Apologies if this has already been asked, couldn't search due to maximum letter count.

Is it worth spending the extra money to get the Toshiba A35 over the A3? I have a 46" Sharp Aquos D92 1080p set. Quick math tells me it'd be a couple hundred buck difference.

what's your audio setup? how important is audio to you? (one of the major advantages of the A35 is the ability to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD MA to receivers that can decode those stream). also, how is the de-interlacer in your TV (you may have seek out reviews to find out)? can your TV display 1080p24? these all have a bearing on which player you should choose.

I just got my A35 a couple days ago and hooked it up to my Sony KDSA3000, which can accept the A35 1080p/24 output. It looks absolutely unbelievable, I really wasn't expecting that great a difference over the A2 that it was hooked up to, but I was completely wrong. The smoothness of the motion is so fluid that it's almost jarring at first. I've also got it hooked up to my Pioneer Elite receiver that can decode the bitstream audio and I almost knocked my wife over while I was watching a little bit of Batman Begins.

My guess would be that if you can't take advantage of the 1080p/24 now or in the future, the difference between 1080p/60 in the A35 and 1080i in the A3 would be pretty minimal since your TV sounds like it does well with the interlacing.

But... for the price difference you do get a fairly "futureproof" player that you can upgrade your A/V system over time with a fairly low cost right now. I'd go with the A35 if you could afford it just for the ease of upgrading, and it has been absolutely spectacular in every test I've put it through, big thumbs up from me.

I have a mid-range Onkyo 6.1 system; audio isn't a huge factor for me since I live in a typical nyc apartment. Just looked at my tv's specs and although it's sharp's top-end LCD for 2007, it doesn't look like it accepts 1080p24.

I would be curious on other people's thoughts. I have a very small living room but with Sears new offer (no interest until 2010) I got off the fence and got a Sharp 32' Aquos for a total of $874 (Floor model.) Sears did not have in stock the A-3 so I'm waiting for a sale and/or decding on the A-35 which is supposed to transmit in 1080p. What does the SD-dvd look like? Can you hookit up with regualr 5.1 optical cables?

what model Onkyo?

another advantage of the A35 is that it has 5.1 analog outputs, so if your receiver is older and doesn't handle multi-channel PCM over HDMI, you can use the analog outs to get TrueHD sound. this really only matters if you care a lot about the best possible audio quality though.

i have the A35 and it's glorious. it is generally considered to deliver the best HD DVD picture among all of the players available (though the practical differences are rather miniscule). the upconversion of SD DVD is fantastic and is considered slightly better than the A3, due to a better upconversion chip (Anchor Bay ABT1018).

all that being said, the A3 is substantially less expensive, and based on your gear and preferences, the advantages of the A35 are not necessarily worth it. you could buy quite a few HD DVDs with the money you save. so, i guess what i'm saying is, you can't go wrong with either one.

I have the A35. It is an excellent player. I would get it since you have a 1080p, and I would especially get it if you have a receiver that decodes dolby truehd since it bitstreams the new audio codecs.

the A35 is a wonderful upconverter of SD DVD. it's as good as or better than any existing upconverting DVD player that i've seen.

yes, you can hook it up with a digital optical cable to your receiver. you'll miss out on the full audio fidelity that HD DVD offers in TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD, but you'll still get slightly better sound than DVD offers (640kbps Dolby Digital). as i have not yet upgraded my rather old receiver (that doesn't have HDMI or 5.1 analog), digital optical is my only choice and it has been more than adequate so far.

Thanks Kefrank and others!! I think I will too will pick up the A-35 and start looking for any sales.

Echoing my thanks. I'm honestly kinda pissed now that Sharp doesn't support 1080p24; I assumed if i got a new top of the line set that it would have support for everything. The optical support sounds good since I don't think my circa 2003 receiver has HDMI inputs.

The only remaining thing keeping me from immediately purchasing the A35 is dropping 400 bucks on something that would be outdated if the format wars end and blu-ray is the winner. Oh well, nothing I can do about that. I'll keep my eyes on the sale fliers.

The same can be said on the flipside brother. Go get the A-35 and enjoy it. I've got it and I love it. Worth every penny.

Your TV is the Sharp LC-46D92U correct? If so, it DOES do 1080p/24. Just go to "advanced option" and change the "Film Mode" to on. You can only change that option when your DVD/HD-DVD player isn't sending any signal aka "Off". When on, the TV will detect, analyzes and re-convert any 24 frames per second source and display it.

Well, I thought I'd let you all know I bought the A-35 from Amazon ($369) and it should arrive before the 12/24. Thanks to all for your opinions, they certainly helped me to make my choice... now I'm looking forward to making a few of my own.

i just bought the A-35 plus two new HD DVD's of my choice for $79!!!!!!! thats about the best deal there will ever be...

Where did you buy your HD-A35 with 2 HD DVDs for $79?

"Inquiring minds would like to know."

I believe he bought it as a returned unit at Best Buy. They didn't have the 2 dvd's in the box, but they pulled them off the shelves for him.

The A35 also internally decodes Dolby TrueHD so if you have an older AVR, you can use the analog connections to get lossless audio.

I picked one up for tigerdirect for 169.99 shipped through Amazon. I had the A30 on order from Circuit City and for the extra 28.00 ($141.00 was what I paid at CC /w tax) and this will go great with my new Denon AVR-4308CI.

I was running an A2 and recently upgraded to an A35. I found it was quite a worthy upgrade.

I have been frequently visiting my local BB...1 mile down the road Anyways, I almost bought an A-30 a few days ago and walked in last night to look for some more HD DVD's and happen to see them putting the A-35 on the clearance desk with a price tag of $99, talked them down to $79 and they threw in the 2 movies (300&bourne) right off the shelves.. They had 2 display models for the A-30 left..so they were $129, I would imagine they would drop them to $50-60...might go check that out today??? and try to get 2 different new releases with it....hmmmm, its worth a shot...lol they had like 20-30 A-3's..

Is this true of the 52D62U as well? Or are only the 92Us capable of this?