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Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player | 
 enlarge | Brand: Toshiba
Category: CE
Buy Used: $499.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  140 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 20
Dimensions (in): 13.9 x 16.9 x 4.1
Warranty: 1 Year Parts, 90 Day Labor Limited Warranty
MPN: HD-A1
Model: HD-A1
UPC: 022265412107
EAN: 0022265412107
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Perfect Condition, Barely Used
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| Features:
| • | Plays high-def HD DVD discs for sharper, more detailed picture performance than standard DVD discs ; measures 17.7 x 4.3 x 13.4 inches (WxHxD) | | • | Backwards compatible with current DVD and CD formats; upconverts DVD movie discs to near high-definition | | • | Ethernet port for upgrades; USB port on front; compatible with MP3, WMA, and JPEG files | | • | Connections: composite (1 out), S-Video (1 out), component (1 out), HDMI (1 out), USB, Ethernet | | • | DVD offer Dolby True HD/Dolby Digital/DTS decoding; coaxial and optical digital audio outputs |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
As a logical evolution of the DVD market to high definition, the HD-A1 has backward compatibility, allowing users to continue to enjoy their libraries of current DVD and CD software. Supporting the leading-edge efficient video compression standards of MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1, as well as MPEG2, this model will utilizes the video decoder chip developed by Broadcom.Toshiba's HD-A1 supports a variety of HD audio options to complement HD video offerings. The mandatory audio formats for HD DVD include both lossy and lossless formats from Dolby Labs and DTS - including the newly developed Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD.
Amazon.com Product Description
Get ready for the next generation of DVD entertainment with the Toshiba HD-A1 DVD player, which is compatible with the new HD DVD format. It combines the superior image and sound quality of high-definition images and multichannel surround sound with the convenience of DVD disc playback. In addition to the new HD DVD format, you'll also enjoy backward compatibility with your current DVD movie CD audio libraries, as well as content burned onto DVD-R/RW, DVD-RAM, CD-R/RW. The HD-A1 also scales standard definition DVD output via the HDMI connection to a resolution of 720p or 1080i to match your HDTV's performance. And because the conversion takes place in the player, the signal remains free from excessive digital-to-analog conversion artifacts. High definition output is only available from the HD-A1 via an HDMI connection. To get the most out of this player, you'll want to connect it to an HDMI compatible HDTV. HD DVD movie discs provide the ability to search the on-screen menu, make changes to set-up options or access other menu functions while the movie is playing. Scene searching is facilitated with thumbnail images on the TV screen that allow you to use the cursor to go directly to a specific scene. You can even access bonus material like directorOs comments while the movie is playing without going back to the discOs menu. DVD playback features include fast forward/reverse, slow play, step play, time search, and parental lock. The HD-A1 has built-in processors to handle the multi-channel decoders for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2 channel), DTS, and DTSHD. It employs the use of four DSPs to decode the multi-channel streams of the wide array of audio formats. These 32-bit floating-point DSPs are world renown for their high accuracy and are employed in many high quality audio solutions in the home theater market. This DVD player includes a USB interface on the front panel, enabling you to connect "mass storage classification devices"--i.e., external hard drives, portable thumb drives, and compatible MP3 players/digital cameras--and play JPEG, WMA, and MP3 files. You can also connect the player to the Internet via an always-on broadband connection using the Ethernet port in the rear. In addition to accessing special HD DVD sites, this function can be used to access firmware updates when available. Here's the full listing of video and audio connections: - Composite A/V: 1 out
- S-Video: 1 out
- Component Video: 1 out
- HDMI: 1 out
- USB: 1
- Digital audio: 1 coaxial, 1 optical
HD DVD Disc Format
Officially endorsed by the DVD Forum industry organization as the next high-capacity DVD disc, the HD DVD format delivers sharper, more detailed picture performance than standard DVD discs. Moreover, the HD DVD format opens new avenues of interactivity including enhanced on-screen menus, scene searching, directorsO commentaries and the potential for online shopping. HD DVD discs can offer both the current DVD and HD DVD formats on one disc, which means that special HD DVD discs will play in older DVD players as well as new high definition players. Tech Talk
HDMI is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link any audio/video source (such as a set-top box, DVD player, or AV receiver) with your TV--all over a single cable. HDMI supports standard, enhanced or high definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It supports all ATSC formats--standard (SDTV), enhanced (EDTV), and high (HDTV). Component video (also called Y/Pb/Pr) features a three-jack video input, which provides separate connections for luminance (Y), blue color difference (PB) and red color difference (PR). This results in increased bandwidth for color information, resulting in a more accurate picture with clearer color reproduction and less bleeding than you would get with S-Video or composite (RCA yellow video plug) connections. You will need a separate RCA left/right audio cable for sound. DVD-RAM is the most flexible of the recordable DVD formats when it comes to recording, editing and playback. With a DVD-RAM disc, you'll be able re-record content approximately 100,000 times. What's in the Box
HD DVD player, remote control (with batteries), printed operating instructions
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| Customer Reviews: Read 135 more reviews...
