I've played the Matrix, Armageddon, Prince of Egypt, and the Mummmy on the SD-3109 via component outputs to my 61" Toshiba RPTV. The Matrix has lots of noise in the shadows, Armageddon looks great, but skips Chapter 3 altogether, and locks up on Chapter 12, had to get around it by entering the actual time manually. the Prince of Egypt and the Mummy both played flawlessly with vibrant video and virtually no artifacts. The downconversion is not really that bad unless you like to watch 3 feet away from the TV screen. Yes, there were shimmers and moire from time to time, but they are not really that distracting. I actually like this player alot, the zoom function is a great feature as I like to use 1x zoom to fill my screen more without clipping too much of the content. I only have Dolby Pro Logic for audio, so can't really say how good the built-in decoder is, but 2 channel analog ain't bad. Dual Tray is a plus, as well as the ability to play ALL VCD's.
Feature I would really wanted was the bookmarking feature found on the Panasonic A120, as well as a quick start feature as I still think it is really slow.

I guess if you can live with a player that can't play a couple DVD's out of hundreds and don't you seat very close to your TV, the Toshiba is a good buy. I've tried the Panasonic A120, Magnovox 825, and Sony SS330, this is my fourth player and I'm tired of the returning back and forth. No DVD player are perfect, every DVD player has quirks of its own, but I can live with the minor ones from the Toshiba.

I say check out the Toshiba SD-3109 or Pioneer DV-525

I've had this player 3 weeks and played about 20 DVDs on it. It's worked fine on all of the DVDs. I noticed slight picture degradation on one double layer disc, but not on others. I've had no audio/video synch problems, loading problems etc. On the relatively small screen TV I've had it hooked to (a 27" Trinitron) the pictures have been nearly perfect. The only quibbles I have is the remote is not the best and on the time display it will not display the '1' hour figure (but will display a '2' if the movie runs over 2 hours). All in all this is a really nice player and I'd recommend it. I paid $319 + shipping at Consumer Direct on the 'net.

Excellent picture and sound, dual-disc tray, easy set-up, and price.

The remote is odd and not very intuitive to use.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this unit. This is my first DVD player and I selected it primarily based on the reviews on this site.

The picture is stunning and the sound is rich and clear. I have a digital ready receiver so the built-in digital decoder in this unit is a real plus.

I've played about 20 DVDs and have not experienced any sync or playing problems. One odd thing - one time I could not power on the unit. I had to unplug it from the powerstrip and plug it back in to get it to power up.

This unit is a good buy. A lot of features for around $300.

Similar Products Used:

None.

I've had my Toshiba 3109 hooked up to my Toshiba TW65H80 using the CinemaQuest Y1Q1 Component Video, the audio hooked up using Audioquest Optilink X to my JVC 1028 A/V Receiver, and my Atlantic Technology's Compact Theater Two Speaker System for over a week now. Have watched 4 DVD's in it. All I can say is it's Awesome. I never thought you could watch a movie and see the peach fuss on a women's face, or count the blades of grass. As for the problems mentioned in The Matrix I didn't see any. The only problem I see, is teaching my wife how to use it.

I have had it for little over a week and watched 7 DVDs. I have a 27in
Proscan which is way better than any Sony. I have 3109 currently directly
hooked to Carver 705x and Velodyne F-1200. I must say picture and DD are
both excellent.
It got stuck at a scene. I rewinded a little and played again, still stuck.
Then, I took out the disc and wiped it with a towel. Put it in, and it worked
fine. So watch out for the dirty rental discs.
For $267 and 15 free rentals, it is a bargain!
Five stars!

Earlier I gave a rating of 5, but I am changing it as I found out that this
player does not emit 96khz/24 bit. I find from pp33 of manual that it
emits upto 48khz/16 bit on bitstream/pcm jack, 96/20 on 5.1 analog and
96/24 on 2-ch audio out.
I am giving it a 2 for an average of 3.5.

I've also experienced problems with this SD-3109 failingto handle minor scratches and/or smudges... both with DVD
and audio CD's... very disappointing. you can't just
fast-forward through trouble spots, either.... it just
locks up.

I had the same problem that Orlando had. When my player arrived (from Sandbox), it wouldn't read any discs. It just showed "loading" forever. I sent it back, but after two weeks still no replacement. For $299, I guess I got what I paid for! If or when I get the new one, I'll update my post. My current Panasonic A-110 works perfectly.

First let me say that this review area should be for items that have been used and reviewed for their sound, video and ease of operation and not for defective items that have just been purchased because with any product there a certain percentage of defective merchandise regardless of price.I have just purchased the sd3109 and my conclusion are as follow:
picture-very clear.
DD sound- crisp and detailed with a nice soundstage.
Audio CD- very dissapointing because I planned to replace my Pioneer CD player which now I going to keep
HDCD- dont care for it much because there are not that many HDCD's on the market.
very easy to set up and use.

Onkyo tx828thx
toshiba 35" TV
B&W 601s2 front
B&W CC6s2
Def. Tech. BPX1 rear
Velodyne va1210 sub

I have had the 3109 for about a month and I am very happy withits performance. After 7 movies (including The Matrix) I haven't
had a single problem. The picture is great on my 35" trinitron
and the DD and DTS sound tremendous with the Sony 333ES receiver.
With the zoom, dual tray, and the $339 price tag I have to give
it a 5.