Picture, Sound, Ease of Use

Remote Control, Won't Play CD-R's, Fast Forward & Rewind hard to control.

A great entry level player. Picture & Sound quality are first rate. However they don't play CD-R's, the remote control is way too small and hard to use (especially in a low lit room). Also the fast forward / rewind needs a tweak e.g. When fast forwarding/rewinding at 32x speed, you press stop at the point where you want to recommence play at to find the player has gone a further 30 seconds or so past that point, annoying after a while. Other than those minor quirks it's a good little player. It's also a little light and looks cheap.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD2107, Pioneer DV-535

Great picture

poor remote and on uk model no fast forward or reverse!

i bought this after a review compared it favourably to the toshiba 9000. I play it through Sony 32" widescreen, denon 2700 av receiver and boston acoustics/REL 100e sub speaker system. Pictures are just great, far better than the pioneer 505 which also had a terrible problem with sound synchronisation ("deconstructing harry", lock stock etc.) It plays all my discs perfectly, colour and detail are magnificient! By uk standards this is still a very reasonably priced dvd and the performance is outstanding.
well recommended, oh the remote is awful but i use a marantz RC5000 universal remote which has to be a definite buy for anyone tired of losing remotes all over the house!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 505

Superb video and audio performance. Intellegent zoom feature

Can't play CD-R, CD-RW. Only 1 digital out (coaxial)

The zoom on this player works much better than other models with a similar feature. RCA has this feature but it literally zooms the picture by 2x or more. This is useless. The toshiba's zoom works in small functional increments. It will alter a 2.35:1 picture to appear close to a 1.85:1 format. The RCA (I belive Samsung is also this way) just blows it up too large each time zoom is hit.

I have yet to experience any picture freeze or anomalies. CD playback also sounds better than average. The two-speed fast forward and reverse is only mediocre, however. Panasonic has Toshiba beat in this regard. I did find that Panasonic DVD players seem a little more sensitive and have tendancies toward freeze up. For that reason, I strongly recommend the Toshiba models over the Panasonics.

This is a great value for an entry-level player and can be had at extreme discounts. I am evaluating this player at its given price point, realizing there are much better players that exist. Therefore my 5 star rating is in comparison of other entry-level players I tested.

Similar Products Used:

entry-level players: Panasonic, RCA 5-disc changer, Samsung, Sony

Great picture and sound quality. I even like the remote.

Doesn't have a stack of options (but there's all you really need).

This is a great DVD player for its price range. When I bought it, I had no other home cinema equipment at all, just a portable TV and a hi-fi. But I plugged it into this and it blew me away. The sound is spot on, and the picture is crystal clear. An added bonus is that this player is able to compete with similarly priced CD players for audio quality (although there aren't many options for CD playback). Top stuff.

Great value, video quality

Trouble with some DVDs, remote is "noise sensitive"

It's awfully hard to judge a product when you've never used anything like it before. However, as an entry level DVD player, this was sure a pleasant buying experience!

I bought this unit along with a Sony TA-E9000ES in order to get myself into the digital age. I'm very happy that I did! Movies are so much more enjoyable now. I'm not one to purchase movies on tape, so when we rent, it's inevitable that there're sections that are beat up (and show it on playback). No more of that!

I have a laser disc player, and DVDs are much nicer. No flipping the disc (except Stargate)! And the user features (bonus material) are handled much better in the DVD format.

I did notice a problem using the remote. I would try to operate the unit, but it would require many presses of a button in order to respond. It was so bad that I was planning on taking the unit back the very next day (I assumed it was defective). It turned out to be a result of being a highly infrared-noisy environment. How do I know? I have a Terk Leapfrog (an RF remote control 'extender', very handy). The basestation, like any device conforming to FCC rules, must accept undesireable interference. In this case, it's 900MHz interference. The Leapfrog is not an intelligent device, and so cannot determine what to reject. The result is that the infrared emitters on the basestation are always flickering with nose from the 900MHz channel it expects to be receiving transmissions on. Once I blocked the basestation, the Toshiba remote worked just fine. This situation likely applies to many other users. But beware! My source of IR noise was easily eliminated, yours may not!

I've only experienced difficulty on a few DVDs. One of these is "The Matrix". It wasn't so much that I had trouble just outright playing it, but that when I tried to skip to a particular track/chapter, the player wouldn't necessarily go to the right spot. Another example is the 4 disc set for the HBO series "From The Earth To The Moon". In this case, the menu screens would not display correctly what my current selection was on any particular page. Otherwise, it has been flawless.

I highly recommend this player as an entry into the realm of DVDs.

Similar Products Used:

None

Zoom, the underated kareoke option ((great for parties and your friends who act really stupid when drunk)), and ((gasp)) the remote

Track-skipping on certain movies, doesn't play VCD's

Point blank this player is great. I bought mine from a local Best Buy and have loved every minute. I considered and expected to walk into the store and plant $300+ on the counter until I encountered the 2109. I haven't seen these as of late as I believe the 1200 has replaced it. But this player is a good buy for it's price. It has all the video outs you'll need including coaxial, RCA, S-Video, & Component. It's also DTS and DD ready which are excellent when hooked up to a compatible receiver. Definetley worth the price.

