When I was evaluating HD-DVD players I looked at both the price point and the feautures being offered. I read many reviews and I dug deeply into a lot of them. After much consideration I picked this unit and the two spotlight reviews above put me over the top. This is an excellent DVD for a 1080i set up. As the spotlight reviewer pointed out, many people don't need 1080p, so why pay for it? Also, the higher resolution you gain from conventional CDs, makes this upgrade a smart move. The difference in video quality is more than a shade of difference... it's a huge step up. I read a few reviews where people had difficulty with sound, I can't speak to that because I don't have their specific set up. However, with my equipment I haven't had a problem. While it's true it takes a bit of time to load a CD, I think this is a small price to pay in terms of waiting for what you save in overall cost. The unit is very attractive overall and sleek in design. The remote is also nicely designed. My SONY HD TV looks very modern and quite attractive together on my cherry media stand. The silver accents on the case and the soft blue perimeter glow on the on button also is a nice visual accent that does not distract. I am very confident I will get my money's worth out of this unit. I can't speak to customer service issues with Toshiba because I haven't had any and the bulk of the reviews for this unit are glowing in comparison to other ones I've read at the same price.

terraMAC

Somerville, MA

My husband and I bought the first HD DVD player released last year, and it has served us well -- but the Toshiba HD-A2 is even better!  It's thinner and more light-weight than its predecessor, so it fits better in our entertainment center.  We used to have so many problems with scratched discs not playing in the old player and considered cancelling our Netflix subscription, but the HD-A2 can play them all with few to no problems.  The picture quality and sound quality are EXCELLENT -- as long as you're not expecting 1080p, this player is tops.  When the camera pans to either side during a shot, you can see the slight jerkiness of the interlaced picture, but that's normal for any interlaced resolution.  We are looking forward to the next generation of HD DVD players with 1080p capability, but for now, we're very happy with the HD A2.

cmcalvert

Russellville, AR

Our Toshiba DVD player is the best dvd that we ever owned. We have a hd television and to find a dvd player that is also plays in hd is the best. The visuals are brillant and bright and the sounds are impectable. I brought our Tashiba because it was sale. i was thinking that it was just like the dvd player that we had before. Our other one didn't last but maybe a year. Well i brang the Toshiba home and it was very easy to install on my tv. Popped in the disk and it was such a change from the older dvds. And the fact that it has out lived all the dvd players that we have ever owned was a must. The remote has every thing including ejecting on it. Which is good because when my kids want to change disk then I just hit eject and don't have to worry that they pressed something that might mess up the player. Then the added bonus is that it has all the buttons on the front of the dvd player so if you lose your remote it is still able to do anything that you need to do.

threejoess

Jeanerette, LA

This is a fantastic piece of equipment, anyone who says just because it does 1080i and not 1080p that it doesnt have the resolution of AX2, please read up a little before reviewing products.All HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs will encode film-sourced material in full 1920x1080 progressive scan resolution at 24 frames per second. The reason why we get interlacing artifacts in a 1080i signal is that the frame was originally captured in interlaced format, with the odd scan lines and even scan lines being recorded at two different moments in time. When you reassemble two fields that are offset in time, you get jaggies, moire patterns, barber pole effects, and line twitter. That is not true of either HD-DVD or Blu-ray film.  I am very pleased with the HD-A2. I have watched around 20 movies since I purchased the player. My HDTV is 1080i so the HD-A2 is a perfect match with great image quality. The sound is sent as a very rich DTS sidnal over the optical cable. 

