Toshiba HD-EP30 HDMI Upscaling DVD Player With HD DVD High Definition Playback (Includes 2 Free HD DVD Titles!)

£208 is a very good price! HD dvd is now going the way like DVDS did. trust me, this worth much more than £208. 5/5

Just received my EP30 from play.com and really happy looks a lot more attractive than my bulky looking PS3 and although the 2 free movies arent the best HD DVD has to offer for picture quality they are still a nice bonus. I own a PS3 and over 30 blu ray titles which i am very happy with, but I have just bought Transformers, Shrek 3, Batman Begins and the Mummy Trilogy and i can confidently say that these movies are easily on par if not better than the best blu ray has to offer in terms of high defintion i.e Apocalypto, Cars, 2001 Space odeyssey, I also prefer Hd dvd as it is a lot more user friendly and a lot of the extras are in Hig Definition unlike blu ray. If you have just bought a fancy big Hd ready telly go and invest in this dvd player as it will upscale your old dvds into high definiton bringing a fresh new look to a lot of peoples exisiting collections, and also give you the oppurtunity to experience High Defintion and see what all the fuss is about

I have a PS3, Xbox 360 with HD DVD and know a HD EP30. The picture quality of the HD DVD is much better than Blu Ray, especially things in the background. HD DVD has all the good films and the 7 free films with this deal is great. Add in the fact the player can upscale all your existing films to glorious 1080p. So for £200 how can you go wrong? Go on you know you want too!

Yes, it is slow to start up. But then it does work like a PC, it needs to boot up. What you are treated to is crystal clear visuals. Easy to setup, exept ethernet, which I can't figure out. I'm guessjng it's my router to be honest.

The only problem I have is the unit has no Coax out. This limits my connectivity options. NOT a problem for most people :)

EDIT - Steve573 - No "non-1080p" TV is going to handle a 1080p signal, what made you think it would ? and of course you will get vertical lines etc . This player kicks out 720p, 1080i and 1080p. And to be honest the player is aware of the fact that my TV is only 1080i even though the player is set to output "upto 1080p 24fps"

I bought this particular player after reading various reviews and feedback. The manufacturer and low price were also big factors in my purchase.

The EP30 is an excellent buy if you want to see how impressive HD really is but don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on an HD DVD player or Blu Ray player.

Connected through a good HDMI lead it performs really well. I have a 32" LCD tv but even at this size you can still see the exceptional clarity and detail in certain films. Tvs 37" or more will be better suited to HD and you will really notice the difference.

You have to remember that not all films transfer as well as others in HD and the picture settings of your tv (brightness/colour/contrast/sharpness, etc) also contribute to the overall picture quality.

The start up time is slower than a normal dvd player but really isn't that bad. For firmware updates you can either connect to the internet, burn a cd from the update page of the manufacturer's website, or request an update cd be sent to you.

This is a very good player and even if you decide to upgrade in a couple of years to a better HD DVD player or a combi HD DVD/ Blu ray player it is still an excellent first step into the world of HD cinema.