I got my SD-2109. The CD's sound really good. I got some audio dropouts when I watched the DVD Dawn & Dusk. Could this be a problem with the DVD player?

OK, Here it is. The long awaited 4th. generation of DVD players in the Toshiba line-up. The 2109 is at the entry point player and lists for $399 (Street price is around $300.) Taking it out of the box evoked mixed reactions. The simple yet elegant face is demarked by clean cut lines and the player itself is a relatively light unit.
The unit is pretty good to look at. However, there are some discrepancies from what Toshiba published on it's web site. The player only has a co-ax digital output, no Toslink. It also will NOT play Video CDs or CD-Rs. And there is no "Backlit Universal Remote ". Instead, the player comes with a small remote that is not backlit and that looks like the standard low end remotes that come with the Panasonic A110 or the Pioneer DV414.
All these things were not very important to me, so I was not too bothered. I set the unit up to my system and ran the necessary tweaking with my Video Essentials DVD. The player passes all three lines in the pluge test, so setting up the black levels on my TV was pretty fast and simple. Once everything was hooked up and configured, I sat back and played a bunch of DVDs.
I was stunned! The picture quality is superb. No artifacting on even the most notorious disks like Raw Deal and Twister. Every disk that I played on it looked better to me than when I had seen it on other DVD players. No audio dropouts so far, no lip syncing problems, no skipping chapters on layer changes,fast menu access, everything about the functionality of this player is top notch.
Users who only want to connect this player to a optical input on their decoders should look elsewhere, as should people who want to play Video CDs or self recorded CDs. For everyone else, this is an excellent choice and the price is such a deal.

The guy that gave this player one star.. get checked.
This is the cheapest DVD player I''ve ever seen, so please take that into account. I picked this player up, knowing the downconversion isn''t as great as other (more expensive) players, for $279 at Best Buy locally. I personally don''t have a problem with the downconversion. It doesn''t bother me (because I don''t think I''m noticing it). The video is excellent (again, for a $280 player) along with the DD/DTS sound.

The remote does lack, but again... check out the price... some paid as low as $249 for this player. The remote doesn''t bother me much, it''s just hard to find the right button sometimes because it''s not backlit and the buttons are close together. But as you get used to it, you remember where they are w/o having to look (those that complain probably have to look at the keyboard when they type too).

I will give it 5 stars in its price range (sub $300). But compared to others I have to give it 4 stars. I like this player, but I will be passing it up for the upcoming 5109 model for its progressive scan capability (assuming it''s ever released).

System: Toshiba TP61H95 61" rptv
Toshiba SD-2109 dvd
Yamaha RX-V995
PSB Stratus Silver-I Fronts, Stratus Minis Rears, Stratus C6 Center
etc...

I've had the SD 2109 for about a week and viewed 5 movies. I've got it hooked up to a Toshiba Cinema Series TV threw the color stream inputs. The audio portion is provided threw the coxial outputs to a MSB Link DAC (I do not have a surround sound system). The one word that describes the SD2109 is fantastic, the color and picture are exceptional. The audio is very impressive. I've had no problems with any of the movies so far. The remote does just about anything you could want it to, it would be nice if it was backlit. The menus are easy and setup was a snap. At $249 it is a real steal.

Just got my 2109, and I think I picked a winner!!-Listening to cd's in 2 channel-the sound is more defined and clear than my older sony cd player. As far as movies, have seen no glitches so far. I am not sure this unit can be topped for the money.

Just arrived yesterday so has not gotten a huge workout yet. What I have seen, I have been very happy with. Picture looks excellent and setup was a breeze. I haven't listened to music yet, but expect to use digital out most of the time anyway. Yes the remote is small and light and not backlit and it is missing an optical output, but these are not major issues for me. Can be had for under $300 all over the 'net and well worth the price.

I love my 2109, however I have noticed that on certain DVD's and in lighter scenes I sometimes get random flickers all over the screen. I first noticed this on I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, at the beginning of the movie when the movie studios logo comes up (prior to the start of the movie). It is then apparant at other times on several discs. Has anyone else seen this?

I have been using the 2109 for over a month now (connected to HK avr75 & 32" Sony). I picked it over Panasonic 120 & Pioneer 414 for $270. It is by far one of the best entry level DVD player in the market & can holds its own against more expensive players such as Sony 7700 which cost three times as much. The video quality (color & res.) is excellent. I have noticed some down conversion problem on my 3:4 ratio TV but it's not a big deal for me considering what I paid for it. As some of previous reviewers mentioned, the problem with miniature remote control can be easily solved with a good universal remote control (which I needed anyway). The audio is great too and it easily surpasses my Sony CD changer. Four stars for performance and five for value.

I searched long and hard for my first DVD player, and after much deliberation, I purchased the Toshiba 2109. I have not regretted it in the least. I decided to go with a "budget" DVD player because I probably won't have it very long, with the imminent release of DVD-Audio capable combiplayers looming. I had considered the Pioneer 414, but all the lip-synch reports turned me off. My Toshiba has exhibited no such limitations. In fact, it has far exceeded all my expectations. Admittedly, I really didn't expect too much, considering I only paid $300, but those were well-spent $300. This unit is capable of startlingly good audio and video reproduction. I have viewed more than 20 DVDs and I have yet to find a flaw that I could not attribute to the authoring of the DVD itself. No skipping, no audio drop-outs, no digital artifacts in the letterbox region, and positively no lip-synch problems have emerged. Sure, the remote sucks and the downconversion for a 4:3 TV set is less than perfect, but I use a Marantz RC2000mkII so the remote is a non-issue, and the downconversion simply doesn't bother me all that much. The bottom line is that my 2109 has made me very happy, and that's all that matters :)

I bought my SD-2109 about three weeks ago, and have watched a dozen discs on it since. While the audio is excellent, I couldn't help but notice in video that the colors seemed somewhat washed-out and dull (even on three carefully-adjusted televisions). Downconversion problems aren't nearly as dramatic as some have complained, though.
The unit itself felt slightly cheap - it's unusually lightweight, the blocky buttons are wafer-thin, and the tray (which ejects very slowly) feels like it would snap off if you bumped it by accident. Otherwise, it's a fairly sexy machine with a simple but functional look, and certainly better than comparable Panasonics.

The remote, as many others have complained, is uncomfortably small with little chiclet-keys; you also must aim it directly at the unit for it to work correctly. On the bright side, you can pay $40 to swap it for a remote from the SD-3108 or SD-9000, which adds jog/shuttle functionality (works on the 2109, too!) and a backlight.

I've discovered no annoying quirks on this machine like the Pioneer's lip-synch or the Panasonic's pixelization. For it's price (paid $269), it's a 5-star machine; consider some more expensive players, and it seems more like a 3-star. I give it a solid 4.