I just picked up an A3 yesterday and was wondering about something. The salesperson was trying to push the extended warranty on me because he said the unit itself has no button functionality and all the buttons are on the remote. So if the remote breaks I won't be able to use the player at all. Is there any semblance of truth to this? Wouldn't I be able to pick up a universal remote if this happens if this is indeed the case? Is the A3 in general a reliable machine?

Yup, or you could use the money you saved on the warranty and use it to buy a replacement remote direct from the manufacturer. IF you remote even breaks. This is another vile sales scare tactic. Kudos to you for not falling for it.

I never buy those extended warranties. There's a reason they push them -- they are money makers for the store. Buying one for a product that is 50% cheaper than it was last year (and will probably be 50% cheaper the year after that) makes even less sense from a consumer perspective.

The excuse that the salesperson is giving you has to be one of the worst I've ever heard. Buying a warranty in case the *remote* breaks? If such a rare thing were to happen, you'd be able to buy a replacement remote (or program a universal remote) for less cash.

We have every reason to believe that the A3 is reliable.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but it's not a commonly held one. Generally speaking, the Toshiba does a better job with upconversion.

And since when is PERFORMANCE based simply on how fast a player responds to a power up?

Good to hear that it's a reliable machine.

I never buy extended warranties either; but anyway I always like to go home and really think about it before buying any kind of warranty. In general a warranty can be added within 14-30 days of product purchase anyway. That sales guy really wanted to push it though, telling me it would be easier to do it now rather than add it later. I asked him why on earth it would be more difficult to do it later. He said "You'll have to come back".

He also tried to sell me HDMI cables on the spot. I told him I have no time now to shop for cables, I'll just buy them separate later. He said, "How are you going to watch it without cables?". I should have explained to him that in fact I didn't have an HDTV yet either (Will buy one within the next few weeks, and I was only buying the player yesterday because a) it was the second last day of the sale and b) they were offering a free Matrix Trilogy HD-DVD set on top of the two in the box and five more by mail). Maybe then he would have tried to sell me a TV on the spot as well.

Just tested out my A3. Made the mistake of hitting stop a couple times -> 45 second penalty.

Half way through some scratches on the disc probably caused an error message that made me reboot. That would have freaked out many people I know. I guess I'll have to update the firmware. I'm definitely going blu from netflix when possible.

Otherwise the picture seemed as good as it can get. Toshiba definitely has their deal with Paramount to thank for my limited support. At $160 for the A3 plus 10 movies, not regretting it yet. Now if I can just get Bourne from Netflix next week ...