For those looking for a real budget DVD Player, we may have some good news from Toshiba. After losing out in the HD war, Toshiba decided to go back to the drawing board, and swore to the world they will make the ordinary DVD better than Blu-Ray. With their XDE processing, they may not have succeeded in that, but they seem to have produced a superb budget player.
Using the Zohran Valdis 966 processor for audio decoding and the Zohran HD Extreme 2 chip for scaling, the Toshiba XD-500 has scored a perfect 100 in Secrets Benchmark test. This is, mind you, only thorough HDMI. It scores 52.5% through component, but who uses component nowadays?
At 99 dollars (Rs.4,500) this looks an absolute steal. According to the authors, the XD-500E performs superbly for music, and the one place the Oppo beats it is in the Oppo's 'warmth' as far as music goes. Toshiba is more transparent according to the authors.
The XD-500E may not be available in India as Toshiba has never been very active here. But those who travel regularly, or have someone coming from elsewhere in the world, it may be worthwhile to pick a piece up.
For more details read the review at Toshiba XD-E500 DVD Player - Benchmark - Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
Of course, Brian Alvarez and Adrian Wittenberg are looking at the XD-E500 skeptically (How-can-anything-be-better-than-the-Oppo?), but they do have a lot of admiration sprinkled across the review, grudgingly though.
Shall some of us get together, set up a company, and import a few 100 pieces? I believe customs duties are going to be cut. So we may actually smile in all this recession.
Cheers
Using the Zohran Valdis 966 processor for audio decoding and the Zohran HD Extreme 2 chip for scaling, the Toshiba XD-500 has scored a perfect 100 in Secrets Benchmark test. This is, mind you, only thorough HDMI. It scores 52.5% through component, but who uses component nowadays?
At 99 dollars (Rs.4,500) this looks an absolute steal. According to the authors, the XD-500E performs superbly for music, and the one place the Oppo beats it is in the Oppo's 'warmth' as far as music goes. Toshiba is more transparent according to the authors.
The XD-500E may not be available in India as Toshiba has never been very active here. But those who travel regularly, or have someone coming from elsewhere in the world, it may be worthwhile to pick a piece up.
For more details read the review at Toshiba XD-E500 DVD Player - Benchmark - Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
Of course, Brian Alvarez and Adrian Wittenberg are looking at the XD-E500 skeptically (How-can-anything-be-better-than-the-Oppo?), but they do have a lot of admiration sprinkled across the review, grudgingly though.
Shall some of us get together, set up a company, and import a few 100 pieces? I believe customs duties are going to be cut. So we may actually smile in all this recession.
Cheers
