So I bought this Toshiba XD-E500 DVD-player

[admin_exported]

So I bought this Toshiba DVD-player... XD-E500. And this is my story.

I recently upgraded my old CRT television to the sexy beast that is the Sony Bravia 40w4500. This brought my tv experience huge leaps forward. Ofcourse the old JVC-scart-using-dvdplayer had to go as well, in came the Samsung four star unit with the touch-buttons. Which was great.

And than it broke down, after some hassle I got all my money back and started the search for a new player. In a local electronics giant I stumbled upon the Toshiba XD-E500. The salesman told me it had all these new and great processing on board. hehe. Yeah right. I work in marketing, go fool someone else. I don't really care about the newest xd-rendering-e-engine-to-the-max-with-this-and- that-software-and-this-hardware-that-creates-this-great-effect-and-sharpens-the-images-like-this-and-greatly-improves-your-home- theater-enjoyment-owh-and-it-makes-coffee-for-you-as-well technology.

I ended up buying it because it was the only player that looked decently. Designwise that is.

Expecting nothing I plugged in the Oehlbach HDMI cable that costed too much and which I don't believe in either and fired up the new Hulk movie.

Wow moment

*silence*

This does look miles ahead of the samsung. The picture is incredible detailed, clear and sharp. Contrast skyrocketed. I'm still amazed everytime I switch it on.

What does this mean for me? I shall not buy a blu-ray player in the coming year, I'll wait until they're much cheaper and blu-ray movies are much more affordable. This Toshiba gem makes all my dvd movie's into little blu-ray wannabe's. More power to them.

The only downside so far: It has this humm/whizz when on standby, annoying, but it does motivate me to switch off the power of my home cinema equipment so it works for the good

I feel like I'm writing an advertisement here, so to prove it isn't so:

The first XD-E500 player I brought home was dead straight out of the box. Didn't read a single dvd. ****** me off to no end. (especially since I got it because the Samsung DVD-player they sold me was faulty as well ) I'm glad I gave them another go though

I am a XD-E500 enthusiast and this was my story. Now go enjoy your home cinema, it's raining anyways.

 

[Rorschach]

I can't wait to get this Toshiba Dvd player when i buy my new tv, Blu-Ray etc, sounds and looks amazing. Somewhere, a 19 year old lad sitting on his bed with his laptop on his knees feels tiny butterflies in his stomach

 

[professorhat]

Rorschach - If you're buying a Blu-Ray player, why buy the Toshiba as well? Providing you get a reasonable one, I'm pretty sure the Blu-Ray player will be as good if not better at upscaling DVDs. I can understand the Toshiba for those who don't want to pay circa £160 - £200 for a Blu-Ray player (well, almost understand), but it would definitely be silly to get both.

 

[hunnyy]

I have the Panasonic BD-35 Blu-ray player, which I find excellent with Blu-ray discs and a fine DVD upscaler also. However, I bought the Toshiba XD-E500 as well, (on a whim, really, based on reviews), which I was pleasantly surprised to find is outstandingly good with DVDs. Tremendous detail, and smooth motion. I now generally use the Panasonic for Blu-ray use and the Toshiba for DVDs, (both connected to a Yamaha RX-V3800).

So, although it's true, I contend, that the likes of the Panasonic '35 really is good enough for most people with standard def DVDs, I find the Toshiba that little bit better, and having seen it on sale as low as £63 I think it's a damn fine proposition!

 

[professorhat]

Really? Well fair enough then, I didn't realise it was better than a Panny 35. If true, it's an outstandingly good deal at that price, the cheapest I've seen it is about £90 - £100.

 

[hunnyy]

When I looked at the Comet website over Christmas, Prof. Hat, they had it for sale at £63. The likes of Amazon and Superfi are selling it for £80-ish.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Laskys had it at £58.99 at one point - now back up to £90.

Incidentally, Toshiba will announce its 2009 line-up on Wednesday (news should be online here from the US by @9pm) - will be interesting to see if they go Blu-ray or not....

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Clare, i really need your expert advice. Will the XD-E500 do justice to a HDready TV using just the component video cables? My Panasonic TV does not have a HDMI output so i have to resort to using component video cables as the best substitute. I don't have the budget to purchase a LCD TV and Blu Ray DVD player at the moment so would there be any upscaling on the XD-E500 (to at least 1080i) using this cable? Or is there a DVD player out there(within the same price range) that could do the job? I have read numerous reviews on the player but none of them have addressed this issue. Thanks!

 

[Rorschach]

I have 300 plus DVD's and i''ve bought about 10 Blu-Ray discs so i'd just rather split the two, if i just use my Panny BD-55 for everything i feel i'll be overworking it. besides, only £60 upwards for a good Upscaling player so, why not.