Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player
Awesome picture for a reasonable price
I actually got my HD-A1 the day before any titles were released so I had an agonizing wait to try it out.  I first bought Serenity to replace my DVD copy and it is a stunning transfer-particularly the exterior shots.  The sound is more dynamic as well.   <br /> <br />Some have complained about lock-ups and freezing, but I have not had any such problems.  I have since purchased Unforgiven, Training Day, Bourne Supremacy, and Full Metal Jacket and they have all played flawlessly.  I have also rented Doom, Million Dollar Baby, and Phantom of the Opera from Netflix and they all played fine as well.  Some of the problems may be due to the remote, which is poorly designed.  I use a Phillips Pronto instead-problem solved.   <br /> <br />I do get the HDMI error if I switch the input to my display.  In other words, the HD-A1 needs to be able to detect an HDCP compliant display at all times or it will give the error.  This is not a big deal when watching movies, but it prevents an easy comparison of a DVD to an HD DVD for example. <br /> <br />One final quirk-you have to set the A1's output to 1080i for the sharpest picture.  Actually, you have to set the A1 to output the disc's native resolution and all HD DVDs released so far are 1080p.  Apparently the A1 does a poor job in scaling to 720p, which results in a soft picture. <br /> <br />For those of you who have big HDTVs (I view on a 106 inch diagonal projection screen) you need to jump into HD DVD.  If you are worried about the format war with Blu-Ray, I say don't.  If HD DVD loses to Blu-Ray, you will still have a collection of dozens or even hundreds of movies to enjoy.  Its probably the best $500 I ever spent on my home theater.  Now I only watch broadcast HDTV and HD DVD.  Once you see how sharp and clear the picture is, it is tough to go back to SDTV and DVD.