Washington, D.C.
(April 14, 2007) --
Toshiba's new
HD-XA2 is the best HD-DVD player yet.
That's the conclusion of a review by CNET.com.
The technology web site says the high-def DVD player delivers an "excellent image quality on HD-DVDs and DVDs," offers faster load times than previous models, and provides a HDMI 1.3 connection for the best possible resolution.
CNET gives the player a score of 7.3 out of a possible 10. The HD-XA2 retails for $799, although it can be found for less online.
On the down side, the web site notes the expensive price tag and adds that HD-DVD could lose the format war to rival Blu-ray. It also says the player has "some operational quirks (and a) terrible remote."
But overall, CNET says the HD-XA2 is an "excellent choice" for early adopters willing to gamble on HD-DVD."
The Toshiba player was also the first HD-DVD player to display in 1080p.
That's the conclusion of a review by CNET.com.
The technology web site says the high-def DVD player delivers an "excellent image quality on HD-DVDs and DVDs," offers faster load times than previous models, and provides a HDMI 1.3 connection for the best possible resolution.
CNET gives the player a score of 7.3 out of a possible 10. The HD-XA2 retails for $799, although it can be found for less online.
On the down side, the web site notes the expensive price tag and adds that HD-DVD could lose the format war to rival Blu-ray. It also says the player has "some operational quirks (and a) terrible remote."
But overall, CNET says the HD-XA2 is an "excellent choice" for early adopters willing to gamble on HD-DVD."
The Toshiba player was also the first HD-DVD player to display in 1080p.
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The site says the player's picture quality is roughly the same as Toshiba's previous models. But it adds that the images are excellent.
"For example, on Swordfish we could easily make out very fine details of Hugh Jackman's face on closeups, and the colors really popped on our reference display, the Pioneer Pro-FHD1. We also looked at the The Hulk, which is also extremely sharp, and saw very few flaws in the image quality," the review stated.
CNET particularly was impressed that the player's load time was much less than the Toshiba HD-A1, which was introduced in April 2006. (The new model began shipping last January.)
"The HD-A1 was extremely slow, taking more than a minute to boot up and play a disc," the review noted. "The HD-XA2 definitely improves on this -- it only took us 50 seconds total to load the unit and start playing a movie, and it only took 32 seconds to load an HD DVD when the unit was already turned on. That's not as fast as standard DVD players, but it was fast enough to not be a major issue."
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The site says the player's picture quality is roughly the same as Toshiba's previous models. But it adds that the images are excellent.
"For example, on Swordfish we could easily make out very fine details of Hugh Jackman's face on closeups, and the colors really popped on our reference display, the Pioneer Pro-FHD1. We also looked at the The Hulk, which is also extremely sharp, and saw very few flaws in the image quality," the review stated.
CNET particularly was impressed that the player's load time was much less than the Toshiba HD-A1, which was introduced in April 2006. (The new model began shipping last January.)
"The HD-A1 was extremely slow, taking more than a minute to boot up and play a disc," the review noted. "The HD-XA2 definitely improves on this -- it only took us 50 seconds total to load the unit and start playing a movie, and it only took 32 seconds to load an HD DVD when the unit was already turned on. That's not as fast as standard DVD players, but it was fast enough to not be a major issue."
Click Reviews to see more HDTV Product Reviews.
Click TVPredictions.com to see today's Swanni Sez.
© TVPredictions.com
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Phillip Swann is
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Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com
or at 703-505-3064.
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