The Sony DVP-S360 is worth buying for. It's easy to set up and it is fast to use. Another great thing about it is the virtual surround processing (VEP).

It doesn't play any cdr's and it doesn't have any extras to suprise you.

I wanted to upgrade my dvd player so I did some research. My choises where a panasonic, a jvc, and the sony. But since I have a sony reciever, I went with the sony DVP360, and I have to say it was a good upgrade. The menu setup was easy to use and so is the remote. It has a good feature like the DEP. It makes a good surround processing with only using two speakers.
I tested Saving Private Ryan on DTS and Independence Day. It sounded great. But I was dissapionted that it didn't play CDR'S and didn't have many new features except for the DEP. If anybody wants an easy dvd player and doesn'y care about
CDR'S, this is a good choice to pick.

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I used to use a Pioneer DV-414 but I had some problems with it.

All the outputs you could want, easy to use and looks great. Excellent price point.

None

A fantastic buy for the money, I have not seen any player with better performance for the normal user (Me). Easy set up and nothing to learn if you do not like reading the manual.
My local store recomended this unit over some of the more expensive units with decoders built in. I decided that in time I will buy a receiver with a digital decoder when I am ready to replace my receiver.

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Creative PC-DVD in my computer, failed after a couple of years.

Slim design, easy to read display, steady clear picture and excellent sound.

doesn't play cdr's, but I fortunatly have a $400.00 Onkyo Cd player that does that.I bought the Sony for DVD'S.

Just bought the unit the other day(Saturday, this is the following Monday) and found it to be very easy to use. The only "kink" is that it won't play CDR'S which, as I said is no biggy since I use the ONKYO CD player for my music cd's.
The unit does not have all of the bells and whistles which I like so you don't have to be up all night figuring out how to run the darned thing.

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Creative Labs, Pioneer

Works great.

None so far

This is a good machine. Works with no problems. Runs great with component output to my Sony 36" Wega flat screen, and optical output to my Sony STRDE945 receiver. Now I gotta keep buying DVD's. They are getting cheaper.

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My first DVD, sure beats VHS.

Solid menu access. Simple layout. Can navigate menus w/o remote. Small size and footprint.

No zoom. Cannot play CD-R?

Having sent out my Toshiba for a firmware upgrade - it didn't like the Alien disk - and getting it back three months later with degraded picture quality ( poor customer service and workmanship ), I needed a new player.

So, deciding that Toshiba was no longer a good idea for a DVD player, it was time to look elsewhere. Checking around, the Sony seemed like a good buy. It has almost all of the same features as the 3108 does and cost half the price I originally paid for the 3108.

About the only thing I've noticed that it lacks is the zoom function ( nice, but I VERY rarely used it ), the built in Dolby Digital Decoder ( NEVER used ), the gold plated contacts on the back, and the hefty price tag. I have not yet tried any CD-R or CD-RW's in this unit. I only use CD-R's in my car anyway, so it isn't an issue for me.

Picture quality - The TV was adjusted with the 3108 using the Video Essentials DVD about two weeks before getting the s360. Picture quality using SVIDEO was Excellent. The picture with the component video was Flawless, RAZOR sharp clarity with no noticeable noise whatsoever. Both MUCH better than the 3108. This may be an unfair comparison to the 3108 as it DID have very good picture quality before being sent out for "repair". The player makes a different type of accessing noise, but no more than the 3108 made when accessing any disk, and certainly no grinding, rubbing, or clicking noises.

If anything, I've noticed LESS disk noise, even while using the joystick to navigate a DVD, possibly helped by the fact that the disk/menu access on this player is lightning fast compared to the 3108. The fastforward/scan is amazing, to me anyway. The 3108's jog shuttle scan was always flaky at best.

I am using the Optical output for audio ( Sony DE 925 receiver ), so I cannot comment on the RCA output sound quality. I like the additional outputs on this player, even if I probably won't use them.

The menu access nub/joystick on the front is a VERY nice feature. I cannot count how many times the cat or dog has knocked the remote under the couch where it cannot be found. The ability to access almost all of the features without it is something that more manufacturers should pay attention to.

I have had no problem dimming the display.

