see the difference. I'll be posting with questions and comments as I starting viewing the HD DVDs.
I read Ron's review. And I really think he hit the nail on the head. I think Blu Ray might when out ... just dont see people rushing to buy titles in volumes that well cover Toshibas loses...Then again they may get more units in the home and people may not want to buy another unit... I hear the BluRay is supposed to be the Apple of the DVD players...we'll see
Another angle in favor of HDDVD is that Toshiba could wait until they control the market with units in home and then upgrade the version to play BluRay. ...that might be a dream
It's like everytime I finally get off the fence and buy some dvd title i have always wanted only to get an announcement 2 or 3 days later that a new and improved edition is heading our way....
To be honest, I hadn't jumped due to poor title selection....
I have scaled back my SD DVD buys due to the new HD.
I have only "CONSTANTINE" and it has blown me away both audio wise and video wise.
My new projector outputs at 1080i and 720p.... Image wise, the 1080i is very impressive on a 20 foot screen....
What blows is the poor title selection.... and now with better release titles coming to blu-ray, i hope i haven't made a mistake....
The upside so far is that it looks like some of the titles i want, will get a release on HD somewhere else in the world. I see a couple out in Japan already that I must have and with the announcement that Studio Canal will be releasing some of the Sony titles in regions that are either the same or they will encode with ALL REGION means there is light at the end of the tunnel...
But, until they get serious here in the old USA and announce some titles worth the investment, dead we will be...