Anyone else have any problems with their Toshiba HD-DVD player? I should have recognized a problem when it took about 15 seconds to open the transport, and then another 20 to 30 seconds before a picture would appear on the screen. We returned the unit and a new one was sent out that did the same thing almost exactly. Recently purchased the Samsung version of the HD-DVD player and it works flawlessly......so far.

What you describe as problems are actually normal for that player. Like it or not that's how they are. Glad you got one you liked better.

They should not even sell equipment with that issue. I have owned two other Non HD Disk players with the same sort of issue and the better half has no patience for such things.

-DonB

Really. So, no computers at your house? The HDDVD player is a computer, and it takes a few seconds to boot up.

The Samsung is not an HDDVD player, so I hope the OP didn't buy any HDDVDs to go with the Toshiba. They won't play on the Samsung Bluray player.

The other issues with these units are far worse than bootup time, get real.

"The other issues with these units are far worse than bootup time, get real."

Sorry Spiky I have owned plenty of computers in my day , the units I referred to, one was a RCA CD player and would take for ever to start playing a CD. The other unit was a DVD recorder and takes forever to get a DVD up on the screen let alone handle key input changes. Neither unit would make the better half happy.

Computers all have different speed ratings which can impact response time for the user. Because a manufacturer has chosen to possibly use a computer that is not up to the task at hand, or has poorly written code slowing it down does not mean in any way that the "Better Half" will tolerate this slow response time and as such this said device has no place in my media room or I will take a lot of grief about it and would never enjoy watching a HD DVD in company with the Better half.

So yes I am being as real as can be.

-DonB

The Toshiba unit can be rife with problems if you're not running the latest firmware, version 1.4. Said firmware can be downloaded directly through the DVD players user interface, so long as you have the players ethernet cable hooked up to your broadband connection. More information on the firmware update can be found here in the support section at Toshiba's HD-DVD website.

I would recommend a Denon 2910 in the same price range if you like speed. It will give you better audio and video for DVDs. Once there is a 2nd gen HDDVD player, no doubt speed will improve.

They are (as far as can be determined) planning to upgrade the OS to be more specific for the HDDVD task and upgrade the hardware to flash based storage for more speed in future products. This was a stopgap 1st gen product. Issues like this are to be expected.

The issue that makes it impossible for me to purchase it is that it does not even decode all 3 of the new audio formats, more like 1.5 of them, which is a gross oversight. Plus, I'm more interested in a combo player, BD/HDDVD.