CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

I bought Knocked Up on HD DVD. Yep, it's a combo disc, only this time I just might get to use the DVD side to my total dismay! I get some hiccups in the HD DVD video here and there until mid-way though chapter 8 when the player takes a steaming dump! So damn frustrating! Who would have thought that the DVD side would come in handy as that's my only hope it seems to watch this damn movie! Toshiba should recall the HD-A1, incinerate them, and send the owners 2nd gen players. It's such a POS. That big ass controller with the moronic key layout. I have to turn on the light to make sure I don't press stop instead of the key I really want to press. You press stop and get ready for another nap while the player starts the disc up again. Plus, gotta love that cheap feel of the controller even though it's exterior is made of some metal. Did I mention the ridiculous load time? The glitches in playback. And now it doesn't even play a title! I'm 1/3 through the movie and I think I've almost spent more time waiting for the damn thing to reboot hoping it won't take another crap. There are other titles that are glitchy, but Knocked Up is pretty much unplayable. Maybe it has to do with the fact that it's a combo disc? I also heard that this affects Universal combo disc but not Warner Bros. discs? I think someone speculated that the discs aren't cleaned well after processing? My disc looks to be flawless. No scratches whatsoever. I suppose I should update my firmware. What I really should do is toss the damn player out the window. I maybe watched 15 movies on it to date. So that's what, $20 per viewing. Oh, and the $30 per title cost. So make that $50 per view. My rectum hurts. Were 1st gen DVD players this sh*tty? Maybe I have forgotten. I remember having to scan through Terminator 2 every once in a while to regain audio sync. Though at least the damn disc played!

VideoGrabber · Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 933 Location: Michigan

Do you feel better now? Very Happy

> I suppose I should update my firmware. <

Worth a try. Might be more productive than venting (but less fun). Wink

overclkr · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 4227

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:57 pm Post subject:

No Cliff, you're supposed to use your standard response to that:

'I'd HIT IT'.

But that would be oh, oh, oh so wrong though, right?

ecrabb · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:15 pm Post subject:

Wow. I have both an XA1 and an A1, and I've never had any more than what I'd call "annoying" or "flakey" behavor from either. I've never had audio synch issues, and never had an any issue whatsoever while just simply watching a movie. It can get annoying with eject and load times, but other than that, I've been really happy with both my first-gen players.

Definetely update the firmware if it isn't current.

SC

Moose · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 788 Location: Minnesota

There have been many reported problems with those damned combo discs on several players. I recommend updating the firmware also; it's easy. For what it's worth my HD-A2 has played everything perfectly so far, and its load time, while not quite as fast as I'd like, is reasonable.

ADRIANKELLY · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 185 Location: Anchorage Alaska

My A-1 just died when I moved all of my connections to the 3808 . Before this it ran flawlessly , and this was from the launch model . Lucky for me I bought the 4 year plan from BB ( something I never do ) it was only $40 and with a first generation machine I did expect trouble . Yes it was slow to load and the remote was crap but it always played the movies . I took mine to BB and they looked up the receipt , found the plan purchase , and I got my $ 500. back on a gift card . I then purchased the hd a-30 for $399. it came with 2 movies in the box I got 2 off the shelf and 5 more are on the way . I got to admit I can't complain I got a new machine ( it is lightning fast in comparison) plus 1080p . BTW in Anchorage AK they dont send anything out for repair the shipping isn't worth the cost of most products . They just replace the items or give gift cards . I do feel lucky that my a1 lasted so long and ran as well as it did because if you watch the A site forum they can be troublesome . good luck and do try the firmware upgrade it has helped a lot of people in your position .

ecrabb · Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:15 pm Post subject:

I still think this is weird... as in atypical. I'm wondering if something is failing.

I don't know how many others I've played, but I know I've watched at least one combo disc - Miami Vice. It played flawlessly, and was friggin' outstanding. The PQ/SQ was stunning. Yes, it was grainy in a some of the darker shots (the way it was shot), but sometimes it was just eye-poppingly good. I had no lock-ups or syncing issues.

In the flakey category... I just noticed the other day when I threw it in to play around, I was pushing this button and that button in the menus, and managed to lock the player up, so no interactive menu buttons would function any longer. Eject and re-insert fixed the problem.

SC

PS - Yes, the remote sucks. So few companies get remotes right. At least the remote for the XA1 has lighting - not the buttons, but the button labels. Makes it tolerable. I'd switch to a Harmony or something immediately if I didn't have the lighting.

zaphod · Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Posts: 2002 Location: Cloverdale

A-20 didn't get a remote with lighting. hmph.

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

When I tried Knocked Up again on my HD-A1 it played just fine! This after pretty predictable crap-outs at chapter 8. Go figure! I did buy a HD-A2 from Walmart for $100 and it's really a great machine. I was a little shocked that it was made in Japan! The one problem I have with it is that it doesn't have 5.1 analog outputs like the HD-A1 and I'm not setup for HDMI right now. No big deal though. It will go in the basement alongside my Xbox 360 and HTPC for my D50 and 2.1 sound system. The HD-A1 will say hooked up to my VisionHDP and 1292Q. I do notice that the HD-A2's remote works with the HD-A1 so that's a bonus! I suppose I'm not taking advantage of the 5.1 analog outputs while running my 1292Q floor-mounted without a hushbox. But as Curt said once, just turn up the volume! If ya got noise just increase the signal! Wink

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

I never realized this, but the Toslink is not supplying 5.1 PCM? I just moved this thing upstairs where I have a 5.1 setup.

ADRIANKELLY · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 185 Location: Anchorage Alaska

It does seem that to get in to analog out you have to get the A-35 which by chance is their top of the line and most expensive unit right now . Imagine that . I just upgraded the A-30 to the 35 and now finally get the best sound from my HD disk . I can't wait for HD -MA to come out just to see how clear and clean that sounds .

Ridebreck · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:20 pm Post subject:

I must admit that I've never had so much as a hiccup from my A1. Sure, it's not the fastest player out there, but I'm not trying to break any speed records. I play combos on it all the time and she just cranks through them like any other disk. Plus with the analog outputs, I can take advantage of TrueHD. I love it.

Chuck27 · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:56 pm Post subject:

I've had an A2 for several months now, with nary a problem. I think it's great and even at the C$499 I paid, great value.

I wanted to avoid the A1 because (aside from its astronomical initial cost) I'd read about almost every problem that MYoung had in various reviews.

I'm using the HDMI output for video and the fibre optic output for audio, and everything looks and sounds great. I'm not sure which model Wan was discussing, but I've got no problem getting 5.1 from the optical output.

Chuck

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 10270

I've had the A2 lockup a couple of times during loading. I have not upgraded the firmware, which might fix those on-occasion issue.