Who here has Toshiba HD-A3?

[velcrometer]

A3 has been ordered & is in transit as we speak, will be arriving within days. For those who already have one, can I do the following on the A3, or will I have to keep my old DVD player hooked up as well?

1) Show a photo slideshow burned onto DVD from computer?
2) Play a music CD?
3) Play a regular DVD? (A3 is HD only, right?)

 

[Nomo]

1) Don't know

2) Yes. but you may want to keep your SD player. I've had some drop out issues with my A2 while playing CDs

3) Absolutely, The upscaling of the HD-DVD players are actually pretty good.
I'm still trying to work out a black level problem with mine but over all I'm happy.

 

[desertdragon]

A3 has been ordered & is in transit as we speak, will be arriving within days. For those who already have one, can I do the following on the A3, or will I have to keep my old DVD player hooked up as well?

1) Show a photo slideshow burned onto DVD from computer?
2) Play a music CD?
3) Play a regular DVD? (A3 is HD only, right?)

Where did you get it and how much did you pay?
I am planning to get on myself.
Thanks.

 

[velcrometer]

Where did you get it and how much did you pay?
I am planning to get on myself.
Thanks.

$223 at Amazon.com packaged w/2 free HD DVDs, a mail-in rebate from Toshiba for 5 more free HD DVDs, and amazon.com has a special going when you order an HD DVD player from them (Toshiba only, I think) you get to choose 3 more free HD DVDs. Plus, I got free shipping when I ordered it a few days ago (don't know if they are still doing that).

I couldn't find anything better than that!

 

[Breatheasy]

2) Yes. but you may want to keep your SD player. I've had some drop out issues with my A2 while playing CDs

In addition to Nomo's answer to your #2, The A3 is VERY slow to load a disk-if you wants yo jams quickly then reg CD\DVD player may be advised

 

[mike c]

some people say if you upgrade the firmware you can knock 30 seconds off the load time unfortunately, it takes a few minutes for the whole process (from power on)

I can also hear the whirr from my A35 player when the room is silent

 

[Breatheasy]

some people say if you upgrade the firmware you can knock 30 seconds off the load time unfortunately, it takes a few minutes for the whole process (from power on)

I can also hear the whirr from my A35 player when the room is silent

I've flashed mine to latest firmware, couldn't tell much difference and yes there is some fan noise-just another reason to maybe choose to use a stand alone CD\dvd for music

 

[velcrometer]

Yes, I read somewhere here about there being a firmware download that should be done right out of the box. I think it's on the ongoing 50 pg "705" thread that has been condensed for us. I'll have to review when the A3 arrives in a couple days.

I will experiment with the cd's once I get it. I rarely play music in the house (but I love to crank the tunes in the car!). So, slow start up may not be much of a problem for me, we'll see. Thanks for the info guys, keep it coming!

 

[cmusic]

I bought my A3 from Best Buy for $199. Circuit City had the same price. Bourne Identity and 300 are packaged in the box. I haven't tried audio CDs but regular DVDs play fine. My A3 played HD DVDs fine out of the box but I updated the firmware anyway. I've had no problems with my A3 except on the movie Knocked Up it froze for a second or two and then the audio was off sync from the video. Pausing the movie and resuming play fixed the problem.

 

[velcrometer]

Wow, I just this minute (12:59pm PST, 12-20-07) saw the A3 at amazon.com for $182.20, no tax, free shipping, and the HD DVDs included. I think this is a great deal.