NaveenKumar

Westmont, IL

This is a really nice HD DVD player if you are one of the few people looking for one.  I got this player about a week after Warner Brothers announced they were switching to releasing Blu-ray movies and not both Blu-ray and HD DVD as they had been.  At that time, I had over 100 HD DVDs (I also have the HD DVD player add-on for the Xbox 360) and figured it would be nice to have a player in the bedroom.  The picture quality is great.  I have both 1080p and 1080i TVs and can't really tell a difference when watching something in 1080i or 1080p, so this player can be a nice way to save a few bucks.  My biggest problems with it is that Toshiba no longer releases firmware updates for it, but that shouldn't be a surpise, and that it is slow to startup.  It probably takes 90 seconds to 2 minutes for the player to start and another minute or two for the movie to load.  Regular DVDs do play in this player and look great, when you figure out how to get them out of 4:3 aspect ratio.  Would have also been nice if it came with an HDMI cable, but very few companies will actually give you the cable to get the most out of your new electronic.  If you want or need an HD DVD player, look into this one, you can get them inexpensive but work great.

cabanathursdays

Streetsboro, OH

So I got this a while back when the format war was still brewing between Blu-Ray and HD DVD. I was fairly confident Toshiba would come out on the winning side because of how their units were half the cost of competining Blu-Ray players. The unit itself is very standard in its features - HDMI out, upconverting, digital audio out, component and composite out, etc. One thing that was lacking on the unit, but did not affect me, was the lack of 1080p output. It was on sale at an etailer so I jumped on it. I figured even if HD DVD did lose the format war it would still be an excellent upconverting DVD player.  HD DVDs looked amazing on the unit running at 1080i, absolutely no complaints there. The HD upconversion was like nothing I have ever seen in stand-alone upconverting DVD players. Because of the latter feature I have no regrets in buying the unit. All-in-all it was great at playing HD DVDs and for people still having units lying around it is an excellent upconverting DVD player.   

pmmsc

San Diego, CA

I really like our Toshiba - HD DVD player.  It wasn't too high priced and easy to learn to use.  It was pretty self explanatory and we have not had any problems with it and we have had it for a couple of years.  Even my kids like it and can use easily.  The picture quality is great however I'm not too picky wwhen it comes to that part.  It's very light weight and I can move it around and easy to clean around and under.  It runs smooth and the sleek design looks nice with any decor.  The buttons are easy to find with your fingers.  You can find and buy this product anywhere DVD players are sold and it's very simple to hook up.  We usually have additional cords laying around our home so that wasn't a problem for us.  I highly recommend this product and am glad to have one in our home.  I really like and have enjoyed using my Toshiba DVD player and would probably look into getting another one after this one is too old or doesn't work anymore.  Thank you

catclan

Fair Oaks, CA

When we purchased this DVD player is was definity better then the 4 phillips we had!!!! This player does not come up with disc error all the time.  I'm glad that they finally got that bug out of those machines.  We've owned several DVD players and Recorders. and beleive me when I say that Toshiba has mastered the electronics behind the machines. Thank you Toshiba!!!!! We will only buy your line of DVD players and recorders.  

frietschf

Melbourne, FL

Although the toshiba hd-a2 dvd player is not nearly as expensive as some hd dvd players used to be, I wouldnt recommend it. When I bought it, there was a very limited number of hd dvds, and now they dont make them anymore. Out of dissapointment, I returned the player, and now have some very expensive hd dvds, that have no purpose.

daniseatle

Snohomish, WA

HD DVD is now up there with Betamax and mini cd's, but I own one. I love my HD-A2. This is a great High Def dvd player. it is a quality product. If you own a High Def television 720 or 1080 p it does not matter. This product will show you want you want high def. You should be able to find one relatively cheap. Bluray is still too expensive. Sony will make sure that it stay's that way too. This is evident by them driving out hte competition. To me there are plenty of HD DVD's out there to keep you watching High Def movies for years to come. I have about 160 titles. At the rate I am watching them it will take me about 2 years to watch them all. The Toshiba HD-A2 offers great picture and great sound. This is definately great product for those looking for an easy way into High Def. Just remember it is now defunct like the 8 Track :( , as they will not be making them anymore or releasing anymore movies. I would look for the Toshiba HD-XA2. It is like the Millineum Falcon of the Toshiba HD DVD Player's. It has a great upscaling chip too, so all of your standard def dvd's look unbelievable.

spaceace

Windsor Locks, CT