So everything aside the REAL reason to buy, is
unlike bluray , HD dvd is region free people
the dvd play back is region 2 encoded
buy it, you really will not be disappointed,
and online firmware updates, it keeps getting better and better

i've had this amazing player for about 2 months now- it eats all you money or what?- but i dont mind that coz every pounds i have spent has been worth while. I have almost every hd dvd title in the market and the picture and sound performence it gives is incredible, man the colour the depth and the details unbelievable, this machine diserves a 10star not 5. make sure you buy the toshiba z series lcd which is 1080p and also 100htz to complimant the player.

Bought this 2 weeks ago, so glad i did. Extremely sleak and stunning on the eye. HD movies are played back with all the depth of colour, detail and sound you would expect. King Kong, Batman Begins and Terminator 2 have all been magnificent.

Even my ordinary dvd`s have been given a new lease of life by the Toshiba`s abilty to upscale them. Amazing results have been achieved so far. The system is so easy to set up, i even downloaded updates via the ethernet port and it was all done easily.

I urge anyone thinking about going HD to get this particular model. Movies have never looked and sounded so good. Top marks to the ever trusty Toshiba on a fabulous product.

On first viewing the machine it looks good,very sleak in design.

Very easy to set up and configure and is easy to use.

Even if you never buy a HD disc this is one hell of a dvd player,easily the best machine on the market and IMHO as good as any i've seen at ANY price,that includes machines from such specialists as Denon and Arcam to name but two.

Still not had chance to try it on HD as i'm waiting for my disc to be delivered,Another report will follow ASAP!!!

Verdict:- A no Brainer-buy with confidence,well done Toshiba!!

PART2:-

I have just tried out my King Kong HD Disc - WOW !!!

Many say this is one of if not THE best disc for picture quality and i would have to agree.

The SD copy is excellent but is bettered in every way by the HD version,from the opening sequences to the last frame this is a cracking transfer,the first "That's unbelieveable" moment is when Carl spots kong through the gate and Kong stares him out,the detail on Kongs face defies belief,you completely forget this is CGI and get totally immersed in the picture.

This is one disc you should own even if like me you have it on SD!!!

As i speak i have a cd playing on it and it's good at that as well,a true Jack of all trades.

To sum up : - An Excellent product that excells at what it does !!!

Have to agree with steviea's comment. This machine is a breeze to set up (must read manual first one of these days). First play with simply upscaling shows a noticeable difference in quality to my old sony dvd player so even if HD DVD does bomb then at least I'm not out there. Still waiting for my first HD film to try out (looking forward to Heroes mind), hence the 4 rather than the 5 stars.
BTW - in our local PC world this machine is over £400 so the price compares VERY nicely.

Bought this recently and its going to cost me a lot of money. Its that good I will have to change my whole DVD collection, this is a must by and sgot to be seen to be believed!!!

This is a great machine for anyone with a 1080p TV. If you only have 1080i get the cheaper E1. Both have superb picture quality and excellent sound. When we finally get a reasonably priced Blu-Ray player in the UK it will still be more expensive than this and all HD DVDs are region free. So buy one!

Got mine yesterday from Play.com and have 3 movies so far, watching HD DVD movies is a visual feast for the eyes, you could liken the difference between SD and HD stuff like when DVDs first surfaced to kill off the VHS, only this time it's so much much better in the jump of quality, I personally recommend watching Shooter as of the 3 movies I have it was the most visually pleasing, buy this player now as it is better than sliced bread.

I had this machine delivered on Monday and every film that i have tried has been flawless. No update issues yet. Only time will tell. When using the player through a tv which has 1080p i personally think it beats the blu-ray format for quality. The only one problem with the player is its not multi region when playing normal dvd. I guess we will have to just wait for a hack. Im still giving this 5 stars because of the price and the hd-dvd quality.

This is FANTASTIC and a must buy and Play.com is the cheapest.