Excellent First Generation High Definition DVD PLayer May 3, 2006
80 out of 92 found this review helpful
Being the first to market in the High Definition DVD Player area, with Blu-ray right on its tail, id have to say its one amazing box. I started with last samurai regular dvd popped it in and wow was a standard DVD simply AMAZING, the upconvert in this box is the best ive seen. I then followed up by putting in the HDDVD version of Last Samurai and I was definately more pleased, stuff that was blotchy and pixelated no longer is so, most notable when standing or sitting close to an LCD TV the quality is noticably better. The price is a bit steep, but then again the first DVD Players were quite pricey as well. The prices for the HDDVDs are nice compared to costs for other new media standards such as the UMD Disc in fact about the same price as UMD Disc. The only cons I would have about this player is it takes REALLY LONG startup once turned on and HDDVD can take some time to get going and the thing is HUGE! It wont fit in most setups!
 Excellent HD Picture July 27, 2006
56 out of 63 found this review helpful
I bought this player about a week ago. The picture on standard DVD's is great. The picture on HD-DVD's is awesome! I bought 5 HD movies when I purchased this player. "Perfect Storm","Training Day","Apollo 13","Million Dollar Baby" and "Cinderella Man". The picture on all of these movies is incredible! The sound is also great. My player is hooked up to a 42 inch Panasonic plasma via an HDMI cable. My receiver is a Harman Kardon 240. If you hook up the sound using a fiber optic cable the sound is down converted to DTS. If you use the analog connections the sound comes across in Dolby Digital Plus. I'm using both connections. The sound of the DTS is louder because it's a digital signal, but the Dolby Digital Plus is clearer. It's sounds more like the sounds you'll hear at a real movie theater. Sometimes I watch movies using DTS, other times I'll use the Dolby Digital Plus. Both sound great. I was going to buy a Blu-Ray player but after reading lots of reviews and doing some research, I decided that the price tag on the Samsung Blu-Ray player was just too much. I haven't seen the picture on the Blu-Ray, but I bet that it's nothing like the Toshiba. The only concern I had when purchasing this player was the support of the movie studios. Blu-Ray has the support of most of the major studios. HD-DVD is basically only supported by Warner Brothers and Universal. Hopefully if HD-DVD continues to gain consumer support, more of the studios will switch sides. Nobody knows which format will win out, but even if HD-DVD loses out you'll have a high end DVD player that only cost 499.99 dollars. Buy this player. You won't regret it.
 Lock-Ups June 5, 2006
51 out of 96 found this review helpful
I purchased my Toshiba HD-A1 the first day is was released for sale through Amazon. I purchased a Sony Equalia just for the HD-DVD format. The picture quality and sound are both a significant improvement over the 480p format, Toshiba, I have been watching for the last several years.
While I am impressed with the improved picture I will wait for the 1080p format for even more improvement. The new HD-DVD releases are a mixed bag with some much more impressive than others.
My major problem with my new Toshiba is the constant lock-ups and picture freezes. Every one of my discs, brand new out of the box, freeze at some point in play back. Sometimes the lock-up lasts just a minute and restarts. Most often, the entire unit locks up and requires that I manually turn off the unit by holding the off button for 10 seconds. I then must wait for the player to reboot and then attempt to pass through the freeze point again. This is a five/ten minute process that usually results in the same problem. All six of my discs are locking up and I have yet to watch an entire movie.
