Recommendations for a DVD player

[mlail]

As some of you noticed I am new to the HT world even though I have been reading what I can for a couple of years. I still struggle with all of the nuances of this industry, i.e a player being labeled HD in the model but it doesn't support HD... You get the picture.

I am looking for a player that will up convert my SD DVD's as well as play HD-DVD's. My screen supports 1080p so matching this capability would be great. My receiver has a HDMI port waiting on the new player so all should be good there. I would like to keep this in the $300 range but I fear that this might be wishful thinking. My wife wants a player that holds multiple disks but I don't see that happening in the same ball park.

Thoughts, advice, suggestions??
Thanks

 

[Leprkon]

I don't know of any multi HDDVD players. The best set-up for your price would be the Toshiba HD-A20 for around $340. You get a rebate for 5 movies (takes a while), but that pretty much mkes it an under $300 player,

http://media.onecall.com/Image_rebates/Toshiba_OnlineRebate.pdf

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?omid=113&ref=dealtime&utm_id=9&utm_source=Dealtime&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TBHDA20&sku=TBHDA20

 

[The Dukester]

Do you know if your TV is native 1080p or just supports 1080p? If it is actually a native 720p, and you plan on keeping it for a good while, I would look into a good upconverting player unless you are just set on getting a true HD player. As mentioned by Leprkon the only player in your price range right now is the Toshiba and it is not 1080p but 1080i I believe.

Also be aware that all studios do not support both HD DVD and Bluray so your movie choices will be somewhat limited for now unless you buy one of each type. For instance, Universal is only supporting HD DVD. Sony and Disney are only putting out discs on Bluray. Hope this helps.

 

[Adam]

The Toshiba HD-A20 does do 1080p. The HD-A2 is limited to 1080i.

 

[mlail]

Do you know if your TV is native 1080p or just supports 1080p? If it is actually a native 720p, and you plan on keeping it for a good while, I would look into a good upconverting player unless you are just set on getting a true HD player. As mentioned by Leprkon the only player in your price range right now is the Toshiba and it is not 1080p but 1080i I believe.

Also be aware that all studios do not support both HD DVD and Bluray so your movie choices will be somewhat limited for now unless you buy one of each type. For instance, Universal is only supporting HD DVD. Sony and Disney are only putting out discs on Bluray. Hope this helps.

Where to start, yes my screen supports native 1080p format and like many people out there I am not willing to drop $500 on a HD or Blueray player because of the player wars going on right now. There have been many good arguments that suggest the wars will kill the technology all together. Not good for either camp. I would love to have a dual format player but the cost is beyond my budget and from what "little" I've read the players don't do a very good job. Maybe I'm wrong, I am not as experienced as most here!

I liked the A2 player until I read the 1080i only format. I looked at the A20 and it was pricer but OK considering the extra HD-DVDs. In another thread someone mentioned the HD-XA2 player but the cost of $500 to $600 was a little steep considering the format wars...

I had a bad experience with Toshiba poor support on one of their dome cameras and I hoped there were other players that are as good but none are mentioned.

Thanks for the comments, keep them coming!

 

[avaserfi]

If you want to steer clear of the format wars I suggest looking into an Oppo dvd player. They will play pretty much anything under the sun that isn't HD video. Take a look at the 981HD they truely are great upconverting players and they are universal to top it off. A great deal for the price.

http://www.oppodigital.com/

 

[obscbyclouds]

If you want to steer clear of the format wars I suggest looking into an Oppo dvd player. They will play pretty much anything under the sun that isn't HD video. Take a look at the 981HD they truely are great upconverting players and they are universal to top it off. A great deal for the price.

http://www.oppodigital.com/

The OP already has a 981, it's in his signature. So....I think you are basically stuck with the Tosh players that have already been mentioned unless you would be interested in buying a Universal HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player from LG for $1000 (I have no idea how good/bad it is). If you want to wait, I'm sure the price of Universal HD Players and HD-DVD players will come down.

 

[avaserfi]

The OP already has a 981, it's in his signature. So....I think you are basically stuck with the Tosh players that have already been mentioned unless you would be interested in buying a Universal HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player from LG for $1000 (I have no idea how good/bad it is). If you want to wait, I'm sure the price of Universal HD Players and HD-DVD players will come down.

