Need some advice a new dvd player.

["The Dude"]

A little help here guys. I'll soon be upgrading my tv which means I will need to upgrade my old non-progressive, non-upscaling player.

I'm looking for a good one, but relatively cheap. What's the A/V quality like on the cheap $100 players? Any recommendations?

I'm also thinking about the new Toshiba HD-DVD player($500). I haven't been keeping up to date in the HD-DVD thing, but my question is if I get the new HD player, will I need to upgrade my reciever too for sound purposes. Will I still be able to play 5.1 audio using the new HD player and my old receiver(pioneer vsx-26tx)?

I know this is probably a dumb ass question but I haven't even checked out the whole HD-DVD/Blue Ray thing closely because I thought I wouldn't be diving into it this early.

[plissken99]

Well, if you go for the $500 Toshiba, you may not be able to play ALL of the upcoming special formats, but it sounds like at least one Dolby and DTS HD format will be compatable with current recievers.

For a DVD player, I can recommend nothing higher than the Oppo for $199. It has the best PQ of any DVD player short of the $2000 range(i.e Denon), it's region free after a simple remote control hack(even converting PAL to NTSC), and reads just about anything. It only has a DVI out, but they actually include a DVI to HDMI cable with the player(no quality is lost in that conversion btw). I've only been using it for a couple of months, it replaced my HTPC, and I'm enjoying the best DVD picture ever, and it's extremley reliable, don't let the cheap look fool you.

["The Dude"]

Yeah, I've been hearing that. It seems that everyone loves the Oppo's. I kind of looked into them and realized that it doesn't have a HDMI out. That's cool that it comes with a DVI to HMDI adapter. Is there any reviews for the Oppo out there?

[plissken99]

Tons, just Google search "Oppo review", be wary of the date of the reviews, as the company has released numerous firmware udpates to fix various issues. The only problem left, is that like if your watching a movie with subtitles, it scrambles one subtitle in a movie, minor minor problem, that can be remedied by rewinding in viewing the subtitle again. There used to be an issue with the audio sync with the video, but that was fixed with their latest firmware update. If you order directly from them, you get the latest firmware.

Here is the most important review, at the top of the list. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...h&articles=all

[Pirate]

plissken, I may have already asked this, but is the Oppo regionless?

And The Dude, I would agree with plissken and get the Oppo if you're not ready to jump into HD. I've heard nothing but good about the player.

-PH

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by The Dude

A little help here guys. I'll soon be upgrading my tv which means I will need to upgrade my old non-progressive, non-upscaling player.

I'm looking for a good one, but relatively cheap. What's the A/V quality like on the cheap $100 players? Any recommendations?

I'm also thinking about the new Toshiba HD-DVD player($500). I haven't been keeping up to date in the HD-DVD thing, but my question is if I get the new HD player, will I need to upgrade my reciever too for sound purposes. Will I still be able to play 5.1 audio using the new HD player and my old receiver(pioneer vsx-26tx)?

I know this is probably a dumb ass question but I haven't even checked out the whole HD-DVD/Blue Ray thing closely because I thought I wouldn't be diving into it this early.

I think the Toshiba HD-A1 is a no-brainer at this point. You can get it for $450 shipped at Crutchfield with code PA440. It plays HD-DVDs and also upscales SD-DVD to 720p/1080i with HDMI output. The Toshiba also has builtin sound decoders so you don't need to upgrade your receiver. Why waste money on an SD-DVD player? Go with the Toshiba.

[plissken99]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

plissken, I may have already asked this, but is the Oppo regionless?

It comes as a region 1 player, but on the main set up menu, enter a code which takes you to a secret menu, there set the region to 0, and it's region free.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Ruined

I think the Toshiba HD-A1 is a no-brainer at this point. You can get it for $450 shipped at Crutchfield with code PA440. It plays HD-DVDs and also upscales SD-DVD to 720p/1080i with HDMI output. The Toshiba also has builtin sound decoders so you don't need to upgrade your receiver. Why waste money on an SD-DVD player? Go with the Toshiba.

Ruined,
Is there not some debate still on whether or not the A1 will decode the new formats in anything but 2.0? Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting the A1 as well, I just don’t want to steer the dude wrong.

-PH

["The Dude"]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

Ruined,
Is there not some debate still on whether or not the A1 will decode the new formats in anything but 2.0? Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting the A1 as well, I just don’t want to steer the dude wrong.

-PH

This was one of my concerns about this player. I know that I won't be able to play back DD+,Loseless or DTS HD because my receiver isn't HDMI compatible, but I was wondering if I would still be able watch BOTH standard DVD's and HD-DVD's in normal 5.1 on the Toshiba HD-A1 like how I'm watching DVD's now.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by The Dude

This was one of my concerns about this player. I know that I won't be able to play back DD+,Loseless or DTS HD because my receiver isn't HDMI compatible, but I was wondering if I would still be able watch BOTH standard DVD's and HD-DVD's in normal 5.1 on the Toshiba HD-A1 like how I'm watching DVD's now.

Yeah, you should be able to watch SD and HD DVDs in regular 5.1. The Toshiba will be completely backwards compatible.

-PH

[SidcupMartin]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

plissken, I may have already asked this, but is the Oppo regionless?

And The Dude, I would agree with plissken and get the Oppo if you're not ready to jump into HD. I've heard nothing but good about the player.

-PH

I'll third that - the Oppo is definitely IMO the best SD player round right now for the price.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

Ruined,
Is there not some debate still on whether or not the A1 will decode the new formats in anything but 2.0? Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting the A1 as well, I just don’t want to steer the dude wrong.

-PH

The Toshiba HD-A1 will only decode Dolby Digital TrueHD in 2.0, but it decodes Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD in 5.1. The fact that the launch player only decodes TrueHD in 2.0 means that you won't be seeing HD-DVD titles that only have TrueHD soundtracks - they will be accompanied with DDP5.1 soundtracks like the Phantom of the Opera HD-DVD. So no real concern about not getting 5.1 with the HD-A1.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Ruined

The Toshiba HD-A1 will only decode Dolby Digital TrueHD in 2.0, but it decodes Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD in 5.1. The fact that the launch player only decodes TrueHD in 2.0 means that you won't be seeing HD-DVD titles that only have TrueHD soundtracks - they will be accompanied with DDP5.1 soundtracks like the Phantom of the Opera HD-DVD. So no real concern about not getting 5.1 with the HD-A1.

Thanks for the clarification Ruined.

-PH

[plissken99]

Originally Posted by Ruined

The Toshiba HD-A1 will only decode Dolby Digital TrueHD in 2.0, but it decodes Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD in 5.1. The fact that the launch player only decodes TrueHD in 2.0 means that you won't be seeing HD-DVD titles that only have TrueHD soundtracks - they will be accompanied with DDP5.1 soundtracks like the Phantom of the Opera HD-DVD. So no real concern about not getting 5.1 with the HD-A1.

Also about the A1, I understand Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD are compatable with our current systems. Will the A1 pass them over a digital audio connection(digital coax/toslink)? Or just via HDMI?

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by plissken99

Also about the A1, I understand Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD are compatable with our current systems. Will the A1 pass them over a digital audio connection(digital coax/toslink)? Or just via HDMI?

Good question. My Rec doesn't have HDMI, so I'd like to know this as well.

EDIT: This link says that DD+ will be "fully compatible with all current receivers" http://dolby.com/promo/HD/ddplus.html

-PH