Plays most disc formats CD, DVD, CD-R and MP3's on any of these formats.
Looks well built.... (Never Judge a Book by its Cover)

Works Sporadically...

Here it is short and sweet...
The first unit broke one day after the warranty expired. Fortunately the place I bought it from replaced it. The second unit is slow! slow! slow! It takes forever to boot up and play even a regular cd. Pressing the buttons on the front of the unit sometimes require being pushed two or three times to activate the related function. I have all types of Sony products and have had good luck with them, however, this is the absolute worst product I have ever purchased from Sony. Avoid this product like the plague. Don't even buy one for $10 used if you come across one. I'm looking at buying a new Blu Ray player and will probably buy a Panasonic because the Sony was so horrible.

Similar Products Used:

Mostly Sony DVD Players

Excellent picture using HDMI cable. Perfect SACD decoding. Very nice looking unit.

Unit is very slow to respond to open drawer commands and takes a while to read a disc initially.

I have owned this unit for about six months. I was somewhat wary of purchasing it as the reviews have been mixed at best. However, I had very good luck with my last Sony DVD so I gave it a shot. For the first three months I had it connected to my Samsung DLP using component cables as the HDMI and DVI ports were occupied on the TV. Finally, I was able to free up the DVI jack and connected the unit using a HDMI to DVI cable. What a HUGE difference in picture quality!! I kept the component cables hooked up, did a freeze frame on the TV during a "We were soldiers" scene that is very dark. I could compare the DVI output to the component output side by side and the difference was amazing. For those of you that have a DLP you know that the picture is very picky about the quality of the input source when it comes to how sharp the picture is, especially darker backgrounds. The component background, while okay, was somewhat digitized (a term Samsung uses to describe poor picture quality) while using the HDMI/DVI cable the background was perfectly sharp and crisp. Even the most demanding DVD's now look incredibly sharp. The cable I am using is a very cheap one that my satellite receiver provided and it is still great. I am exceptionally pleased with the picture. Fortunately, I have had no problems with reading discs of any sort. This is also my first SACD player and I am stunned at the sound that this baby delivers. Set up is pretty easy, although I question why Sony bothers with the speaker level set up, etc. when most folks will use their HT receiver to control all of those functions. The one complaint I do have is that it take a LONG time to read a disc, power up, etc. As you have probably read, if you try to open the drawer too quickly the unit will either power off or lock up. This happened to me for the first couple of discs as I was used to the rapid repsonse from my other Sony DVD player. I preach one thing when it comes to getting the drawer to open: patience, patience, patience. When the display finally says "no disc" or begins to read a disc that is left in the unit, then it is okay to open the drawer and proceed. It is sort of odd that Sony has this quirk in this unit.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-NS700P

Upscaling picture quality. SACD playback.

Lasted 3 and a half months. Totally unacceptable.

After seeing varied reviews of this DVD player, I purchased it. The picture was great. The SACD playback was great. The look was great. What is and what was are different things. The machine will not even read discs anymore. It powers up, I can access the menu but that's it. It malfunctioned. And what's worse is, this is happening to all the units and Sony is doing nothing to correct the problem with unsold units. They just told me to send it to them and they would fix it or send me a refurbished unit. Stay away from all Sony audio video components. The few in the many that may be reliable are not worth the aggravation, time or the money.

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Sony DVD player bought in 1997 hasn't skipped a beat.

Upconverted picture that bested a brand new NAD. Very sharp picture for a non HDTV source and had good color seperation. The brushed aluminum looks the best.

Its a sony and will not last. The brushed aluminum doesnt match anything but SONY ES receivers. (yuck)

Bought this player to check out the HDMI connection. People on AVSforum claimed that the upconversion picture rivals the best component video players. I had an NAD t533 and a nakamichi DVD-10s. The former cost me $500 and the later cost me $800 (but the Nak was old and didnt even do progressive). Comparing this sony to the others, I found the picture to be sharper with slighlty better color seperation. No, the sony did not "blow away" my other DVD players... but it is the winner and cost hundreds less. HDMI picture is "near" HDTV much like mp3's are near CD quality. I'm just not looking forward to this sony piece of crap exploding on me in a couple of months. Also, there is NO reason to buy this unit and use the component video. The components are average average average and will rival only $100 players.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Nakamichi, Panasonic, PS2 DVD player.

Picture quality with HDMI hooked directly to a good monitor is AWESOME Upconversion is excellent Cool looking unit Certainly the best value around-less than $300!

