Toshiba SD2109 (of 1)

Date: Thursday, April 04, 2002



What They Say


The Review!
Toshiba SD2109 DVD Player
Video formats: DVD, Audio CD
Audio Outputs: Dolby Digital AC3, DTS, RCA analog
Video outputs: RCA, S-video, Component (Colorstream)
Street Price: $299

RATINGS (out of 5)
Compatibility: 4 (no VCD)
Video: 5
Audio: 5
Features: 4
Appearance: 4
Reviewer's Tilt: 5

I got this DVD player recently along with the Tenchi Muyo OAV DVD box set and a few widescreen movies and anime titles. All I really wanted was a great player that could put out just about all of the audio and video formats for future upgrades with few or no bugs. Oh, and it had to be under $300 too.

Before buying this unit I looked at the Pioneer 414 and Panasonic A120, which cost almost the same amount of money. Both seemed to have more problems, however, than the Toshiba 2109. After reading rave consumer reviews at www.audioreview.com I decided to take the plunge and order a 2109.

Naturally, the first things I checked for were the minor complaints some people had posted. Some said the remote was too hard to use. Others said widescreen DVDs lost picture quality. Still others reported a cheap looking exterior.

Much to my delight, I found all of these annoyances to be either trivial or nonexistent. I've seen 2 widescreen anamorphic titles so far, and both looked superb. Crisp, clear, even images without a trace of pixelization or color bleed. The remote IS a tad small, with some chicklet-type buttons, but what can you do... it works and it sure beats a lot of cheap TV remotes. I found the exterior of the unit very pleasing, with a beautiful display that greets you and says goodbye (really). The whole unit is surprisingly light which I think is great because it's easy to lift into a cabinet or turn around to access the back.

The anime DVDs looked WONDERFUL with no lock-ups or slowdown. I tested Iria: Zeiram and Tenchi Muyo OAV Box Set.

The "fun" features are nice... You can zoom in up to 4 times and then pan around the picture with the remote. Still frames are perfect and zoom-able. The fast forward and rewind are typical of most DVD players... smooth at slow speeds and choppy at fast speeds. It has frame-by-frame and slow motion and all of that good useless stuff.

It doesn't do video CD at all. Oh well. There are many fine programs for the PC that play video CD at least. The Toshiba 3109 plays video CD but costs $100 more.


It is region-locked to region 1 like most players. I haven't researched a mod or hack for this yet.

All in all, a superb player at a superb price. I even got 5 free movies and a $50 movie credit from the online store (800.com). Setup is easy, and the on screen menus are top notch. Highly recommended.

Jon Van Dalen

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