As promised, Toshiba is shipping the
HD-A20 to retailers with a MSRP of $499, but
can probably be found online for even less. The
HD-A20 fits right in the middle of Toshiba's trio of HD DVD players, which make up all of the stand alone HD DVD players available. The extra benjamin over the HD-A2 gets you
HDMI 1.3 and
1080p output, but it lacks a few video enhancements like
deep color support and additional connections like RS-232 when compared with its bigger brother, the
HD-XA2. If this is any indication of what we can expect from second generation HD DVD players, Toshiba is on its way to producing some of the best next-gen physical media movie players anywhere -- at least until Blu-ray finally
gets BD-J live done in October.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ed @ Apr 11th 2007 8:44PM
Amazon is selling the HD-A2 for $309 with Free Shipping!!
Ed @ Apr 11th 2007 8:45PM
Amazon is selling the HD-A2 for $309 with Free Shipping!!
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A2-HD-DVD-Player/dp/B000IJV4BC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5134492-2120751?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1176338605&sr=8-1
Alex @ Apr 11th 2007 10:11PM
hey spend extra and get RS-232.....so you can add it to the disabled list like the 1st gen XA1
Andy @ Apr 12th 2007 5:27PM
Alex spread FUD, the rs-232 works just fine on the xa1
Alex @ Apr 12th 2007 12:05AM
sorry, I guess I meant "crippled" not disabled. Bah, who needs discrete off anyway??
GhostDoggy @ Apr 12th 2007 5:45AM
Like a tree falling with no one around to hear it, what good is it if there are not at least 10 titles I want? I've got a $180 DVD player I bought four years ago for the ~200 DVDs. I'd say the cost for the player was worth it. But $300 for the ability to play 4-5 titles is a joke. Now imagine spending $500-1000 for 4-5 titles.
Xyzzy @ Apr 12th 2007 9:27AM
Doggy, you must be REALLY picky in your movie watching if you can't find 10 HD DVD movies you'd want to watch. Hell, I bet even Dave can find 10 movies he'd want to watch!
Blockbusters like King Kong? Harry Potter? Superman?
Classics like Cassablanca? Searchers? Mutiny on the Bounty?
New movies like Smokin' Aces? Children of Men?
Indy films like Scanner Darkly?
There's nearly 200 movies available for HD DVD (probably more if you count the overseas releases like T2, Elephant Man, etc).
One thing that the article doesn't mention for the XA2 -- it's been rated the best upconverting player on the market by several independent tests. I don't know the details, but it uses a special chip (Reon?) to make SD DVD look great. I don't know if the A20 has that (I don't think so, but I could be mistaken).
Dylan Neild @ Apr 12th 2007 10:28AM
Does this one skip, stall and freeze on brand new, fresh-from-the-shrink-wrap discs like the A1, XA1, A2 and XA2?
Xyzzy @ Apr 12th 2007 1:53PM
I hope it works exactly the same -- since my A1, purchased nearly a year ago, has not had a single problem with a single disk from Netflix or from shrinkwrap.
You sound like the people who say "Xbox360 sucks because they all get the red ring of death." Maybe I'm just lucky, but I haven't had a problem with the 360 either.