Best Cheapo 1080p upconverter DVD Player?

I've been eying the Toshiba XA2 but at about $600 (give or take $20) I'm not ready.
I need a DVD/CD player. I know the OPPO 891 is supposed to be great but at $229 it's not worth it while I wait. So, I've seen cheap 1080p upconverters for $79-$129 on sites and I was wondering what the word is with everybody on these and if there are anyrecommendations or reviews.

Try the Oppo 970H model. That would be your best bet.

Why not buy an HD-A2 (or HD-A20) for $400.00 and get 9 free HD DVD movies that would cut the cost of the actual player to only about $175.00 (after deducting the movie value)? You would get a fantastic upscaler AND HD DVD playerback too. Sure the XA2 would be the best at upscaling since it has the Silicon Optix Reon chip in it, but others have said it is not a huge SD DVD improvement over the HD-A2.

If you are willing to spend $130.00 for a sub-par upconverter then it seems like a no brainer to spend $45.00 more to get HD DVD playback also and BETTER upscaling with the HD-A2 over that. You do not need a player that upscales to 1080p if you have a 1080p TV to get great PQ.

ANY 1080p set can do the deinterlacing to 1080p from 1080i. Some 1080p HDTVs do a better job than others but they probably look better even with a 1080p source compared to some other 1080p HDTVs with a 1080p source too. That is why some HDTVs cost more than others.

The Oppo DV970HD won't upscale to 1080p. I have that player and a couple players that do upscale to 1080p, but I don't have a display that accepts a 1080p input so I need to limit my recommendations to 720p and 1080i players.

Chris

The Toshiba A20 HD DVD player is $386.88 at amazon and does 1080p.
Click (http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A20-1080p-DVD-Player/dp/B000MKC34E/ref=pd_bbs_7/104-6073957-3227960?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1179175119&sr=8-7)

I know, I know.
My feeling is to go for the XA2 or go cheapo for the time being.
I'd be renting mostly so owning HD DVD's isn't a biggy to me. But upscaling is ( so that the format deal isn't restrictive) and a unit that play's CD's well also.

Why cant you rent HD DVDs? Most of the titles Ive watched were from NetFlix. I only own about 12 HD DVDs. I have about 300 DVDs so up-scaling is important to me. Im very pleased with mine.

And I cant speak for the newer Toshibas, but the G1 HD-A1 is a fantastic CD player.

Why cant you rent HD DVDs? Most of the titles Ive watched were from NetFlix. I only own about 12 HD DVDs. I have about 300 DVDs so up-scaling is important to me. Im very pleased with mine.

And I cant speak for the newer Toshibas, but the G1 HD-A1 is a fantastic CD player.

I'm sure that's all true, but right now I'm thinking about waiting, maybe til the G3's come out. There are still issues. Some people are experiencing lip sync issues and some units are freezing or stuttering. I'd just like to at least consider getting a good, inexpensive 1080p upscaling player and avoid the price ($239) of the OPPO 981 if possible.
So any recommendations do you guys have?

Just go for the Toshiba HD-A20 (Deal #4) from Value Electronics, it's only $399: http://www.valueelectronics.com/avstc.htm

It's full 1080p, plays HD DVDs and is an excellent standard DVD upscaler. You get a free HDMI cable, it's double boxed, and you get 5 free HD DVD movies from Toshiba.

Most of these cheap-o upscalers arent going to give you amazing results. Odds are yout HDTV upscales just as well as any $100-$150 upconverter will do.

I really do not know of many/any cheap 1080p upscalers that would not put you in the price range of a HD DVD player that will have the same or better upscaling abilities. Why not just spend the same money for a great upscaler that also DOES play HD DVDs that both Netflix AND Blockbuster Online rent?

There is the Helios player but I think the Toshiba HD-A2 does a better job upscaling to 1080i than it does going to 1080p. The cost would be about the same after deducting the free HD DVD movies, so why buy something for similar money that excludes playing true HD DVD movies? :confused:

Here is a link to the Helios 1080p player:

http://www.helios-labs.com/us/products/h4000_overview.shtml

It sells for $169.00. I did a review on the x3000 on this site so you can search for that to get info on how it plays SD DVDs. I bleieve that the playback specs are very similar.

Hi just to let you know that these guys have too many glitches - i have had 3 x H4000's and 2 x X3000's and fed up with them.The H4000 kept on freezing up and i could not even get disk tray open .This happened twice in a month, so i upgraded to X3000 which is wireless and would have saved me the hassle of converting all of my movie downloads as one could just stream.But as fate would have it , first machine arrived damaged , and second eventually got picture but no sound ! After many emails and threatening to open a paypal dispute, i received my refunds.I would not recommend these products.

I'm sure that's all true, but right now I'm thinking about waiting, maybe til the G3's come out. There are still issues. Some people are experiencing lip sync issues and some units are freezing or stuttering. I'd just like to at least consider getting a good, inexpensive 1080p upscaling player and avoid the price ($239) of the OPPO 981 if possible.
So any recommendations do you guys have?

THE OPPO 981 is a very good upscaling DVD player but, the problems you mention about the Toshiba HD DVD players are actually pretty much gone or will be very soon with the firmware updates and most of the stuttering and lip sync issues have been dirty discs and all you have to do is wash them in warm water then dry and that has always solved the problem for me.

I've had really zero problems with my XA1 since I installed the 2.0 firmware update and the upscaling is second to none and wow what CD playback sound quality better then my high line stand alone CD player which cost over $1000.

Almost all of the postings are new owners asking questions and learning the simple solutions to them, it's a new technology with very few minor glitches, much less then I've experienced with other new technologies before. ;)