I've had the 2109 for 1 week now. I got it from Dow (e.g. Circuit City, et al) for 279.00. Included were the customary 5 free DVD's from Warner, 15 rentals from Netflix.com, 5 free rentals from Hollywood Video, free DVD from Rel.com, and $10 coupon from DVDExpress.com. The audio is outstanding, though being that this is my first DVD player, I had to learn that you need to select the right digital input on your receiver in order for the audio to play in Dolby Digital. I also quickly learned that you need to select Dolby Digital on some DVD's at the set-up menu, otherwise the DVD will play in Dolby Surround. Luckily my Pioneer Elite VSX-07TX receiver has idiot lites on the front panel that tell you if all the speakers are receiving a signal. The audio is connected digital-coaxially.
I have the video connected composite with the interconnects that came with the player, and the picture is very good. I'm waiting on my Audioquest Video 1 S-video interconnect to arrive. The video is routed through my receiver and to my Hitachi Ultravision 60".
This player is a five without even considering the price and all the freebies. When you take this into account, it's off the scale. If you don't have a DVD player, rush out and get the 2109. You'll wonder why you waited so long.
Jon

Toshiba SD-2109 DVD/CD Player
I've owned the 2109 for a couple of weeks now. I have seen aproximately 15 movies. I am over all pleased with the unit. The zoom feature works great on wide screen formats. The only problem is you loose quite of the picture on both sides. The image quaily is very good. The layout of the remote is easy to use with the buttons in right place but it is very small and not backlit. The unit does not offer an fiber optic hookup like last years model the 2108. This is dissapointing to me since my reciever only has digital coax. My biggest concern with the unit is that I see a lot of artifacts in the picture quality. I hope this is because of the DVD's and not the player. Even in new releases like Blade and Starship Troopers.

I have previewed a couple of DVD players the Sony 300, Pioneer 414, JVC 2000BK.
I felt that the 2109 with zoom(not gimmick like you might think)feautes is great if you have wide screen DVD movies without wide screen TV

I also heard that the Panasonic 120 is even better for an entry lever DVD but it's a little more $$.

The Best bang for the buck Toshiba 2109

Hope this helps in your decsion making.

Great DVD player. Best value. Easy to set up and easy to use. Great picture.Sears has a promotion - 299 less $30 coupon + 5 free DVD's and 15 free rentals.

you can't go wrong with the 2109!!

I purchased this product from Onecall.com for $293, before it was even shipped to most other retail stores. Service was great from them, player was delivered in 2 days. This is my first DVD player and I was debating between the Panasonic a120 and the Toshiba. So far, I am very impressed, audio and video are both exceptional! I do not know what I am missing by choosing this over the A120, but I am very pleased with the Toshiba.
As everyone says, the remote is pretty small, but probably not worth not buying this product. I have seen layer switches in several movies, but they are sub-second, no skipping of tracks. Overall I rate it a 5, nothing bad enough to deduct for.

Price, Menus, ColorStream, zoom feature

pixelation problems, freezing picture, failure to read some
multi-layer DVD's, remote control

I purchased this unit from Best Buy for $250. Had some
problems with pixelation and freezing for no apparent
reason (would replay at same spot on disk and it would play
sometimes, freeze other times). I exchanged unit 2 times,
so I tried 3 different SD-2109 machines, and all of them
had problems. Severity of problems varied among units, but
I cannot recommend this DVD player. The remote control is
really crappy, but that is the standard on an entry level player. Played DVDs with problems on the Toshiba on the
Panasonic DVD-A120U, and there was no freezing of the image.
I've seen a lot of "5 stars" on this player, but I say
BUYER BEWARE...

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-525, Panasonic DVD-A120U

I finally upgraded from a LD player and have no complaints about this machine.
Video and sound are excellent.
The remote IS a bit cluttered and hard to use at first, but after a couple of days it's no big deal.
As for price--I got a good deal through the online auction house bid.com.
Got it for $360 Canadian plus free shipping--at the time it was selling at Future shop for $470 (Can), although I believe they just dropped the price to $400 (Can)
Also in Canada you get five free dvd's (not of your choice) and 13 rentals from Blockbuster if you buy before the end of February.

Excellent Picture and sound

None

I bought this unit on a recommendation. I am very happy with its performance. The video is amazing. The picture is obviously superior to my digital cable line. Its hooked up with the s-video link to a sony 27". I have never found problems with the pause or pixlation as described in other reviews. Also I find that the unit runs quietly.

The audio is amazing, connected with the digital coax line to a Yamaha 595a dolby digital/dts receiver.

I highly recommend this unit (I don't know anything about the newer 1200 model??)

High quality audio/video performance at a great value

Ergonomically challenged remote, a little noisy during start-up

Any deficiencies that I've pointed out on this unit are greatly outbalanced by the overall performance. I have watched a wide variety of discs on this machine and have yet to encounter any problems with visual or audio processing. I will say, however, that cables are very important- much more so than with other components- regarding video perfomance. If your TV accepts component video or S-video connects, do yourself a favor and avail yourself of one of them. About a month or two into using the SD-2109, I switched from the included RCA's (which were adequate) to Monster Super Video 3 cable (S-video) and was blown away by the improved picture color and sharpness. I still marvel at the images everytime I sit down to watch a DVD (and this is on a 25" 4:3 Zenith TV mind you).

As for the minor, nit-picking flaws of the 2109, the remote is all but useless, as virtually everyone owning the unit has pointed out. Also, the start up sequence is a little louder than you'd expect (some internal whirring sounds)for what could be considered a delicate piece of equiptment. But for such a kick-ass DVD player, who really cares? If you buy the Toshiba, a decently laid out universal remote, AND some good cables for the thing, chances are you've still paid less than $300.

I'd definitely suggest checking out www.hometheatermag.com (Home Theater Magazine) and reading the review they have of the 2109 in the video component archives. Highly favorable.

Similar Products Used:

JVC 501

Under $200.

none

I bought this dvd player used on line for $150 plus $10 shipping. Great purchase. I have had no problems with the player and so far its been great.

The picture is amazingly clear and bright and sharp, better than any vcr could ever be. And the sound with this thing is tight. I only have a pro logic reciever, but it still creates good theater quality sound.

I doubt there is a better entry level dvd player than this one.

Similar Products Used:

This is my first dvd player.

Very good color resolution with excellent definition in dark scenes. Review is for the SD-1200

None.

I have been comparing the performance of both the Pioneer DV-525 and the Toshiba SD-1200 for 3 days. The monitor used is a Panasonic 32SF35 which has 2 S-Video inputs allowing immediate comparison of picture quality. Both units exhibit very good pictures overall with very few artifacts due to downconversion etc. However, the Pioneer's picture is slightly darker than the Toshiba's reducing detail in dark or shadowy area's. This is particularly noticeable in remastered movies such as American Graffiti where 90% of the movie takes place at night. I also found the Poineer's settings for black level, Cinema, Standard, Animation to be ineffective, producing very little change in the picture. Adjusting the TV's brightness control helped a bit, but the Toshiba still produced more detail in dark scenes. I plan to keep the Toshiba.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-525, Toshiba SD-2107