Toshiba HD-XE1 HD DVD High Definition DVD Player

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Editorial reviews

Product Description
Technical DataDimensions & Weight / Widthcm43Technical DataDimensions & Weight / Depthcm34.5Technical DataDimensions & Weight / Heightcm6.6Technical DataHeader / Product LineToshibaTechnical DataHeader / ModelHD-XE1Technical DataHeader / ManufacturerToshibaTechnical DataHeader / Packaged Quantity1Technical DataAudio System / Sound Output ModeSurround SoundTechnical DataDVD / TypeHD DVD playerTechnical DataDVD / Form FactorTabletopTechnical DataDVD / Media TypeHD DVDTechnical DataDVD / Built-in Audio DecodersMPEG

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Customer reviews

review by: kmark40 date: 2008-03-20 rating:
One of the best upscaling DVD PLayers on the market!
And it plays HD DVD's. I purchased mine approximately 6-7 months ago for £450 . Even then it was superb value for money. I am not a fan of upscaled images, I much prefer HD, but this really does make the most of the DVD's that I do have. I have also recently updated the firmware on this player, so that it is now multi-region (for standard DVD) as well as being able to output bitstream audio (TruHD, DTS HD Master Audio, DTS HD, Dolby Digital +) to an HD av receiver that can decode it(i.e Onkyo 605). It also contains analogue outputs, which mean that it can internally decode TruHD and DD + and output them as PCM to an older av receiver. Oh yes, it plays HDDVD rather nicely as well!

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review by: date: 2007-10-08 rating:
Not better than the 360 add-on
Please ignore the reviewer who says this player is better than the 360 add-on, it is simply not possible. Why? Well the first thing is the drive is made by Toshiba, secondly the drive uses all the power in the Xbox 360 - all 3 Cores and the 512mb of ram (minus the memory used for the interface which is 32mb) whereas the drive which is actually a PC in some ways since it has a Pentium 4 processor and ram is by no means as powerful as the components in the Xbox 360.

The other part to consider is like many who only own a 720p/1080i HDTV with HDMI 1.1 version will not see any difference anyway but perhaps some if using a much more expensive HDMI cable.

I have done some comparisons bettween a 40inch 1080i Samsung and a 52inch 1080p Samsung with HDMI 1.3 by using a PS3 running on 1080p and HDMI 1.3 cables vs the Xbox 360 add-on running at 1080i with HDMI 1.3 visually in terms of this FULL 1080p nonsense flying about I can safely say there is minimal difference at best.

Once you go to High Definition resolution of 720p/1080i there is not that much difference jumping to 1080p and with the HDMI 1.3 specs its all numbers on paper unless you have 2 screens side by side you will see some difference however that again is the technology in the panel being able to give you the better colours in the first place.

Lastly...If you like waiting as long as the average waiting time of a kettle boiling then buy this, however if you like your movies to load up within a few seconds then buy the Xbox 360 add-on instead if you have an Xbox 360 or if you do not then buy the 2, it is still far better than buying this stand alone player.

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review by: Tricky6 date: 2007-08-22 rating:
Fantastic!
Having jumped into the "shallow end" of HD with the Xbox 360 HD drive I was never 100% taken with it, especially compared to the picture quality with my Sky HD box (which is superb).

Just set up the XE1 this evening and it really is a great box of tricks. I've got it HDMI to my HD TV (only 1080i) and it really is substantially better than the Xbox HD drive picture quality-wise, probably a true rival to Sky HD.

Furthermore through the 5.1 analogue outputs into my NAD surround amp's 7.1 external sockets I've got an advance on the sound quality front as the player takes care of decoding the HD audio signals most amps currently can't (albeit only in 5.1). I've only got one Dolby TrueHD disk (Batman Begins) but it is better and even normal Dolby Digital Plus sounds great. U2's Rattle & Hum (US import) finally sounds like it should.

It's also worth pointing out that sound quality from normal CD's is VERY listenable and upscaling on normal DVD's is at least as good if not better than with the Denon 2910 I used to have.

Just as a last point the build quality and finish is really top notch. No tacky plastic casing here, its all extruded metal. Even the remote is a substantial metal thing which glows in the dark, not your usual cheapo plastic job.

(You may have gathered!) I'm very, very happy with this product, the price and very quick delivery from Amazon. I'm pretty picky about this kind of thing so I don't think you'd be disappointed with a purchase.

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review by: ricky_everist date: 2007-07-17 rating:
Amazing
This is a truely awesome piece of kit. Upscaling of DVD is incrediable and Toshiba send you out firmware upgrades, so you can update all the latest mod-cons instead of shelling out for a new one every 2 years (well done Tosh). Now if only someone would build a decent Blu-ray player, then i'll be happy!


review by: date: 2007-05-25 rating:
Incredible machine
Bought one of these from Amazon a month ago. What can I say? Combined with a nice big HD Ready TV and a decent Dolby 5.1 setup the results are amazing. And it doesn't stop at the incredible picture & sound quality from HD DVDs. Everything is better. CDs and normal DVDs are far better than previously.

OK it's a bit big, the remote is a bit weird and it takes about 35 seconds to 'boot up', but sound and picture quality are what counts here and I don't believe there's anything out there that can touch this unit.

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