I think I'll definitely get the A2. I'd rather have faster loading and glitch free playback than TrueHD sound. Optical is fine with me.

Alright boys. I GOT IT. Delivered Saturday Morning. In word...VERY HAPPY that I did not cancel my order.

The picture is *phenomenal*. The sound is unbelievable.

Folks, if you are on the fence, get the hell off of it. This thing is as good as advertised. Nay, better.

Alright, where to begin. VE tossed in Batman Begins and Seabuscuit. I popped in Batman first. Now Batman on DVD is a very good print. This is MUCH better. Flesh tones look more natural. Fine detail springs to life. Even in a movie as "black" as Batman, detail is not lost. Colors are well separated and more lifelike. As to the sound, I don't have an HDMI receiver, but the TrueHD downmix is BOOMING. It sounded more full and alive than the original DVD mix.

I never had an A1 to compare, but load up time was around 20 seconds. Longer than dvd, but not unreasonable.

I'd be happy to answer more questions if you have them. Freak, you are the man for pushing me into HD-DVD. I don't regret my purchase and neither will any of you.

Told you.

Now hope on buy.com and start unloading your SD DVD's while they still have worth.

LOL. I decided that I'm only going to purchase the HD-DVDs that I feel merit an upgrade from SD. Do I need Animal House in HD? No. Do I need the Matrix and Gladiator in HD? You bet your sweet ass I do.

You sure do know how to make a guy blush.

I am glad to see my innuendos do not go unnoticed.

Have you received your A2 yet? This downmixed TrueHD is so damn good it's making me want to get an HDMI receiver.

I didn't order one. I'm keeping my A1 around for a while, at the moment. I need to put that money towards other things and I don't have any major problems with it. If the analog outs were a part of this model, I'd have considered it but...since it doesn't and none of the free discs interest me, it's easier to keep what I gots.

I am very disappointed with my A1. Non stop issues, it won't play SD DVD's (but will play HD DVD's WTF??) and a consistant "HDMI Error 1" message when I try and play SD DVD's. I am done with the A1 its on its way back to Amazon this week.

With that I am going with the A2. As soon as I send back the A1 it will be orders from Amazon.

Glad to hear!!

Co-sign ^

I have a HDMI receiver so I am stoked for the A2.

Congratulations!
One question: How do you have the A2 hooked up to your HDTV? HDMI -> HDMI; HDMI -> DVI; component cables?

HDMI to HDMI. Audio is presently downmixed through optical.

On a complete side note, I am glad to be rid of Farujada based players. My previous Oppo and Panny both did not like my Panasonic panel. They introduced a green and red push that I could never dial out (not to mention the macroblocking issues). I was concerned that the Toshiba would have the same problems, but am happy to report that it does NOT. So if any of you display owners with units susceptible to the problems inherent with the Farujada chips are looking for a solution, the A2 is the way to go.

Anyone else?

I should have my A2 tomorrow.

DVD Josh> how is the build quality? Could I have a smaller DVD player stacked on top of it?

Build quality seems solid. The initial run of A2s is being done in Japan, which to me is a good thing. It's not the Sherman tank that the A1 or XA1s were, but it felt very solid to me.

It's about the same size as your typical normal profile DVD player. It went into the same slot as my former S77. It does seem a bit longer however.

I'm not a big fan of putting anything on top of optical drive units and wouldn't recommend it. However, if you had to, you definitely could.

Josh, how's the fan noise on your A2? Can you hear it from your seating position? If so, how far away do you sit from the unit?

Thank you sir. oh! does the A2 come w/ an HDMI cable?

I can't hear a thing. I'm about 8-9 feet away.

The A2 DOES NOT come with a cable. Monoprice is always your best bet.

That's good to hear...or rather, not hear!

I cancelled my XA2 preorder. I REALLY wish I could, but I just cant justify $900 for a slightly better load times and a nicer looking player (even with the 5 free movies).

I just spent $500 on the PS3 for a cheap BD player. So, I have no more money.

I received the A2 today! I hooked it up to my Sony 40" Bravia LCD with an HDMI cable (not included).

My first impressions:

- the build on the player is heavy and very nice

- the tray opens fine, but seems a little cheap

- the remote functions like any other remote (no noticeable delay)

- loading time is not a problem

- I like the HD menu access better than DVD, but the forced trailers are annoying

- I have never seen HD before, but the picture quality is definitely better than DVD. I watched a few scenes from Corpse Bride, Troy, and Batman Begins HD DVDs. Corpse Bride looks amazing. I compared Troy and Batman Begins HD DVDs with the standard DVDs and the HD DVDs look less digital with an overall sharper image.

- The sound seems a little low, but I do not have a surround speaker system. Any thoughts?

Overall, I am pleased with the purchase and I am looking forward to new HD DVD releases. Is HD DVD an orgy for the eyes, as some of the hype might make you believe? No, but the images that I saw on Troy, Batman Begins, and Corpse Bride look about as close to perfect as they can get.

At the very least, the eyes get like a big makeout session, or a threesome.

Congrats!

I have the A1 hooked up via analog 5.1, so my situation isn't identical to yours... however, I do find that I need to raise the volume levels to get to the point I'm used to. That is, if I listed to cable TV and my old DVD player on "25", I have to put my A1 on "35" for the same effect.

Very well-put. I agree.

The A2 seems to upconvert standard DVDs well. A few DVDs that looked great on my standard 25" TV (Charlie's Angels Superbit, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Mr. & Mrs. Smith Unrated) looked too digital when watching them with a standard DVD player on my 40" WS TV. The A2 and HDMI cable makes those movies look much better on the WS TV; not as good as the HD DVDs I have watched, but still better than before.

one of the main positives of the A1 was its upconverting ability. Not only do you get HD content with these players, but they will improve your current dvd library. I've been watching the Rocky Anthology this week and the A1 really makes even low budget boxing moves look pretty damn good. Glad to hear the A2 keeps up the good work.

Got mine hooked up to a JVC 61" D-ILA via HDMI and the picture is pure sweetness. This monitor is known to have some issues with black crush which I've noticed with DVD viewing. However, the HDA2 improves on this. I watched World Trade Center in HDDVD and over half the movie is in darkness.
The picture was simply amazing. Sharp edges and you could see the pores on the skin of everyone's faces. Also watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (older one with Gene Wilder) and the picture wasn't noticeably better than the standard DVD. I think part of this has to do with my Denon DVD player which does a great job of upconverting pictures to 720p and the fact that it's an older movie so it can look only as good as the source. The HDDVD version, however, looked more vibrant...it made the DVD version look paler by comparison.

I too noticed a decrease in volume but an improved sound field. The rear speakers are better utilized to flow with the front surround speakers in encompassing the listener. Audio is being passed via optical so the two movies had their DD+ soundtracks downmixed to DTS. I'm assuming it's the DTS 1.5Mbps and not the 768Kbps which we see on DVDs with a DTS soundtrack...although I'm not sure if there is a way to check bitrate.

Overall, I'm very, very happy with my purchase. Tomorrow I'm going to hunt down Batman Begins, Miami Vice, and next week will be Jet Li's Fearless. Christmas came early for me this year.