Toshiba SD-5970 DVD Player

Okay, this is my personal review of Toshiba SD-5970 DVD player. I purchased this for my home theater system which includes an LCD projector, Sony VLP-HS3, which also has an HDMI interface. I will just note my findings and will not attempt to cover all possible aspects of using this product, so if I don't mention it in this review (such as user-friendliness of this DVD playrer's on-screen setup menu), it was sufficiently good for me and hence there is nothing in particular to mention.

My overall review that, while this is a good match for a simple set-up with just DVD player and a TV due to good D/A for both video and sound, or a more complex setup for a home theater due to HDMI and upconversion feature. It was almost my dream DVD player for around $150, but I did not anticipate this much trouble with the remote.

I hope that Toshiba addresses the issue with the remote. However, at this moment (winter 2004) I recommend that you avoid any DVD player that comes with Toshiba SE-R0141 remote, which comes standard with this DVD player. Also, if anyone knows a way out of this remote problem, please let me know via Epinions comments.

Ok, now let me mention some aspects I found to be strangths of this product, and then share my story on the remote.


Pros:

- Works fantastic with my projector with HDMI interface. I like the fact that everything connects via one wire. Now only if more makers can use HDMI...

- Ability to send HD signals with upconversion. (720p/1080i etc) Since most DVDs have lower resolution than that to start with, so it does not give you a better picture in and of itself. However, this makes the box future-proof. One day, everything might expect a DVD player to send HD signals.

- Better-than-average contrast, even in the dark part of the picture, and low noise level on your standard composite video output. I don't use this in my theater setup (I use HDMI), however, I found it better than the $24.95 DVD player at wal-mart. (I hear "of course!!", but sometimes it's nice to know you pay more and actually get something more - so here you go.)

- Good 192khz/24-bit D/A converter. Since I use digital receiver and do my D/A there so I don't use it, but if you are hooking this right up to TV or Stereo via analog, you would notice good quality in D/A conversion. It's nothing to write home about, but there's no flaw either, things go just as you would expect from a digital audio source: Bass, dialog from front channel, sound effect - everything comes with clear, transparent feel - provided the source DVD is recorded correctly! (which isn't always the case)

- Quiet operation - unlike some DVD players, you can't hear it spinning.

Cons:
Remote is poorly designed. Not only its ergonomics is poor, its technical design is also weak.

* It does not illuminate - hard to operate in the dark.

* The keypad design in poor. For instance, the directional keypads (up, down, left, right, enter) is very hard to find in the dark because they are very small and toward the bottom corner of the remote. To make the matter worse, they are not shaped as directional buttons - unlike most DVD remotes. On this remote however, they are simply one of many advanced-feature buttons and the markings are unclear. I need to strain my eyes even in bright room, to navigate in DVD menus (I just want to push up-enter-down-down-enter). The DVD control on the PlayStation2 is far more intuitive, and it says a lot about this remote.

* On the DVD player body, there are not many buttons - which some find to be a good thing, however, with this poorly designed remote, it would be a great help to be able to navigate in a DVD menu without remote.

* The link between DVD player body / remote is extremely fragile. One must hold the remote in front of the DVD player's remote window, ensure that the angle is correct.

* The range is short - maye 4ft?

* Incompatibility with universal remotes.

While some "Toshiba" templates that come standard with many universal remotes will do the basic functions. However, when used with any remote other than the one came in the box, the system locks up and you must hard-cycle (unplug the thing, wait and plug it back in) it.

This includes the EJECT button on the hardware, so if I turn on the DVD player with a universal remote, the Eject button cannot be used so I can't pop in the DVD disc, rendering the whole box useless.

So I tried two different universal learning remotes. They have had very hard time copying the signal of this remote - the learning side remote has to be less than two inches to the original remote, and slightest twitch of my hand resulted in error, so I had to put the remote on cramp and then press the buttons, so the two remotes are facing each other and not move. This was not the case when I programmed other remotes. After some tries, I was able to copy some basic functions. However, even with two different universal remotes, I still have to hold it in front of the DVD player's remote window as mentioned above - it appears that the hardware has very hard time reading signal from any remote.

This defeats the purpose of having a remote, since I have to walk up to the DVD player anyway, hold the remote right in front of it, hold still, to make anything happen with this. If that is the case, I would rather have the buttons on the DVD player itself and not have the remote at all.