The remote is logically thought out, and works well with my Toshiba TV ( on/off, TV/Video, and volume only ) without requiring any switch juggling. It would have been nice to have some sort of backlighting on the remote, but the overall layout of the remote seems much easier to learn so I expect to be able to use it even in the dark. The size of the remote is also MUCH smaller than the 3108, although still larger than seems necessary.

I have tried to run several "problem" DVDs that always gave the 3108 hiccups. The layer switch problem some people have reported seems nonexistent, at least on the disks tested. In fact, disks which always gave the 3108 a pause on the layer switch play smoothly through ( ie Robocop ). The new X-Men movie plays through the branching function much faster than on my friend's APEX player, but I never tried that disk on the 3108. However, that disk's implementation of the branching function is horrible. I expect the new T2 disk to be much better in this regard when I get around to testing it.

NOTE: The following options are not available on the Toshiba 3108, and very likely were not available on any player made when it was, so they are not a fair comparison to it. They are likely to be under appreciated features as well. Bear in mind that depending on how the DVD was mastered, these functions may not work. I have disks that this works on, and others that don't.

The ability for the player to automatically choose the audio with the most tracks ( say DTS or Dolby Digital over a simple 2 channel stereo track ) is a very nice feature.

I also like the fact that I can set the player to use the Japanese audio track with English subtitles. This allows my anime DVD's to play in Japanese, but when I throw in a US disk which lacks them, the player automatically plays without subtitles and in the English audio with the most tracks ( usually Dolby Digital ).

Another very minor point is that the screen saver can be set to look on the disk ( CD and DVD ) for an encoded jacket image. If it finds it, the player will display that on the screen when it is in stop mode or while playing a CD, otherwise it just shows a built in graphic before going into screensaver mode. The actual screensaver is not nearly as flashy as some of the fireworks type screen savers on the newer Toshiba's or as nice as the 3108's for that matter.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase and can honestly recommend it to others. Perhaps those with audio/noisy tray/video problems got an earlier batch of units, or they have not adjusted their TV's? I will be testing the T2 disk tonight for seamless branching performance. I expect it to be flawless. I will also try using the analog audio outputs as well as the composite video outputs to see if my player has any of the issue's other people have reported.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 3108

Clear Picture, Great Sound. Awesome Price to get into DVD.

None that I can tell.

So far this thing is great. I am in the process of upgrading my home theatre system and although I wanted to start with a big-screen TV first, my 6 year old Sony VCR started eating tapes and so I went with the DVD first.

My receiver is also about 6 years old, and does not do Dolby Digital or DTS. So, running it thru the two front speakers is as good as I need now anyway. I honestly don't know that my human ears will tell the difference when I do uprade the receiver. Just be sure the DTS setting is shut OFF in the DVD menu if you do not have a DTS decoder in your receiver.

I used to want only the best, but from what I can tell in comparing Sony DVD's (at least I stuck with that) there is not much/any visible audio difference. But don't let me stop you from getting their 1500.00 ES version = )

At lest you can brag about the model number.

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Sony VHS VCR.

Excellent price, Easy to set-up, Light weight, excellent picture and sound, Ease of Use

None

I have had this DVD player for under a week and there has been no problems thus far... the picture is clear and crisp and the DVD player makes no noise at - all (others have reported a loud noise when spinning disks)... I bought this DVD player at cost , Which is $190 because I know someone who works at best buy.... It was simple to set up , took less than 5 mins and the picture quality is perfect.... I do not have surround sound but I do have an upscale JVC TV to play it on....

I have experience with a panasonic DVD player , which was also very nice , it costs around 500$ because I bought it when they (dvd players) first came out,,,, the 190$ sony works just as well as the panasonic,,,

I havn't had time to get a S-cable yet but I am planning too... this is supposed to improve the picture.... We will see , the picture is pretty damn good already, I watched Gladiator last night and it was great...

In the end I recommend this DVD player because of the low price --- I think its around 250$ at BEST BUY, but if you can get it cheaper I recommend it... Try SEARS I have heard they will match any price.... even internet advertisements

Good Luck

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Panasonic DVD player , bought the first year of DVD player production