Since HD-DVD drives are in their third generation, I figured it would be pretty safe to purchase one. I got the add-on HD-DVD drive for my Xbox 360 a day before I got a Toshiba HD-A3. Bourne Ultimatum looked great, but since the eject button on the drive wouldn't work, I had to return it, and I didn't want to take the chance of getting another bad one. Target (where I bought the 360 add-on drive) doesn't price match, so the best deal I found locally was $249.99 (minus an additional 10% for in-store pickup) at Circuit City.
Immediately after connecting the unit to my receiver and TV, I noticed a problem: no picture. I used the same HDMI–DVI cable I used with my upscaling Sony DVD player, so I knew that wasn't the problem. A firmware upgrade (via the internet) for the unit didn't help, so I just connected it using component cables. The problem with that: no upscaling of regular DVDs, but at least I still have the other player for that.
Anyway, there is a noticeable improvement over regular DVDs, even on my 34" RCA HDTV. I also like the web-enabled features with HD-DVD, and the ability to look at the special features while the movie is actually playing. My only issue with the unit—other than no HDMI–DVI capability for me—is that it's painfully slow to boot up, and this one is supposedly much faster than the previous models.
I hooked my upscaling Sony DVD back up to my TV using the HDMI–DVI cable, but noticed yet another issue: I was out of optical inputs on my receiver. I had a coaxial input, so I picked up an optical–coaxial converter. Yet another issue: my receiver "shares" the optical input labeled "DVD" with the coaxial "DVD" input, with the coaxial input being given priority. As long as only one DVD player is on at a time, it works, but I may have to give in and get an optical switcher.
Happy New Year!
