betona's Full Review: Toshiba HD-A2 Player HD-DVD Player
I was able to obtain this player for $199 by buying it along with a Toshiba HDTV with a promotion at Circuit City. At the time of this writing, it can be found now and then at some places under $250 (due to a rebate)--just wait for it to go on sale. I've owned it for about 5 or 6 weeks and absolutely love it.
The unit takes about 20 seconds to turn on before it will accept a disc because it's booting up, much like a computer. Also like a computer, you can update its firmware either via free discs from Toshiba, or else you can connect it directly to the internet with an ethernet cable. The firmware updates take about 30-40 minutes to complete, and mine had the v1.2 firmware when I obtained it in the Spring of '07. I've stair-stepped it up to v1.6 using the internet at the time of this writing with no ill effects. It updates one point release at a time, so if you get one and it doesn't have the latest, plan on several cycles to get there. These firmware releases improve the picture quality on some discs and improve the player's ability to handle special features on the discs. I love the fact that Toshiba built them this way to where they can be upgraded and kept current after you buy them.
When is a new firmware version out, you ask? Check in at highdefdigest.com and/or avsforum.com where news is posted on these units all the time.
The player comes with component cables, but to get its best 1080i performance, you need to use an HDMI cable (purchased separately) to connect it to your TV. Don't fall for the extremely overpriced HDMI cables in the stores -- I bought a 6-foot cable for under $15 that performs perfect. Search here on epinions for "6' hdmi cable" and you'll find plenty of good quality cables at good prices.
Assuming you do use an HDMI cable, the unit plays HD-DVDs incredibly well and with it, you will see the a better picture than anything you're going to get from broadcast, cable or satellite. If you want to show off your TV, you're going to need something like this to do it.
In my case, my TV is 1080p and I worried that I might be coming up short with a 1080i player. I am told that 1080p TVs de-interlace the signal and still present it at 1080p. To my eyes, the picture is spectacularly detailed and I'm talking on a 65" screen where you can't hide anomalies in the picture.
The biggest surprise to me is how well it upconverts standard DVDs to HD--again on a very big screen. The picture from most SDVDs are adapted to fit the HD screen and the picture quality is very, very good (not as good as an HD-DVD, of course). I would say that it upconverts regular DVDs to "Near HD", which in turns keeps the value of your collection of old DVDs.
Speaking of HD-DVDs, your local rental place may not stock them, but Netflix does and that's a fantastic feature. (I don't want to buy and own every movie I see)
Some people worry about the format war, but I believe that there won't be a winner or loser. I believe that HD-DVD and Blue-Ray will both continue to be supported for quite some time. Some studios such as Warner Bros and Paramount produce discs in both formats--and they're the smart ones.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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