Well, against my better judgment, I broke down and went to the store yesterday to look at the Toshiba HD-DVD players. My 65" RPTV doesn't support 1080p and doesn't have DVI or HDMI inputs so the player's performance at 1080i over component is key.

The XA1 is built like a tank. I don't know if the slowness would bother me. I definitely wouldn't have to run to my seat after I put the DVD in. Might be a good thing. The A2 and XA2 are cheaply made but much quicker to load.

I was able to confirm that the XA1 and A2 will upconvert SD discs to 1080i (and the XA2 to 1080p) over component IF AND ONLY IF you back up your original disk using AnyDVD or a similar program to strip the copy protection. What silliness one has to go through to get the same performance on SD DVDs over component that someone gets with a newer set over HDMI. (The salesperson thought I was a little nutty demo-ing "Double Indemnity" (1944, B&W, Full Screen) upconverted to 1080p on a plasma set.) Since my RPTV doesn't support 1080p and I'm not planning on replacing it any time soon, I don't see any reason to spring for the XA2. The A2 was on sale for $299!

Alas, I restrained myself pending a little further research on the other differences between the A2, A20 and XA2. I am going to buy one soon though. I'm afraid as time goes on component outputs will be dropped and I don't want to be left out in the cold. Thoughts?

561, DSP5500s, DSP5000C, analog sides and rears