Toshiba SD-3950 Progressive Scan DVD Player

I purchased this several months ago from Amazon after reading all the reviews -- including the ones that complained of pixellation and out-of-box failure. So I ordered this inexpensive unit with some reserve, and saved the box for months, thinking I might have to send it back.But no. What I've found instead is that it reliably produces a stunningly-sharp, hi-def picture, and sends lovely, pure, unadulterated sound through to my surround receiver (Yamaha HTR-5650). I've got it hooked to a Toshiba 42" widescreen HD-ready RPTV (42H83), with Monster component video cables, and I feed it a fairly fatty diet of 3-4 DVDs every week. Not a pixel or a plip to be seen.Of course, DVDs of movies made pre-HD-era won't look as good. Even this super-machine can't remove the grain from older discs.The remote is a bit cheesy, not worthy of the sleek player, and the buttons can be inscrutable in the dim light of a home-theatre room. But that's a small quibble, considering the great value of this machine.I purchased this when my MUCH-more-expensive Sony 5-disc DVD player died after just 14 months. The Sony will still play CDs, but I use it only as a "jukebox" when hosting dinner parties. When I want to play a single CD or CD-R, whether 80s pop, Linken Park, Joni Mitchell, a Mozart aria, or carpet-rumbling classical pipe-organ music, this Toshiba unit leaves my Sony whimpering in tail-dragging shame.This is an amazing value, an absolute must-buy. Already have a DVD player in your family room? Buy this for your bedroom...and switch them when you get the chance.

Basically, I finally broke down and bought a DVD player because Teh PS2 was choppy, and I was tired of Getting up from my couch to control the DVD playing software on teh Computer. With that being said, I decided to purchase a cheap DVD player just for the heck of it. As for teh quality of the equipment, I have a mixed review.The Good:1. It comes chock full of features2. Progressive Scan3. Multiple Formats including MP3, VCD, etc.4. The PriceThe Bad:1. The Control is hammy. The buttons are tiny, (Could also use a backlight).The UGLY:1. This is the type of equipment that doesn't tolerate heat well. This means that if you do not want your pictures to pixilate, or video to freeze totally, You MUST NOT HAVE ANYTHING SITTING ON TOP OF IT. To the touch, the unit's cabinet feels hot to the touch on the top for the entire surface. If there is nothing on top of it, the unit works fine.

This DVD player failed to perform right out of the box and is now on its way back to amazon. I have always preferred Toshiba video products and this is my first bad experience with them. I tried this unit with three different DVDs from Netflix. All experienced long periods (i.e. minutes) without any video output and when there was a signal it was often shifted to red. All three DVDs played without a problem in my older Toshiba player. There's a reason this model is so inexpensive. My suggestion is that you look elseware.

I bought this unit for the mp3 and jpeg capability. I have a 2 year old Pioneer that played all my home made dvd's and vcd's but didn't have the mp3 or jpeg features. To my dismay this unit will not play my vcd's. The owner's manual says it plays vcd's but it won't. I haven't tried mp3 cd's yet and some photos on a disc were skipped over, I'm not sure why. Dvd's played well- picture and sound were fine. Home made Dvd's were fine too. If you are not interested in vcd then add another star.

this little Toshiba is quick and has been constant and good!I purchased a newer DVD player a couple years after, hoping to upgrade, but it is so slow to open; you have to wait for it to say there is no disc then open, and closing the tray is slow to, but the Toshiba rocks!

After reading the reviews, some of which were pretty negative, I still bought the Toshiba Sd3950...hey, it was in my budget. It hooked up immediately (even for a non-technophile), started playing beautifully. I like my electronics simple to operate and work without problems. This DVD player has given me all that. No sound problems, no problems with the remote, no problems period. My experience has been A-OK and I would buy this item again.

Works GREAT for burning DVD's from VCR tapes, assuming you have a VCR as a source. You can input analogue and view on tv thru digital! Very versatile! Pro's charge $25 per 2 hr conversion. This cost pennies.

I Just read some reviews in professional audio forum, and many of them said this player can provide the HI-FI stander music source, and even marked this one as the best choice of CD resorce under the $600. I bought one, and found it is true it can produce very clean music.However, when I tried DVD, the color was diffused. I just called AMAZON to make the replacement. after several days waiting, I got my second 3950, the audio is even better than the first one. Again putting the dvd in, it finally give the DVD quality color, however 20 minutes later, the same problem of color diffussing was appearing.I dont have more time and energy to change this machine.Anyhow, I still give this machine for 4 star, because I just bought it as the CD-player, and its audio along do deserve its price.