| Value | 4.5 | | Performance | 4 | | Ease of Use | 4 | | Overall Satisfaction | 4 |
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4 of 5 Replacement for cheap dead DVD player Sunday, October 05, 2008 A Customer from Dayton, Ohio
I bought this to replace an old DVD player that died. At $56, I figured it was a good deal in that hopefully it was made with better parts than the cheap players that die prematurely. Don't plan on playing HD disks on it.
Good point:
Played several beat up old library DVDs with no problems! On my old player I'd have been polishing the scratches to make them usable.
Not so good:
Boot up time is noticable longer than old cheap DVD player. Doesn't play Divx files. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 GREAT PRICE - GREAT PRODUCT Tuesday, September 30, 2008 thegene from Versailles, Indiana
This is an unbeatable deal. To get two HD DVD movies and the player was fantastic. And the product so far seems to be first class. I gave the product a 4 for EASE OF USE, because it has a very long start up time. Outside of that, it is first class all the way. I have a new 50" HD (my first) PLASMA TV and have been wanting to get an HD player to see what the picture would look like with the full system in place. I purchased this before reading the reviews, and now after reading them I am very glad I got this one. Though HD movies are on their way out, they will be available at lower and lower prices. Here is the way I looked at it. To go to the city, see a movie in the evening, catch supper out and a drink and popcorn at a movie with the wife, it costs in cash alone is over 80 dollars. So for 59.99 (no tax, no shipping and handling as well), I can see two movies in super quality, as well as many many many more down the road. Great, super great, fantastically great deal. Plus it makes my other DVD movies so much better. Love it, and you will too. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 This has the inner workings of a Toshiba HD-A3 Wednesday, September 24, 2008 A Customer from Fredericksburg, VA
After reading articles that the internal components were exactly the same as the Toshiba HD-A3, I downloaded the newest ISO firmware file for the HD-A3, and burned it on to a CD. I then put the firmware upgrade into the SHD-7000 and successfully upgraded the firmware to the latest offered by Toshiba. I am using this as a backup for my Toshiba HD-A2 which has performed wonderfully since I have had it. I have a pretty good collection by now but plan to pick up many more of the $7.99-$11.99 HD titles at places like F*ys.com, etc. The upscaling on my HD-A2 is wonderful and this SHD-7000 will be used for that same purpose quite a bit. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Great For A Dead format Tuesday, September 23, 2008 sebc888 from Portland, Maine
I have 40 HD-DVD's that I want to make sure I have a way of playing them. I have the Xbox Add-on player and wanted a stand alone player so I can watch HD-DVD's at friends houses. It only does 1080i, but who cares really, for 59.99 and two free HD-DVD's it is a great deal. Would recommend to anyone who has a solid library of HD-DVD's. For those of us who jumped on the band wagon early this is good to make sure we can play our collections, but I would not recommend jumping on the band wagon now, just wait until blue goes down in price, which it will. they always do. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Fantastic Value Tuesday, September 23, 2008 Ksload from Nashville, NC
I received Firewall & The Perfect Storm in my package...very happy with that. Yes I know HD-DVD is gone...but for a great upconverting DVD player, a back up HD-DVD Player for my HD DVD collection, and 2 good movies for $59....what a deal! Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Great Bargain! Tuesday, September 23, 2008 A Customer from Washington, DC
I purchased this venturer player as a back-up/2nd player to go along with my toshiba hd-a3, which it turns out this player basically is aside from the venturer branding. Upon turning on the player, its interface is identical to that of the hd-a3, as was the firmware updating. I have not even unpacked the venturer remote, as the remote from my a3 has turned out to be compatible with the player. While the hd format is technically dead, i have built up a bit of an HD collection and feel i got a bargain picking up this player with two new movies at $59. The HD picture is great, comparable with any other 720p/1080i player out there, but I was half expecting that. What has impressed me with the shd7000 was its ability to upconvert standard dvds. I've used a handful of name brand upconvert dvd players (panasonic, sony, etc.) and the picture I've gotten from these hd players has been far and away the best. An being priced at or cheaper than most of upconverting players out there, plus including two free movies, seems like this is a great deal. The only i noticed is that the loading times of this player seem to be a bit slower than those of the a3 player.
