Got my SD3109 from Sears (yes, Sears) for $349 and 5 free movies (rambo part II?)Started to buy the SD2109, but after reading the reviews for each of these, I decided to jump up a bit. In comparing to the Sony 550 I really wish the 3109 had the jog dial and the forward scan/chapter skip is a pain. But the video and audio is on par with anything else. So far I haven't seen any of the problems associated with under $500 players. I believe the Sony 550 is slightly better but not enough to justify the $150 difference. If $150 -$200 makes a difference to you in making the decision then the SD3109 is I believe the best DVD player under $500 on the market right now.

I bought this unit to replace an old worn out VCR and to make room for a bigger AV receiver (by getting rid of a CD player too), because I have limited space in a custom built entertainment center. I ordered the 3109 from OneCall and I am very happy with both the service and the product.
I've had this unit about ten days and tried many types of discs; it does a good job on all of them. It is easier to hear the superior digital recordings over analog. The movies that contain action (Godzilla) are the most obvious.

My TV does not accept the new connectors so I am using S-video. The difference is still a great improvement. I would recommend this unit.

I just picked one of these up as an open box item at Best Buy for $289. I'm using the built in decoder and the S-Video connection to a Hitachi projection TV. Picture and 5.1 channel sound are both excellent! I've only viewed a couple of rental DVDs so far, but the unit has performed perfectly.
I borrowed a couple of HDCD CDs to see if there was any difference that was immediately apparent. The CDs were Garth Brooks "Sevens" and the soundtrack from "City Of Angels". I did not expect any improvement, as I'd heard that DVD players are "poor" at playing CDs.

I may never be able to listen to regular CDs again! The HDCD sound was so much more lifelike, with a much clearer definition to the instruments. Dynamic range was like I've never heard from a CD in my system before. It just sounds more like live music.

I did a quick A/B test of the CD output from the analog outputs from the unit at 24/96 vs the output from the right & left channels of the 5.1 channel output. Center channel output was set to "no", and the surrounds were turned off. The sound went from good on 5.1 to spectacular on the analog. If I'm judging this correctly, the improved sound was due to the HDCD decoding.

The remote is OK. I had been reading about it being terrible and difficult to hold, but I basically use the play, pause, and stop buttons. Not too bad, but I do agree that backlighting would have made even the same style remote 100% better.

Setup was simple and mostly intuitive. Didn't open the manual until after I had the unit up and operating. An S-Video cable would have been nice, as that is the minimum connection most people into DVD will likely use. I do not have RGB inputs on my TV, so I can't comment on any level of improvement they might offer.

I was pleased to note that my TV did not require any changes in settings to get a perfect picture. I have TCI digital cable also, and both look to have perfect color balance. Very natural colors and saturation, with DVD having the far superior image quality.

Great produce so far. If it keeps working as it has so far, I'd highly recommend. Especially for the $350-$399 asking price.

I also experienced problems playing some rental DVD in the SD3901. It frozen at a dirty spot of the disk. I have to restart and skip over the charpter completely. I missing 2 charpters from the movie. However, the DVD is in bad condition. I will try more and see.

In case anyone was wondering, most asian discs do not have any regional encoding whatsoever. Discs can be made with or without regional encoding. It is primarily the major US film distributers that manufacture region encoded discs, to beter control market release dates and avoid domestic/overseas overlaps in the theatrical and DVD release times. Even some US discs do not have regional encoding. I'm glad to see that both reviews for the SD 3109 are very positive. I just ordered one because I wanted a DVD player that can also decode HDCD music. I'll post a review after I've spent some time with it.

I just picked up the sd3109 from 800.com with the 10% off coupon, no shipping charge, no tax. I paid $359 for everything including $200 free movie. I called them to get my $75 worth of free movies on thursday and I received it today, Saturday. I am real happy with 800.com, it was nice to deal with them. The unit works really well, the 2 discs tray is very convenient. Overall, I am quite happy with this purchase, bye bye VCR.

