Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player

• HD DVD Playback
• DVD Playback, CD Playback
• 720p/1080i/1080p resolution with upconversion of Standard Def DVDs
• HDMI Out with Deep Color Support and HDMI CEC
• Includes Warner Bros' 300 HD DVD and Universal's The Bourne Identity HD DVD (packaged inside)

Audio/video quality is top of the line I cannot tell the difference between this and the quality of Blu-Ray and standard DVD on my PS3 (running to a 70" 1080P Sony XBR2). The difference between standard DVDs and the quality of HD DVDs on this player is astounding. I would say that you should only get this if you have the set-up to take advantage of the A35 specs bitstream HD audio, 1080P/24, HDMI 1.3. Otherwise, look for a cheaper model or wait for the next generation of players. If you are looking to make the jump to HD DVD, this is the top of the line player and is highly recommended. You get your money's worth, particularly with the 10 free HD-DVDs Amazon is offering.

BUT, if you are on the fence about making the jump, be aware of the following (1) You need a firmware update right out of the box which is annoying (use this link for the best description of how to perform the update http://www.highdefforum.com/showthread.php?t=56607 believe me you'll thank me for finding this link, the author of that thread should be highly commended...) It is amazing to me that the current generation of HD DVD players/Blu Ray players do not have built in WiFi to make the update process easier and for easier viewing of extras that require an internet hook-up. This is a big reason the Xbox 360/PS3 players are nice. WiFi should be coming in future generations of players. (2) This player is deeper and wider than future players will be I had to rearrange my setup to make room for it. It is slightly wider and deeper than my HD DVR Directv box. (3) Even with the 1.3 firmware update, the player is sensitive to scratched HD DVDs. The player would not play a nexflix HD DVD that had some scratches. HD DVDs without scratches work perfectly. This should be fixed in future generations of players. (4) The player has a delay when you fast-forward or rewind. It is a slight annoyance that will be fixed in future generations of players. (5) You don't just turn it on and pop in the movie, it takes about a minute to get the DVD menu up. Again, a minor annoyance that will be fixed in future generations of players.

All together, if you want to be on the cutting edge of technology, you have to put up with the growing pains described above. This is the top of the line HD DVD player, and if you want to make the leap I recommend this player. If you are on the fence and are fine watching standard DVDs, you might want to wait. If you don't have a top of the line receiver/tv setup, I would do some research and perhaps go with a cheaper model.

I am very happy with my purchase, and recommend this player to people like me who spent a good amount of money on their audio/video set-up and watch 3+ movies a week (if this is you and you don't have an HD DVD player yet, what are you waiting for!?!). In the end, the best recommendation is to say that I would buy it again if this player were somehow lost.

Buy Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player Now

When I first hooked this up, I thought I was going to have the same problem I had with my HD-A2 player-it wouldn't boot up. However, this player booted up just fine and I am very impressed with the picture. The sound on Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby True HD soundtracks is terrific when played through my Onkyo 805 receiver. I do have a quibble with the Dolby True HD on some discs, though. I put in one and every time I went to a different track or tracked forward, there was about a minute that the picture was silent. I found that the set up on the machine was very easy and the instruction manual is well written and informative. The remote is the same as the one for my HD-A2, so if I lose this one, I can use the other one. The machine is smaller than the HD-A2 and is very easy to move around. It's quite light, but feels sturdy when you pick it up. All in all this is an attractive unit, performs very well, and will blow your ears off when it kicks in full tilt on a good sound track. Can't wait to watch 300 on it. 300 and The Bourne Identity both are included in the package.

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player Here

The main advantage of this player is the ability to pass audio directly to the receiver. If you have a HDMI receiver capable of processing TrueHD or DTS-Master audio, then the A35 is right for you. I have my A35 hooked up to an ONKYO 605 receiver and the sound is phenomenal. If you don't have or plan to get an HDMI receiver, you're probably better off going with the A30 and saving a few bucks.

