Picture quality, sound. Flawless operation. Same strengths as my earlier review.

Still haven't detected any.

This is a follow up to an earlier review I submitted. I've had this DVD player for just over three months, and have given it a thorough workout. I've yet to encounter a single problem with it. No skipping. No jumping from one scene to the next. It's been flawless. Reading some of the reviews on here, I gather that a lot of the DVD players that are skipping and jumping are using rented DVDs. Rental DVDs tend to be dirty, scratched, smudged and mishandled. That is probably the reason for the problems. I play nothing but purchased DVDs. I still highly recommend this DVD player. The picture is unbelievable. The sound, terrific. I am definitely content with my purchase, and enjoy watching DVDs. I would purchase the Sony DVP-NS400D again without any hesitation.

Decodes Dolby Digital, and possibly DTS(?)
Comes with 2 sets of Composite, S-Video, and Audio outputs.
Quick setup gets you up and going very quickly.
CDR/RW *finally* supported, yay!

Chapter selections and layer changes slower than some other players (around 1 second)
Player is a little noisy, depending on what disc you have inserted.
A/V cables are cheap looking compared to cables that came with older Sony products.

Like Roy's reviews, mine will spread out to 2-3 reviews, depending on what I discover further down the line. This is mainly a preliminary review of what I've found in the first 24 hours I've owned it.

Looks like I'm the first person in Canada to own this model! According to Sony Store officials, the unit isn't set to be released in stores for a couple of weeks, but I put in a special order, and according to their computer, no one else in the country has ordered this unit yet!

Okay, now for the preliminary review.

Why Sony? I bought this unit to replace my old Creative Labs Dxr2 setup on my PC, mainly because I could no longer stand the jagged anamorphic downconversion that the Dxr2 card provided. From what I've read, one of the only companies that don't have jagged downconversion is Sony. Instead of doing the standard "remove every 4th line" like other DVD manufacturers, Sony takes that 4th line and, using a complicated algorithm, mixes the information into the lines above and below it. This eliminates the annoying jagged effect on phone lines, railroad tracks, and any other hard edge in a movie. Some people find that this can produce and overall softer picture, and I can attest to this, but the difference in quality is *very* minor, and can be adjusted using the Digital Video Enhancer if you're dying for a really sharp picture. That said, picture quality is astounding on this unit. The "chroma upsampling" (ie. red banding) problem reported on certain Sony players is not noticable to me, but it could be there on a very minor level. I need more time to test some other DVD titles for this. At any rate, it is much better than the Hollywood Plus card I once tried, which had terrible color banding.

Navigating is a dream compared to my old Dxr2 setup, but chapter selection is much slower. It takes a good second for the unit to skip to the next chapter, or open up a sub-menu. Layer changes show a similar problem... it seems like a LONG second to wait for the layer to change on a DL disc. Call me spoiled, but my Dxr2 system had instantaneous layer changes and very quick chapter/menu accessing. I have tried the special Service Menu option to calibrate the player with single and double layer discs, but there hasn't been any improvement. At least the layer change spots don't cut out any footage, unlike a Zenith 2200 I tested that cut out 1 second of a movie before the layer change.

One of the things I have to find out is if the unit can decode DTS through the 5.1 ch outputs. Although the US Sony website and the player's manual pretty much indicates it decodes DD only, the Canadian catalogue clearly claims that the unit can also decode DTS. I'll have to play around with this and see if it can.

The only other comment I have to make right now has to do with the A/V cables. Unlike Sony's older cables, these ones have shorter, "stubbier" connectors. Although they don't seem to have any difference in quality, they have a really cheap look, and appear like they came from a cheaper brand DVD box, like Apex or something.

That's all for now, I'll update this review after I get the chance to test a few more discs.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-560D and DVP-570D (last year's models with built-in decoders.)

