Pioneer 545 v Tosh210e

[pwray]

Folks, can someone deliver me from my procrastination? I'm thinking of upgrading my LG3200e to something that can better exploit the capabilities of my new Tosh RP telly. With a budget of £250, the outstanding candidates seem to be the Tosh and the Pioneer. But which? My ntl box is connected to the rgb scart, so I want something with two scarts that allows rgb passthru (like the pioneer) or something with component output (like the tosh!). I've heard reports that the tosh mechanism is a bit noisy and also read a couple of posts about the pioneer suffering dark banding in rgb mode - can anyone confirm this? Is either of these players slicker to use (remote quality, loading speed etc) than the other? Indeed am I mistaken in thinking I can significantly improve on my LG for this amount of dosh? Any views on this would be appreciated :nuts:

[megabyte]

Faced with that choice-I'd go for the pioneer.
I'm not familiar with the 545, but have the 646a from ugh and am delighted with it-rgb,just beautifull imho.
The 210e is a good machine-but spend the extra and go the pioneer route.
conn

[ivj]

I would disagree even though I have a Pioneer 545 myself and think that it is excellent.

If I had a Toshiba TV with component video inputs I would buy the Tosh DVD as not only will it give the best quality picture but it would also leave the RGB scart free for the Digibox.

The Tosh is also £100 cheaper

Ian

[pwray]

Thanks for the comments guys - you can see my dilemma though:

Potential plus point for the Tosh: great picture using component inputs. But, how much better than the pioneer picture thru rgb will it be?

Potential minus point for the Tosh: noisy mechanism - I used to have a Wharfie 750 and this drove me crazy, so a quiet mechanism is important to me. Some reviews have mentioned the Tosh as being a bit noisy but just how bad is it?

If any Tosh210 owners out there could provide some feedback that would be great - at the moment I'm veering towards the pioneer as most people who have one seem happy with it, but I'm open to persuasion... :confused:

Originally posted by ivj
I would disagree even though I have a Pioneer 545 myself and think that it is excellent.

If I had a Toshiba TV with component video inputs I would buy the Tosh DVD as not only will it give the best quality picture but it would also leave the RGB scart free for the Digibox.

The Tosh is also £100 cheaper

Ian

[Alanok]

Well I have a Tosh 210e and very pleased I am indeed with it. Click here (http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/index.html) for a few reviews on it. Just type in Toshiba in the manufacturer box. The noisy mechanism is not that big a concern for me. You can only hear it when it loads up a disc which is like a low whirring noise. And the only other time you hear it is when you press stop and it's again a low whirring noise and then a click.

I have never used the component outputs as I don't have a Toshiba TV or a projector but if people are to be believed this is the way you should watch DVD's. Oh and the Tosh only has one Scart socket.

I wouldn't completely dismiss the Pioneer 545 but unless your going to be using it as a main CD player why not go for the cheaper 444. And the thing looks mighty preedy.

Hope the reviews help mate.

[pwray]

Thanks for your comments Alanok - a bit of noise on start/stop wouldn't bother me, but I've read some reports of the Tosh210e making a persistent quietish clicking sound during playback. Others say their Tosh is nice and quiet, so I'm not sure if this is a quality control issue or just that some folk are more tolerant of mechanism noise than others :eek:

As for the 444, yes I will be using the player for CD playback and also I need rgb pass thru, so that's why I favour the 545.

[Alanok]

Well I do notice the noise when it loads and stops playing but never while playing. If I did then it would be straight back as that would drive me nuts:nuts: In the reviews I provided you I don't think it mentions the noise issue (I think:)) I think your best bet would be to see and hear for yourself and get a demo.

If you are going to be using your player for CD playback and are willing to sacrifice component outputs then I personally would go for the Pioneer as it uses parts from their CD player range. The Toshiba is okay for spinning CD's but not a patch on my Arcam.

Hope that helps.