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If you're an hd-dvd adopter looking for a well priced backup player, or just looking for a way to get your standard def dvds to come through clear on your hdtv without taking the pricey plunge to blu-ray, i think the Venturer SHD7000 should suit you well. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 HD Quality Saturday, September 20, 2008 Rama from Gaithersburg, MD
HD DVD quality played on this player is exactly look same as BD played on Sony PS/3. I do not know what else my eye might have missed to notice on my 52 inch Sony XBR4 LCD TV but I am extremely happy for both of my players. My Home theatre setup with all accessories is complete now. I highly recommend this product. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 bought 3 Monday, September 08, 2008 A Customer from crestview fl
These are perfect DVD players as well as HD players > read some reviews at another site and these units use the A3 FW which tells you it is an A3 with a nicer case. I cannot say what the warranty is but use your platinum card to be on the safe side. Was this review helpful?
1 of 1 customers found this review helpful. 5 of 5 PQ better than Blu- 1/5 the price!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunday, September 07, 2008 rick_l_glass from H-TOWN, TX
Gooooooooogle reviews on the hd-a3, a30 and the a35.
I refined and FINISHED product. Sony is STILL trying to work out their consortium of bugs.
Do yourself a favor. Buy this terific machine. Buy 20 hd-dvds of your liking from the 'right' places. THEN compare a new Blu-ray
machines' price, the equivalent of those same titles in Blu format and compare the totals. Guess who looks like a fool now.
BLU-BYE,HELLO HD! Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 HD DVD may come back... Friday, September 05, 2008 Scott from Tulsa, OK
Samsung just announced they don't expect Blu-Ray to last another 5 years before it's dead. Time to contact Toshiba and bug them to bring HD DVD back. With enough momentum, it could happen. https://www.webcom.toshiba.co.jp/us/inq/ Was this review helpful?
0 of 3 customers found this review helpful. 3 of 5 Price is good, but... Thursday, September 04, 2008 A Customer from New York
SHD7000 should be OEM as Toshiba XA2..
Picture quality is not bad. Unfortunately, loading speed takes too much time. I will not recommend this player to anyone.
If you want to see HD movies, get one Blu-Ray player. Was this review helpful?
8 of 8 customers found this review helpful. 5 of 5 Outstanding deal Wednesday, September 03, 2008 A Customer from crestview, fl
You can buy HD movies for $7.99 on clear outs and play these as well as upconvert regular DVDs to 1080i. This is an A3 with everything you need for a player in your home. It just does not do BR, which is no problem if you have a PS3/BR player. Was this review helpful?
1 of 1 customers found this review helpful. 5 of 5 great little player Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Mark from Los Angeles,CA
this player is excellent way to get a fully Hi-Def experience at incredible price.If you own Toshiba A3 model then your set. This Venturer model HD-DVD player shares the same features as the Toshiba A3 just not the name.The features,1080i picture,interactive features(picture-in-picture,web enabled),Sound:Dolby Digital Plus,Dolby TrueHD,DD,DTS;Upconversion for standard DVD's. The truth that these HD-DVD haters don't want to realise is that regardless of the format being DOA. That alot of consumers are getting what they want an affordable player(dirt cheap)that performs better than alot of their precious blu-ray players on features,prices of products alone.If you going to write a review about product at lease maybe have the product; don't just write a review to bad mouth something you don't own or something you don't understand. I believe that's why online forums exist!!! Was this review helpful?
3 of 4 customers found this review helpful. 4 of 5 Low price for an okay player Wednesday, September 03, 2008 A Customer from Bloomington, IN
NOTE: Support for HD-DVD has ended. No new films are being released and supply of hardware and media will not be replenished.
Now with that aside, a review of the player itself.
