Price Paid:  $400.00 from A&B Sound

Summary:
I bought this unit for $400 Canadian 3 years ago, but of course it can be found for much cheaper now. This unit has never caused me any problems. The picture quality is great, and the audio also is fantastic though it lacks an optical output. I wonder if some of the reviewers here who had problems with discs loading weren''t just dealing with dirty/scratched discs. The odd time I have a disc that won''t load I just clean the disc and then it loads fine. I plan to upgrade to a unit which will play other formats ie:MP3, CDR etc, but this is a bargain buy if you can find one.

Strengths:
-Awesome Picture Quality -Good sound, but better if it were Optical out -CHEAP-$400Canadian was cheap for a DVD player three years ago when I bought it

Weaknesses:
-Does not play CDR,MP3 -No optical output, every digital source should have one for this application -Not Progressive Scan, but what do you expect for the price?

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer model

Price Paid:  $250.00 from BestBuy

Summary:
I like its great image quality and zoom function. It is great joy to use. However, it developed motor problem after 18 months. It can not rotate the disc. Considering that I paid top price for Toshiba brand, I am not very happy about its short life. Since I need zoom function for my 20 inch TV, I bought another Toshiba, SD2715. But Toshiba SD2715 droped dead after 8 months. Now I am really suspicious about reliability of Toshiba DVD players. I am thinking about JVC for carousal and zoom functions.

Strengths:
Great image quality, Zoom

Weaknesses:
Not so reliable

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba SD 2715

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Encel Stereo Melb

Summary:
I bought this player on the strength of the rave reviews it was getting in the English and Australian audio visual magazines at the time (November- December 1999). I can only reinforce those raves.

DVD was still relatively new in Australia at that point and alleged lip-sync problems on the Pioneer steered me towards this player. I've had no problems to date with that problem or experienced any other major problem. Its played every DVD I ever tried, and picture quality is superb.

I have since auditioned a Marantz DV18 which is a later generation player and a lot dearer, but perceived no significant difference in picture quality. Recently I AB'd the Toshiba's music replay against my Onkyo multi cd player which I've been happy with for years, and couldn't notice any sonic difference. Nonetheless I tend to use the DVD player only for movies and movie sound is sensational.

For the price and somewhere well beyond, its a ripper of a machine. They should have put a metal plate in the bottom to increase weight and then could've charged thrice the price(yes, I'm a cynic)and still sold bucketloads, its that good.

Strengths:
great picture, excellent sound , minimum of useless features

Weaknesses:
flimsy tray, ordinary remote, no display off

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer DV535, Marantz DV 18

Price Paid:  $700.00 from e bay

Summary:
I SAW THIS ON E BAY FOR AN INCREDIBLE $700.00 DOLLARS AND BOUGHT IT IN 1 HUNDREDTH OF A SECOND. GOT IT IN 2 DAYS , AND HOOKED IT UP AND ALL I CAN SAY IS PREAMPS CAN ONLY GET SO GOOD, AND YOU CANNOT GET BETTER THEN THIS. I TESTED IT BY LISTENING TO THE DVD, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ZOOM, IN DTS I THOUGHT I WAS AT THE CONCERT. EVERY LITTLE DETAIL WAS BROUGHT TO THE SURFACE WITH THE MARANTZ AV 9000. AND JURRASIC PARK 3 WAS BETTER THEN IN THE MOVIE THEATER, MAYBE THEY SHOULD GET A MARANTZ? ONE THING THAT REALLY STOOD OUT WAS THE REAR EFFECTS, IT ACTUALLY SCARED ME WHEN THE STEALTH PLANE FLEW OVERHEAD IN THE DVD, BROKEN ARROW. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A PRE AMPLIFIER, DO NOT BUY TILL YOU CHECK THIS ONE OUT. I HAVE NEVER LEFT A REVIEW ON ANYTHING BEFORE, BUT FELT COMPELLED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW SIMPLY AMAZING THIS PIECE OF EQUIPMENT IS. WAYDE H

Strengths:
VERY DETAILED IN MUSIC AND MOVIES. DTS IS AWESOME

Weaknesses:
YOU COULD NOT FIND ONE IF YOU TRIED

Similar Products Used:
NONE

Price Paid:  $299.00 from onecall.com

Summary:
I've used this DVD player for over 3 years now and I am very satisfied with its performance. Recently however I've noticed some strange things on several DVDs. On my Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon DVD, the menu arrow (green stamp) disappears after some navigation and does not return. This has happened with a few other DVDs as well.

Strengths:
great video and audio quality

Weaknesses:
strange behaviour on several DVD menus, user-unfriendly remote