I've tried about a 12 different DVD players from all the company's. This is the best buy in a "PURE" DVD player. It has the major features of the DVD video format: 0IRE, enhanced black level, component out, Bitstream/DTS out, zoom(if only you could turn off the on screen zoom display), 27mhz 10bit video dac. The 2109 produces a very sharp clean picture, it plows thru layer changes, all out puts are active at the same time, all setup options are done thru the onscreen menu, no external switches, some of the setup features can even be changed while movies are playing, the programable track/chapter feature works.

I use my SD-2109 with a 16:9 display and I honestly believe that it is one of the best values in home theatre. There are other areas in most ht set-ups that money would be better spent on than the very slight difference between this player and ones costing 3 or 4 times as much. Unless you want to chase state-of-the-art, this is the right player for most people, especially given its price.

I bought this player over a month ago from best buy for $280.Its my first DVD player and Im very impressed by the quality of picture and sound.
I only had a pro-logic receiver for a while and the sound was still better
than VHS. After upgrading to a DD receiver and using the digital coax i was blown away.

The zoom feature is handy for settling those movie arguements like 'did you see that?' 2x forward is smooth, anything faster gets choppy.
Ive suffered no problems after approx 50 movies. no audio dropouts, lockups,etc
the remote buttuns are smallish and isnt backlite but a good universal takes care of that. The menus are intuitive and functional. 3-5 second load time.

Anamorphic downconversion isnt as good as some players. some screen door effect on certain scenes with complex patterns and line structure. I think this is evident on all player, just a little worse on toshibas. Thats my only gripe
but considering the pitfalls of many other player which cost more it doesnt bother me.

As the cheapest player on the market its a great way to get problem free dvd.
under $300 its a 5. anything more its a 4

equipment
Sony KV32S40 TV
Pioneer VSX-608
Monster digital Interlink 100 coax
Monster Video 2 Svideo cable

I have had my Toshiba DVD player for about 2 and a holf months now and I am very happy with it. The quality of the picture especially on a few excellent transfers is amazing. True the remote sucks, but I have gotten used to it, also there had to be a trade off when paying only $279 for a new DVD player. I have yet to buy a DD/DTS receiver, but I am eagerly waiting to get the full use out of this player. I would definately recommend this DVD player to anyone that is entering the home theater world or anyone who wants to step up from VCRs. The first disk I watched gave me a problem, the picture started to pixelate and then paused on a distorted image, I thought 'great I got a lemon.' But with quick cleaning of the disk, it ran like new again.

Love the 2109. Use it with my SOny 53"XBR, Denon 3200 and Energy Take 5's. Movies are awesome - my favorite is Super Speedway for showing what the system can do.
I sent away for the 5 free DVD's on April 6th. I have yet to receive them. Has anyone had similiar experiences? Does anyone know where or who I can write or call?

Please e-mail me at dmc@mail.usa.com

First, I want to thank all of you for the reviews that have been posted, it has been a huge help. Now, to all of you that post reviews without owning the product, raise your hand and I will come over and hit you on the head with a tack hammer because you are a RETARD. :) I purchased the 2109 from Best Buy at the killer price of $219. I mean how can you go wrong? Well I'll tell you. I am super anal when it comes to sound and picture quality. There is massive artifacting with all sharp horizontal and diagonal lines; extremely distracting when watching films. I do honestly believe some people do not see it, if you are one of them, you are VERY lucky. If it was not for that I would have kept this player. The pluses are many: zoom, DD/DTS out, low price, absolutely amazing audio, and great picture quality(aside from the lines) to name a few. If you're interested in a new DVD player, go to your local Best Buy and try the Tosh for 30 days, if you don't notice what I am talking about GET THIS PLAYER, you will love it. If you do notice it, get the Sony DVP-S530D. It was the only player of the Tosh, JVC, and Panasonic that I tested at Best Buy that did not have the line problem. It costs more, but it is a great player (except the sound from the line-out is not as good as the Tosh IMHO). I hope this helps....

