This is my first dvd player so I'll make it short. This thing is great!! The only reason I bought this player is because it had a better picture than any of the other players available!! I have always loved Toshiba and this just re-enforces that love....check it out....buy it......fall in love with this thing !!!

I Got my Toshiba SD3109 2 days ago. I am happy with its picture and sound. We were watching the 'Peace Maker' last night and the sound of the rain drop was so real that my wife got up the close the window.
However, from the manufacture's wed site specification, there should be 2 Audio outputs. The player come's with one 5-ch & one 2-ch. Since my receiver does not have 5-ch input and I connect the DVD directly to the TV. How can I connect the DVD player to the hifi for playing Audio CDs? Any Idea.

Note: I also played VCD discs and they worked well. Off course not as good as the DVDs.

At this price (between $300-$400), it is a great buy. Go get it.

I brought this player a couple of weeks ago after waiting forever for it to be released. I really did'nt need the built-in DD or DTS but I wanted the other features.
All movies I played in the SD3109 so far look and sound excellent. The "zoom" feature works like a champ, but I only have a 27" TV so I can't go to crazy with it. Yes the remote stinks (don't they all) but the one for my receiver controls most functions well.

I played CD-R's and CD-RW's without a hitch so am willing to bet that the VCD's won't be a probelm. I really don't have any reference players to compare the SD3109 with, but for the money you can't go wrong here. I give it four stars because nothing in this world can't be improved upon.

My HT System

Yamaha RX-V795 (Receiver)
HK FL8350 (CD)
JVC HRS3500U (VCR)
Zenith A27A23W (TV)
Pioneer Elite CT 05D (TD)
Paradigm Studio 60's (Fronts)
Paradigm ADP 170's (Rear)
Paradigm CC 450 (Center)

I Just ordered the Toshiba SD3109...cant wait to get it. I Got the best deal with it. I got it at 800.com for $367 w/9 free dvds! It retails for $400 at the sight but i used this code, http://www.800.com/bannerad.asp?KeyCode=101157, to get 10% off the player. 800.com gives you $75 worth or free dvds, ( I choose baseketball, out of sight, wild things, and 2010)Then it comes with a rebate for 5 more (devils advocate, matilda, Lost in space, lethal weapon 4, and Rambo II) I cant wait!

The 3109 was worth the wait. The sound quality blows away my 5 yr old Denon CD player in separation, low and high freq response. I don't have anything to compare the picture to on my 36" Panasonic, however, I must say it is exceptional.
The dual transport is unexpectedly handy as well. I didn't buy it for this reason. As far as the remote it works for me. I like the glow in the dark buttons - now I don't have to fumble finding the light button.

BTW, I got mine for $300. If you are curious that is the wholesale price (actually $304)

Note: About a week after my previous post (see below 99.03.24) Toshiba changed the MSRP prices posted on their web site for the SD3109 and the SD2109 back to US$499 and US$399 respectively, the prices of the 99.01.07 press release.
Interesting facts and still open questions on the SD3109 (that should be answered by the first hand actual reviews here):

- Does it output a 96kHz signal? According to MSB Tech (see http://www.msbtech.com/upgrades/96-24candidate.html) it does NOT output a 96kHz signal to its digital out while playing a 2-channel 24bits/96kHz disc (such as Cheksy Records, etc.). It's probably downconverting the signal to 48kHz as most other players do (with the notable exception of the Pioneer players such as the 606D, 414, DV-05, etc.). This one should be easy to check by someone with a MSB Link DAC (using the front panel LEDs) and a 24/96 disc.

- Can it play CD-R discs?

- Does it have a headphone jack (probably not)?

I reserve my 5th star (or speaker or whatever) for the true 96kHz digital output.

Nemo.

Aloha,OK here it goes with no punctuation so hang on :)
Anyway I have used a 3108 and a 2008 so far and have viewed video on quite a
few
I have a Panasonic 27" model35 TV (the newest ones)
Picture on the new 3109 is more saturated and handles long transitions of
color that sometime look dithered on other players.
REMOTE SUCKS !!! Why ? well it looks like the 2008 remote no backlight and
the fastforward button is also the chapter advance so if you do not hold it
down it advances YUKI I had the remote for the 3108 which was a great remote ( I did not have the
near problem some did)
So YES TOSHIBA CHANGED THE REMOTE. Radically I think.
no jog shuttle dual function buttons that can make you go
_&_)&@#)&#$@)*(&$*&@
when all of a sudden you jump a chapter rather than just Fast Forwarding.
I am going to try to get a 3108 remote see if it works with the 3109.
the dual tray is cool you can have one disk playing eject the other and
change it.
it is W I D E physically wider than all my other components (Pioneer Elite,
Panasonic VCR and Mitsubishi VCR etc...
anyway it looks good as a machine not to plastic like.
I have only watched Pleasantville, Dark City, Desperado, and some blips of
others.
No synch problems to note
Color again, excellent and not to sharp
well anyway if people have questions I will try to answer them
VERDICT: Very happy with quality
I am extremely picky about quality of stuff (sorry for my English though) I
have a very good eye and ear for Music and Video Photography 15 years my own
darkroom and allot of photos and awards. Ears Well another story used to DJ
love Island Style Music mostly but can post a flat response against a noise
generator by ear so I can set music. This DVD Player is the best CD Player I
have heard for under the price of a used car :)
final thoughts
I love the audio and the video is better than others I have seen.
I do not care that much about remotes I tend to start the movie and pause once in a while. So my verdict is 5 stars if you are a remote fanatic I would give it 4 stars.


Aloha
Honu

I had the 3109 for about 3 weeks. But I returned it for a SONY 530 model DVD player because the 3109 cannot play slightly scratched or dirty (finger prints) DVD discs. I mostly rent DVD discs so these problems are always a problem. The 3109 player would let out a LOUD high pitch (uuhg!) screeching sound and/or picture pixelation when it encounters a scratch or dirty area on the DVD disc. I placed the same "bad" dvd disc in my brother's SONY 530 DVD player and it played without a glitch at those specific problem areas I noticed occurred on the Toshiba 3109. I am not saying that only the 3109 has this problem but I believe the new SONY models (530 & 550) has advanced precision and tilt servo lazer read control.
Toshiba 3109 dual tray was nice and I will miss that feature but I think I can't live with the poor handling of "bad" discs. Also I found that the 3109 would not play any of my CDRs audio mix, but the SONY 530 did play about half of them!!

I have had the unit for almost a month and really love it. I have tried out four other units and this is really a great deal. The dual tray is great when playing 2 disc packages like Armegeddon-Criterion Collection. You dont have to get up to switch disks to look at extras. HDCD really is outstanding and makes the regular CD's sound great too. I have 30 DVD's and have had no problems with the downconversion on a 35" TV. I prefer a sharp picture. Isnt that what DVD is for anyways. By the way, I got my 3109 delivered for $355. The remote is quite nice too. The Toshiba zoom feature is incredible and blows other companies zooms away. It is so clear you can watch the movie in zoom modes. It comes in handy if you have a 4:3 TV and a non-anamorphic movie in 2:35-1 ratio. If you want, you can zoom to have more of the image fill your screen. Then just hit setup button twice to get rid of onscreen zoom message. This is a much better and fuller featured player than the 2109, for just another $50-$75.

Very nice unit. Havent had any problems with any disks. Sounds like the last reviewer, Kim had a bad unit that should have been replaced. The new Sony DVD players have had many lip-sync issues, so buyer beware.