Nice picture with good detail.

Non-backlit remote, poor widescreen display.

After my SD-3108 went in for a firmware upgrade at Best Buy (under the provisions of an extended warranty that was purchased at the time of the original sale), the repair department called to tell me that it was not feasible to repair the unit and that I should go to the store and choose a replacement. I chose the SD-1600 and took it home and hooked it up to a 31 inch Television. Unfortunately, in widescreen mode the picture dropped over one-half inch from the right to the left-hand side of the screen. As this had never occured with my made in JAPAN SD-3108, I returned it and replaced it with another SD-1600 which exibited the same drooping effect only less severe. The SD-1600 is made in CHINA and is definitely of a much lower quality than my SD-3108. The only Toshiba still manufactured in Japan is the SD-2300 and it has been experiencing some developmental problems (see the reviews on this website). I took the second SD-1600 back and replaced it with a JVC XV-M567GD which does not exibit the widescreen problem that the Toshiba's did. How disappointing, as I really did enjoy my SD-3108 and wanted to purchase another Toshiba product.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-3108

too many to list, for the price unbeatable, only Pioneer 333, and Panasonic DV30 are in the race with this one

no optical digital out, odd remote etup...takes some getting used to

I had to address some of the complaints below and since some people panned it in more than one review felt it neccessarry to equalize it out
a) yes there it is Dolby digital compatible (and DTS for that matter) as long as you have a digital coax input even if your reciever only has dolby digital (or no onboard digital at all...some older models were " digital compatible" the onboard DTS decoder will give you this option
b) people who have gotten bad i.e frozen screens, many skips seem to be either having bad luck and just gotten a bad unit..who knows maybe older sd-1600 have had this problem...I've recommended this unit to several people and they all love it...
c)someone mentioned that he had HDTV and wished he had gone with a higher end model...this follows common sense with few exceptions you pair similar level equipment together, the sd-1600 is an EXCELLENT entry level DVD player, would I pair it with your 55 inch HDTV...no way...if your going to spend the serious $$$ on that big of an HDTV screen you should be pairing it with a progressive scan unit at the very least (moving you to the $500+ units at a minimum....I wouldn't pair my Klipsch speakers with an Aiwa rack-unit....because chances are they would sound like crap...paired with an Adcom gfa-6000 they sound wonderful..
most people can't afford a 55" HDTV (I used to set-up people's home theatre setups...and showed them that everything from the Reciever (or preamp and amp if they went with seperates) to speakers and wires all needed to be in a similar class or things would tend to sound out of place...there are exceptions (a few years ago Rat Shack (radio Shack) sold a cd player lauded by audiophiles world wide..it sold for a measley $89.00...why they discontinued it is beyond me...same with thier Linueam tweeter loaded bookshelf units...which sound great with a mid-range hi-fi unit like an Onkyo, Denon, etc..but probably wouldn't go great with a Macintosh set-up...)so I've had the luxery of "playing" with high end HDTV, projector units with quad progressive scan units etc, elctrostatic speakers which cost more than I made that year...so I know a little about everything from the top to the bottom....)
D) the guy who got part of his widescreen tv cut-off...I believe this was a set-up probelem, there's a setting to change from your normal size televisions to widescreen (you'll still get the bars on top and bottom...as you should know since movies aren't all shot in the same format..)but I've seen it run on widescreen tv's just fine...but just like above...if your spending that much cash...pu in the extra $$$ for the higher end units...(and don't ruin it by buying cheap interconnects,speaker cable either..another thing people complain about...they say the picture looks ugly, I look behind and thier using the cheap $1 interconnects that come with units...manufacturer's if your reading this...don't waste the pennies...it makes you look bad....make a deal with some reputable companies (hell even Monster puts out soem descent stuff for mid-range systems) for a discount or something..it'll go a lot farther

Similar Products Used:

Hitachi DVP305U

Great picture and sound. Love the PLUGE and component outs. For under $200, you can't go wrong.

Crazy triangular face that slants outward. Does not match my other HT eqipment due to awkward shape.

I love this DVD player. It's hooked up to my Toshiba Big screen. Would love to have a progressive scan DVD player, but for the price, I'll take the SD1600. I just switched to component video out from the S-video. Love the difference. The SD1600 has 540 lines resolution - awesome. With PLUGE turned on (enhanced black mode), bright movies look awesome. For darker movies (like Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Dark City, etc), it's better to turn it off. Anyways, picture is great and sound is too. Highly recommended!

Similar Products Used:

Apex 600a, Samsung 711

High quality video outputs, DTS outputs for sound.

No optical digital sound out, stutters in layer transitions in the DVD, no VCD or S-VCD, no MP3 decoding.

A good unit if you can pick it up on the cheap with good video quality. The thing I found strange was that it had a bunch of diffrent ways for getting very high quality video out of it but fell short on the audio end and at the same time is aimed at a market segment that probably won't have the equipment to use the better connections. They should have dropped to 2 connections and made one of the co-ax for the market this unit is aimed at.

The video and audio quailty are good and it performs well on the system I've hooked it in to but plan on getting something better soon and this unit goes to the kids or a relative. While the picture quality is good I noticed a problem with it pausing in transitions on many of my DVDs. This problem was not experienced using the same DVDs at my neighbor's house on his Pioneer or at a diffrent friend's Fisher.

