A review of the Toshiba HD-E1 HD DVD Player
Toshiba have been rushing their little socks off to get this state of the art HD-DVD player to us in good time. They wanted to beat the market and introduce the UK’s first HD DVD player, which we have found is very impressive when connected to a HD- Ready TV.
Design |
| The Toshiba HD-E1 HD DVD player is sleek and ultra slim, as far as DVD players go and the front panel is kept very minimalist and trendy looking. The only operating function on the front is the DVD drawer open button. Under a press flap on the front is 2 USB ports, we were unsure of their purpose, but the manual explained that they do not have a purpose as yet, but are there for future possibilities. There is also a LCD screen on the front. All connections are situated on the back, as usual there is all the standard conponent conections and 1 HDMI port plus an Ethernet connector so you can connect the Toshiba HD-E1 to the Internet, but at present it is not possible to use this connection. In the future, as manufacturers explain, there will be HD DVD’s that will offer access to online content so therefore, the HD-E1 will be ready and waiting. |
| Setup/Installation |
When setting up the HD-E1 there are several resolutions to choose from, 1080i and 720p and 480/576p and 480/576i, once you have selected one of these, the only other choices you need to make are an output resolution and which audio connection you wish to use. |
| Features |
The Toshiba E1 player promises to provide you with crystal clear picture quality. With an increased bit rate, much more detail can be transferred in a much faster time, resulting in superb images and exceptional sound. There isn’t a 1080p mode with the Toshiba HD-E1, which did surprise us somewhat. |
| Performance |
| The performance of the Toshiba HD-E1 High Def player was pretty impressive with sharpness of HD DVD’s being absolutely true to life. Along, with the great sound, you get lost in the film and definitely feel as though your name should show in the credits. There is a total lack of picture noise and details are so superb. Currently, we do not have much to compare the Toshiba HD-E1 HD DVD player to, but even compared to Sky HD the detail appears to be much sharper and clearer and colours brighter. One downfall of the HD-E1 is its speed, or lack of it. When you have pressed the power button, the HD-E1 then takes about 1 minute to power up and even pressing the open button for the disk draw has a delay of about 15 seconds. Once your DVD is in place and the draw has decided to close, it then takes about another minute or two to register the DVD and display the menu on the screen. Even turning up the volume or skipping scenes has a delay and you can almost hear the cogs going round when it’s thinking about reacting to your demands. The remote control is pretty straightforward although the buttons are quite small and not brilliantly organised. |
| Overall Opinion |
| The Toshiba HD-E1 HD DVD player is an amazing, next generation piece of equipment that we predict every household will have in the near future. The Toshiba HD-E1 operates superbly with HD DVD’s and also normal DVD’s and with extraordinary colours and sound this HD DVD player has set the standard for future models and they sure do have a lot to live up to. |
| By Hayley Malyon |
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Pros + Amazing sound and picture quality + Great value + User-friendly |
Cons - No 1080p mode - Full range of outputs missing for HD audio |
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Overall Rating 
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22/1/2007
at 11:58:45am
Read Toshiba Reviews
| Web Reviews - beta | |||
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Toshiba HD-E1 While it lacks advanced features and is very slow to respond, the HDE1 is the first standalone highdefinition movie player that feels like it's worth the money. With excellent picture quality, a large selection of movies already available and affordability that puts the current Bluray players to shame, HD DVD is looking very tempting.. read | |||
By Rob Gillman at
cnet.co.uk
8/1/2007 5:29:10pm
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