DVD Upconvert: Considering HD DVD Players for DVD Upconversion
Old news: HD DVD is dead.
Current news: Amazon has finally dropped the price of the Toshiba HD-A3 to $82. With prices this low, it may be worth purchasing a (now antiquated) Toshiba HD-A3 for purposes of DVD Upconverting.
Don’t get me wrong; the Oppo DV-981HD is still my upconverting DVD player of choice (and possession). And I would argue the Oppo does a better job upconverting than the A3, but given the price, if I had a 1080p LCD or Plamsa television and a plain old DVD player, I’d invest in the A3 solely for the purpose of DVD Upconversion.
Meanwhile, Blu-Ray announced a new model player coming out this summer: the BDP-S300. This player will be capable of firmware updates (which addresses one of my big arguments for not yet making the leap to Blu-Ray). The kicker? The pricetag. The MSRP is around $600.
$600? Give me a break.
As long as prices for Blu-Ray remain that high, I’ll stick with my Oppo (or you can try an A3 if you’d like to save some money) for performing a DVD Upconvert.
As I’ve stated before, if you are considering purchasing a Blu-Ray player, the only one worth considering right now is the one integrated into a Sony PS3 (amazingly, Amazon has those in stock at the moment). The reason? Much more entertainment value, greater economical value (you get a lot more than a Blu-Ray player for the cost), and the firmware is full upgradeable.
Unless you are a die-hard videophile, I’d stick with a great television, a great DVD upconvert player, and your existing DVD collection.
Right now, everything else is pretty much over-priced and low on features.
Seriously.