In the UK this player is known as the EP10 just to confuse things but here is my review of it anyway:

For the last two years, I have made do with my Denon 1920 upscaling DVD player, on a Pioneer 436 43" Plasma TV. The upscaling provided on normal DVDs from this player is very good, indeed. However, I was now ready to take the step to an HD player proper.

I have watched the Blue Ray vs HD DVD struggle from the sidelines. At the moment, Blue Ray seems to be out in front. However, I would summarise my doubts about that format into as follows:
- There are some very poor reports about the quality and playback of some early Blue Ray machines so far. What I have seen in reviews is pretty poor to put it mildly.... HD DVD on the other hand seems to be getting the thumbs up from both professional reviewers and consumers. That said I have viewed playback on both formats and would struggle to find a difference.
- Blue Ray has more storage data space on its disks... Read more

I'm very happy with this in all respects. I had returned an HD-A2 already, as it would hang sometimes when changing layers on dual layer SD (standard) DVDs. The A20 does sometimes have a perceptible "glitch" when changing layers, but no more than that. My impression is that the 1080p picture looks better than the A2's 1080i did, but that might just be wishful thinking. Obviously, as with and HD-DVD player, you'll get a little better ("lossless") audio if you have an HDMI-equipped receiver, but I'm happy to use optical digital cables for now and upgrade in a couple years.

One thing I strongly suggest, though, is that you attach this to the internet using the ethernet port in the back. If you aren't wired for ethernet, consider setting up a wireless bridge (or "gaming adapter"). Updates for the player AND for some of the HDDVD titles (!) are available for automatic download if you're hooked up.

This is my second HD DVD player. When I saw the 8 free hd dvd deal, I decided to get the better version and use the other one for the bedroom. The quality is still as great, if not better for 1080p. The process to firmware upgrade (menu selection and agreement screens) seems to load faster than the HD-A2. Overall, it still promises the great image and sound for HD DVD for a low price!

Note of caution. If you own a 720p/1080i TV, do not bother with the HD-A20 unless you plan to upgrade your TV to 1080p within 1-2 years. Why? Because the HD-A2 does as great a job for a 720p/1080i TV for even lower cost! If you have a 1080p TV that does great interlacing, and you want to go for the low cost alternative, this will do a great job considering the next firmware upgrade will allow 1080p24. But if you still think it's expensive, then go with the HD-A2. Even though it outputs 1080i at most, your 1080p TV should be able to turn the 1080i signal into near 1080p imaging so you... Read more