For the price, it is a very capable upscaling DVD player with the ability to play HD-DVD movies if you happen to have any. If your TV/display has a good deinterlacer, the lack of 1080p shouldn't make a huge difference. Like all HD-DVD players after the first generation, the SHD-7000 has onboard decoding for all Dolby codecs up to 5.1 channel Dolby TrueHD, a lossless audio track that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master, over HDMI. It does not decode the full DTS-HD audio streams, however that encode is exceedingly rare on HD-DVD. For those without an HDMI-equipped display, the player has component video outputs as well as a digital audio port for those without an HDMI audio receiver (no DD+ or TrueHD, though). This player also has support for HDi enabling use of interactive content such as picture-in-picture commentaries as well as U-Control features. The user interface is slow and hardly pleasing to the eye. It does what it has to, but little else. Navigating it feels like a chore, but luckily it is really only needed during initial setup.
HD-DVD movies are hard to find in stores, but there are several online retailers keeping them listed. The advantage is that the movies that remain are (at some sites) fairly cheap, less than $10 for a large selection. Some of the HD-DVD library is only now making its way to Blu-Ray; other titles saw earlier releases with HDi content removed (notably 300 which is now getting an eventual re-release).
If you already have an HD-DVD collection and are looking for a cheap spare, this will serve you well. If you don't mind limited availability of HD-DVD media and want a cheap transition to high-definition movies, this will serve you okay; having two films thrown in at the start helps out a little. Otherwise, you're spending a slight premium on an upconvert DVD player that lacks true 1080p support. If you already want to spend $60 on an upscaling player, it's at least worth a look.
***Pros: 1) Cheap, 2) HDMI with Dolby TrueHD (up to 5.1) support, 3) Above average upscaling to 720p/1080i, and 4) Includes 2 free movies.
***Cons: 1) Limited support, 2) No 1080p, 3) Poor UI, 4)No DTS-HD support, and 5) No DivX Was this review helpful?
1 of 1 customers found this review helpful. 4 of 5 Good Deal. Wednesday, September 03, 2008 A Customer from Chi-Town.
The one thing the other dweeb didn't mention is that it is a decent UC DVD player. The best you are going to find for $59 anyway. It isn't the best HD DVD player/UC player but holds it's own. And you can still find tons of HD DVD's for $5 to $10 a piece. My local Fry's has hundreds in stock and online also. There are a bunch of other places selling HD DVD's for under $10 like deepdiscount.com amoungst others. Not a bad gig if your looking for a good inexpensive upconversion DVD player that also plays HD media without having to pay $400 or $35 a BD. Was this review helpful?
10 of 10 customers found this review helpful. 5 of 5 Excellent price Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Rama from Gaithersburg, MD
Still many HD-DVDs are out there with a low price. And this player can be used as a very low cost upconversion DVD player with HDMI connection. It looks like Toshiba model with a brand name change. The quality of HD Video is excellent. But be cautioned that this player do not play Blu-Ray disks. Was this review helpful?
4 of 5 Will upconvert all your regular DVDs Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Joaquin "Bristol" from Miami, Florida
Yes, this is a HD-DVD player and HD-DVD lost the battle to Blu-ray in the High definition war. But you are getting 2 High definition movies that are at least worth $40 and this DVD player will up-convert (upscale) all your regular DVDs to 1080i, making them near High Definition if you have a High Definition TV set. I think this is a great value for only $60. There are also many clearance deals on HD-DVD movies that are going for less than the price of a regular DVD. The content is excellent on these true High Definition movies. Buy it, you will not regret it. Was this review helpful?
4 of 5 Great for Upconversion Tuesday, September 02, 2008 luckygeo from San Francisco, CA
Although HD-DVD lost the hi-def battle, this player can still upconvert standard DVDs to 1080i via HDMI. Hey, for $60, it's a bargain. Besides, you can find great deals on HD DVD titles starting from $5.99 online. The way I see it, why pay $20-$35 more for the Blu-Ray equivalent if you can get it cheaper on HD-DVD?
Blu-Ray is the only option for the future of HD on disc (at this point), but I would still consider getting this solely for the upconverting feature. It's not entirely obsolete! Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Review Item, not the format Tuesday, September 02, 2008 David from Northern, Michigan
Yes, HD-DVD is a dead format. That doesn't make this device worthless. It plays regular DVD's, and it will actually help those old movies look better than a standard DVD player. I'm using my HD-DVD player because it has HDMI and plays my old format discs just great.
