Very simple question. No explanations required.

If you are an owner of a HD DVD player, are you pleased with the purchase or not?

Very

It's a keeper.... I'll probably end up buying a Blu-Ray player as well, once they come down in price a bit (read: below $500 like the HD-A1).

Too many DVD players though...

1. HD-A1 for HD-DVD
2. Pioneer ELite 79avi doing 480i over HDMI to DVDO Iscan HD+ for SD-DVD (better upconversion than the HD-A1)
3. Oppo 971H for PAL and non-region 1 DVDs (I have a lot of music DVDs that fall into those categories).

And then add a BR player? YIPES!

Its a keeper. Obviously its not perfect and as newer players come out the functionalities will be improved, but the picture quality is what matters most and it really is first rate.

Andy

Keeping it.

I bought it with reservations. I wanted to test it out with my Sammy HLP6163 DLP. My main criteria was the following...

Quality of HD-DVD (obviously)
Quality of upscaled sd DVD
Could it play DVD-/+Rs well?
Could it play DVD DL +/-Rs well?

As far as the hd-dvd quality, it looks excellent. Surprisingly, the upscaled sd dvd looks wonderful too. That surprised me the most.

It has played all of my DVD-R and +Rs, but I did have an issue with my DL discs. I think it was because I used a cheaper brand (Ritek and Memorex). Ill just get some Verbatim and copy my few to them. That should work fine.

As far as the functionality, it is a bit slow in loading or responding to the commands, but this isnt a huge issue (and maybe can be resolve somewhat by a firmware update??).

Overall, I am very happy and instead of returning it (or selling it), I will be selling my Oppo and replacing it for any DVD watching.

Two thumbs way up! :D

Definitely a keeper

Definitely a keeper. I was firmly in the Blu-Ray camp but seeing is believing. There are a few annoyances (long loads, no resume play or step frame on HD-DVDs) but I'm hoping those can be cured by a firmware update.

Thumbs up!!

Beside superb picture quality. This is now my reference CD player. I have a Denon
2900 and the HD-A1 blows it out of the water.
Another surprise is that it plays DVD Audio. If you have not tryed this, you don't know what you are missig.

Two Thumbs up for me!!

HDTVHDTV,

How are you streaming the DVD-audio from your player to your receiver? 5.1 analog connections?

sure the thing has its issues long load times, noisy fan, crappy remote and some other minor glitches; but it has mostly to do with the movies i.e. warner as far as the audio problems. I am just waiting for the firmware to fix a lot of these issues. i too have too many players , an elite 79, a toshiba 9200 and now a hd-a1. overall a very good player for the money, and for the people bashing the player what do you expect there are boing to be some bugs for a first gen player just give toshiba time to work out the bugs.

Very happy with the player.

Incredible video performance.................!! I love it. :)

Just a reminder, this is for owners of an HD-DVD player - or those that purchased and returned the unit.

Also note that this is a public poll. ;)

Will keep for sure. It probably will go in the bedroom when something else better comes out but its still a keeper.

Kevin

I'm keeping mine too. I've also got a 79AVi that I'm keeping for SD Upconversion, although the HD-A1 does a remarkable job, and SACD/DVD-A. My hope is that a Pioneer Elite HD-DVD/BD/SACD/DVD-A universal player comes out within the year or 2 that is $1000 or less.

Very, very impressed!

Everything from the upconversion to the HD quality beats my expectations.

I've been very impressed myself. The only real downer is the lack of HD DVDs, but that is to be expected and will soon be remedied. The upconverted SD DVD PQ really surprised me. I was expecting it to be merely average, but it really is good. It doesn't have the same pop that the Panasonic S77 has, but it has no macroblocking.

Keeping it. My next player will most likely be a combo in the $1k or less range.

A keeper. No problems at all with mine....so far! :D

Considering all the issues concerning the operation of the A1, that have been discussed on this site, I am very pleased w/the A1 and have no intentions of getting rid of it. I expect the Blu-Ray machines will have some bugs, as do most new technology. I also expect Toshiba to issue a firware upgrade in the near future to address many of these issues w/ the A1.

I am only able to play the DTS output on my DVD-A discs. I tried the DVD-A side on one of my discs and I got a message from the A1 that is not able to play DVD-Audio.

Did I mention anyone caught voting that did not actually buy one will be banned from AVS? Well, believe it.

This topic is solely for the poll discussion. Please search existing topics for answers to this question, or if you must, start another topic.

I returned mine only because my display didn't toute the picture quality like I had hoped. Plus, My DVI (w/ HDCP) connection kept having synch problems with the player. I returned it to spend the money on a new PJ sooner than later. Unlike many reports, my local BB had a nice display hooked up to their demo unit, and the picture looked great. Feel free to send me sympathy PMs since I am really sad that my display just isn't ready (paypal donations will be accepted as well :D )

Keeping it. It was hard to justify buying a good upscaling player for $250 when the HD-A1 upscales quite well and was $500. 12 new release HD-DVDs in the next year more than pays for the difference since I won't have to double dip by buying the SD version first then a HD version later.

I love the picture and audio quality on hd and the standard dvd looking so good seals the deal. I actually tried a week earlier to order an Oppo online, but somehow I lost my connection to the internet. That night my brother in law told me bb was advertising the a1 and the rest is history. I've had a few response issues with my player, but it may be the hdmi to dvi connection creating some confusion. As I can get an hdmi blade for my panasonic plasma I will get one as soon as I can (they are backordered). I plan to keep the unit and hope for good upgrades and service from bb's 4 year plan.

Two thumbs up - Dan

I'm keeping my XA1, too. I just wished it played back non-R1 SD discs, as well.