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| Toshiba SD-P1000 |
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Hardware Reviews March 2001 • Vol.4 Issue 3 |
Toshiba SD-P1000 | ||
 Not only is DVD hardware coming down in price, but it's also getting smaller. A number of companies including Panasonic, Sharp, and Toshiba have portable DVD players on the market. We took a closer look at Toshiba's portable offering, the SD-P1000. The SD-P1000 measures just 1 inch high x 5.63 inches wide x 5.88 inches deep when closed (7.88 inches deep with battery) and weighs just 1.5 pounds (2.2 pounds with battery). An array of outputs let you connect the SD-P1000 to nearly any home theater system. The unit supports both Dolby Digital and DTS (Digital Theater System) surround sound formats and includes both coaxial and optical sound outputs. SD-P1000 also includes Toshiba's ColorStream video output and standard S Video output. You can also connect the player to a TV using standard red, yellow, and white RCA connectors. If you have an ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) PC Card for your notebook, you can connect the drive to a notebook using the included cable. We were impressed with the 5.8-inch wide LCD (liquid-crystal display) screen. Color was bright and crisp, and lines were clear and sharp. The two on-board speakers were a bit of a disappointment compared to the screen, but it's hard for two speakers to give DVD audio true justice. The unit's N-2-2 Virtual Surround Sound attempts to emulate surround sound using the on-board speakers, but it's really not the same. The unit's battery was a bit of a disappointment. According to Toshiba, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery will last 140 minutes, which is long enough for some movies, but it may not be able to get you to the end of some Hollywood epics. For instance, the battery held out for about 150 minutes of "The Patriot." Although this is a little better than Toshiba's estimate of 140 minutes, it was still 14 minutes shorter than the movie. Other DVD players from Sharp and Panasonic have batteries rated at 3.5 hours, which should be long enough to make it to the end of almost any movie. We connected the SD-P1000 to a home theater setup using S-Video to connect the player to the television and coaxial cable to connect the player to a Dolby Digital receiver. The unit performed well, and we didn't notice any difference in quality between the portable player and our midrange standard DVD player. The unit is also very stable. Repeated shaking and jarring didn't produce a single skip. All this portable movie goodness comes at a hefty price. Toshiba lists the unit at $1,799. We did find the SD-P1000 online for much less than that, often finding it for less than $1,000. Still, this is a much greater investment than a standard DVD player, but one that may be worth the money if you travel frequently. by Chad Denton
$1,799 Toshiba (800) 631-3811 http://www.toshiba.com
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