Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player
Took the plunge
AND.........i'M GLAD i DID!  There has been a lot of reviews out there and all the negatives and positives hold true, BUT most of the reviews, now that I experienced the HD A1, were more like nitpicking.  Here's my take:<br /><br />Bulkiness:  yeah this thing is bulky when compared to today's 30-100 dollar cheapo dvd players...but when compared to the more expensive upconverters this thing is not big at all (just look at the denons, pioneers, and other high brand models that can put out the performance that the toshiba does when upconverting)  Anyone who is looking to spend this type of money on a this dvd player or any other dvd player in its price bracket will probably deal with this issue.<br /><br />Remote:  yeah its bad....hard to see what button does what and has a bad, uncomfortable feel to it.  My harmony 880 had no problem assuming control of the toshiba.  Just buy a universal remote.  Look into logitech's harmony line, no biggie!<br /><br />Slow:  This is where I scratch my head.  I turned it on, pressed the eject button, pop in a dvd, and by the time I go to sit down and get comfortable this thing will start like in 5-10 seconds....everyone needs to go thru this routine to watch their movies!  No one pops in a movie and watches it from right there...this slowness issue is a non issue in my book.<br /><br />Video:  SD DVD never looked better to my eyes .  I have gone out of my way to look at all the upconverters that I have give thought to(oppo 971, denon 1930 and 2930, and the samsung 860 and 960) with the exception of the 2930 the toshiba IMO was better than the rest.  Keep in mind the denon lists for over 800 and only upconverts.  When I did HD DVD nothing that I have witnessed Has come even close, not even Blue Ray....so this is where I giggle when I look back and question why the heck I was on the fence about this product to begin with?  when you look at the price it is  a no brainer, good bargain , and versatile.<br /><br />Sound:  This is where I went crazy!  My SD DVD's never sounded better, but then again I wasn't crazy about my cheapo dvd player that I had attached to my Home Theater, but this was the right move.  everything sounds louder, theres more bass, vocals are clearer and most importantly the video and audio are top notch and envelop you into whatever you watch thru the Toshiba.<br /><br />Gen 1 player:  yeah gen 1 players are always a risk....anything that's new is always a risk.  You become a beta tester for these companies when they first dish out there machines.  But that's technology folks and coming from someone who for a living deals with servers and the likes in the IT world.....I'll be the first to say that no technology is perfect.  But the fact that Toshiba has made it very clear that they will not neglect the A1 once the A2 comes out is enough for me to pull the trigger on this player which leads me to my next point.<br /><br />Compatibility:  This is a word that in my profession is very important.  You don't want to get the biggest and baddest thing just to say that you did and then find out your other stuff doesn't like it.  The fact that this gen1 player has analog out and firmwares tells me that: a. this player will stay in tune with most of the technologies (true hd and DD+ in the 2.0 firmware for example) and b. the 5.1 analog will let you keep your current receiver that you probably dished out alot of money for!<br /><br />I really think the toshiba HD A1 has its bugs and I'm sure future gens will be better, but this format war isn't really going to go anywhere right now so the prices will more or less stay the same for at least another year.  So if you're on the fence and want to wait for this thing to be over with, you might wait a while.  So why not enjoy this technology now and your current dvd collection as well.  You will not be dissappointed.