Toshiba HD-A2: From Blu to Purple- The Value Route
Written: Dec 18 '07
Product Rating:
Sound:
Ease of Use:
Picture Quality:
Durability:
Pros: Solid picture quality, Great "Secret Sale" price point, 5-Free HD-DVD by mail
Cons: Poor remote, Difficulty with Internet access, Glitches with newer film playback, No coax audio input
The Bottom Line: Acceptable HD movie playback. Buy at $98.00, but invest additional money in newer-gen HD-DVD players if price point is $198.00. Recommendation is based on lowest price point only.
steelsd's Full Review: Toshiba HD-A2 Player HD-DVD Player
Hello! After purchasing the Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player during the November Wal-Mart "Secret Sale", I thought I'd stop by and offer up my evaluation. I should note that I'm a Playstation 3 owner with a fairly large (@65 movies) Blu-Ray collection. Now, that doesn't mean I'm a Blu or "Red" guy. I play no favorites, and there were quite a few HD-DVD exclusive flicks I wanted to see in high-def (Transformers, Batman Begins, Serenity, etc.). So when I heard about the "Secret Sale" price of $98.00 for the HD-A2, it gave me the perfect excuse to go "Purple" (format-neutral). Five free HD-DVD's by mail too. Score!
The Unit
It's a nice looking unit. Sleek and black with a touch of silver via it's front flip-down panel that exposes manual playback controls and two "Extension Ports". What these ports are good for is...um...that they "...may be used in the future for different control options." Yeah, that's from the manual. Ok. Moving on...
This is a 1080i maximum resolution HD-DVD player. It's also incapable of transmitting video at 24fps. So we're not sending an optimal HD signal to our HDTV, but the picture quality difference is minimal versus optimal and the price point justifies it. However, if you absolutely must have a unit that pushes a 1080p signal out at 24fps, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
The Inputs/Outputs
Excepting the mysterious "Extension Ports", we have a standard set of outputs. One Component, one Composite (including optional S-Video Out), one HDMI, and one Optical Audio output. Hmn. No Digital Coaxial audio output. That's disappointing. Lastly, there's a network port for connection to the internet. You won't surf the web with the HD-A2, but it's handy in order to take advantage of HD-DVD online content and to upgrade the player's firmware.
1080i video output can be achieved via either the Component or HDMI output to the HDTV. The player will also "upscale" standard DVD video via HDMI.
As I noted, the lack of a Digital Coaxial audio output disturbs me. Why? Well, because I want to input sound via PCM to my surround sound receiver and I have only one working Optical audio-in port and no ability to decode audio via HDMI (passthrough only). Yet, my receiver's Digital Coaxial port sits open. The result is that I have to switch input cables every time I want to use one of my two high-def units. Options, Toshiba. Options. This is my only real beef here, but it's a pretty big one in my eyes.
Setup
Excepting a wonky Date/Time manual setup, the HD-A2 will play most HD-DVD's out of the box. Configuration of the player includes setting resolution output, audio output type (PCM or Bitstream), and tweaking settings for enhanced black level, etc.
The Network connection took some time to get right and it sure wasn't "plug-and-play" in that respect. Others may have had different experiences, but I followed the manual and got nothing. Then I checked avsforum.com for help. Advice was plentiful but nothing worked. After re-initializing my player (multiple times) I found that the only way for me to get online was to manually enter the IP address my laptop was using. And this is after the manual tells us to enter an unused IP address on the same network subnet. I did that. Didn't work. Hours were spent researching the issue. I shouldn't have to "luck" into a fix that directly opposes instructions I was given via the user manual.
After I was finally able to get online, the first thing I did was register the player, create a profile, and update the firmware. That took about 20 minutes. I should warn everyone- do NOT update your firmware via the internet with an HD-DVD disc in the drive. I've heard stories of folks ending up with non-functional players that way. Secondly, you must create a profile and register the player in order to view/download online HD-DVD content.
Overall, setup was part easy, part silly, and part Hades.
Performance
I concur with those who've noted that there's a good gap of time between turning on the player and actually getting anything to appear on-screen. You can turn it on, get up, go grab a soda, walk back, and maybe you'll have something on-screen. And depending on the film, you can expect longer-than-wanted load times as well. Also, the remote is plagued by tiny buttons and it's sensitive. You can't just point the remote "around" the player and expect anything to happen. It's only acceptable to point the remote directly at the player. I'd recommend just programming the needed functions into your favorite universal remote because the one included is junk.
After getting everything ready to go, I threw in the HD-DVD "King Kong". Widely recognized as one of the top picture quality HD-DVD films, I was ready to be amazed. Detail was excellent, black levels were good. But the tones felt a bit dark and the film wasn't displaying a ton of three-dimensional "pop". I was using the same HDTV settings for display as I use for my PS3 and inputting via HDMI, but it just felt like something was missing. "Transformers" was my next test. Again, very nice detail, but a bit dark. Turned my HDTV's backlight up to 10 and it felt a bit better. Not, IMHO, a picture that equalled the best of my PS3, but still a solid display that felt pretty real with decent pop. More than acceptable, but not quite "amazing".
Audio was good in Dolby Digital Plus. The HD-A2 will output Dolby TrueHD. The unit will play regular CD's (and well), but will not play MP3 CD's.
Using "Transformers", I tested out the online functionality. The HD-A2 does have a small memory cache in order to download short clips from the net. However, I suggest deleting files on a regular basis as the memory space gets filled up awfully quickly. Some of the online content for the HD-DVD films I own is good. Some feels like it should have been included on the disc itself in the "Special Features" section, but was possibly withheld just so "online" content could be advertised. That was a bit of a letdown, but it's free.
Now onto what I call the "Bourne Ultimatum Incident". I purchased that movie this week, opened it, and out falls a little piece of paper warning me that my firmware might need to be updated. Ok. Popped the movie in and it checked online and updated something. I got to the menu screen, and tried to play the movie. Nothing. Playback error. What? I had the most recent firmware. Playback error my behind! You WILL play. After turning the player off and on with disc in and disc out, my HD-A2 exclaimed loudly, "NO! I will NOT play!" Crap. So back to avsforum.com to see what was going on.
Here's the fix: Re-initialize your HD-A2. Whaaaaa? So I have to clear all my settings after already having the latest firmware update to get "Bourne Ultimatum" to play? Really? Yeah. Really. Now, keep in mind that many customers were returning their copies of that movie thinking it was a manufacturing issue. That's one thing if you're dropping by your local electronics store or Wal Mart. It's quite another if you'd already dropped your HD-DVD into the mail to return it to Amazon.com or had to waste an eBay seller's time because of a glitch that should have been solved by simply updating the latest firmware as directed. Toshiba, if you can hear me, it shouldn't be this hard.
Conclusion
Despite having to overcome a number of technical issues, at $98.00, the Toshiba HD-A2 is a good value buy. In fact, it's nearly a "must purchase" at that price point- especially if you're looking to go neutral. But at it's normal $198.00 price point, I'd save my pennies and put them toward one of the more recent HD-DVD models that can pump out 1080p signals at 24 frames per second like the HD-A30.
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