Easy Setup, Easy use, color, brand name

None yet

I began to have problems with my s560D DVD player so I returned it to the Circuit City. Since I needed a player with the built in decoder, I didn't have very many choices to choose from at Circuit City. I picked up the NS400D since it was a brand new unit. So far, I have not had any problems. The set up is easy. It walks you through the set for which receiver you may have and then you can go in and customize the settings to your preference. Seem to have the same features as the S560D except that it didn't come with an S-Video cable. (Of course, that wasn't a big deal). I'll update my post if I begin to have any problems.

Similar Products Used:

Sony S560D

DD 5.1 decoding; cool remote; lots of set-up options; relatively simple to use; plays CDR's; great deal for the dollar.

Some of the options are pointless; freaking 7 wires coming out of it if you're hooking it up to a pro-logic receiver (and I am not replacing my old Onkyo with a new one...the old puppy rocks); Not as solidly built as the earlier sony DVD players (bringing down the cost at the sacrifice of quality); remote can't be configured to change tv channels, but receiver sound at the same time...that's annoying.

As far as skipping goes I haven't had any problems with this unit that other people have reported. For the price this is a nice little DVD player. I just wanted something that would give me the ability to play movies in surround, so I wasn't looking for a top-shelf CD player (I use this strictly for a movie here and there). Its great for people like me that have pro-logic receivers that they don't want to replace. This is simple to use, and there are a variety of options for hooking it up (both audio and video). Its nice and thin, so you can easily find a place for it...especially if you have a cramped A/V center like I do. If you're totally into captivating DVD experience then you may want to spend more money, but for the price of this unit it does a damn fine job. I am totally pleased with it, and I think its a good buy...especially if you're biding your time waiting to invest in a good DVD-A player.

For the mid-range DVD players (JVC, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony) this unit pleases. Although if you want mp3 playback go for the panasonic.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic DVDCV51; JVC XV523GD; Apex AD500A

Sound Quality, Price

Video display. No way to fill normal TV screen with widescreen DVD.

Decent product. I have had no problems. Slight pause when DVD player switches layers on the DVD. Sound is great. My only complaint is that when I watch a DVD that is widescreen I can not fill my 4:3 TV with a cropped image. My friend has a cheap Phillips and can zoom in on a widescreen DVD and fill the TV screen. Some movies are better in widescreen and justify the black bars above and below, but some movies are better with a full screen. This DVD player should be able to do this. Maybee it is just a feature I have not found yet.

Beautiful picture, great sound, plenty of outputs, simple remote.....more??

No dts decoding which is not a biggie since it sends dts signals just fine to my new Denon AVR-3802 which does dts 6.1 discrete! Slight pause at layer change

This is my first DVD player and while I am by no means an expert this baby has far surpassed my expectations. Since buying it I have done a massive amount of research on DVD technology and there really doesn't seem to be too many better DVD players for this price.

Regarding the "skipping issues" I rent DVD's all the time now, (my collection is growing but only at 15 so far) and I have experienced NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER!!!

The DSP modes are nothing special and I prefer not to use them but hey, they don't hurt.

Setup was a snap and I was watching and enjoying movies minutes after I opened box.

The only drawback I have found is that there is a slight pause at layer changes. The pause lasts at the most 1 second and I do find this somewhat annoying but it is so quick that it is forgotten as soon as it happens.

I honestly recommend this player without any reservations.

Similar Products Used:

none

Huh? Oh yeah, 5.1

CD player is a veritable P.O.S.

The DVDs I watched seemed fine, but when listening to CDs, that horrible distortion that I hear is somewhat bothersome. To test it, I compared Disturbed's Sickness CD in the DVD player and in a Sony Playstation. In the DVD player, it sounds like distorted crap, and in the PS1, it sounds great. I used the same cables, receiver, everything, so it's pretty scientific. With a CD like Bob Marley, the distortion is less noticeable. Still, I plan on returning it tomorrow. BTW, I'm a casual listener, no audiophile to be sure, and I bet my own mom could tell that something is not right here. If you get it from Best Buy, you can always return it, but don't be suprised if you CDs sound like total crap.

Similar Products Used:

none