Toshiba HD-EP30
Toshiba HD-EP30
RRP £250
Buy the Toshiba HD-EP30 from Toshiba@HomeCinemaGear from just £119.99
Toshiba helped to bring DVD in to many homes in the formats early life by being one of the first to release cheap DVD players. They are now trying to do the same for HD DVD with the HD-EP30 at an RRP of £250. This is an incredibly low price for a Hi-Def disc player at this stage of their relatively short life.
Peformance doesn’t appear to suffer for being a budget model either. What HiFi magazine tested the product with the HD DVD version of Mission Impossible 3. They report that the opening scene which features a pan of a long flight of steps showed only the faintest of wobble whereas many other players allow this scene to break up completely. The HD-EP30 also coped well as the camera continued to pan across the room past many dinner jackets showing every crease and fold. Standard DVD playback is equally impressive and the HD-EP30 will also have a decent stab at CD audio playback.
It comes as no surprise that there had to be a downside on such a cheap player and with the HD-EP30 its the audio features. No HD audio formats can be output via the HDMI connection. Also missing from the spec are any 5.1 analogue connections. The HD-EP30 will convert any HD audio to PCM and output this via the HDMI or digital optical port.
All things considered at this price point I don’t think there can be any complaints and Toshiba should be praised for bringing HD viewing within reach of the masses.
Technical Specification
Please be aware that the features/specifications can differ from country to country.
General
DVD Video
HD DVD Video
Compatibility - Playback
CD audio
CD-DA
CD-R
CD-RW
DVD-R: (Does not support CPRM)
DVD ROM
DVD-RW: (Does not support CPRM)
DVD Video
HD DVD
Sound
Dolby Digital audio decoder
Dolby Digital Plus
Dolby True HD
DTS-HD (core)
NICAM Stereo (VHS)
Interactive Features
Interactive HD DVD capability
Connections
Analogue 2 channel audio
Optical audio
Component video output
Composite video
Ethernet
S-video
HDMI output: 1
USB: 1
For & Against
What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision
“…
For - Astoundingly good HD images for the price; great DVD performance; ethernet port for updates; price
Against - No way to output genuine HD audio
Rating - 5 out of 5
…”
Average rating on Toshiba@HomeCinemaGear - 5 out of 5 from 32 reviews.
The Toshiba HD-EP30 is currently available from Toshiba@HomeCinemaGear for £119.99
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[...] yet but it looks like the HD format war is effectively over. Following my previous post on the Toshiba HD-EP30 and praising Toshiba for releasing a budget priced HD DVD player and making the next gen format [...]