For $60, it's not a bad deal on a DVD player with 2 free movies and a HDMI connector. Was this review helpful?
3 of 5 The 2 previous reviewers are idiots!! Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Think before you type/speak from More Electronic than U!
The 2 previous reviewers are idiots!! Yes, Blu-Ray won the battle, but you can use this as a Up-converting DVD player (It still plays regular DVDs!!). Also can get some of the closeout HD DVD movies next to nothing. And C'mon..... IT's $60. Even your regular DVD players cost this much. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Good deal Tuesday, September 02, 2008 A Customer from New York
This unit is actually a rebranded Toshiba. Though the HD DVD format is dead, there are many HD DVD's still available. Also this unit is a superior up-converting player. For $60 you can't go wrong. Was this review helpful?
4 of 5 Not for the future, but makes a great backup playe Tuesday, September 02, 2008 A Customer from You don't know the town, Vermont
OK so HD DVD is dead in the water you little Blu-Balled pansies can stop bashing the format now. But for those of us who purchased HD DVD when the format was going strong and prices for the player were just beginning to drop to the $200 mark, this makes a great back-up player. I own over 80 HD DVDs and can tell you there are plenty of great movies on the format, but sadly no new movies being released(well stateside that is) Rumor of a Brittish company making a HD DVD release in Oct. but from a small film co., nothing major. So if you own a HD DVD player then purchase this as an option for a inexpensive replacement. Was this review helpful?
4 of 5 HD great value Tuesday, September 02, 2008 A Customer from South Elgin, IL
HD-DVD lost the battle, but don't forget these players do a fantastic job at playing regular DVD's and for this price it is an outstanding value. If you put in an HD-DVD disc and you will be blown away. More interactive then Blu-ray and movies are cheap. Get this now and get the Blu-ray down the road after they add more features and the price comes down. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Great buy Tuesday, September 02, 2008 A Customer from North Wales, PA
Yes, Bluray won. However, this still is a great upconverting dvd player. It is one of the best if not the best. Regular dvd looks great with this player. Also, you still can get ton of hd-dvd movies cheap. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 Great Deal if looking for HD-DVD Tuesday, September 02, 2008 A Customer from SF, California
Although HD-DVD is dead, there are still plenty of movies available for cheap. I've purchased close to 40 in that time and all under $10 each. The first guy who said it was worse than beta is totally wrong. Movies are still available and this player does play standard DVD's too so it'll never be obsolete. Can you get a good quality upcoverting DVD player for this price? And you have the added bonus of playing HD-DVD's.
This deal is perfect for the person who already has a HD-DVD player and it looking for a backup. And also for the person looking for a good upconverting player.
Blu Ray definitely won the war but this is a good deal for some looking for a nice player for cheap. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 HD DVD is still the best format Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Wayne from New Albany, IN
Blu Ray idiots- quit posting bogus reviews...you can't honestly review what you don't and won't own, so get a life!
Keep paying your outrageous prices for movies, if you wish, while the rest of us enjoy the best format, that still works quite well for us.
"Just bring it!" Was this review helpful?
1 of 42 customers found this review helpful. 1 of 5 obsolete Tuesday, September 02, 2008 A Customer from Schroon Lake, NY
Why is this high-definition player less than $100?? Because this format is dead. It's like buying a Beta VCR, only worse. With a Beta VCR you can still get blank tapes and record something to watch later. With this device, you won't be able to find any movies to watch on it other than the 2 you'll get with the player, or ones you'll find at garage sales.
If you want to watch two movies for $60, or if you have an obsolete consumer electronics museum, buy this item. Was this review helpful?
2 of 46 customers found this review helpful. 1 of 5 Why Would You Buy HD DVD? Tuesday, September 02, 2008 L. Hume from Center, Texas
Blu Ray won the battle and HDDVD is not being supported any longer? Was this review helpful?
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