Price Paid:  $785.00 from Sony Factory Outlet in Tracy, CA

Summary:
Well, this dvd player is great when it works.

I purchased it as a dented box B stock at the Sony Factory Outlet in Tracy, CA for a great price ($785) in August of 2000.

Since then, it just decided to stop playing DVD's four months after purchase. I got it serviced directly from Sony from their now non-existent service center in San Jose and repairs were free since it was still covered with the generous 1 year factory warranty. Got it back in perfect working order a week later. I had no problems until December of 2001 (one year after servicing). I am having it fixed right now and expect the repairs to be around $150 (Sony quoted me $176 flat rate).

Despite the problems I've had, the player has been soooo nice! I love how I can just pick it up and take it anywhere. I am a college student, and so it saves space in my apartment, and looks great next to my 24" WEGA. I purchased the optical minijack cable for $30, and it works well with my Onkyo reciever. The headphone output is not as loud as I'd like it for road trips, but is satisfactory. The battery lasts about 4 hours, which is enough for about two movies. The LCD doesn't do especialy well in sunlight, and the brightness controls hardly do anything.

Overall, this play has been a joy to have, but has not been as reliable as a sony product should be...especially a player originally listed at $1600. I feel satisfied with it since I only paid $785 for it, but it should last more than a year.

Don't know if my problems have been because it's a B stock and it may have been dropped or damaged. So keep that in mind.

Strengths:
size, portability, big LCD screen, nice minijack digital outputs, battery life

Weaknesses:
reliability, heavy battery, useless brightness controls, expensive

Similar Products Used:
Other various component Sony DVD players (this is the only portable dvd I've ever used though)