damac

If you really want a good price on HDMI cables, go to monoprice.com. They are good quality. I have purchased a 25' and 3 6' cables from there and have had no problems. With regard to the Blu-ray player, I have read reviews on this model. It is supposed to have very near the picture quality of the PS3 and the upper tier Blu-ray players. It does have an ethernet port for firmware upgrade. However, this unit may never be upgradeable to the 2.0 spec that is eventually going to be the Blu-ray standard. Expect this unit to play any movie now and in the future with firmware upgrades, but there is now and will be many more discs out there that have special features that this unit will never be able to play with any upgrade. There is an outside chance that this is incorrect and it will be able to upgrade to the 2.0 spec, but I don't think the manufacturer has ever said it could be done. I for one don't care because I only watch the movie or the movie trailer anyway. Of course the special features are supposed to get better and better. I've had the PS3, and I would prefer a standard unit to play my movies. I'm going to try to get this player because it plays movies near the quality of the most expensive players for a very cheap price. That is all I care about anyway. Hope that info help!

That's a good point we all forgot to mention. Kind of pricey compared to single format, though.

Thank You!

I am a tech junkie and have owned The Toshiba HD-A1 and A2 HD DVD players, as well as a PS3 and a Philips Blu-ray player. I have a pretty nice home theatre setup with a HD Projector with a 92" screen. I have 5.1 surround sound as well. What I have found is that both formats are basically the same as far as quality and ease of use is concerned. BOTH types of players will do an outstanding job of playing DVDs and upconverting them for your HDTV. Blu-ray has more studio support, but both formats have released about the same number of titles so far. Studio support can change with one press release, so we really don't know what will happen in the future. We do know that neither format has pulled away (or looks to pull away anytime soon) enough to cause the collapse of the other. We really don't know if one, both, or either format will survive past a niche phase at this point. What I can tell you is that your Blu-ray or HD DVD discs won't stop playing if a studio stops releasing movies on a particular format. And your DVDs (and Blu-ray or HD DVDs) will still look outstanding on your player even if either side stops selling players. There is still plenty of uncertainty from both sides. If you would like to take advantage of a Hidef format, my suggestion would be buy an HD DVD player if you can get one for $100. That is an excellent price just for a great upconverting DVD player, let alone a Hidef disc player. Just make sure to look at what movies are available on either format before you make your final decision (you might like the selection of one format better than the other). Grabbing an older model PS3 for about $320 is an option out there as well if you want a Blu-ray player instead. I picked up an A2 for $98 at Wal-mart a week and a half ago and can't see myself being disappointed for that price. I am thinking about going after the cheap PS3 as well.

With the 2nd generation of HD DVD players coming out before Christmas, I was hoping to see some Black Friday deals on existing stock of Gen 1 units. The Toshiba HD-A1 is already available online in certain places for around $350-370. I wouldn't rule out a BF deal on the HD-A1 for something between $300-350. But who knows.

I have the 4805, and it is an outstanding projector for the price (especially what you paid). Many great projectors don't have high lumen output, at least not ones that cost less than $1200. I have this PJ with a 92" screen in a room where I can control the light coming from the windows well. With any projector you have to do your best to keep light from shining directly onto the screen or in the path of light from the projector to the screen. I think he will be very happy with it. And I wish I had a wife that bought these kind of things for me for Christmas. Wow!

My BB didn't have vouchers. Luckily I got in line in the camera dept early enough to get one. It is really nice for $130.