I have always trusted Toshiba products after consistantly good performance. Last year, I purchased their Upconvert SD-5970 model and that changed my mind. That model was just a complete disaster (hardly read disks, skipped, shut down/couldn't even turn it on at times-even by pressing the power button on the unit itself, froze up constantly, remote control did not respond at all or took 5 seconds to respond, disks wouldn't eject, etc.). You name it, it went wrong. I tried several replacements of the same unit and all of them had the same issues. Seems a lot of people had similar issues with that model from user reviews on the net.
The bad thing was, I ended up losing my receipt and had to put up with it when it went from bad to worse over the following months. I became a bit soured on Toshiba for releasing such a bad product.
About a month ago, I saw the SD-5980 advertised (The follow up to that model) and some positive word that most/all of the issues that people had with the 5970 were corrected now. I was hesitant at giving it a try. But long behold, after picking one up, they actually seem to be corrected.
I have had the 5980 for a little over a month and have not had 1 problem with it. It's really been like night and day between the two models and I really am pleased with the performance so far.
Picture quality seems about the same as the previous version, but it actually works now all the time. What a concept. Not a techie by any means, but the picture looks great and will get me by until HD-DVD comes out. I really have only tried previous Toshiba and Samsung upconvert models to compare picture quality on, so there may be something better out there and I have not seen it. I imagine it's probably on par with most of the other upconvert models available, though - especially in this low price range of $149.00.
The build of the unit is extremely slim, again, and you still get the HDMI cord included with the unit so that saves you money right there. I also have not had any overheating problems with the unit after playing it during long periods, so that is better than the previous model, as well.
Reading various disks has gone smoothly so far, and this includes burned DVD's/DVD R's, so that seems fine, as well.
Remote control works flawlessly now and you will not throw it the way you did the 5970 model when that one did nothing. Very responsive and nicely laid out. Another nice improvement.
Really, even after a month, I am still amazed I can turn this on and get it to work flawlessly every time I use it, after having such a nightmare with the 5970 all the time. That model was that bad.
The 5980 model so far has been excellant and my faith has been restored in Toshiba players once again. Nice job on the unit and a very nice price for those in the market for these upconvert models. For price point, quality, and reliability/features, I gave it a 5.
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