Toshiba SD-3900 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

• Progressive-scan ColorStream component-video output for ultimate DVD picture quality (with an HD or HD-ready TV)
• Optical and coaxial digital-audio outputs pass Dolby Digital and DTS surround (to compatible AV receiver and speakers)
• MP3- and WMA-CD playback; JPEG photo viewer displays digital photographs and slideshows on your television
• Offers 3:2 pulldown, black-level expansion, multiple picture settings, 16x picture zoom
• 3D-DNR (digital noise reduction) reduces random noise in video CDs, poorly mastered DVDs, and zoomed images

I have never owned a Toshiba player before, but I have heard about their quality since I first got into DVD 4-5 years ago. I'd wanted to try one out, but always ended up selecting a different model (I've had 4 players) Finally, I decided to upgrade again and got this player because of the price. While it's MSRP is $149, it can be found at Amazon and other locations for $. Don't let that fool you. This technology gets cheaper and better every day, and I'd say this model is much nicer than a $400 player 2 years ago, and that it's easily competitive with players today in the $200 range.

I've got it hooked up to a Sony Wega via component cables, and the pic is excellent. Very detailed, no artifacting, no sign of the chroma bug. Blacks are there too, many players now days cannot really do a black properly, this player does it very well, and does it without muddling all the dark colors on the screen into 1 shapeless blob too. It's detailed enough to be dark without missing what's going on. The colors are very strong, but do not bleed or over saturate. This is a problem on many players and TVs, so I wasn't expecting much. I was very surprised though at the depth and color of the pic. Reds were stabilized, even bright reds. Very nice.

If you're considering this player, I'd stop considering and buy it. Toshiba's the name in DVD and this player is one of their best. I gave it 5 stars because I really don't think there is a better player out there in this price range.

Buy Toshiba SD-3900 Progressive-Scan DVD Player Now

I've been around the block with DVD players. First, I bought a Samsung which choked on playback and was incompatible with my TV, then I bought the Toshiba 2900 which worked but had an inscrutable interface.

This Toshiba 3900 really is perfect: the image is clear, sharp, and easily adjustable to any TV even if you only have a regular-size old TV like I do, you'll notice that the image at first is weirdly vertical (like El Greco paintings) because the default output is for the slightly wider screen of the new digital TVs. Adjusting the output for my regular-size TV was easy, I just pressed "MENU", selected "Setup", and under "TV Display", I selected "regular TV", and the image output changed to be perfectly sized for my TV.

Clearly, Toshiba put some thought into the remote, which has the frequently-used play, stop, forward and rewind buttons slightly larger and centered nicely. The menu interface also is a breeze, in plain English without inscrutable icons or baffling toggles. The zoom feature, for example. is just as it should be: you press "ZOOM"; the display zooms (on the Toshiba 2900, pressing zoom led you into a forest of mystifying menu symbols and toggle options).

The Toshiba 3900 comes with progressive scan, an image enhancement feature now standard with DVD players. Both the progressive scan image output and the regular image output are crystal-clear and sharp on my regular old TV, and quite an improvement, particularly compared to analog broadcast.

Recording perfect VHS tapes from the DVD player is easy simply by feeding the audio and video output from the DVD into the audio and video input for the VCR, I can record perfectly anything that's playing on the DVD player. I'm not saying you should do this, I'm just pointing out that it's possible.

The player has played every disc I've put in it without difficulty, even one that had been scratched.

And it has a sleek, understated gray brushed titanium finish that looks sharp. Friends have actually commented on how nice it looks.

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba SD-3900 Progressive-Scan DVD Player Here

This player can play non-R1 DVDs. It also converts PAL to NTSC. Here's the hack:

1. Put in non-R1 DVD.

2. When the region whine message appears, press: [menu] [1] [play]. The DVD should play, but with region message still up.

3. Press [Marker] then [Clear]; Message is now gone.

I rated this player at less than five stars because it lacks the ability to remember the last-played location on a disk when the power is turned off.

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This is the third Toshiba DVD player I've had. They've definitely worked out a few kinks that prior models suffered from. First, the 3900 has a workable remote, the buttons are logically arranged and it is easy to hold right-side up. The jpg feature works very well, pics are very sharp even at low resolution on my 50" TV. The zoom is incredible, not by having an absurd magnification, but for the extreme sharpness at high magnification. It also allows just a 'slight' zoom at the first notch, perfect for expanding a letterboxed movie somewhat without losing too much of the frame. (The SD-2805 model overdoes it and it won't work properly for this.) This player doesn't network, doesn't have DVI output, doesn't record, doesn't have a mega-byte-per-second indicator. Not quite cutting edge, but it does all the standard feautures, plus progressive, without faults. An impressive value, I'm placing my Amazon order for a second unit.

Unless you happen to purchase a defective unit, you will love this DVD player. Viewing JPEG pictures via CD-Rs is a breeze. I am converting all of my old VHS tapes into DVD-Rs via my computer and have yet to experience any problems. Please note: you must purchase DVD-R NOT DVD+R.

I am very satisfied with my Toshiba and would recommend this DVD player to anyone even Vikings and Bears fans (sorry but I'm a diehard Packers fan).