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| Date Reviewed: 12/18/2004 |
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Strengths: remarkable quality for a very low price
Weaknesses: The user interface and remote are a little cumbersome, which impacted set up (i.e., no automatic detection of output mode)
Summary: This is a second DVD player for us, attached to a mid-range 27" JVC TV via component video cables and standard RCA stereo audio cables. Given this setup, one can't really see decoding or other artifacts nor have the opportunity to evaluate the audio. Having said that, the picture quality was surprisingly good. On the hand for $62 from E-Cost, how can one complain? Of course, the chassis is small and not very robust as you might expect for the price. The player has a number of standard features for playing back different types of disks and configurations, which we probably won't use.
Setup was a little cumbersome because the default output appeared to be progressive scan and composite video, which admittedly is not consistent. After connecting the player, there was no picture. When I hit the progressive scan button to go to interlaced mode (i.e., the TV being used was a standard analog model), I then got a picture. Unfortunately, the picture had distorted color. After going through the video setup menus, I realized that the output was set to composite not YUV/component. I then changed the setting and everything was working great. The manual had some of the information to diagnose the problems, but it wasn't obvious at first glance.
 100% of People (8/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/01/2005 |
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: My in-laws have had problems with 3 different DVD players so I was worried. I think Toshiba makes good products in general so based on brand and price I selected this DVD player and so far I am not disappointed. It has a variety of fast forward, reverse, and slow motion speeds including zoom.
100% of People (3/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/10/2005 |
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Strengths: Very good picture detail and color. CD playback was also very good.
Weaknesses: Not as adjustable as other players. Setup and instruction manual were not as clear as I would have liked.
Summary: I bought this due to various good reviews and it's low price ($50 @ Best Buy). I have an apex that I bought cheap and got tired of a screwy remote and an average picture. The Toshiba was much easier to use and had a very clean and crisp picture. I would like a little more adjustability but it is easy to use and looks great right out of the box. It also does a good job of playing CD's.
100% of People (2/2) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 09/16/2004 |
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 Happy with Product. DVD Provided clear and sharp ... Strengths: Clear Picture/Great Sound
Weaknesses: No Weaknesses.
Summary: Happy with Product. DVD Provided clear and sharp picture and sound. Clear setup, onscreen, easy to follow instructions. Sharp sound and picture. Easy to setup and operate.
89% of People (8/9) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/15/2004 |
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 I have tried 10 VCDs, none worked. It's amazing th ... Strengths: Solid build, progressive scan with reasonable price.
Weaknesses: Does not play VCDs although it said so.
Summary: I have tried 10 VCDs, none worked. It's amazing they can claim it play VCDs. When playing Matrix 2 with progressive scan, the last seen that NEO flying out of the exploding building, can see the hesitation of the display twice; replay confirmed the behaviour. Tried my cheap APEX box, didn't see the same problem. Maybe it's the progressive scan issue, but don't have a spare one to rule it out. Anyway, I won't buy it again.
75% of People (6/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/17/2006 |
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 SD-3960 DVD Player Strengths: On paper: Features such as progressive video and mp3/wma playback
Weaknesses: Very buggy player, player freezes on some DVDs, bad video artifacts on good, working DVDs
Summary: On paper this should be a fine DVD player, which has most of the functionality you need such as progressive video with a 54MHz video DAC and mp3/wma playback but in real life this is a really bad DVD player.
It sometimes freezes completely in the middle of playing a DVD, and you have to disconnect/reconnect the power to get the player to respond again. It can also freeze for 3-5 seconds for no apparent reason. If that is not bad enough I have noticed some bad video artifacts on perfectly fine DVDs with no scratches or anything like that.
I can not recommend this player to anyone with all of the problems that it has.
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| Date Reviewed: 10/09/2005 |
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Strengths: mulitple format playback abliity (VCD, DVD, CDA, JPEG, MPEG formats), composite and S connection as well as standard RCA jacks, multiple file recognition, progessive scan capable
Weaknesses: remote control layout, no DVI or HDMI connection
Summary: I've used this DVD play now for over a year and I have yet to run into any issue with it what-so-ever. It's played my VCD's, only on occaision does it seem to run into an issue with the audio on the VCD, it will sometimes get out of sync, but that's easily corrected by hitting the reverse button for a second or so. The picture quality is as you would expect of a DVD player, I use the S connection through a 32" Samsung CRT, the screen door effect is very minimal and due to the CRT and not using it with a LCD/Plasma display. It's the best DVD player I've owned and will gladly purchase more electronics from Toshiba.
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| Date Reviewed: 09/22/2005 |
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Toshiba SD-3960 DVD Player
Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: This is actually my first DVD player (yes, I'm a little late on technology). I found it easy to hook up and very easy to navigate. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a basic DVD player. It's a great value for the price.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/16/2005 |
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Strengths: Great as a CD player, light, slim and good price
Weaknesses: remote was slow response
Summary: I bought one because it is recommended on the internet as a great CD player on the budget. People can mod the player to improve the sound quality. I also use a DVD player but it is hard to tell a better picture quality between progressive and non-progressive mode via compoent cable. Even BestBuy employees did not how to set it up in progressive mode.
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