Good player marred by poor downconversion. Wavy, distracting lines everywhere on widescreen enhanced dvds. Sound is great. Can't recommend this player for anyone who does not have a widescreen tv.

I think this unit is the best one in its price range. However, there is one problem that i have yet to see reported here. Sometimes when i load/change a disc i get a "disc error" problem. I have to open it and close it agian. Its not that bad, just a slight inconvenience. I still this this unit is very good. If anyone else has had this problem please e-mail me, Airsurge@aol.com.

One, if not the best DVD player in it's price range.
I waited for a few weeks to submit this review - because after I bought it, I heard about the downconversion problems with the Toshiba players.

When I bought this, I also considered the Sony 550 or 530, the Panasonic A120 and the Pioneer DV414 (I did not look at the Pioneer 825 'cause I hadn't seen any reviews on that player).

The Sony reviews rave about the picture but there's also numerous reports of LipSync problems, which supposedly, Sony has admitted to. The Panasonic A120 also raves of great picture quality, that is, until the pixilization problems occur. The Pioneer DV414 has twice the negative posts about lipsync that the Sony has. And the Toshiba's the only one in the bunch with the zoom feature (which probably isn't on to many people's gotta have features, but it's something I really wanted). I read a review in Audio/Video Magazine that compared 4 budget DVD players - the Toshiba 2109, the Sony 530, the Panasonic A120 and the Pioneer 825. The Toshiba actually finished last in that review, then Pioneer, then Pixilated Panasonic, and Finally LipSync Sony. The Toshiba got a good review, but was marked last because of the downconversion (the review said he checked this by watching Twister (Chapter 3 & 4 looking at the lead characters jacket). I read this review after I bought my player and I was a bit concerned that I bought the wrong player. I also waited to post this review until I watched Twister on my 3109 so I could see for myself how it performed.

Maybe there are people who are that nitpicky, but IMHO, the 3109 more than passable. Yes, I did see a few wavy lines, but the way people post about this, they tend to overexagerate. The Toshiba's down conversion is not bad. It may be a bit noticable at times, but not the least bit distracting in any way. I think I'd tend to be more distracted looking at a pixilated screen or waiting for the actors mouths to catch up with the dialogue.

Most of us looking to get into DVD have to go into it with a reasonable budget. I think all of the DVD players under $1000 dollars are going to have some imperfection. I just think the Toshiba's imperfections won't be noticed by 9 out of 10 people.

That said, picture quality is excellent. The scan at 8X & 30 X may not be up to Sony's level, but they are pretty good. This is also one of very few players I've seen that have normal speed reverse. And I also like the zoom feature.

I just bought my first HDCD (Garth Brooks) and haven't had a chance to really test it, but I have a 200 CD Mega Changer so I won't be using the Toshiba for Music CDs very often. This machine has everything I want/need and I am very confident I bought the best player for the money ($324 with a $75 dollar movie purchase at 800.com).

One last note regarding the remote: NO Components come with good remote controls. If you are the least bit into home theatre, then you really owe it to yourself to invest in a good Home Theatre Remote Control. I personally love my Marantz RC 2000 MKII. At $200, it's kinda pricy for a remote, but it can learn over 600 codes from any remote, is completely backlit and customizable, and, for me, has replaced 7 other remote controls. Sorry to get off topic, but the remote is very good. Look for Marantz Remote Reviews in the Other Category.

I am very happy with my Toshiba and am rating it based on other DVD players in the sub $500 price range. In that price range, this player deserves a 5.

Great entry level DVD player, paid $350.00 with 5 free movies and a totl of 29 free rentals ! Feature that I factored the least on my decision was the dual tray. I thought it was useless but it turns out to be quite useful. Warning do not puchase this unit if you think you can play regular CDs (non HDCD) and get performance on par with that of a regular audio CD player. This unit may perform well with HDCDs (I don't know as I have none in my collection) but it is not a audio CD player. You will need to enable CD attenuation to even bear to listen a few minutes.

