Toshiba SD-3900 vs. SD-3950 DVD player - what are the differences?

I looked up the 3900 and 3950 DVD players at Toshiba's web site using
the 2 links below:

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/prod...?model=SD-3900
http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/prod...?model=SD-3950

I tried to compare every line under "Detailed Specifications" for
differences. Even though several things are worded differently (i.e.
Dialog Enhancer vs. Dialog Expander), the only real difference I can
spot is the 3900 has both coaxial and optical while the 3950 only has
coaxial out. The MSRP is $20 higher on the 3900 than the 3950.

If anyone is familiar with these 2 models, could you please tell me if
there are any other differences? (Including overall reliability, the
ability to play additional DVD recordable formats (only minus is
listed), or playback tolerance for scratched up rental DVDs?)

The reason I ask is Target has the SD-3900 for $79.99, while Best Buy
has the SD-3950 for $69.99. I'm trying to decide which to buy...
unless I missed some other feature difference, I don't think an
optical out is worth $10 more. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Jeff

"Jeff" <> wrote in message
news:...
I looked up the 3900 and 3950 DVD players at Toshiba's web site using
the 2 links below:

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/prod...?model=SD-3900
http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/prod...?model=SD-3950

<<I tried to compare every line under "Detailed Specifications" for
differences. Even though several things are worded differently (i.e.
Dialog Enhancer vs. Dialog Expander), the only real difference I can
spot is the 3900 has both coaxial and optical while the 3950 only has
coaxial out. The MSRP is $20 higher on the 3900 than the 3950.>>


It does appear that the only difference is that the 3900 has both
coaxial and optical while the 3950 only has coaxial out. However, that
alone can't account for the $20 price difference.

This type of shotgun formula for player comparison is the worst. The
best comparison charts are just that -- charts. There is a list of
features on the left and the players can be compared in columns with
YES,
NO, The Specification or N/A appearing next to the player being
considered.

Anyway, neither of these Toshiba units appears to be very good. The 3900
is the older of the two units and one reviewer said:

Versatile, but music lovers should stay away
By: kyuushu June 21st, 2003

Pros: Reads a lot of media formats: DVD,DVD-R,DVD+R,DVD-RW,CD-R,
CD-RW,VCD,SVCD,XVCD, MP3, WMA, JPEG stills
Cons: Does not play enhanced music CDs (which are becoming more popular
now), flimsy build quality

Bottom Line: This is a great DVD-player, but if you want to play music
CDs, look elsewhere. Otherwise, this is a great player for people with
movies on multiple media formats. (The review then goes on for several
paragraphs.)

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/...D-103767510660


The 3950 got a bad review:

Great machine if it would only play.
Pros: Lots of features for the money.
Cons: Glitch in the machine hinders usability.

Full Review: We bought this DVD player based on its very good set of
features for the relatively low price. Unfortunately, although it
worked out of the box initially, within a couple of days it was
frequently locking up. It wouldn't play, the disc tray wouldn't open, it
would just freeze after turning it on and loading a DVD. Toshiba said it
needed to be unplugged for five minutes, and then it would reset itself
and would work. This proved to be true. However, it is quite annoying.
Perhaps not every machine does this, but enough do that Toshiba knew of
the problem. Save your packaging so you can return it if you have that
problem (I wish we had). If your machine doesn't have that problem, then
as the first review indicates there's a lot of machine here for the
money.

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/...D-125882633860

Read all of the reviews here:

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/xPR-Toshiba_SD3950

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/xPO-Toshiba_SD_3900

Scot Gardner

Scot, thanks for the links to Hardware Central. That site never showed
up in my web searches for some reason. Those are the first helpful
reviews I've read, and it's good to be aware some units are defective
with lock-up problems. Overall it does not sound like the units are
that bad, except for playing enhanced music CDs.

Hardware Central lists the 3950 as having coaxial and optical out even
though Toshiba's page does not. Given the 3950 is newer and cheaper,
it seems like the 3950 would be the better choice of the two unless an
$80 Panasonic S35 shows up somewhere. Panasonic replaced it with the
S25 which has no S-video output which guarantees I will never buy it.

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 19:39:25 -0800, "Scot Gardner"
<> wrote:
>"Jeff" <> wrote in message
>I looked up the 3900 and 3950 DVD players at Toshiba's web site using
>the 2 links below:
>
>http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/prod...?model=SD-3900
>http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/prod...?model=SD-3950

<snip>

>Read all of the reviews here:
>
>http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/xPR-Toshiba_SD3950
>
>http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/xPO-Toshiba_SD_3900

Jeff