What is up with the remote control?? Almost impossible to use in a darken room. I must either leave the room to find a button or turn on the lights. My other Toshiba players use very simple, easy to use, formats that I can handle day or night.
REASONS TO BUY HD-DVD and not Blu-ray. June 4, 2006
41 out of 75 found this review helpful
First: both formats are great advances from the basic DVD we all know and love. From this point of view, they are both winners.
Second: I doubt that Blu-ray is the future while saying (like Sony does) HD-DVD is just another form of DVD. Frankly, the future can come from both ways. It is all a matter of adoption. The financial investment (who will pay for the continuing research and advances) will pour into the format that wins the battle - and it is us, consumers, who choose the winning format (not Sony or Panasonic, or Toshiba or their marketing department and opinion makers)). Therefore I am not impressed by announcements that future Blu-rays will be able to do this or that. Its all a matter of investing. It is all a matter or researching.
Third: The DVD market is roughly 10 years old. Think about that. VHS was king for almost 25 years until DVDs came. Now, 10 years after DVD, the format has revolutionized the way we do home entertainment. With that in mind, should we simply throw our long DVD collections (who cost us thousands of dollars) into the trash bin? If I continue to buy new titles in one of those new formats, how long will it take for me to buy (again) the titles I already own on DVD? 20 years?
Like many people, I don't recall anybody saying to me back in 2000 "look, buy these dvds but keep in mind that they're just a transtition format between lousy VHS and the HD formats of the future" - which means, when I first started spending money on my DVDs, I never thought I was going to have to buy them all over again in another format in 10 or 15 year-time.
That's what is gonna happen with Blu-ray and DVDs since they're not compatible.
May I remind you that compact discs (whatever format can be fitted in this category) should last a life time?
So...
Fourth: If I have to choose the format for the future, It'll be the most compatible with the hundreds of DVDs I already have. Because I am planning to keep them for a long time. It took me ten years to build my DVD collection. It will take me at least 20 years to buy everything again - PLUS: in that period, I don't want my DVDs to become junk just like my old VHS tapes.
I am NOT saying technology should stand frozen on DVDs just because consumers already use it. But if new formats should emerge, they MUST respect the fact that consumers already spent a lot of money in a format that is very good - therefore, COMPATIBILITY issues are key. As I pointed before, VHS ruled for 25 years. It was more than fair when a new format (DVD) came and replaced the fragile VHS for a more robust lifetime lasting compact-disc-like digital format.
But we are only 10 years into DVDs and Sony says we must jump into something alse? what if they invent a new format 10 years from now - the lasercard (it's a joke)? should we throw out our Blu-rays too?
I just don't find it funny that technology uses content (music and films) to make us spend more money on things we don't really need (exemple: those ridiculous PSP discs with movies).
But if we DO NEED hi-def formats (and indeed I think we do), we should have one that is fully compatible with the existing format - compatibility is possible if not mandatory: we are not talking about disc versus tape. We are not talking about rotating heads versus laser.
Fifth: Sony is a nice brand. But they show no respect for consumers. Their first Blu-ray machines are compatible with DVDs alright... but for how long?
Can anybody answer me that?
Once they have the market in their hands, why keep paying royalties to maintain compatibility with DVD? Or CD?
They did not seem too interested in creating a format compatible with current technology because compatibility costs money on royalties and patents.
So, what makes you think the Blu-ray creators will keep their machines compatible with DVD?
We consumers spend a lot of money in music and movies. And I feel angry when someone (in this case, Sony) tells me they invented the ultimate format and that my current collection is gonna be worthless and unplayable in their machines within 5 years... or 10. The simple fact that you have to check for compatibility when you buy a Blu-ray player is frightening enough.
CONCLUSION
For me, HD-DVD is the way. Fully compatible. I can take 30 years to (on my own pace) replace my DVDs because they both (DVD and HD-DVD) belong to the same creators - meaning they will always be compatible for at least 25 years.
I am tired of hearing the pro-Blu-ray people blackmail us consumers saying "we will be sorry" if we chose HD-DVD. That is nonsense. The same thing was said when CDs replaced LPs.
Has everybody forgotten what happened to Laserdiscs? Who of you got stuck with 100 Lasediscs the minute the "future" pointed the DVD way? Luckily I was too young to buy Laserdiscs (I never had any).
