Does the A2 not have the A1's problems?
 

Hi folks,

I'm sure this has been discussed at one point but after about 5 searches returning nothing, I finally gave up and started a new thread.

Here's the situation:

I have an A1. It's great...when it works 100% of the time. The only problems I have are video freezes, stuttering or dropouts...mainly on rented Netflix HD-DVD's.

Even after washing the disc with mild soap, I still get drop outs on Netflix discs that show scratches...some are bad, some aren't bad at all, but they still drop out.

And today, I cracked open my brand new Matrix HD-DVD and about 10 min in it began to stutter. Just a little, and it never froze, but it stuttered. Then about 5-7 min later, it did again.

And I finally got fed up and escalated straight to pissed.

Since we have this $100 off promo going, I need to hear from owners of A1's who upgraded to an A2.

Does the A2 do these things? Can you at least manage to play a new never opened disc all the way through? Did you see your rented discs be a little more robust when being played in the A2?

Thanks for all input.

I had all of these issues with my A1, but none of them since replacing it with the A2.

My A1 as been solid for over a year now. A few minor hiccups, but nothing serious. I'd rather have its upscaling ability and 5.1 analogs over the A2.

No problems with the A1 here after the very first firmware update.

1. I am up to date even with the last firmware from a few weeks ago, no change.

2. Does the A2 NOT have the same/better upscaling guts?

A2 is the best DVD player I've ever owned, and I've owned quite a few over the years.

Upscaling is the same, if not better, than what it is on the A1.

I've seen many posts at AVS that would rank upscaling in this order:

1. XA2
2. A1/XA1/A20
3. A2

Ive never had the problems with my A1 that people have said... Sure the slow load time is a pain in the ass, but everything has always worked pretty well. Everytime I watch something Im always waiting for the issues, so I guess Im pretty lucky.

A1 w/2.2 firmware. The only problem I ever had was w/Happy Feet at the 28min mark. The new firmware still stutters at that spot but only briefly now and the movie keeps on playing. The analog outs are key for me w/my ancient receiver.