Just keep in mind this player will not play back +R DL media, only -R.

Just keep in mind this player will not play back +R DL media, only -R.


Um, that would a big negatory on that one, Cowtown.

You might want to explain that little bit of mis-information to my player.

It plays back +R DL just fine. I've made dozens so far. And so have many other users over at the AVS forum. I just watched part of 'True Lies' from an HBO-HD recording I burned onto 2 Memorex DL DVD+R's last night. Looked amazing, and played back just fine.

DigitalCanuck

It plays my DL +R just fine as well.

2 more titles ended up in my mailbox today. Jarhead and Cinderella Man.

I just picked up this player. My firmware is 1.00, 1.09, 2.00. Is this up to date? When I plug in the ethernet I get the player has already be updated.

I just picked up this player. My firmware is 1.00, 1.09, 2.00. Is this up to date? When I plug in the ethernet I get the player has already be updated.

That's what I have.

I know many people are going with the HD-DVD player because the price is so much lower than the Blu Ray machine. I have seen prices on Blu Ray machines (Samsung) that are double the HD-DVD player. However this evening on the news they talked about the new Sony Playstation PS3 that is soon coming out. Sony has the Canadian prices for that gaming machine now. There will be 2 different flavours, one will cost you $549 while the other will cost you $659. The PS3 will play games, but it will also play the Blu Ray discs.

If you have not purchased an HD-DVD player yet, and are unsure of which format to choose, it might be good to wait to see how this all falls. It is obvious that Sony has decided to be more competitive and lower their prices. Their machine will play discs and play games for less money than the current Toshiba HD-DVD player.

The Blu-Ray part of the PS3 has been know for over a year. Plus, the upcoming 360 add-on will be play HD DVD movies. So, the PS3 has no advantage in that regard.

My point was more that the Sony price for the PS3 is much lower than anticipated putting it on a more equal footing with the HD-DVD format.

It should be interesting - one way or another.

Most future Blu-Ray owners (myself included) are waiting for the PS3. I can't imagine many folks paying $1300 for a dedicated machine with the PS3 on the horizon. The PS3 was one of the main reasons why HD DVD supported studios decided to give Blu-Ray a chance.

Even though I own a HD DVD player, the 360 add-on is also tempting.

A big missing feature on all upcoming Blue Ray discs is hi-res audio formats. If you value audio as highly as video, then HD DVD is the only route to go until Sony figures out a way to start utilizing dual-layer discs.

All first generation Blue Ray titles will be limited to standard DD and DTS tracks as the discs lack the room for hi-res audio tracks.

I'm not in one camp or the other - I just wanted to make people aware of this limitation.

For those of us using the Harmony remote to control the HD-A1 (or XA1) if you program "Display" and" Time Search" in the "Watch HD DVD" Activity, you will be able to:

1. Input the chapter number with the numbers pad if you wish to select a song in a concert DVD, and

2. Input the Hours;Minutes;seconds, with the numbers pad, that you noted (using the "Display" command) to Resume exactly where you left off in the movie.

Many have complained that the Resume feature, which should be enabled by pressing "Stop" only once, does not work if you go to the player's "Setup" menu and that when you leave Setup the player reloads at the starting point. The above procedure will not bypass reload after leaving the Setup menu, but this procedure will be quicker and much more precise than finding your spot in the "Scenes" function.

Well For me at this point I think my route into Hi def DVD will more then likely
end up being a HD DVD or BlueRay computer drive with the Saphire HDMI HDCP compliant Video card into my HTPC. More then likely I will start with the first avalible HD DVD PC drive due to its lower cost and then if it looks like
BR is winning the Battle I can always swap out the PC drive for a BR PC drive
and I will stay away from making a choice on the first Gen HD players altogether
although its going to mean waiting a bit longer for the PC components to arrive,
but PC drives are supposed to start shipping around the same Timeframe as the PS3 so maybe By christmas 06 all the pieces will be in place if not Sooner, Fingers Crossed, at Least that's my thinking at this point. Although I really did like the HD-AX1 I got to sample last week at the toshiba launch here last Monday night.

This picture I like much better to discuss my reaction to viewing HD DVD. My kind of picture and it has good scenery and nice real space shots.

There is no reservation in saying that the picture is better than any SD DVD. And that includes an upconverted DVD.

To put it conservatively, the HD DVD is as good as any good HD (and it should with its superior bitrate) and there are no video glitches or audio cutoffs, it has better audio (DD Plus at 1.5 Mbps vs DVD at 448 Kbps) and there are no commercials.

What else do you want?

