Everything I have read indicates the first generation Toshiba's have some serious problems. Not really a huge surprise, as most new hardware does to at least a certain extent. Unless you have money to burn, I think sitting out the first year isn't that bad of an idea.
Early adopters have expressed the opinion that how much you get out of HD-DVD (by that I mean HD-DVD specifically and not blu-ray) depends on your screen size. If you have a larger display HD-DVD will look significantly better than upscaled standard-definition DVDs. But on smaller monitors, the difference is less clear. But that is just what I have been hearing, so your YMMV.