Mis-read I thought just a upconverting player was needed as another source. Did not realize he wanted an HD player. Sorry about that.

From what I understand about the universal HD players is that they are not fully functional and besides it costs as much as a standalone of each, if not more.

 

[darien87]

I liked the A2 player until I read the 1080i only format.

Why are you adverse to 1080i? The ONLY time I have ever noticed interlacing in a 1080i picture was while playing Gran Turismo, and that's a video game, not a movie. If you don't play video games, I would think that 1080i would be just fine for you.

 

[obscbyclouds]

Why are you adverse to 1080i? The ONLY time I have ever noticed interlacing in a 1080i picture was while playing Gran Turismo, and that's a video game, not a movie. If you don't play video games, I would think that 1080i would be just fine for you.

Keep in mind he has a native 1080p display. You (and I) have 1080i CRT's. If I had a 1080p display, i would certainly want to feed it a 1080p signal from HD-DVD or BR that way the signal does not need to be de-interlaced.

 

[mlail]

Everyone here has good points but from your input and my own thoughts I believe that it is still not the right time to go HD or Blueray. I can't see spending a grand for a combo player and I can't see buying a single format player when only some studios support the format. I believe that the best decision I can make for now is to keep the 981 player and wait for war to end or the formats to go away.

Thanks for your feedback and I will be sure to read this forum as time allows.

 

[darien87]

You own a $3,000 TV and a $1,500 receiver, yet you only want to spend $300 for a DVD player???? Interesting.

You can get a Blu-ray player for $500. Seeing as how there is only ONE movie studio that solely supports HD-DVD, I think Blu-ray is the safer bet. If you're waiting for the format war to end, I think you're going to be waiting for at least another year or so. But I can understand not wanting to feel like you wasted your money too.

Good luck.

 

[j_garcia]

Blockbuster announced today that they would have BluRay in store, based on public habits so far in test stores. HD DVD will be only in select stores and online. That to me says a lot.

I chose BluRay, but the reality is, they both look more or less identical to me, and they both support the same audio formats, so it doesn't matter if one or the other wins...

I am currently playing around with an Oppo 970HD just to see if I like it.

 

[Rex]

A big question for me is why in the recommended $75K system, they say that if you have the 3930CI, you would never have to put a DVD into the Tosh player. Now, does that mean you would never have to have buy an HD-DVD? The Denon does that good a job upconverting standard DVDs to 1080p? I am slightly confused about that.

 

[avaserfi]

A big question for me is why in the recommended $75K system, they say that if you have the 3930CI, you would never have to put a DVD into the Tosh player. Now, does that mean you would never have to have buy an HD-DVD? The Denon does that good a job upconverting standard DVDs to 1080p? I am slightly confused about that.

That would just be referring to SD dvds. There is no amount of processing that can take SD and make it look as good as HD. The Denon just does a much better job compared to the tosh.

 

[Rex]

That would just be referring to SD dvds. There is no amount of processing that can take SD and make it look as good as HD. The Denon just does a much better job compared to the tosh.

Yeah, I figured that was the case. So that really doesn't say much for the Toshiba if Denon can make a SD-DVD look just as good as a HD disc. I haven't seen much referenced material in person. So what are we waiting for...Blu-Ray to get cheaper and better? Actually, I bought the Tosh HD-D2 which is 1080i, but I have a 1080p monitor. It only cost $250, but I am contemplating upgrading it to the HD-A20. Maybe waiting is the best alternative.

 

[avaserfi]

Yeah, I figured that was the case. So that really doesn't say much for the Toshiba if Denon can make a SD-DVD look just as good as a HD disc. I haven't seen much referenced material in person. So what are we waiting for...Blu-Ray to get cheaper and better? Actually, I bought the Tosh HD-D2 which is 1080i, but I have a 1080p monitor. It only cost $250, but I am contemplating upgrading it to the HD-A20. Maybe waiting is the best alternative.

Both formats have their reference material its just a matter of knowing where to look. Comparing side by side, if you even need to, the HD reference material to DVD reference material is well, it just isn't fair. As for prices on Blu-ray dropping that should help them out.