Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player
Very good performance, but with some ease-of-use caveats.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: For those contemplating this machine, word is that Toshiba will release a new and slimmer box, the HD-A2, sometime this fall.    The debate continues unabated --- and probably will for some time. HD-DVD or Blu-ray. Maybe neither.    As the owner of both Toshiba's HD-A1 player and Samsung's BD-P1000 Blu-ray disc console, I'd say HD-DVD is the better choice at this stage given its consistent picture quality, Blu-ray's prohibitive cost and the choice of movies presently available for each format.    This HD-A1 review will touch on several areas: Aesthetics, ease-of-use, picture and sound quality. (My equipment: A 42-inch Panasonic plasma television with a resolution of 1024-by-768, as well as an Onkyo 5.1 surround audio system. I connected the player to my television using both its HDMI and component outputs and optical audio input. I switched back-and-forth between resolutions of 1080i and 720p, using mostly 1080i.)    The HD-A1 (as with Samsung's Blu-ray console) comes equipped with all the predictable connections: HDMI, component, S-Video and composite video outputs; coaxial and optical outputs. The machine also has analog 5.1 outputs for those of you who have audio receivers that will accept them.    Appearance-wise, the HD-A1 is a bit of a clunker in my book. It's bulky and has a black-and-gray face that screams \\"1980s VCR.\\" Toshiba's higher-end HD-XA1 console and Samsung's Blu-ray player look classier in my opinion. No doubt the players will get thinner with every new model, but alas for this first batch...    Ease-of-use also is a category where the HD-A1 falters. All of the first-generation HD-DVD and Blu-ray players take some time to boot up. Such is the price of being an early adopter and wanting pristine picture quality. But, boy, does the HD-A1 take time to get going.    Boot-ups routinely take at least a minute. The player then takes additional time (maybe 30 seconds to a minute) to recognize each disc. The console seems to take longer toidentify an HD-DVD. (As an aside, Samsung's Blu-ray player appears to take about half as long to boot up.)    What's more, when you \\"stop\\" an HD-DVD, it really stops. If you press \\"play,\\" the disc resets to the very beginning. It's frustrating, to say the least. Standard DVDs don't seem to have this problem (neither does Blu-ray, for that matter). They pick up where you last pressed \\"stop.\\"    Lots also has been written about the chocolate-bar shaped remote control, with many professional reviews criticizing the tiny buttons and their layout. I, for one, didn't mind the remote. But I can see where the reviewers are coming from.    Okay, picture quality. I tested a broad collection of both HD-DVDs and standard DVDs on the HD-A1. The HD discs I watched: \\"Aeon Flux,\\" \\"Apollo 13,\\" \\"The Bourne Supremacy,\\" \\"Cinderella Man,\\" \\"Serenity,\\" \\"Swordfish,\\" \\"Troy\\" and \\"U2: Rattle and Hum.\\"    By and large, the picture quality (even on my meager home theater) was very good and, in some cases, fantastic. Lines were noticeably sharper, even on older titles like Apollo 13. A few stretches of some movies --- Rattle and Hum, in particular --- seemed only slightly better than standard DVD quality. But that appears due mainly to the source material.    Of the early titles, Aeon Flux and Troy seemed the best showcases of what HD-DVD can do, with Serenity a close second and Swordfish a close third. In Aeon Flux, every freckle on Charlize Theron's face can be made out (a treat, in my book). Some scenes in Swordfish are so sharp they almost look three-dimensional.    The quality of the picture, in fact, seemed limited only by my television. (Which brings me to another point: I've concluded both HD-DVD and Blu-ray require a bleeding-edge 60-to-70-inch television displaying a full resolution of 1080p to truly sparkle.)    In contrast, the picture quality of Blu-ray seems somewhat uneven to me --- much more so than HD-DVD. And that goes for both old and new titles.    Standard DVDs, looked sharp too. The console did a good job upconverting everything I threw at it. (The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition discs looked almost high-def.)    Sound: The HD-DVDs I watched are all encoded in Dolby Digital Plus, a brand new format which my system is incapable of deciphering. Oddly enough, the signal is recognized by my audio receiver as DTS sound. But no worries: Your receiver will still work, and well at that.    While I don't have the audio equipment to unlock the full potential of each disc, the sound did seem noticeably sharper than a standard DVD. The \\"blast-off\\" scene in Apollo 13 is window rattling. So are several gun battles in Aeon Flux, as well as the opening \\"escape-of-the-main-characters\\" sequence in Serenity.    In conclusion, I was really impressed with the performance of the HD-A1. The player itself is less impressive and a bit annoying to maneuver. But the console is hard to beat if you just can't wait for HD movies, and/or are turned off by Blu-ray's higher cost.    A final thought: Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD show hints of brilliance. But the HD-DVD titles I've watched just seem to pack many more of those \\"wow-look-at-the-picture-quality\\" moments than Blu-ray --- at least right now. When I first read about the two formats, I thought I'd be a Blu-ray advocate through-and-through. Now, I'm not so sure.