Toshiba HD-A3 : Toshiba Third-Gen HD DVD Players

Although it was leaked on Amazon last week, a trio of HD DVD players cropped up from the fine folks at Toshiba. Unfortunately though, it looks like none of these really ups the ante to the point where it should. That said, I'll let you make the decision.

The HD-A3 ($200, October 2007) is basically the same as the HD-A2 with a limited output of 1080i and slight design enhancements. That said, you can pick one of these suckers up for a cool $200 -- the main appeal of the HD-A3.

A definite step-up from the boring HD-A3, the HD-A30 ($400, September 2007) sports 1080p resolution output, HDMI CEC compatibility (which allows for control between other CEC-enabled AV products when connected via HDMI and using a single remote control), and 24-frame video support (1080p/24). All in all, not a bad package for $400.

Lastly, the HD-A35 ($500, October 2007) sports the same features found in the HD-A30, but throws in 5.1-channel analog audio out and support for Deep Color video with HDMI passthrough audio. Whether or not that is worth the addition $100 (analog audio?!) is put into question if you ask me.

Either way, look for all of these players soon.