I purchased this product for $284.95 including shipping a little over a month ago... I still haven't received those 5 free DVD's that you were supposed to get.... if it is like any other mail in offer, they should be arriving sometime next year.... nevertheless, a few comments on my experience with the toshiba.... I can't comment on the lost in space lip sync problem because I am still waiting for the DVD to arrive as one of the free ones... I have not noticed the problem on any other DVD I have watched thus far... I own about 40 of them now and have yet to notice a problem with the down conversion that others have mentionned, or any lip sync problems... I have gotten the Video Essentials DVD that dramatically improved the picture quality of the sony television I have it hooked to... it amazes me how far off the manufacturers default settings are from being correct!! everyone seems to be complaining about the remote and the build quality... come on people.... we are talking about a cheap piece of equipment here!!! the remote is more than functional.. the button layout is easy to follow in the dark if you have a little bit of memory retention... it works quite well for my purposes and is a whole lot better than any sony remote I have seen in years!!!

as for build quality... what do you expect!???? we are talking about something with a manufacturing cost of under a couple hundred bucks... it has a built in dolby digital decoder, HDCD, and a dual tray mechanism.... I hope you weren't expecting something high end for this price???? heck you can't even get a plain old decent cd player for this price!!! now you want a dvd player with all the bells and whistles??? I paid more for a vcr last year than I paid for this dvd player... take a little bit of care with the tray and you won't have a single problem with it... I have never had a problem with any toshiba product and I don't expect to have one now....

sonics are decent at the price point, image is excellent, as a cd player it could be a whole lot better (but that is why I have a seperate 2 channel audio system)... if you want to improve it, pull it apart and mod the power supply... that will increase the dynamics you are missing from a good cd player... just another $0.02 to add to the bill........

Have not purchased this unit but just spent time at my local dealer audtioning it. The build quality on this unit is poor at best. It seems to function O.K. though. I currently own two Toshiba units and have had problems with both. This dual tray design is poorly thought out and I think will definately be the first thing to break. Why did they change the remote? That was the best feature on the previous machine. Meridian even used it with their $2500.00 unit. After problems with both of my players and auditioning this one, I strongly suggest you look at everything in the same price range. Not impressed.

Alright video, basic sound. This machine is lighter than the remote that comes with it, I guess you get what you pay for. Took it back and got a mint cond. open box Sony 7000 player, Wow what a quality piece of equiptment. Buyer beware...

The Fool below is compairing Toshibas second to last DVD player with Sony's Top of the line. If you want to compare weights of the machines the 9000 is about the same in price and weight. However, the Sony 550 and 530 are very light and are in the Toshibas price range. They also have the dreaded lip sync problem.My brother owns the 550 and my 3109 beats it with both video and sound.

Great DVD player. Two trays, HDCD Decoding, completely re-designed on screen information system, better remote that the 2109, but not as good as the older 3108 (at least that's what I found in my research). Some of the problems that have been mentioned about this player are the chapter search keys double as the forward/reverse search keys depending on how they are used (if you push and hold, they are foward/reverse keys. If you just push once and release, they become chapter search keys) which took a little getting used to, but not a very big problem for me thus far (I have a One For All Cinema7 universal remote for everyday use and rarely use the supplied Toshiba remote at all. The keys on the Cinema7 perform as they should...channel up/down being chaper search and the FF/REW keys being forward/reverse search). Overall, the major flaw in this DVD player, as with the other Toshiba models, is the way Toshiba decided to handle downcoversion of anamorphic discs (enhanced for widescreen, enhanced for 16x9 televisions, etc.,) on regular 4x3 television sets. I feel they could have done better. It was distracting at first, but the more I use the 3109, the less I notice the downconversion artifacts. This is the only reason I'm deducting a point for this player. For the price, the Toshiba SD3109 is the top player for me at least.

Anyone else getting an audible click when skipping between tracks with an HDCD disk? Its not mechanical. I only hear it with HDCD. DVD and regular CD's don't make it. Both trays. If I let the machine change tracks normally I don't hear it. But I do hear it when the disk first starts. It seems to make the click as it turns on HDCD circuit.
Jim Middleton
middlton@starlink.com