Toshiba HD-A2: Cheapest Player to Experience HD-DVD

If you still don't know which side to take on the format wars but want to test the waters without spending too much then you might want to try the Toshiba HD-A2 when you want to see how HD-DVD feels like.

The Toshiba HD-A2 is a step up from the previous Toshiba HD-A1 player and though there are other newer HD-DVD players that are out in the market, the Toshiba HD-A2 is the cheapest and with rumors that Best Buy and Walmart will be selling the Toshiba HD-A2 for under $100, then this is probably the player that you should get when you just want to see for yourself what HD-DVD is all about.

The Toshiba HD-A2 has very standard features. You get 720p and 1080i HD output, 480p, 720p, and 1080i SD Upconversion, backwards compatible with DVD Video, DVD VR, DVD-R, DVD-R DL, DVD-RW (video only), CD, and CD-R/RW. The Toshiba HD-A2 supports 5.1 channel Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, and DTS HD core. Terminals on the Toshiba HD-A2 are: Video Composite, S-Video, and component outputs, 2 channel analog audio output and digital optical output, HDMI output, Ethernet 10/100 base port, and 2 extension terminals.

If you're wondering what's an Ethernet port doing on an HD-DVD player, it's for downloading additional content provided by studios such as trailers, soundtracks, and other media and also for updating the firmware of your Toshiba HD-A2. Speaking of firmware updates, as you can see from the specifications, there's no DVI input, however you can use a HDMI output with DVI connector. The Toshiba HD-A2 previously had a problem playing 1080i pictures using the HDMI-DVI connector but the firmware update fixed the problem.

The design of the Toshiba HD-A2 is pretty simple and streamlined. A power button with a LED light can be located on the left while the LED display can be located on the right which you can dim or turn off. There's a flip down panel that hides the stop, play, pause, forward/backward buttons, preserving the simple and minimalist design of the Toshiba HD-A2.

Since it is high definition video, you can expect excellent image quality on HD-DVDs compared with DVDs, compared with Blu-ray discs, there's almost no difference, but of course, I'll let you be the judge of that. When playing DVDs on the Toshiba HD-A2, you can expect to see better picture quality than your regular DVD player. The Toshiba HD-A2 does a good job of converting DVDs to a higher resolution so you can enjoy it better on your HD TV.

If I have any qualms about the Toshiba HD-A2, it would be the remote. It just has too many buttons for me and it could be unresponsive at times even if the remote has a new battery. Also, I did notice a lag on the welcome screen a few times though I don't know if this is due to my HDMI connector.

All in all, the Toshiba HD-A2 is really the best and cheapest HD-DVD player you can get your hands on. It does what it's supposed to do: Play HD-DVD. You really can't go wrong with this unit. Even if HD-DVD ends up losing to Blu-ray in the long run, you only spent a $100 bucks on this player so it really won't feel like you've just lost an investment.