Not enough time to tell

It broke imediately

Unlike others who are evidently very pleased with this product, I was not able to evaluate the unit. It went belly up on the firt DVD that I inserted. It all started well enough but after about 20 minutes I got some pixelation on the screen and the picture froze. I was able to get it started again by fast forwarding but this problem started happening on about 5 minute intervals until at some point I was unable to unfreeze the playback. I then attempted to power off/power on the unit in hopes of resetting it and I was greeted with Loading... Loading... Loading... Disc Error!!! I tried another DVD and got the same problem. I will be taking it to a service center tomorrow.

I cannot rate the unit very highly even though I got it at the MobShop $159.95 price.

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Pioneer 414

Toshiba was one of the pioneers of DVD; quality and functionality; simplicity; VALUE

May lack a few bells and whistles if you're looking for that type of thing

I will keep my review simple. If you are looking for a good quality, simple DVD player that doesn't cost a boat-load of money, I would highly recommend this player. The picture quality is sensational. I have played about 9 or 10 DVD's so far (Ronin, Three Kings, Rounders, The Shining, Being John Malkovich, Boy's Don't Cry, some others) and have not had ANY major problems with any of the discs. Every once in a while i get a 1 second freeze, but I have heard that this can be normal when DVD's change layers or something -- this has only happened maybe twice.

Also worth mentioning is the difference between running the DVD through composite video and S-video. BIG DIFFERENCE. I was really blown away at how good S-video is -- especially if you spring for a GOOD cable (Monster S-video 3 for example). Cables in general make such a big difference, but be prepared to spend some coin. For instance, my dad just hooked his new Toshiba up to his Denon 3300. He spent almost $200 on cables alone. S-video3 for DVD and VCR, Coax Digital for sound from DVD to receiver, etc. Man, but what a difference, though. His digital Denon with 5.1 channels sounds even better than my humble pro-logic setup (to be expected).

As for the Toshiba ColorStream thing. Fortunately, when I auditioned this model the salesman was kind enough to hook up the 1200 to both a Toshiba with Colorstream and one without - there was in fact a difference in color, but not big enough to merit spending more for the TV that could handle it. (I bought the TV when I bought the DVD). I opted for the base model Toshiba 32" and I love it.

A few other things I learned. You CAN get great picture and sound from a $200 machine. Even though I didn't really NEED a DVD player -- it is sooo fun! Makes watching movies even more enjoyable.

Good luck!

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This is my first DVD player. I have a Nakamichi receiver (DPL), Toshiba 32" television, and Energy Take 5 with ES/* Subwoofer

Razor sharp picture! Best audio quality!

Small Remote, Flimsy loading tray

I tested both the Toshiba SD-1200 and the Pioneer DV-525 and went with the Toshiba because it ran much smoother than the Pioneer. The Pioneer had a loud, crackling loading sound. This is a great DVD player for your money. I paid $218 for it at Bryn Mawr, also they recommended this DVD player over the Pioneer.

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Pioneer DV-525

Good Quality at first

Started poor reading of DVD's that were not PERFECTLY Clean

One year to the day, DVD player stopped reading DVD movies all together.. had to take to repair shop authorized by toshiba for repair. Been 10 days and not seen it yet.

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none

Great picture

Haven't found any

I have found this DVD player to be everything the reviews have said it to be. The picture quality is superb. Unless you have alien fingers, I don't see what the fuss is all about concerning the remote control. I haven't been frustrated by pressing wrong buttons, because I haven't pressed any. The sound as far as my un-trained ears can tell is good enough. I don't have a dolby hook up either.

I got the player through www.mobshop.com at the great price of $189 and $0 shipping/handling. I believe I have made an excellent purchase even though several other have paid slightly less.

If I had anything to complain about, it would be the manual. I would like to see a glossary of terms and how they effect or not effect picture and sound. I believe something like that is crucial given the technology is still fairly new.

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Laptop DVD

Superb picture quality, nice touches.

Remote could be better.

After reading good reviews about this player, I got it from MobShop for less than $200 all included.

I was disappointed when I viewed VCDs (yuck!) but as soon as I played a DVD, WOWEEE!!!! It's superb! I can't believe this kind of picture quality coming out of a sub-$200 player via composite output! 'Nuf said.

In addition to picture quality, there are a few nice touches: flourescent display can be dimmed or turned off, audio compression for late night viewing, expandable black level (YES!), DD/DTS digital outputs, and "ColorStream" component output for maximum picture quality.
What else can one ask for at this price?

So the remote's not fabulous (the fat end is in front, opposite that of our Panasonic TV - which is ergonomically correct?), but I don't care; as long as I can pause and play, that's about all I really need!

Very highly recommended!

It's value

The remote control is too small. Pause while skipping platters on dvds.

Overall, I am completely pleased with my purchase except for the small remote. What's the deal with that? I have noticed, however, a pause while the player switches to a different platter on the dvd. It usually switches around the middle of the movie and during a scene change, usually a quiet one with no action in it. Has anyone else noticed this and/or know if it can be fixed?
This piece of equipment is nothing flashy but it definitely gets the job done and done well. For the money it was an excellent buy. So good, in fact, that i picked one up for my dad, too. He loves it, as well.

The sound is gone on digital, if I use the analog hook ups, everything is fine! I was pretty happy with the unit until I noticed it was only playing in analog, $*^$*^%()*&, I have also noticed 1-2 second skips happening more frequently. I guess it is time to look for something that I can rely on.

Tray Noise (minimal but there) Too much noise when changing tracks on DVD's and Cd's (remote is bad...but not terrible)

Listen folks...I've had this player for over a year now, and I have watched, and listened to many DVD's on it. This is an amazing player for the price. I would recommend this player to anyone. I'm not going to list all of the great things about this player because everyone else has already touched on those things. I'm going to tell you about the small (and I mean small) gripes I have about this player. The most noticable for me is the tray and general noise this player puts out. It's noting very loud...but if you're in a very quite room with the sound low (never a good way to watch a movie, but it happends) then you might find it a bit annoying. A "humming" noise is emmited the whole time a disk is running; something which I haven't noticed in the similar sony-priced models. The tray is also a bit flimsy and noisy when opened and closed. The noise when skipping tracks and chapters is also noticable; not very harmful in any way, it just makes the player sound cheap. I've also found the scan features are a bit "jumpy"...not very smooth at all compared with the sony model.

But there is SOOOOOO many good things about this player I'd be here all day typing them out. A few are:
1) Price -- I can't image a better quality player on the market for it's price
2) Features -- While it may not have as many as some super "fancy-dancy" dvd players out there...it still has everything almost anybody would ever need in a dvd player (especially their first!)
3) Outputs -- hey, you need 'em...it's got 'em
4) Zoom -- This baby is nice to have!! I don't believe Sony dvd players (same price range) have them.
5)It plays darn near any dvd you throw in it (that's worth the price of the unit right there.

In the 1+ year I've had it I have no complaints. Go out and get it! Don't waste your time getting anything else unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars more.

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Sony - same price range, and a sony 5 disc

After reading a number of reviews on DVD players from Sony, Pioneer, Toshiba, etc. I decided to try the SD1200. I was looking for a basic model with good picture and sound quality. After using the 1200 for about 10 months I have absolutely no complaints. The picture is excellent and the sound is superb. I've never had a movie freeze, pixellate, skip, etc. Even rental DVDs with lots of scratches play with no trouble. The one very minor drawback is a short pause during layer change. Other than that I have not been disappointed, especially for the price!