However, when you talk about value, I have to think back to a year ago when you could only get a 1080i player for $500. Now, for under $500, you can get this A35 with 1080p processing and HDMI 1.3 support. On top of that, the movies `300' and `The Bourne Identity" are in the box (a $60 value) and you get 5 more free movies by mail ($150 value). Plus: Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks support HD DVD exclusively, so some of the hottest hit will only be available in HD DVD.

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It is a shame all the major retailers (Wal Mart, Target...) decided not to support HD DVD giving Toshiba no choice but to stop supporting it.

I bought the Sony BDP-S500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player for $600 at Circuit City then later bought the Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player for only $228 from Amazon (now down to $196). I actually think the Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player is superior to the Sony BDP-S500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player because it has the following features that the Sony does not:

1. The ability to select the distance of all surround speakers from the viewer (to compute optimum delay time)

2. The ability to select a dialog enhancing mode

3. The ability to select speaker size of all surround speakers (my Techniques sound processor can do this too)

4. The ability to set the cross over frequency of the sub woofer (both my NHT subwoofer and Pioneer amplifier can also do this).

The first two are the best features.

Other than that the two units are the same: Both are the least expensive units that have the x.v. color and 24 fps feature. But now, no doubt due to Toshiba pulling the plug on HD DVD, the Sony BDP-S500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player has shot up to $999 at Amazon from $599 at Circuit City (and by the same token, that is probably why the Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player is only $196).

The HD DVDs are half the price of Blue Ray and the same quality picture (1080p) and sound.

My suggestion: Buy the Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player for $196 at Amazon, then buy all the HD movies you think you will want. Since Blue Ray DVD movies go for $30 and HD DVD movies are going for $15, this will save you $15 per disc. You will quickly pay for the $196 spent for the Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player to say nothing of the current $800 price difference between the Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player and Sony BPS-500! You also get 7 free HD discs with the Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Player: 2 in the box and five you send in for.

First HD DVD set I am going to buy is the entire first season of Star Trek with the redone, 2006 special effects and remastered soundtrack on HD DVD. It comes out to only $3.36 per episode, half that if you include the fact that this set also has every episode in standard DVD as well. I'll get King Kong and Superman Returns too.

I did a lot of research before purchasing an HD DVD player. My decision to go with HD DVD over Blu-Ray was for the following:

-The HD DVD audio codec is more strict than Blu-Ray, so one could assume that HD DVD will produce higher quality TrueHD audio

-Price: The HD DVD player is ½ the price of a comparable Blu-Ray player

-At the time of purchase, Blu-Ray players didn't yet support TrueHD audio

-HD DVD players were outselling Blu-Ray 3 to 1

-Most of the titles that I wanted were on HD DVD and cheaper (avg. $20 ea)

-The DVD consortium backed HD DVD

-The dual/multi layer support for HD DVD means that it can store more data per disk side than Blu-Ray interesting that Blu-Ray proponents claim the opposite

-The Amazon reviews on the Toshiba players were far better than the Sony/Panasonic Blu-Ray players

Overall, I'm satisfied with this HD DVD player but I suspect that the days of physical media disks for audio/video content are numbered I fully expect to be downloading most of my 1080p content in a few years (i.e. AppleTV, Netflix, or TiVo downloads). Here are the A35 pros/cons:

Pros:

-Excellent video/audio

-Support for TrueHD direct to your receiver via HDMI

-1080p, deep color, and CEC support

-Great price $260 expect to pay 100% more for a comparable Blu-Ray player

-Ethernet support; auto updates

Cons:

-Doesn't remember/bookmark disk location when you turn on/off player

-Startup time is slow about 30 seconds. It takes 45 seconds to eject a disk

-Warners Bros recently announces exclusive support for Blu-Ray not sure what this means for HD DVD but at 1/2 the price and better consumer reviews, HD DVD is the clear winner for me