[flattie]

I purchased this morning what appeared to be a sealed box unit of the hda3. While connecting it up to my tv/receiver I noticed scratches near the hdmi port and along the top of the unit. Hmmm.


I look closer and it appears as if I am holding a hda30 in my hands. Someone went to the trouble to return a hda30 in a hda3 box and repack it to perfection. The manual, remote, batteries, 300 and bourne identity and all accessories were factory fresh un-opened. Closer inspection reveals a double layer of clear plastic tape on the box.


Anyway I had the thing all hooked up and figured I'd try it to see if it works - it does albeit slowly. It has the 1.0 firmware in it.


So my question to those more knowledgeable than I is this:


Do I really gain anything by keeping an apparently used hda30 vs what I intended to buy which was a new hda3??


I have an older Mitsubishi WS55413 that only has a DTV input and component inputs - no HDMI - and no 1080p. It does 480p and 1080i wonderfully.


My receiver is a Denon 2803 - no HDMI so I'll be getting audio via SPDIF or toshiba optical cable.


The remote seems to work - its model number SE-RO285.


Thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

[tmarch291]



Quote:
Originally Posted by flattie /forum/post/12946461


I purchased this morning what appeared to be a sealed box unit of the hda3. While connecting it up to my tv/receiver I noticed scratches near the hdmi port and along the top of the unit. Hmmm.


I look closer and it appears as if I am holding a hda30 in my hands. Someone went to the trouble to return a hda30 in a hda3 box and repack it to perfection. The manual, remote, batteries, 300 and bourne identity and all accessories were factory fresh un-opened. Closer inspection reveals a double layer of clear plastic tape on the box.


Anyway I had the thing all hooked up and figured I'd try it to see if it works - it does albeit slowly. It has the 1.0 firmware in it.


So my question to those more knowledgeable than I is this:


Do I really gain anything by keeping an apparently used hda30 vs what I intended to buy which was a new hda3??


I have an older Mitsubishi WS55413 that only has a DTV input and component inputs - no HDMI - and no 1080p. It does 480p and 1080i wonderfully.


My receiver is a Denon 2803 - no HDMI so I'll be getting audio via SPDIF or toshiba optical cable.


The remote seems to work - its model number SE-RO285.


Thoughts greatly appreciated.

First off, if you purchased that item with the merchant stating that it was new, that is illegal.


Now, to get to your question, do you have a 1080p TV? Personally, I would keep the item if I had a 1080p TV, but also make sure it displays 1080p (there should be an option in the menu.)


If you do not have a 1080p TV, I would return it. There is no difference between 720p or 1080i between the HD-A3 and the A30, and it's always better to have a new one anyways.

 

[flattie]

I don't believe the merchant was intentionally selling used goods as new. I think someone "thought" they were taking advantage of the merchant - but I can't figure out why you'd put a hda30 in a hda3 box??


I don't have a 1080p capable display at this time. I'm just dreading going back there to stand in line for 20minutes to find out that they have no more in stock....

 

[bunger3_16]

Well, if you bought it at Circuit City, you can get a pricematch at least.....they are closing out the A3 for $100.04 in store right now.

 

[flattie]

That's where I got it this morning - for the $100 price.

 

[Kabillyhop]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tmarch291 /forum/post/12946547


If you do not have a 1080p TV, I would return it. There is no difference between 720p or 1080i between the HD-A3 and the A30, and it's always better to have a new one anyways.

Actually there is a difference. The A30 has a better scaler. If the A30 is working properly I would keep it.

I swapped my A3 for an A30 this week, and (in my opinion) have an improved picture on my 720p projector.

 

[flattie]

Thanks to all that responded. I downloaded the firmware (ver 1.3) and burned an iso (only made 3 coasters before listening to advice given here about burnatonce) and it took the upgrade no problems. Watched 300 last night and was quite pleased with the pic and sound quality(SPDIF only option on receiver so its getting PCM bitstream). I need to get the SD DVD so I can do a comparison (my Pio 563 is still in the rack for dvd audio, sacd, and plain cd duty). It looks like I'll keep it.


I have yet to try a SD DVD in it - I'll test tonight when I get home and see how well it upscales to 1080i. My Mitsu ws 55413 does 480p VERY well so I'll be interested to see how Matrix or LOTR looks upscaled.

 

[blizzack2]

Keep the HD-A30 !!! Looks like someone made a big "Boo-Boo" in re-packaging and it has worked in your favor !!! The HD-A30 contains the ABT 1018 Anchor Bay chip which is a much better "Video Upscaler" than the chip that is found in the HD-A3. I personally bought an HD-A3 and the picture quality was very good, but when I read about the ABT 1018 chip my curiosity got the best of me so I returned it to Circuit City and for an additional $29.99 I upgraded to the HD-A30 to see if my research was accurate. Sure enough, I instantly noticed the picture quality was MUCH BETTER in the HD-A30 !!! The standard definition upconversion was better and High Definition 'Hd DVD" video was also better. The HD-A30 simply had a much cleaner, crisper, brighter and more colorful picture !!! There is definitely a noticable difference between the HD-A3 and the HD-A30. In other words you lucked up for sure ! You just got yourself a complimentary upgrade buddy ... you lucky duck you

Have a great day and enjoy

 

[hiwind]

Does anybody have the xbox 360 add-on and an A30? Curious as to what if any the PQ difference is like between these 2 machines.


Component vs hdmi on the A30 on panny plasma tv, any noticable difference? Im sure someone has done this!