Not as Well Designed as Previous Players

My old Toshiba DVD player died two months short of five years. From researching the current available players, this one seemed to have the desired features.

However, overall, it is not as good as my first Toshiba player.

First, the disc tray certainly could be of a more sturdy construction.

Second, it generates radio interference where my old player did not. It is a high pitched oscillation that can be heard on weaker FM stations and can even be faintly heard by ear when close to the unit itself.

Third, the layout of the remote is terrible. Fortunately, the remote from my old DVD player (which is better designed) operates the unit.

Fourth, my old player had some nice features which Toshiba eliminated on this new one: When turned off, the player will not remember the last viewed scene. It loads the DVD as a new disc. The dialogue enhancer has been eliminated. This was useful for old movies where the audio has deteriorated. Finally, the screen saver only works in stop mode instead of also working in pause.

Fifth, while it will play DVD-R's that I recorded, it will have trouble if you use the slow motion function. The audio will be lost or the picture will freeze. A freeze can be remedied by pressing stop, then play. The audio will return if you do a reverse or fast forward. Otherwise, if you just do a regular play, the DVD-R will play perfectly from beginning to end.

Sixth, the unit is designed to be thin, but this makes it very wide, too wide to fit in my rack and still allow the necessary ventilation space. So, it must be put on a separate stand.

Though more of an annoyance, the icons for pause and slow do not disappear after being displayed a few seconds. They remain as long as the function is in use.

This player does have some good points. The picture is very good and the pan on the zoom feature has been improved, i.e. easier to operate. There has been no trouble playing any discs with the exception mentioned above.