I would like it to be cheaper...;)

This picture I like much better to discuss my reaction to viewing HD DVD. My kind of picture and it has good scenery and nice real space shots...........................What else do you want?

1080p output to feed my TV's native resolution.

If a 1080p output Blu Ray machine is around the corner, able to play DVDs already being encoded at 1080p, why would I jump the gun for HD DVD.

Do I have my facts straight?

1080p output to feed my TV's native resolution.


You just need a good scaler to perform inverse telecine with the 1080i signal coming from the HD-DVD player. That's what I'm doing, and fully enjoying 1080p today to my Sony Ruby (native 1080p projector).

Why wait? It's the best PQ I've ever seen in my room, satellite HD included. And it's 1080p today. ;)

A stupid 600$ for the best picture quality I can obtain with my set-up. I still can't believe the price is so low for those HD-DVD players. After spending all that money on my system, I never taught it would cost me only 600$ to get 1080p today. My projector and my pre/pro alone are costing like 20 times more!

There is not a single Meridian, Krell, Linn or SimAudio "high-end" SD DVD players (all costing over 10000$ each) that can even dream of giving me the level of PQ that this 600$ baby can give me today with real HD disks! I would have paid 5000$ (or more) without any hesitations to get an HD player for my system, and they sell it to me for 600$! With the system I have, it's the best 600$ I have ever paid. Thank you Toshiba.

And just to think that some people are buying 300$ Monster HDMI cable making no difference at all compared to a 10$ cable, or "high-end" power cords and fancy cables (for more then 600$...), and then "waiting" to buy the 600$ Toshiba HD-DVD player is sooo funny...

I don't think it is the cost of the player that most people have a problem with, I think it has to do with the movies that are released or coming for HD-DVD.

Getting the best picture from a handful of titles is great, but to pay that price for a few movies, I think most folks will probably wait.

The benefits of waiting are:

- more movies are out
- will get cheaper as time goes on

I also love the comparison people make of paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars for their first VCR and that paying $600 for the Toshiba is a steal. I think that idea is, well I won't say.

As technology gets better, electronics mostly get cheaper. I am sure most people would remember how much their first computer costs. Now you can get a machine from Dell with monitor for under $700. How come no one is saying how great that is?

Personally, as nice as a picture that Toshiba puts out, they could of done better with the actual build of the device. I won't get into all of the negatives as they have been posted all over this and other forums as well as reviews, but given the "not so plug and play for the average person", I don't think the Toshiba is worth more and if anything should be less even if the picture is excellent.

I am sure the average use knows that setting the Toshiba to 1080i will give a better picture than 720p.

As for the PS3, if the picture is as good as HD-DVD, then it will be worth paying the price. At least for $659cdn you get a gaming machine.

Just my 0.02$ soon to be less once the GST is dropped by 1%.

.... or get the XBOX and play HD DVD movies. I'm also shocked at the low price of the player and the movie selection.

I'm purchasing 2-3 titles a week. That's good enough for now.

People are paying 1500$ for the Denon 3910, 3000$ for the 5910, 2000$ for the Onkyo SP1000, and all this to play SD DVDs... And I'm not talking about Meridian, SimAudio and Krell SD players costing over 5000$ that I have tried before, all having CUE problems and other glitches, and an INFERIOR picture quality compared to the HD-A1....

My Pioneer Elite 79AVi for SD-DVDs is 1500$. And the PQ is awful compared to the HD-A1 with HD disks. Half the price of my SD player for a better picture quality.

All this for 600$. I'm happy. :D And more titles coming out every weeks...

People are paying 1500$ for the Denon 3910, 3000$ for the 5910, 2000$ for the Onkyo SP1000, and all this to play SD DVDs... And I'm not talking about Meridian, SimAudio and Krell SD players costing over 5000$ that I have tried before, all having CUE problems and other glitches, and an INFERIOR picture quality compared to the HD-A1....

My Pioneer Elite 79AVi for SD-DVDs is 1500$. And the PQ is awful compared to the HD-A1 with HD disks. Half the price of my SD player for a better picture quality.

All this for 600$. I'm happy. :D And more titles coming out every weeks...


Totally Agree. I have this player for 1 week and I'm loving it. I have it connected to a Toshiba 62mx195 and the picture is stunning. I agree it's a very small price to pay for a HD DVD player. Is it perfect, no but neither will the 1st gen BR players at double the price. If you want studio support, just wait for the BR players to come down in price at the 500-600 range. I'm sure most of the people on this forum have more than 1 or 2 SD DVD players in their homes. Enjoy what you have now and wait to see what the future holds for both formats. This is just my opinion.