So I know it might sound stupid to jump on the proverbial HD-format bandwagon since there really hasn't been a clear winner between HD DVDÂ and Blu-Ray, I figured I might as well jump in. I went ahead and ordered a Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player from Amazon and of course the Planet Earth HD DVD set (original BBC series) to accompany it.
I got the HD-A2 pretty quickly and it was very easy to setup via HDMI to my Onkyo TXSR803 receiver. Sadly the Planet Earth HD DVD set was delayed and only shipped late last week. I'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive so I can truly test out the capabilities of the HD DVD format. However the few Netflix HD DVD rentals I've tried all came across pretty well, quality varied by film and I'm assuming the transfer of that film to HD.
But if you do the math, the Toshiba HD-A2 can be had on Amazon for around $320 plus you get 5 free HD DVD movies to mail away for. Then the Planet Earth HD DVD set usually $99.99 is for $69 which is a decent deal. So basically for ~$400 you get a competent HD DVD player, an amazing series and HD showpiece and five HD movies of your choice. Not a bad deal at all.
By the way, if you do end up getting a Toshiba HD DVD player (whichever model it is) keep in mind that firmware updates are your friends and these players only come with RJ-45 (ethernet jacks) so make sure you are setup to hook this bad boy into your home network to download firmware updates. I did that as soon as I got mine and the update I downloaded had some pretty major fixes such as "pixelation fix"...no joke.
All in all I'm liking the Toshiba HD-A2 a lot and as soon as I get my Planet Earth HD DVD set I'll post my impression of that. If you're thinking of taking a HD disc format for a spin this is not a bad way to go.
P.S. I have an Xbox 360 so the HD DVD accessory was a thought but I wanted Dolby TrueHD and other losless audio codecs which are only possible over HDMI which the Xbox 360's HD DVD accessory don't support. Ok, enough rambling now. Toshiba HD-DVD and Planet Earth (HD-DVD), what a great couple
So I know it might sound stupid to jump on the proverbial HD-format bandwagon since there really hasn't been a clear winner between HD DVDÂ and Blu-Ray, I figured I might as well jump in. I went ahead and ordered a Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player from Amazon and of course the Planet Earth HD DVD set (original BBC series) to accompany it.
I got the HD-A2 pretty quickly and it was very easy to setup via HDMI to my O [...]So I know it might sound stupid to jump on the proverbial HD-format bandwagon since there really hasn't been a clear winner between HD DVDÂ and Blu-Ray, I figured I might as well jump in. I went ahead and ordered a Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player from Amazon and of course the Planet Earth HD DVD set (original BBC series) to accompany it.
I got the HD-A2 pretty quickly and it was very easy to setup via HDMI to my Onkyo TXSR803 receiver. Sadly the Planet Earth HD DVD set was delayed and only shipped late last week. I'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive so I can truly test out the capabilities of the HD DVD format. However the few Netflix HD DVD rentals I've tried all came across pretty well, quality varied by film and I'm assuming the transfer of that film to HD.
But if you do the math, the Toshiba HD-A2 can be had on Amazon for around $320 plus you get 5 free HD DVD movies to mail away for. Then the Planet Earth HD DVD set usually $99.99 is for $69 which is a decent deal. So basically for ~$400 you get a competent HD DVD player, an amazing series and HD showpiece and five HD movies of your choice. Not a bad deal at all.
By the way, if you do end up getting a Toshiba HD DVD player (whichever model it is) keep in mind that firmware updates are your friends and these players only come with RJ-45 (ethernet jacks) so make sure you are setup to hook this bad boy into your home network to download firmware updates. I did that as soon as I got mine and the update I downloaded had some pretty major fixes such as "pixelation fix"...no joke.
All in all I'm liking the Toshiba HD-A2 a lot and as soon as I get my Planet Earth HD DVD set I'll post my impression of that. If you're thinking of taking a HD disc format for a spin this is not a bad way to go.
P.S. I have an Xbox 360 so the HD DVD accessory was a thought but I wanted Dolby TrueHD and other losless audio codecs which are only possible over HDMI which the Xbox 360's HD DVD accessory don't support. Ok, enough rambling now.
So I know it might sound stupid to jump on the proverbial HD-format bandwagon since there really hasn't been a clear winner between HD DVDÂ and Blu-Ray, I figured I might as well jump in. I went ahead and ordered a Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player from Amazon and of course the Planet Earth HD DVD set (original BBC series) to accompany it.
I got the HD-A2 pretty quickly and it was very easy to setup via HDMI to my Onkyo TXSR803 receiver. Sadly the Planet Earth HD DVD set was delayed and only shipped late last week. I'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive so I can truly test out the capabilities of the HD DVD format. However the few Netflix HD DVD rentals I've tried all came across pretty well, quality varied by film and I'm assuming the transfer of that film to HD.
But if you do the math, the Toshiba HD-A2 can be had on Amazon for around $320 plus you get 5 free HD DVD movies to mail away for. Then the Planet Earth HD DVD set usually $99.99 is for $69 which is a decent deal. So basically for ~$400 you get a competent HD DVD player, an amazing series and HD showpiece and five HD movies of your choice. Not a bad deal at all.
By the way, if you do end up getting a Toshiba HD DVD player (whichever model it is) keep in mind that firmware updates are your friends and these players only come with RJ-45 (ethernet jacks) so make sure you are setup to hook this bad boy into your home network to download firmware updates. I did that as soon as I got mine and the update I downloaded had some pretty major fixes such as "pixelation fix"...no joke.
All in all I'm liking the Toshiba HD-A2 a lot and as soon as I get my Planet Earth HD DVD set I'll post my impression of that. If you're thinking of taking a HD disc format for a spin this is not a bad way to go.
P.S. I have an Xbox 360 so the HD DVD accessory was a thought but I wanted Dolby TrueHD and other losless audio codecs which are only possible over HDMI which the Xbox 360's HD DVD accessory don't support. Ok, enough rambling now. 
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