Jim Douglas
Second Unit
- Joined
- Aug 2, 1999
- Messages
- 255
I was off last Friday and went to Best Buy to try and use my 12% off rewards coupon. I was looking at the HD-A1 display when the sales guy asked if I needed any help and I asked him when they might get some HD-A1's because none were sitting out. He told me we got in two or three in the back if you want one. Having no will power I said yes get me one. Price $439.99
I don't have a big fancy system or anything and I sure am no expert but here is what it will be hooked up to:
Pioneer Elite 630HD RPTV (2 DVI connections)
Denon AVR-3803
That's the main system I won't bore you with all the other stuff.
I decided while hooking the A1 up I would take out a few things and clean the matching Pioneer Elite rack. I removed my Oppo 971 DVD player and my JVC 5U HDMI D-VHS VCR. I used the Better Cables HDMI to DVI cable that was hooked to the 5U and hooked it to the A1. Hooked up the audio connection using the digital optical connection to the Denon 3803 for now. Got all the cables arraigned and the rack moved back into place and was ready to fire it up.
Turned on the TV and set it to the DVI input and powered on the A1. At first there was no picture but once I pushed the HDMI button up came the setup screen. It was already set to 1080i. Wasn't much to change in the setup menu so I just looked around and checked the firmware version (1.3). I turned the system off and started everything up just like I was going to watch a movie.
Turned everything back on and waited for the Toshiba HD-DVD splash screen to come up. It took longer than what I normally see but I wasn't bored waiting either. That was a non issue for me. Opened the try and slid in Serenity. Once it started up I hit pause to check out the menu options. I thought the menu setup was way cool in what you can do and how they are laid out. Restarted the movie and made some adjustments to contrast and black level and was treated to a truly spectacular picture. It's just really hard to put into words how nice it really looked. I also put in Blazing Saddles and it looked incredible. It's what a 32 year old movie and you could see every rock and grain of quicksand in the scene where the railroad car sinks into the quicksand. I just sit there amazed at the picture quality.
Tried a couple of sd movies also. Spiderman Super Bit and Shrek both at 1080i upconversion looked excellent. Won't have any problem watching SD discs on the A1.
So far I'm very happy with my purchase. No glitches or HDMI errors or anything strange. Remote is so so. I programmed everything I would need into my MX-500 so that's not a problem.
For me the decision to buy something now was I could get into HD-DVD for a decent price that didn't break the family budget. I can sell off my Oppo and JVC D-VHS machines and offset the cost the the A1. Who knows what will happen with the format war. Maybe nothing and we'll still be sitting here three years from now and still no single format. I want to enjoy HD movies now and now that best choice is (for me) HD-DVD. Not to sound glum but life is short and I feel you should enjoy the things that make you happy now. I still enjoy some of the laserdiscs I have so don't talk to me about a possible dead format. If HD-DVD folds it tent next year ( I don't think it will) I won't sweat it to much. I'll still have a nice SD upconverting player that will also play the HD-DVD discs I have. I'm happy now and that is all that counts to me.
So that's my story. Sorry to be so long winded. Didn't expect the post to run this long. I just wanted to try and relay my experience that might help others with their decisions. Ron's review and others here really helped me feel good about taking the plunge. No regrets and glad to join the club.
Enjoy.
Jim
I don't have a big fancy system or anything and I sure am no expert but here is what it will be hooked up to:
Pioneer Elite 630HD RPTV (2 DVI connections)
Denon AVR-3803
That's the main system I won't bore you with all the other stuff.
I decided while hooking the A1 up I would take out a few things and clean the matching Pioneer Elite rack. I removed my Oppo 971 DVD player and my JVC 5U HDMI D-VHS VCR. I used the Better Cables HDMI to DVI cable that was hooked to the 5U and hooked it to the A1. Hooked up the audio connection using the digital optical connection to the Denon 3803 for now. Got all the cables arraigned and the rack moved back into place and was ready to fire it up.
Turned on the TV and set it to the DVI input and powered on the A1. At first there was no picture but once I pushed the HDMI button up came the setup screen. It was already set to 1080i. Wasn't much to change in the setup menu so I just looked around and checked the firmware version (1.3). I turned the system off and started everything up just like I was going to watch a movie.
Turned everything back on and waited for the Toshiba HD-DVD splash screen to come up. It took longer than what I normally see but I wasn't bored waiting either. That was a non issue for me. Opened the try and slid in Serenity. Once it started up I hit pause to check out the menu options. I thought the menu setup was way cool in what you can do and how they are laid out. Restarted the movie and made some adjustments to contrast and black level and was treated to a truly spectacular picture. It's just really hard to put into words how nice it really looked. I also put in Blazing Saddles and it looked incredible. It's what a 32 year old movie and you could see every rock and grain of quicksand in the scene where the railroad car sinks into the quicksand. I just sit there amazed at the picture quality.
Tried a couple of sd movies also. Spiderman Super Bit and Shrek both at 1080i upconversion looked excellent. Won't have any problem watching SD discs on the A1.
So far I'm very happy with my purchase. No glitches or HDMI errors or anything strange. Remote is so so. I programmed everything I would need into my MX-500 so that's not a problem.
For me the decision to buy something now was I could get into HD-DVD for a decent price that didn't break the family budget. I can sell off my Oppo and JVC D-VHS machines and offset the cost the the A1. Who knows what will happen with the format war. Maybe nothing and we'll still be sitting here three years from now and still no single format. I want to enjoy HD movies now and now that best choice is (for me) HD-DVD. Not to sound glum but life is short and I feel you should enjoy the things that make you happy now. I still enjoy some of the laserdiscs I have so don't talk to me about a possible dead format. If HD-DVD folds it tent next year ( I don't think it will) I won't sweat it to much. I'll still have a nice SD upconverting player that will also play the HD-DVD discs I have. I'm happy now and that is all that counts to me.
So that's my story. Sorry to be so long winded. Didn't expect the post to run this long. I just wanted to try and relay my experience that might help others with their decisions. Ron's review and others here really helped me feel good about taking the plunge. No regrets and glad to join the club.
Enjoy.
Jim