My rating is really 3.5

I got the SD-2109 after checking out the competition at the local Circuit City and other stores. Best of all, I only paid $220 on Ubid.com for it! It came with 15 free rentals, a buy one/get one free coupon, a $10 off buy one coupon, and a half dozen rent one/rent one free coupons. HOW CAN YOU DO BETTER THAN THAT, especially for the price?? Also, this is my first DVD player, so I'm not some high-end audiophile junkie/purist, but you can take my review as the typical consumer. And I *do* know what I like and don't like...Ok, on to the review...
The picture: The other reviews here were one of the reasons I decided to go with the 2109, and for the most part I would agree with just about all of them...Where I disagree, though, is with the so-called artifacting that some other reviewers have noticed. I've watched a handful of movies on my 35" Sony and have seen absolutely no artifacting or digital noise on screen while movies are playing. Not on any horizontal OR diagonal lines. On some scenes if I zoom in to the closest setting I can see what looks like optical quantization noise (for lack of a better description), but who watches movies zoomed in to the closest setting all the time anyway? You'd miss everything else on the screen...and I have a feeling this would happen with most players, not just this one. The nature of the medium....Other than that, the video is superb! Better than anything else I saw in any store near it's price range or slightly above, which was $400 list, remember....

The remote: Yes, the buttons are on the small side. Yes, I wish they were back-lit so I could pick out "pause" when I'm watching in the dark. But I plan on getting a universal remote later anyway so I can live with these short-comings for now. Besides, the more I use it the more adept I'm becoming at using it. I have a feeling this won't be an issue after one gets used to it...

The sound: Absolutely amazing! I'm very pleased with it. The 2109 includes a "3D pseudo" mode for using only two speakers, which is what I'm using until I can save up for a decent receiver, and even with only 2 speakers the soundstage is VERY detailed and accurate. Of course part of this might be the SuperOnes I'm using for speakers, but I have no complaints! If you have better speakers then you should be even more impressed....

The conclusion: For list price, the SD-2109 is a good value. There might be better players out there for a little more, but I wanted a good entry-level unit for not a whole lot of $$ so I didn't compare to units costing much more. If I had ended up paying list for it, I would have been happy--this is certainly more than just an "entry-level" unit, it has all the features and performance you could want, with the possible exception of HDCD, and should remain part of my HT setup for years. The fact that I (and many others here) only paid $220 for this model makes buying the SD-2109 a real no-brainer: Go out and compare players, do the research you need, and then BUY ONE...

You won't be disappointed. 5 stars all the way.

Bought an SD-2109, had to return it: for some reason it refused to play "Yotoden", an anime DVD from U.S. Manga Corps/Central Park Media. The replacement player we bought played that "Yotoden" DVD without a hitch: salesguy claims that the SD-2109 failed because it does not have a "dual discrete laser" pickup, which is apparantly neccesary for some DVDs.Perhaps this problem only affects low-volume "niche" DVDs, but that's exactly what I want in DVDs.
Other than being unable to play this DVD, it seemed okay.

I had originally purchased the 3109 for HDCD output. But since I and others have experienced audible noise with the HDCD output I returned the 3109 for the 2109. The video output is suppose to be the same.
Its seems better than the 3109. No pauses at layer changes and the picture is just superb on the 2109.

Unless you are really going to use the HDCD I recommend the 2109. Its over 100 dollars cheaper and the picture is just as good.

Audio out for CD letting my Sony 835 decode the disk is great. Sound is tremendous.

Yes the remote is goofed, buttons way too small. But after initial setup I don't ever use it anyay. The Sony 835 remote is preprogrammed for the 2109 and has the Sony remote does everything I need to do for play back.

Jim Middleton

Just a quick little review on the 2109. I got it after returning *2* defective Panasonic A120-U's. Every time there was a black screen using the 120, it lost the signal for 2 seconds or so, then scrambled the picture and was fine until the next black screen or chapter change. The 2109 not only doesn't do this, but KILLS the 120 as far as video goes. I was shocked at the difference in picture quality. Its like night and day. The audio is very similar, the 2109 edges out the 120, but you'd be hard pressed to find major audio differences.
In summary, if you're in the market for a non DD-decoding DVD player, the 2109 is a great choice...