TOSHIBA SD-3950 - Good Quality, Low Price!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Good Picture, Bookmark Memory, Progressive Scan, Price

Cons: Audio Could Be Better

The Bottom Line: 
Not top of the line, but more than adequate.

Author's Review
Summary

Intro:
This is probably one of the best DVD players under $100. You can find several models at Wal-Mart or Target, but I doubt any of them are name brand. The Toshiba SD-3950 provides a lot of value for such a low price. It plays DVDs, CD-Rs, and allows you to view pictures. You can even zoom in on pictures and save favorite places in movies with the bookmarks! The 3950 is a great choice for a low priced DVD player!

Features:
* Progressive Scan
* Bookmark Memory (9 Points)
* ColorStream Pro (great with HD TVs)
* MP3 & WMA Playback
* JPEG Photo Viewer
* Power Picture Zoom

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Full Review


The Toshiba SD-3950:

The easy to use, quick to set-up Toshiba SD-3950 is a good, low cost single loading DVD player. The features are surprising for being priced under $100! A virtually must-have feature is Progressive Scan and the 3950 has it! Toshiba also gives you ColorStream Pro which works with the Progressive Scan to provide great picture quality and outstanding colors, it uses two times as many scan lines to give you this high resolution. The 3950 even works with HD and HD ready TVs. This will make the Toshiba 3950 a product that stays in your house for a long time. Since it works with HD TVs, it won't be obsolete for a while.

Like nearly all DVD players, the 3950 can also play CD-Rs with either MP3 or WMA formated audio files. Or you can create picture slide-shows with your JPEG formatted picture files.

A feature I'd never heard of before using the 3950, is 3:2 Pulldown. When companies make DVDs the frame rate is increased from 24 frames/sec to 30. The 3:2 Pulldown apparently clears up any possible distortion from this process.

There are audio outputs to connect to your TV and if you have the setup you can enjoy DTS 5.1 surround sound! Toshiba equips the 3950 with an Enhanced Audio Mode (EAM) that allows you to choose from three audio settings: normal, dialogue expander, and 3-D. The 3-D is the best, especially if you don't have surround sound, because it simulates surround sound. I always leave it on 3-D.

A rare feature on DVD players is a Picture Zoom function. Toshiba lets you magnify an area of a picture that you select. And another cool feature is the Bookmarking. You can select up to 9 custom points in a movie to automatically jump to at the press of a button. I don't use it but my girlfriend likes it. Actually, I'm not even sure how it works. But, in any case, it's there if I need it.

Oh, and parents rejoice! You have the power of Parental Lock! This is another feature I don't use because I don't have kids to monitor, but it's cool they include it.

This is a serious little DVD player! Don't let the price fool you! Your whole family will enjoy it. The slim profile will keep from cluttering your entertainment center and the silver looks match nearly any decor. Tech-phobes - don't fear, it's even easy to use!


Features:
* ColorStream Pro (200% Color Improvement)
* Digital Cinema Progressive (Smooth Images)
* Video Black Level Expansion (Greater Contrast)
* PLUGE (Picture Line Up Generation Equipment)
* Picture Zoom (Zoom In On Selected Area)
* Dolby Digital/DTS Audio
* MP3 & WMA Audio Playback
* EAM (Enhanced Audio Mode)
* JPEG Viewer
* Bookmarks (Jump To Specified Place)

TV Compatibility? - Standard outputs (composite & S-video) make the Toshiba compatible with most modern TVs.

The Remote? - The standard remote is easy to use and there aren't so many buttons you'll get lost. There are play/pause, stop, fast forward, rewind, and skip buttons in addition to menu navigation buttons. There's also a nifty angle button to change the camera angle (where allowed). And the subtitle button is out of the way so you won't be likely to accidentally press it (this isn't true of my TV remote!).


Final Comments

Even though the 3950 comes with EAM and offers DTS 5.1, the sound quality overall could be a little better. It would be neat if DVD players had EQs you could adjust manually. Kind of like stereo systems. Well, I guess if you hook yours up to your stereo you would essentially...

Anyway, for a small budget the Toshiba SD-3950 is probably one of the best you can treat yourself to. I got mine as a going away to college present. It's great. It's sturdy, feature packed, relatively small, and looks good. I say - check it out!

Enjoy!



Lights, Camera, Action!
Thanks For Reading!