Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player
Pleased to have made the jump
I was planning on waiting until the dust settled in this format war before making a decision on which player I'll be buying. With heavy studio support for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray I soon realized that regardless of my choice, I would probably be able to enjoy my new HD movies for the next three or four years as neither format is going to \\"win\\" by 2007. When I heard that current HD-DVD discs actually hold more information than current Blu-Ray discs, I knew which choice I would make. <br /> <br />I'm sure as you do the research, you will hear good and bad news on the player. I've experienced no problems with my Toshiba player but I do have to quip in that the remote is pretty bad. Luckily, I have a universal remote replacing Toshiba's remote so my annoyance is pretty minimized. <br /> <br />The other qualm many had, the slow boot-up times, is definitely a factor. It might seem inconvenient when you're quickly demoing many movies for friends, but if you're sitting down to watch a film you don't really notice it as much. I've only seen a few movies on it so far but have experienced no lock-ups whatsoever. <br /> <br />Now, for the real important part... the picture and the sound. Is it worth it? Yes, it's incredible. I have an older HDTV and even through component cables I could see the difference between an HD-DVD disc and broadcast HDTV. There is simply no pixellation or compression whatsoever and your movies will look flawless. When I went back to DVD on movies I already had in that format (Enter the Dragon), I couldn't believe my eyes. The picture was crisp & smooth and it made it easier to enjoy the movie. <br /> <br />Waiting is still a choice, but the wait might be very long until we get to prices similar to what DVD costs today. If you're thinking about jumping in, and you're the type of person that tends to prefer watching HDTV (even if its something boring) just because it's High-Def, I don't think it's too early to buy a next-gen player. Now is a great time. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!