Component Video pic quality is average Drawer and response time a bit slow (if I have to search for a weakness)

I have had this DVD player for almost 2 months now which I bought to pair with my Mitsubishi 52725 DLP HDTV. At first I used the component video outputs and I I was only moderately pleased with the picture quality (it was certainly better than my ols crappy Toshiba, but close enough to HD quality which I am enjoying with my TV programming...HD is AWESOME!) Then I finally bought an HDMI cable and hooked it directly up to my set. I then used the Avia test disc to set up proper settings. I was surprised that by using the HDMI instead of component video, that the required optimum settings were quite different. The results in test patterns and while watching movies was MUCH better using the HDMI. Both my wife and I were amazed. DVD's now looked like the best HD signals! The audio signal is run directly to my surround amp via digital cable. Sound is good with nothing sounding "off". I use a seperate amp and CD player for audio only, so I cannot reasonably comment on the pure audio qualities of this player. I give this player a "5" if using the HDMI cable. If you don't use HDMI, no need spend the $ to buy this player. I was surprised to see the low avg score on this player, but it looks like the first 2 reviewers got defective units that broke. The build quality on mine seems very high, and I have not had any issues

Amazing detail in audio in all formats, even mp3's.

Slow disc changer. Settings menu not easy to figure out without aid of manual. Will power up if there's a bad cable connection.

I was contemplated upgrading speakers, but buying this player has put and end to any thoughts I had that my speakers weren't good enough. Right out of the box I could tell a significant improvement in surround sound over my Pansonic RV-32. This was before I adjusted any settings.Once familiar with how the menu worked. I adjusted all the settings. Audio is connected to a Yamaha RX-V2200 using rca cables for sacd and an optical cable for dvd input. You can also adjust the speakers settings for sacd and dvd with this unit. For audio especially mp3 I am amazed by the detail I'm hearing in recordings. But every type, whether it be mp3,cds,sacd or dvd has just comes to life. For video I have it connected to My Panasonic CT-30w54 with an HDMI cable and tv input set to HDMI. With the dvd player set to 1080i resolution, movies are viewed in HD mode. Quality of picture depends on the movie. Some movies exhibit some graininess (this may be unacceptable for some) to them which I compare to 400 asa photos,others none. Making adjustments on my tv as well helps in regards to motion and graininess in videos. The remote buttons are well placed and easy to use but not backlite. Other features are a sharp/slow filter for audio, (this is for freq above 20,000 khz. with sharp, music may sound holograhic or harsh, slow cuts these freqencies).Plays sacd,cds,dts,dolby digital,dvd-video,jpeg,mp3(not mp3pro). Conclusion, best upgrade I could have made in my system for under $500 cdn.

Similar Products Used:

Pansonic DVD RV-32, Panasonic DvD RV-52

Looks good. Nice picture when works. HDMI connection

Apparently quality control. Slow booting the DVD. HDMI only 2.0 audio

I used the product for about 30 days because that was it's life spand. I used the HDMI connected to the Sony 30" widescreen. The picture was great. From what I hear using HDMI to DVI adaptors is showing bad results. The unit looks good and had a sturdy feel. But the unit just quit one day. My problem is not resolved yet because Ultimate don't want to stand behind what they sell. Avoid buying from them and avoid this unit.

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Denon, RCA, other Sony, Phillips

Looks pretty

1. only has 2x fast forwarding 2. not particularly impressive audio or video 3. broke within 6 weeks

Bought this unit to go along with my new Samsung 50" DLP TV. It replaced my Onkyo S535 which is about four years old. I have an Onkyo DS 595 receiver with Cambridge Soundworks Speakers. May not be the highest end but they all serve my needs.The Sony was a disappointment from the beginning. The picture with its HDMI interface (used a Monster cable DVI - HDMI) was marginally if at all better than the S Video of the Onkyo. The audio was worse with less bass.I was surprised that the unit only had a 2x fast forward (Onkyo was 2x - 32x). It also did not play my JPEGs or video CDs. Remote was ok. The unit broke within 6 weeks and Sony is sending my money back since they do not have the part to fix it. This is a brand new unit from Sony and both Sony and Crutchfield were very supportive and helpful.Crutchfield also agreed to take the cable back as I am not buying another Sony DVD. Suggest you audition this piece of equipment and not buy sight unseen as I did. Intend to buy Cambridge Audio 540D when I get my refund from Sony.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo DVD S535