While overall it performs well, the problems with the transitions layers is annoying and the way they designed it could have been better for the market they aimed at. If you can take advantage of the high end video connections then you should get a better unit than this that has progressive scan to take advantage of it all. If you don't then you ccan find equally good picture quality with more features for the same or less $$$$. If you are getting it for someone then get with them to ensure they have a way to properly hook it up.

Similar Products Used:

Apex, Fisher and Pioneer

It's wonderful! He read CD-RW! The best buy!

It's a very good purchase! The best DVD for the price! I read all DVD.

picture and sound. i actually like the remote.

ZOOM!!! you people lose so much of the picture when you use it. i didn't like the black bars at first either, then i discovered how much information you lose. view the picture the way the director intended.

my old rca started acting up (had to unplug it to make it play again) this became tiresome. i stuck the rca in the bedroom. got the toshiba and love it. only using the s-video right now (looks great!) love the features except the ZOOM, you simply lose way to much of the information.

Similar Products Used:

rca 5220

Price, High-quality video and sound output.

Jerky search mode.

I have been using the SD 1600 for over 4 months now and have been very impressed with the quality of the video and sound that this DVD player produces. I have it hooked up via the S-VHS output to a 27 inch RCA TV, with the coax output going into my Pioneer D-509S. Altogether a great combination for a price that won't break your wallet.

First off, for the people who have had their movies reset to the beginning after they stopped watching for a while, all you have to do is hit play on the remote, it will turn itself on and start playing from where you left it! It's quite simple, folks. Anyways...

I can't speak to the quality of the component video, but the S-VHS is much, much better than what you see using the RCA output. Take advantage of what your TV can handle and use the highest quality output that you can.

The Dolby Digital and DTS sound is fantastic, I have Mission speakers all around and they have never sounded better. Spend a few bucks more on a good coaxial cable, it's worth it in the long run.

My only complaint is that the search modes could be a lot better, the player jumps ahead in a jerky fashion rather than playing a smooth video image at a faster rate. But that is just nit-picking, on the whole I am extremely pleased with my purchase. If you are looking for a high-quality DVD player at a great price, you can't go wrong with Toshiba's SD-1600.

Similar Products Used:

None

features, easy menus, picture/sound quality, remote, # of outputs...

Only has a 90 day parts/labor warranty, doesnt play cd-r's (for those who care)

This review is for the 1700, the new version of the 1600. You gotta like when you buy it at the beginning of march, and the label on the unit says "manufactured Feb 2001"! Now THATS what call getting a brand spanking new unit!

Anyway, I've had this a couple weeks and I think I have finally found the perfect DVD player, after MANY returns (see number of models used above). It has all the features I need: awesome quality, barely noticable layer changes, slew of outputs and menu options, and all at a price that cant be beat. The only thing I dont like is the 90 day P&L warranty. Kinda makes you feel like they dont trust their product for longevity, but I got a 4 year extended warranty anyway so I'm not too concerned. Based on the reviews here I dont think I should have too many problems. As far as not playing cd-r's, it would be nice but i bought this thing to play movies, i already have a cd changer.

Anyone looking for a top notch entry level player (with MANY not-so-entry-level menu options!) should seriously consider Toshiba.
I'm very fussy with my electronics, so if I'm happy with it, most everyone else should be too!

By the way, the included 9 rent one get one free rental coupons from Hollywood video is also a welcome bonus! I think Toshiba really tries the best I've seen to give its customers what they want (as opposed to the "just gimme your money" attitude of sony and pioneer.) I'm VERY happy with this purchase. Thanks Toshiba!

Similar Products Used:

Samsung 709, Sony 360, Pioneer 333

Durability

none

This is just to add to an earlier review back in January 2001. I just wanted to say that after nearly seven months my SD-1600 is still working close to perfection. The only thing I can think of mentioning is the fact that 'The Emperor's New Groove' froze solid in the middle of it, perhaps at the layer change, and I could not get the disc to go beyond that point. I understand a lot of different brands have had a problem with that particular disc.

Other than that, there is nothing else that comes to mind. I wish I could zoom into a sharper picture but I never use the feature anyway. Again, the remote is not the best, but it is fair.

Needless to say, I'm very happy with the 1600 and Toshiba for making a good product.

Similar Products Used:

none

User friendly system.
Multiple zoom feature
Picture Quality
Great price for overall quality

One problem with remote, 'skip' and 'FF' buttons are too close, can get very confusing and mess up, other than that, its fine and who cares.
Occasianally slow load times.

This system is probably the best buy for the quality. I've reasearched the Panasonic RV30, Hitachi DVP305U, Samsung DVD-611 and the Sony DVP-S360. It came down to the Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba. The place I bought my DVD player had all the brands mentioned and the price range were anywhere between $150 - $280. My salesperson said that with all 5 brands that I was interested in, the Toshiba had the least in defective returns in comparisson to the others, and since DVD Players doesn't have a true 'History' record in 'Reliability' due to being NEW to the market. The Toshiba seems to have the least repairs.

Panasonic RV30 was my original choice @ $250, but I chose to go with reliability.

The Hitachi and Samsung were around $150 - $160.
Sony was going for $280 in case you all wanted to know the prices.
Plus, Toshiba has a $20 rebate.

Similar Products Used:

None
Reasearched:
Panasonic RV30
Hitachi DVP305U
Samsung DVD-611
Sony DVP-S360