A-30 HD DVD by Toshiba
By jb_shops on - Updated Oct 15, 2011
I purchased this DVD player shortly before the last major studio, WalMart, and NetFlix switched their support to BluRay.Two things brought me to purchase this player: 1) my old DVD player stopped working 2) the discounted sets made the purchase reasonable.
The picture quality with an HD-DVD is mixed.Unless the flick is contains a lot of high speed action or special effects.The viewer will see limited difference between a HD-DVD and a quality up-convert DVD.I had problems viewing some of the discs.One wouldn't load and the other stopped in the middle of the show -- both had the same error.After updating the firmware it resolved 90% of my issues with those two discs.
Using the player with a traditional DVD is quite good.Although the box states it will up-convert to 1080p, I have yet to get that on my TV.Now that Toshiba has pulled the plug on HD-DVD would I recommend purchasing this unit?Only if you understand at the end of the day you are getting a pretty good up-convert DVD player.With the close-out prices and 7 movie rebate offer, this is a pretty good deal!
Update On Apr 18, 2008: I have not had any additional problems with disk skipping.I think the latest firmware did the trick.Also, I just received a $50 gift card from Best Buy due to the discontinuation of HDTV.
I am sorry to hear you had trouble out of this, but am happy to hear that Best Buy tried to make it right.
I am looking into purchasing one of these type of DVD players. This information is very helpful. Thanks for sharing the information and the update.
we almost brought one of these, but I am glad you decided to hold off especially since they discontinued these
Thanks for sharing that wonderful product with us and thanks for that update too.
I wasn't aware they discontinued HDTV. Is it because not enough people are buying HDTV ready sets? Toshiba tv's and DVD players already have excellent screen resolutions, but having seen their HDTV sets I was blown away.