Toshiba SD-5970 DVD Player with HDMI
Returned with several complaints, I DON'T recommend this one
I think I found more problems with my 5970 than there are letters in the word LEMON. Others here like theirs, but my experience over 3 weeks of daily use left me disgusted and angry. I owned a Toshiba multi-disc DVD changer for years, and adored it. Hoped this would be the same. But noooo.... 1. Firstly, it began halting, skipping and otherwise having trouble with rented DVDs. Then, it happened with 1-2 new DVDs I'd bought AND NEVER PLAYED BEFORE. IOW, pristine discs, no smudges or scratches of any kind. Finally, it halted and skipped on two CDs (not CD-Rs) in a row. That was a clear sign that it had problems. 2. The response to the remote was haphazard; it took several button presses to get action. Same problem using my old Toshiba remote, and a Yahama receiver universal remote, pointed right at the IR receive port from 5' away. It almost always took 2-3 presses of a button before the 5970 responded. I noticed the same problem with the front panel buttons, telling it to open up and let me change discs took repeated button presses, and some patience (!), before the tray would finally eject. I then read a review here on Amazon of the Toshiba SD-6915 (multi-disc) remarking on EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEM. VERY annoying when you want to pause, or backtrack, or just find a spot. 3. Output to my HDTV via HDMI was problematic. (And the previous review is incorrect, you CAN find third party HDMI cables for &lt; $150, just look harder. Try Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, and stop going to Best Buy. Search for Acoustic Research, Philips and RCA HDMI cables. Cheapest I saw was $39.) 480p images had a clear and unmistakable green tint to darker, background areas. Not so with the 480p component video output. The 1080i images on my TV were pillow-cased something awful, and shifted to the side about 5% of the screen, but this COULD be my TV's fault. The Toshiba defaulted to 1080i on power on, regardless of the last mode used. I COULD NOT use the \\"upconversion\\" feature through component video out. :(  3. Unlike my previous Toshiba, and other DVD players, it would consistently \\"forget\\" the last play position when powering off. Even without any disc exchange. Sounds trivial, but try enjoying 1/2 a movie (or CD), then doing something else, and coming back to continue. Have to find your spot manually; irksome to say the least. 4. Audio out (TOS fiber optic digital) to my Yamaha receiver was always 2 channel, unless a DTS soundtrack was selected. The receiver decoded fine Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby Digital just fine, but wasn't getting \\"5.1\\" channels from this player via digital. My replacement DVD player, a Yamaha, clearly sends 5.1 channels for Dolby Digital; in fact, for Dolby D 1-channel, 2-channel, 5.1-channel tracks, the receiver gets exactly that from the DVD player. Your mileage may vary for other players, my old PlayStation2 sends Dolby 2.0, Dolby 5.1, and DTS 5.1 from Peter Gabriel's PLAY DVD as 2-channel digital out. After seeing what a better DVD player does, I would not accept a DVD player that sends Dolby Digital 5.1 audio to the receiver as 2-channel. (To the nitpickers, YES, I had the player set for PCM out. The other option was not compatible with digital audio out. My Yamaha has a \\"LT/RT\\" output mode for digital-only output,... maybe that's a factor?)  5. I can't remember #5. But there was a fifth reason I sent it back. As if the previous 4 weren't enough! My suggestion? Try a Toshiba locally, then return it and buy it here. I'm still smarting at the $20 shipping expense of returning a bum unit.eo out. :(  3. Unlike my previous Toshiba, and other DVD players, it would consistently \\"forget\\" the last play position when powering off. Even without any disc exchange. Sounds trivial, but try enjoying 1/2 a movie (or CD), then doing something else, and coming back to continue. Have to find your spot manually; irksome to say the least. 4. Audio out (TOS fiber optic digital) to my Yamaha receiver was always 2 channel, unless a DTS soundtrack was selected. The receiver decoded fine Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby Digital just fine, but wasn't getting \\"5.1\\" channels from this player via digital. My replacement DVD player, a Yamaha, clearly sends 5.1 channels for Dolby Digital; in fact, for Dolby D 1-channel, 2-channel, 5.1-channel tracks, the receiver gets exactly that from the DVD player. Your mileage may vary for other players, my old PlayStation2 sends Dolby 2.0, Dolby 5.1, and DTS 5.1 from Peter Gabriel's PLAY DVD as 2-channel digital out. After seeing what a better DVD player does, I would not accept a DVD player that sends Dolby Digital 5.1 audio to the receiver as 2-channel. (To the nitpickers, YES, I had the player set for PCM out. The other option was not compatible with digital audio out. My Yamaha has a \\"LT/RT\\" output mode for digital-only output,... maybe that's a factor?)  5. I can't remember #5. But there was a fifth reason I sent it back. As if the previous 4 weren't enough! My suggestion? Try a Toshiba locally, then return it and buy it here. I'm still smarting at the $20 shipping expense of returning a bum unit.