Like millions, I pay for the future. I buy DVDs and I want to be sure I can use them for 20 more years until my current collection has been fully replaced. That is not ask too much.
That's why I don't care if Blu-ray can take mankind to Mars. HD-DVD will be able to do the same if we support it. And PLUS: it will be always compatible with DVD (they belong to the same creators).
The DVD format is a great thing. Think this: We'll have HD-DVD for movies (who'll always play back our current DVDs) and DVD-Audio for high quality multichanel music (who'll still be compatible with CDs for decades to come).
Now look a Sony: Blu-ray (compatible with nothing - and only compatible with DVDs while Sony needs to "friendly" push the format) and SACD (a format which is not even compatible with its own Blu-ray).
The people behind HD-DVD show make a lot more sense: first DVD, then DVD-audio, then HD-DVD. Their technology evolves without forgetting past formats.
Why should I support Sony, who's trying to push a format that will make me loose thousands of dollars worth of DVDs that will simply be deleted from compatibility the minute their format wins the battle?
Manufacturers like Hitachi and Pioneer will probably have models that can play both HD-DVDs, DVDs, DVD-Audios and CDs.
Why adopt the Blu-ray, then? Just because people say it is better? Wasn't Betamax better than VHS? Sure. Thus, you can't compare Blu-ray and HD-DVD on the same way. There is no better: they are just different. And they are very similar in what they can do for the average consumer.
And... one word about Fox and Disney. In the end, they will adopt whatever format consumers choose. Do you think they're stupid? Of course not. Positions and policies change.
And Sony will change if it wins. And within a year or two, we will be stuck with our worthless DVD collections.
Go HD-DVD. Technology goes wherever consumers go. Why should I buy the White Album again and again and again? My DVD of Casablanca is just fine, thank you. And I want to buy players that will be able to play it.
Because I respect my money, I will choose HD-DVD. Because I know both formats (HD-DVD and Blu-ray) can do miracles, I will choose the format that respects me the most.
AGAIN, I am NOT saying I want technology to freeze. All I'm saying is that I demand full compatibility. Blu-ray does not offer that. Sony does not offer that. HD-DVD does. And it too can take us to Mars if we adopt it.
Sound and vision gives round 1 to hd dvd over blu ray. Also electronic house and pc world top products list. Worth the upgrade September 2, 2006
24 out of 29 found this review helpful
I recently purchased the a1 for 500$ after comparing side by side the 800$ xa1 and seeing the inards are identical, i can deal with a remote that doesn't light up and save 300$.
Ok, at first the hdmi would not work you may need to do a firmware update which you can do online if you have a high speed connection, once i did that it worked perfect. Before i did the update i hooked it up using component and that was a huge improvement over standard dvds. I purchased about a year ago a pionner elite dv59avi for 1k$ and was very skeptical to spend more money. I was told by A rep at tweeter to save my money. I'm honestly very pleased that i got it i really am into this stuff and love movies and it is amazing picutre quality.
I find it better than a movie on hbo or showtime that is in hd. I was also blown away by the sound its amazing, crisp and clear. You can use coaxial or optical which will make everything dts and that sounds great or if you do not have a receiver that has hdmi which i didn't even after paying 4k a year ago for a pioneer elite 59txi however if you have the multi channel 5.1 you can use that to get dolby digital plus both sound great.
Pc world and electronic house named this to there top 100 products of the year. Also Sound and vision magazine after doing a thorough review of the hd toshiba player and then next month the samsung blu ray, it gave round one to hd dvd stating the dics consistently looked better. Not that im knocking blu ray its unfortunate there isn't one player but after reading everything i could i chose to go with the hd dvd player for starters.
Word of advice if you go to best buy, tweeter, circuit city, or any place out there it seems do your own research dont rely on anyone that works there. Most haven't heard of it, most of the time i found no stores to even have it hooked up for you to see, found more stores ie circuit city and tweeter to have blu ray displayed. Ive been told everything from all dvds are hd to there is no such thing. Do your own research. One more thing the wait time for the player cause its basically a computer. Just be slightly patient once you turn it on, tap the buttons gently and wait before hitting the same command over and over then your just going to freeze it like a sales person in sears kept doing. It just takes a minute and its well worth the wait. I hope this helps.
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