The only faults are that it does skip on certain movies but this is because the player has a problem with some multi-lingual discs. I called Toshiba and asked them saying it was a customer complaint from Best Buy ((which it was)) and they explained it to me. Sadly I couldn't get a list on which movies expierienced this problem. The only one I have had this problem with is Armageddon and I have over 100 movies. Also the fact that it doesn't play VCD's is upsetting. I have a large collection of Japanese Kung Fu flicks and anime that i can only watch via my computer. But I can live with that. So on value it gets a 5 but overall a 4 will suffice

Similar Products Used:

None used but almost everyone I know has a DVD player. I've spent countless hours viewing and toying with tons of players as well as being a Best Buy employee.

VALUE, QUALITY, SOUND

REMOTE, IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE AN ILLUMINATED REMOTE LIKE THE TOSHIBA 3109

THIS DVD PLAYER IS ABSOLUTLY WORTH BUYING, OR JUST LOOKING INTO. I JUST LOVE MY 2109, THE SOUND AND PICTURE QUALITY IS JUST AWSOME COMPARED TO OTHER BIG NAME UNITS THAT COST MORE. EVEN CONNECTED TO MY 11 YEAR OLD G.E. 20 INCH TV I AM JUST AMAZED OF THE QUALITY OF THE RICH SOUND AND PICTURE QUALITY. THE AC-3 IN THIS UNIT WILL MAKE WATCHING YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE A GREAT EXPERIANCE WHEN IT'S HOOKED UP TO A BIG SCREEN AND A HOME THEATER SYSTEM. FOR THE $249. I SPENT AT SUTTERTEL.COM THIS PIECE IS DEFINATELY WORTH BUYING. (BY THE WAY, SUTERTEL.COM OFFERED AND DID SHIP IT FREE.) SURE YOU CAN SPEND MORE MONEY FOR MORE FEATURES, BUT WHY? FOR THE BUCK, THIS A GREAT DVD PLAYER! THIS MAKES SOME OF THE OTHER DVD PLAYERS LOOK LIKE CHEAP JUNK! (LIKE THE SONY SERIES AND A FEW PHILLIP-MAGNAVOX ONES.

Similar Products Used:

THE TOSHIBA 3109 DVD

cheap, good features, good picture

remote, doesn't play cdr/w or video disk

A very good entry level player. Has fair amount of features-
zoom, fast scan, slow play. Reliable play back of disks. Good picture. Good sound reproduction. Pretty close call
between the 525 and 2109/1200 for "best" budget player.
(The panasonic is step below them both)Toshiba's feature are nicer, but I don't use them much after 5 months. Sonically similar. Both have lousy remotes, although toshibas is worse. A good universal remotes fixes that. Overall, a good purchase. As time passes, I do find I enjoy the picture of the 525 more and more. Both players have the same resolution and pass the pluge test-I think it's color saturation and 4:3 conversion that does it. The 525 stays in the living room/entertainment center where it can play CDR's and looks great on the 36" and the transport noise is kept in the cabinet. The Toshiba stays in the bedroom on the 27" w/the NHT bookshelf speakers. For real performance improvement, you've got to spend two to three times the money progressive scan).

Similar Products Used:

pioneer 525, panasonic120, toshiba 5109

REVIEW for Toshiba SD1200: Best picture quality out of all DVD's in this price range, even better then the Sony's. Above average sound production with the additional 3D sound enhancement feature. Useful 3X picture zoom feature. Easy to operate.

Buttons on the remote a little small.

My review is for the new SD1200 model which replaces the older SD2109 for y2k. What can I say, if you are looking to replace your old vcr like most people nowadays, this entry-level Toshiba DVD player is probably your best bet.

First, for less then $300, this DVD out-performs most of it's competitors in the picture quality department. I viewed many other DVDs before settling on this unit because the picture quality was noticably sharper and cleaner, even compared to higher end units which were $100-$200 more. The black level enhancer works well too when viewing your favourite DVD movie.

Secondly, the units comes with excellent audio/video outputs. Included are an S-video out, standard analog out, and colorstream component video out. Using the colorstream component outputs you'll definitely get the best picture quality out of your DVD player, provided your TV has component video inputs of course. In the audio department, you'll be happy if you have equipment which supports either DTS, Dolby Surround, or Dolby Digital because this unit allows you to enjoy all those high quality dynamic sounds aswell.

Lastly, when it comes to features on a DVD, this unit doesn't dissappoint, providing you with enough functions to impress both your friends and family members. I particularly like the remote confirmation(beep sound with each remote operation) and the display dimmer feature. The 3X zoom is useful if you like to study a particular scene, maybe a close-up of Trinity while watching the Matrix? Customizing the unit is very easy with nice on-screen drop down menus.

Well, enough said! I hope this review will help you on your search for a DVD player. I highly recommend the Toshiba SD1200 over all other brands, including Sony and Pioneer, solely because this unit produces the best picture quality in this price range.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 27" TV (CE27T11), Panasonic VHS VCR.

Great DVD player at very low price

Tiny remote buttons. Could use 2nd pair of adio outputs.

As I mention above, the remote buttons are so small that you might think Toshiba is playing a pratical joke on you. And my setup would have been greatly simplified if the unit had another pair of RCA audio outputs - many players do. But if you can live with those 2 small weaknesses, maybe by using a cheap universal remote and only hooking the unit to the TV itself, you've got a great picture and very good sound at a very reasonable price. No complaints here.

Similar Products Used:

Philips DVD player