Toshiba HD-D A1 player advise (1 Viewer)

[Ian B]

Hi gang;

Any input on this HD-D player before I take the plunge??

Thanks,

Ian B

 

[willyTass]

From what I've heard about probs with loading times & freezing on the BETA units I wouldn't be the first to rush in.

If the brave who take the plunge come 18th April can confirm TOSH has ironed out these probs you're in for a treat

 

[Jim Mcc]

I would wait also. Obviously you don't care about the initial high price?

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

The Toshiba HD-DVD players are the 'cheap' ones all things considered.

 

[RobertSiegel]

I am going to wait. I think the first players will be a big test. Better to read online in forums and reviews to make sure the problems are weeded out. I have read some of the test units had many problems.

 

[Jerome Grate]

My advice is don't jump in yet. Too expensive, (though the cheapest one to be released). It just seems too early, not a lot of products that support 1080p via video and audio.

 

[Ian B]

Thanks everyone. I think I will wait and see what happens. Perhaps by Christmass, the smoke will have cleared.

Ian B

 

[Robert Zawacki]

Hello,

I have tried this player for a week, and I am done dealing with all of the issues. I returned it last night.

Issues: When I 1st hooked it up, Great picture but no digital sound via Optical through my Denon receiver(2 yrs old). The only sound I could get to work was 2-channel PCM sound(Yeck and not what I paid for). After talking to Toshiba tech support for many hrs, they determined that it was too old(2yrs?), I had to buy a new receiver. I spent another $400 and hooked up new receiver. It worked and fantastic sound, but..........

Once I started to play movies, I started to have multiple hard locks. Sometimes the movie would play fine for a while, then stutter a little, then bang, hard lock. A full system reboot, which takes well over a minute.

Big problem - When watching a dvd, we like to pause and quickly switch to news, basketball game - OH NO, not with this system, the moment you switch your TV from HDMI, huge HDMI error on HD DVD player and hard lock, must fully reboot system.

No on-screen changing of audio, must go up to player and see between audio 1, audio 2, etc....No way to know what it is?????

That was it. I will wait until 2nd or 3rd generation comes out. I have searched many forums, and LOTS of people are having these problems.

I wish I could recommend now, but I can't.

 

[Juan C]

Return that too and wait for receivers supporting HDMI 1.3 this fall.

 

[Ron-P]

I've had my A1 for 2 weeks now, not a single problem with it. I've watched Phantom, Apollo 13, Doom, Serenity (twice), The Last Samurai, all HD-DVD titles and several SD-DVDs, everyone played without incident. I've got it wired up via a 35' HDMI cable to a Z3.

The up scaling of SD-DVDs is outstanding as well.

The Audio is run via the 5.1 Analog connections to take advantage of DD+. I did run it also via Coax and Toslink, both work fine but the Analog connection is the best until HDMI 1.3 hits.

This, I am sure is a set-up issue in the audio section of the A1's menu, there are many others with older receivers doing just fine. My Outlaw 950 is older then 2 years and it works perfectly no matter which audio option I use.

It is slow loading, takes about 45 seconds once turned on before you can open the tray and then another 30 seconds to boot up once a movie is in. Other then that, she runs perfectly.

 

[Peter Overduin]

yes...beyond the gliktches; the fact remains, unarguably, that this first generation unit does not take full advantage of HD video and audio capabilities and specs. I'll pass thanks

 

[JediFonger]

ron-p, is it because you're not pausing/fast-forwarding, etc.? please let us know your viewing habits cause that might be why you're not having issues. try pausing/resuming/etc. functions during playback.

 

[Ron-P]

I've paused, resumed, FF, RW, done it all with every movie I've watched, just to see what happens, nothing happens everything plays fine.

 

[Rob_Walton]

It seems that some people have just gotten unlucky and recieved a faulty player. Either that or they are using different connections/set-ups.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Ditto ie Ron's experience. No problems with my player at all, hooked up via HDMI to DVI on a Panny 47" CRT, with optical out to Denon AVR-3805 receiver. Looks and sounds great. The slow load time is the only "issue", and that's barely an issue at all to me.

 

[Sam Posten]

It's an OK player. If you can be patient, MUCH better ones are coming down the pike. I dont have buyers remorse but I intend to upgrade as soon as there is a player that has:

SACD
DVD-A
Faster start up
A better remote is gravy

It is DEFINITELY a first gen product and it shows.

Sam

 

[Dave H]

I've had NO issues with it, either.

I highly recommend the player. Great HD and SD upscaling performance!

 

[Ian B]

Well guys, I took the plunge about a week ago from valueelectronics.com for $499.00 with free shipping and 2 movies. So far, I have played several sd dvds and 3 hdd movies with no problems. The picture quality is astounding and rehooked the audio from coaxial to 5.1 analog for true dd+. Hope everyone enjoys theirs as much as I do. IMHO, it was money well spent.

Ian B