Toshiba HD-E1

Toshiba's HD-DVD player takes the fight to its Blu-Ray counterparts.

This is the UK's first HD-DVD player, offering Hi-Def movie playback for £450. That's less than half the price of Samsung's slightly disappointing BD-P1000 (T3 132, 3/5), which rides on the other HD bus. The Blu-Ray fun bus.

Picture quality is superb - HD-DVD not only kicks DVD's arse, it sprays mace in its face and then sets fire to its trousers. There's scarcely any splodgey digital unpleasantness or picture noise.

Unlike the Blu-Rayers so far, this doesn't support 1080p - it "does" 1080i and 720p - but don't be fooled; pictures are every bit as good as Blu-Ray.

Sonics are impressive too. With a compatible receiver and HDMI output, you get lovely, lossless surround sound from discs with Dolby True HD and DTS-HD audio tracks. Unfortunately there are only a handful of those receivers around, and the player only supports 5.1-channel mode and not the top-drawer 7.1, and because there's no analogue output, you can only get lossless surround sound via HDMI.

Still, that's a minor quibble compared to the HD-E1's main shortcoming - its sloth-like speed. Switch it on and it takes 40 seconds to do anything. Put in a disc and you have to twiddle your thumbs for another 25. The Xbox HD-DVD drive is quicker, and that's a mere 130 notes.

Even so, this matches the UK's early Blu-Ray players for visual quality and wipes the floor with them in terms of price. Add the fact that all of the massive range of US HD-DVD discs will work here, and this should sell quickly. Even if it doesn't do anything else fast.

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