I have a 1080i TV with no plans to buy a new one anytime in the near future. I was thinking of getting an HD-DVD as an upconverting DVD player due to the firesale prices going on.

Will I get any real extra benefit from either the A30 or 35 over the A3 or D3, and if so, what?

The A30 is a better machine, even for upconverting than the A3. The prices shouldn't be that far apart either from the A30 to the A3, so I wouldn't mind paying a little more for a slightly better machine.

I mean you'll have no problems with the A3, but the A30 is better and you even have the added potential of 1080p if you ever come to need it. The A30 and A35 are pretty much the same, at least the guts of the machine, so I wouldn't worry about the A35.

If you're using these for upconversion only, is there really noticeable difference between getting the A3 vs the A30? Would it be worth the $50 difference right now in sale price for these two ($79 vs $129)? Thanks.

Just get the A3. You have no reason for the additional outputs on the back and the upconversion between the A3/30 is not very much.

I just bought the D3 from Costco which is the equivalent to the A3 and right now I'm leaning to the thought of returning it. I bought it primarily for it's upconversion which I keep hearing is very good. I have a Mits HC1500 front projector and have been using a 5 year old Panny RP56 feeding the PJ 480i through component. After connecting the D3 with HDMI and setting the output to 720p and then 1080i I think the PJ does just as good a job with upconversion.

So if you get a A3 just for upconversion make sure you can return it if you want because your display just might do as good a job and it won't cost a thing.

I do have a D3/A3 already, and was just wanting to pick up another set. I'm surprised though that the upconversion wasn't good for you. Did you pick a good movie to watch? I'm actually happy with the upconversion of my unit, but a bad movie won't make upconversion any movie. Just wanted to know if I can crank some more out of an A30. If you did plug in a good movie (one of those sci fi/action adventure types would do), I suggest checking up your setups again. Hopefully it helps.

I've tried several discs from newer films to older. I've even tried Pixar films. Finally I borrowed a disc from a friend that I also owned and put one in each player to a/b them and also had family check each and tell me what they thought. We all agreed there was no difference.

I am returning the A3 because from reading online, the loading times are horrible for this and the A30/A35 third gen players which is nuts because you would think they would improve them.

I think by most accounts, the 2nd gen HD DVD players were the best. The A2 would convert lossless tracks to 1.5 DTS and were pretty reliable, and the ever popular XA2 was part of the 2nd gen. Heck, both 1st gen players (even tho both are the same internal hardware) all had Analog Outs. 3rd gen players were mainly about cost reduction and getting everything down to as cheap as possible. Thats how i see it anyway.

From what I've heard the A3 times are the same as the A2 times which was very disappointing for me to hear also. I was going to wait for a 4th gen player, but I settled for a open box XA2 at Best Buy. I wouldn't have hesistated to pick up an A35 though, from all accounts a very good machine especially at $150.

A3 Generation loads a few seconds faster then the A2 IIRC.

All I know is that the A35 loads significantly faster than my A1, but then again, that's not saying much.

a35 Has the best upconversion chip, and it prossecess audio as bitstream to your receiver over HDMI 1.3. I have two A35s now

The XA2 has much better DVD upconversion than the A35. HD DVD quality is equal as far as I can tell.

This is ture. The XA2 is considered the best HD DVD player on the market and the upconversion is the best.