Looks like I'm always 1 step behind Erik (see below twice!).
Anyway, I have to agree with Erik on all accounts here! I ordered from 800.com who was out of stock, but they still got it to me in 1 week. Same as Erik... 399 with no shipping or tax, and 75 dollars of free movies. Plus Toshiba also has a deal now that they give 5 more free movies if you purchase between April 30 and June 30. My invoice date was April 30!!! The 5 movies are pre-set, but they aren't bad. (Lethal Weapon 4 is one of the movies). No stereo to hook it up to yet... However, it LOOKS AWESOME on my 52" Toshiba Ultrascan. The features are great! And yes, even my wife loves it!!! This is by far, the best best deal around! Enjoy!!!

5+ STARS

This is a really, really neat player.
I bought the 3109 because I was disgusted at my Pioneer 414. No point in saying the 3109 is easily the better purchase. Toshiba has clearly taken sub $500 DVD players to another level and given the competition a target to shoot at for just over all value, features, and ease of use. Only the Sony 550 I used for a few months may be a better player in the sub $500 category, and that only by a hair. However, the 3109 is a little cheaper, and much easier to set up and use.

The 3109 came packaged very well and was a breeze to set up - from box to ticking off the neighbors with "Starship Troopers" guns-a-blazing was about 5-minutes. This is one of the best set-up interfaces in the DVD world and the GUI menus are very well thought out. Good job Toshiba for making something easy to work with. The front scrolling menu on the layer is a little more gimmick than substance, but it's still far more informative than annoying LED's on other players, and at the least looks very cool. The dual drawer system is also a little on the gimmick side, but it's use-full for keeping a favorite DVD or CD on hand for quick demos.

Picture wise the 3109 is darn good. I found the colors not as accurate and a little chalky compared to the Sony 550 or Pioneer 414, but the 3109 also lacked the extensive pixelation of the annoying 414 unit, and again, the Sony costs more. Black levels are easily controlled and it was a breeze to synchronize this player to my matching Toshiba 31" TV.

For Dolby Digital sound the 3109 is dynamic and clear and easily on par with any other player I've worked with. Everything from the test tone generator to speaker set-ups was convenient and easy to work with. No problems with rear channel hiss or anything. The onboard Dolby Digital chip was crystal clear all the way around.

For music CD's this unit is OK, but not remarkable. Fat, big end bass may be great for movies, but for CD reference listening the 3109 falls short. The DAC in the 3109 delivers a mushy soundstage that is easily inferior to my razor sharp imaging Sony MDP-455 reference player (already several years old). In short the 3109 is no better (or worse) than your average $150 CD player. I didn’t try the HDCD feature, but I’ll rely on a dedicated player for that.

The only minor nits I have with this player are a sometimes noisy transport with audio CDs, and disappointed expectations with the audio DAC. Were it not for the existence of the Sony 550 I’d give the 3109 a perfect 5 rating. Actually, If possible I’d give it 4 ½, but I can’t do that :^)

I've had this player a little over a week, and I can say that I'm truely impressed! Thepicture is better than almost everything I've ever seen. I've been intresteed in dvd from
the beginning, and I've check out a lot of players. I was concerned about the Toshiba's
at 1st because they had many glitches in the beginning. Obviously, Toshiba has got
their act together.

This is one great player! Video is wonderful, sound on dvd is excellent, 2 trays is very
nice, and HDCD is awsome. But as with all things in life there is room for improvement.
The remote sucks! On cd sound its not up to par with players in $500.00 class, that is
unless your listening to HDCD. But what can we expect? This unit was ment to play
dvd's 1st, and it doesn't get much better than this unless you spend 3 times the price.
Then I'd really have to question if your getting getting your moneys worth. Besides,cd's
are just an after thought of the dvd format.

The search is over, Toshiba SD-3109 is where its at. Go get yourself one.

This is a really good DVD player... I originally had the JVC XVD701-BK but then exchanged it for this one since this one played other discs's other then Region 1's... Since I mostly watch asian films, I needed a player that played disc's other then region 1's so I got this one and it has great feature's zoom, colorstream, dual disc tray, and good build quality with an excellent remote control. So if you want a DVD player that plays disc's other then only Region 1's then get this one it's great.