I find this unit to be very pleasing. It is easy to operate and I have had no problems whatsoever with it playing any DVD's....I think it is a quality component, and it has great picture quality. I don't care to much about the lack of component inputs because the majority of A/V recievers do not have anything greater than S-video unless you want to spend big money. I want my A/V reciever to be the brains of my setup. This DVD player fits nicely with my Yamaha-HTR5150.

Cheap and quality player

Lip sync..see below

This player is great, clear picture, great sound, etc...

We noticed the lip sync problem about 6 months ago but thought it was the DVD's we were playing(only happened on 2-3 out of 15 Dvd's)...after finding this board by accident found that it was the player's fault..

Contacted Sony and took it in for repair..great people, friendly..great service overall..No charge for the repair.
They replaced the internal controller as well as the optical lens...

No problems whatsoever now..

Hooked up to a Sony 555ES, Wega, and Boston speakers..

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N/A

Great picture, sound (most of the time, see weaknesses) and all its features

The lip-syncing thing

We bought it at CC in Sept last year, and mostly have had good luck with it. Didn't realize what the occasional problem with the lip-syncing was until seeing this board. It's jumped around in a movie a couple of times, started one over once. We've had it long enough Sony would probably not fix it now.... Don't know what version of firmware it has, probably the old one. Overall, good though, and we have a Sony surround sound system as well.

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1st DVD

Easy to use, controls TV and receiver volume

Haven't experienced any problems with it

I was heavily hesitant in buying this particular player but decided to go after since all the other players were sold out. (I have no hesitation in sending it back and exchanging it for another).

I have yet to experience the lip sync problem posted in past reviews, I'm assuming I have a later version of the firmware. The remote is easy to use and I love the fact I can use it to control the volume on the receiver and the tv.

I'm happy with the player, it hasn't given me any problems, and it plays really well.

Easy set up, universal remote

aesthetic design..could have looked better

I've had the dvd player for about a week now, and have encountered no problems. I'm afraid that I'll soon experience the dreaded lip synch problem, but all I can do is wait I guess.

I attempted to check my firmware, but the suggestions posted earlier (of holding down "title" on the remote. Pushing "clear" on the remote. Then pushing power on) did not work for me. Is there any other way for me to check?

As long as I don't have any lip synch problems, this machine is worth the money.

Ease of use, ease of setup, remote control.

Product noise.

I've had this player for about a month and a half now and I have not had any lip synch problems, I was hesitent to purchase it because of all the bad reviews about the lip synch problem. So far i have no experienced it. but the store had a return policy.. $250 with no tax doesn't hurt either so i figured why not (Would've purchased the philips 825 or panasonic a120 but they were sold out and didn't want the toshiba because of the notorious beeping remote) so i brought it home and i was suprised at how easy it was to set up and it isn't as flimsy looking as the panasonic and toshiba. I would suggest this to any DVD newbie out there.. but beware of the manual it's not too newbie friendly. I give this 4 stars because the dvd player itself makes a lot of noise and gets pretty annoying unless you have a conciderable volume on during the playing.

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Panasonic A120u, Philips 825at

I have just bought this product and was very pleaed with the ease of setup, a manual in "english" and jacks that were clearly marked. i paid only $235 for it at Circuit City.

havent found any yet.

Great product, its a Sony, nuff said. i have it hooked up to my Wega tv. im going to spend a lot of time in front of that thing.

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this is my first dvd player

It's a Sony

Lip Synch, intolerant to dirt, no component out.

I returned the Pioneer because I hated it's remote. The Sony remote is better but it looks almost identical to my Sony receiver remote and causes some confusion.

My unit has the lip synch problem. It's corrected by stopping the disc and restarting but it's a pain in the rear.

The player is very intolerant to any dirt, dust, or smudges on discs. If you rent discs and don't have a disc cleaner plan on problems.

Another problem I have noticed appears to be when the player goes to the second layer on the DVD. It's reminiscent of the laser disc days when you watched a 2 sided disc on a machine that automatically played the second side. About 2/3 of the way through the DVD it will suddenly freeze for about 1 second and then continue.

Maybe this will be a good player after I return it to Sony for repairs but I can't recommend this model.

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Pioneer

very good ENTRY LEVEL player. all around solid. very user-friendly.

it is only ENTRY LEVEL. no novelty features.

The most deserved comment about the DVP-S330 is that it's easy to use. Everything from the hook-up to mastering the remote to using onscreen menus takes only seconds and is a breeze. Ergonomic and intuitive, the design of the S330 is better than any other player I've seen in the same price range. But more important is the quality of audio and video performance.

Video playback is very smooth and after 8 months of daily DVDs, I have yet to encounter any problems. Obviously, the picture can only be as good as the disc used (Highlander looks like crap on any player), but seamless branching, tough layer changes, and other assorted problems found on many low-end players are non-existant here.

With reagards to the audio, this Sony is very respectable. DVD sound is a huge improvement over VHS, but to truly take advantage of it you will need to have a DTS/DD decoder. Neither decoder is present on-board, but with entry level players this is expected. CD playback is also decent, but if you already have a home stereo don't expect to replace your current CD player with the S330.

While the S330 does everything that should be expected of it with flying colors, there are a few things worth of note. First, there are no novelty features such as the zoom button or kareoke. Also the S330 will not play CD-Rs (one short-coming that did disappointed me). The final complaint is the most important. During quiet scenes a faint ticking can be heard from the machine. You may be able to ignore this easily (I was), or you may find it a great distraction (if you are anal like my roommate).

This is a strong player, that I would recommend to any of my friends. While not a reference calibre machine, the S330 does not have a reference calibre price - sometimes you get what you pay for. Anyone who is looking for an entry level player that is very user-friendly will not be disappointed. The S330 is a particularly good player for families or any casual movie watcher who is looking to move up to DVDs, and wants a quality, inexpensive player.


note: some earlier models have firmware problems. Firmware is the software inside the machine that determines how information is processed. Sony will upgrade the firmware (free of charge) up to a month after purchase if you do experience any problems. This is not uncommon with older, low-end DVD players.

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several other models (Toshiba, Pioneer, Sony, Apex, RCA)

very easy to set up. Has both optical and coaxial outs.

Reliability!!! lightweight constuction. no analog 5.1 outs.
downconverts from 96khz to 48khz. noisy transport

This is an adendum to a review from march of 2000. I never had the lip sync problems mentioned even though my firmware was 2.01. I did have problems with an intermitant screeching noise and it would quit. I told Sony about the problem and sent it to them for repairs. They solved the problem and updated the firmware to version 2.6. Seems like Sony has a lot of problems with their whole consumer electronics line whether it's their ES line or DB or DE models. The service didn't take to long as some have had, mine was out 10 day's total and was double boxed when I received it back, nice packing. Sony really needs to get their act together. They have some models that sound really good but reliability is a very real concern and I'm sure they are losing some market share because of this. Are you listening Sony? Great sound when they work!
Jim P

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Proscan 8680