sony (or so i thought)

power button problem, white dots during playback, firmware problems

returned first two units due to power button problem, settled on third unit (figured i'd live with it). got tired of problem, called sony. sony picked up unit and updated firmware, and said they fixed the power button problem. got unit back after 2 weeks (had to prove it was only 1 month old so they didnt charge me $170 to fix !), and power button problem remerged after 8 days (also noticed white dots during playback). called sony again, sent fedex to pickup. wrote letter explaining problemsand put inside of box: asked for a new 360 model in exchange. the tech had it on his bench for 1.5 weeks, sent it to repair depot for 1 week, then sony web page giving status of repair said to call sony for more details. called sony, rep said the unit is unrepairable, and will be sending new model DVP360 by UPS. not bad, but feel sorry for all 330 owners who have the power button problem.

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none

Ease of set up, handsome. Picture and sound tops.

I have experienced none.

I have had great satisfaction with this product. I have suffered none of the problems that I have are common with other Brands. No Pixelazation, or any problems with skipping or the like. Very Happy indeed.

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None.

Plays every dvd that I have thrown at it.

Maybe a 'little' noisy at startup? A big MAYBE.

I did a HUGE research job before I bought this DVD player. I am NOT disappointed. It has played every DVD so far without fault. With cd's, I did have one skip repeatedly on me. This cd woudn't skip on a regular cd player. So I am assuming that maybe this Sony is a little sensitive. I play cds all week on this DVD player and it has only happened ONCE. Not enough to condemn this player. I highly recommend it, especially for the price.

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None

Picture quality; smooth FF and RW.

No component outs. Lip-sync is bad sometimes. Noisy. Doesn't play CD-Rs reliably. It's a Sony.

Sony products have always crapped out on me. I don't know why I still use them. At least my Trinitron TV still works. Anyway...this DVD player is a generation old and needs to be replaced. Pioneer's DV-525 and new DV-333 both support CD-R and CD-RW, and have component out's. Plus, they're inexpensive. Sony should get their act together and stop selling this obsolete player. They're just waiting to release Playstion 2 which will lower the price of DVD-only players to about $99. Maybe even less. DVD players are cheap to make. Maybe buy an APEX...it's cheap and made from recycled DVD-ROM parts.

Let's all try to stop buying Sony for a while...they're ripping us off.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-525, Pioneer DV-333

Picture image

Lip sync problem, some kind of "jumping" sound between some scenes in some discs

The picture quality is outstanding, but I can´t say the same about the sound. Firmware version of my player is 2.01 and I started to have the famous lip sync problem with Dragonheart and later with Ronin. I think it is not a big deal considering the problem dissapears when I stop an restart the disc, but more irritating to me is a "clicking" sound, like a kind of sounding jump, not only with DVDs but also with some compact discs. Although this problem appears in a very few times, with music is really noticeable. The sound of this unit is between the average but and not as good as the sound of my Pioneer laserdisc player, which I prefer to play compact discs. The construction of the Sony is also much less solid than the Pioneer´s. I tried to fix the clicking sound using the technical assistant blue screen of the unit (that you get when you are consulting the firm version) and it seems to fix it, but later it appears again. For now I will keep it, but I will think very much in the future about not to get Sony products.

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Pioneer CLD-D504 laserdisc player

Everything (when it works)

Everything (when it doesn't work)

This is one crazy machine. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I have the same problem as a reviewer below has, it is very finichy about starting. I have to load and unload certain dvd's 10 to 20 times for the laser to even detect that it is a dvd. If it does see it as a dvd it will 80% of the time give a "dirty disc" code (13.00)even on brand new discs. This unit has a hard time starting especially when it's cold. After it's played awhile it seems to have less trouble. My house has no humidity problems so I ruled that out. The firmware version is 1.85 and I have very little if any trouble with lip-sync. This unit has a great picture and sounds fantastic. I guess I need to take it in for service but with all the horror stories about Sony service I heard hear I really dread it.

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Toshiba 2109

Great Picture and Sound. Basic functions easy to use with remote.

Noisy transport. Initial set-up could be easier.

I purchased this DVD player along with the Sony STR-DE835 receiver. The two work nicely together. Getting the audio settings configured for the DTS and Dolby Digital output were a little confusing. The player's transport seems to be noisier than normal but gets less and less noticable. Overall this is a good entry level player as compared to higher priced models.

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None

Great picture

Lip Sync

This is a great player. I admit there was a lip sync problem aon some of the DVD's I watched. After being annoyed with the problem, I took to my Sony dealer since it was under warranty (and reading an article in Sound & Vision). Not only did Sony fix the problem, but they FedEx'd me a brand new system!!! I only paid $240 at Best Buy as on open box missing remote!!!. Now that's customer service. I assume Sony as corrected the sync problem by using new lasers for future productions

Great picture, remote easy to use, solid construction

None

I bought my Sony DVP-S330 in December for $257 at Best Buy (brand new unit in sealed box) and have been very pleased with it. The serial number is in the 250000 series and firmware is 2.1. I have had absolutely no lip-sync problems. The machine has performed perfectly. The picture is awesome, and the sound is great through my JVC RX-888V receiver using a DSP mode. The remote is quite easy to use. I am particularly impressed with the construction. The tray sounds like a vault when it closes. Overall, the DVP-S330 has been great. As you can see, I have a fairly early model in terms of serial number and firmware and have had no problems. So, anyone buying a brand new one today (March) should be in the clear of lip-sync problems. The DVP-S330 has no component video outputs, but think of the price you are paying. Admittedly, it would be nice for Sony to make a DVD player without the decoder, but with component video. Sony seems to make all or nothing DVD players. For example, their 5-disc carousel DVD player (DVP-C650D) has the decoder and component video. How about one lacking the decoder? Anyway, the DVP-S330 is a great machine if you have a receiver with Dolby Digital decoding built-in. If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy the DVP-S330.

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Hooked up to JVC RX-888V Dolby Digital Receiver with built-in decoder. Not hooked for surround sound yet, so using two front speakers.

Price,

noisy transport, quircky

I bought this unit from CC last year(Oct 99) to replace my Proscan DIVX player. Generally I like it a lot. I knew about the lip sync problem and asked the Salesman whom I know well if Sony fixed it yet and he said that their latest inventory was good. Well 5 months later and not one problem. I watch a lot of DVD's from rental to my own collection. I have yet to notice a lip sync problem and I'm very critical about my HT system. One peeve though is that it downconverts from 96kHz to 48kHz. I asked Sony why they did this they told me(no kidding)I needed to buy a schematic! Anyway it performs well although it has a noisy transport. When the unit is on and you haven't pushed a control for a while you need to push the controls twice to get it to respond. My serial # is 0195276 and the firmware(revision) # is 2.01. I noticed that some individuals experienced problems with this version. I have watched The Matrix, Ronin and Lost in Space many times and no problems to report as well as liturally hundreds of dvds.
My system is
Yamaha RX V2095
Sony DVP S330 DVD player
Sony SLV 688 VCR
Sony 27" direct view TV
Sony MDS JE 520 mini disk
Techniques RS TR 575 cassette deck
Techniques SL 1200 MK2 turntable with Sumiko BPS
MIT wires for speakers and DVD, Monster cable everything else and Monster HTS800 power line conditioner.
General Instruments Digital cable box

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Proscan 8680