After having purchased a JVC unit which was a very bad experience with the remote the Sony 530D was finally available at best buy. The unit has worked great from the get go. The JVC remote would not work without 3-4 presses of the buttons from 20 ft. from the unit. Have not had any problems with the Sony. I will be getting a new A/V soon and hook them up to some Bose AM-15 and hope to have some great home threatre experience.

To James below - sorry, but hooking your Sony DVD player up to a reciever with the Bose Speakers will not produce a great home theatre experience. It'll just drain your wallet on some crappy speakers. If you want the small speakers, check out the Energy Take 5 or anything besides the Bose.
Since I got to rate the Sony DVD player, I'm giving it two stars based on all the Lipsync problems.

This player is decent. Lip synch problems abound; even when connected to my Sony DA80ES receiver that I paid $1200 for. Connected to Boston Acoustics micro reference 90 speakers.
Picture is good; sound ok, a bit sharp at times I think. Most of fall, however, is the loud mechanism. When playing music at low volumes, you can hear the cd spinning (or dvd when playing a movie on low volume, as in my dorm room). Very annoying.

Overall good, nothing special.

After reading other postings I was playing Mercury Rising with Bruce Willis and I did notice that the audio and video did not sync correctly. Called Sony about the problem and they are aware of this problem and looking into it from their side. They took name and phone number and said they would be in contact from technical support for other information or solution. Kids have been watching Ghost Busters and have not had a single sync problem watching that disk nor have I noticed it on any other's as yet. Could this problem be from just the one movie and they manufactured it wrong? Food for thought everyone.

If you encounter a lip-sync problem while watching a video hit the play button on the remote; this will re-sync the player.

I've submitted several responses regarding this player in the "Tech Talk" section of this site, but this is my first review of this product. Overall, the unit seems to work well, but there is a definite problem with audio/video synchronization. Following the advice of several others at this site, I contacted Sony on 8/17. They acknowledge that there is a known problem with synching on this player, and are working toward a solution.
At this point, they think a chip is causing the problem, and are hoping for a fix by the end of August. They also said that other manufacturers are experiencing the same problem.

Anyone who's having this problem should call 800/222-SONY and have them open a file for you. They said they would contact me when they come up with the resolution. At that point, I assume I'll have to bring the player in for service.

So, although in all other respects I'm pleased with this unit, I'll have to take it down a few notches in my rating because of this problem. It seems a shame to have to take a brand-new DVD player in for service.

The Sony 530 DVD player is a good machine, but does have audio/video sync problems. It doesn't happen each and every time but it does happen...usually only once in a while and on no particular DVD either. Also, from all the reviews I've read on other units such as Toshiba and Panasonic sync problems exists with them also. I'm sure it's annoying to the purist but it can be lived with especially it you got it at a good price...I did. I simply restart and chapter up to where I was(takes less than 10 seconds)...and continue to enjoy... and with no further sync problems. Now, for those who bought top of the line(at any price regardless of the maker) and expericing these problems has a right to be p...ed off. As one reviewer mentioned they never had problems like this with VHS...yeah right! Tell me one person who has not had a VCR eat his lunch..ah tape).

But on the brighter side the unit functions well. The picture and sound are
outstanding(but that's what makes DVD so great...isn't it)
Although it playes music cds ok...I prefer the sound from my designated cd player. Hopefully, by my next up grade the sync bug will be squashed.
Relax and enjoy!

I purchased this dvd player approximatley two weeks ago. I love it, itkicks a**. I hear details in my cds that I never knew where there, but
know that I've heard...can not believe I've ever lived without them.
The remote is easy to use, I've learned to use it in the dark by touch.
Yes...I do wish it had the glow in the dark feature like the sony 550. The
Picture and sound for dvds is awesome. Top Gun, Stargate and The Edge were
my first dvds. They sound and look great. I recently cashed in on my 10
free dvd rentals from netflix. I rented Snake Eyes, A Simple Plan, and Star Trek Insurrection. The dreaded lip sync problem happened when I watched "A Simple Plan". I think it might have happened because I paused the movie for
a bathroom break. I then proceeded to stop it, and then later resumed. When I started it back up, the lip sync problem began. To correct it I simply hit stopped the movie and started back up at the begining of the chapter I was on. Overall, I am really happy with it. I do wish that it played my two cd-r's though. Maybe I'll just invest in a mini-disc player.

I give this player the folling:
Remote: 4 out of 5, it's easy to use, and i'm able to use it in the dark by touch

sound: 5 this thing kicks a**
video: 5 i've never seen a crisper picture

Because of the lip sync problem i'll deduct 1

overall 4

I said I would be back after a short evaluation period so here are my findings. The picture is still amazing, the sound is about average, but the lip sync problem is absolutely ridiculous. Why any manufacturer would ever let a batch of lemons like this out it beyond me. If you haven't experienced the lip sync problem yet, give it some time you will. It makes all of those dubbed over Godizilla flicks look like they really are speakin English. Overall I really enjoy Sony products, but if you have this player return it you can before it's too late. I gave it a 5 when I first got it but now I'm giving barely enough for one to twinkle.

I have had this unit for 3 months and I love it! The picture is superb and sound outstanding. The 96kHz/24-bit DAC is amazing. With the analog connection, it produces beautiful music even better than my stand-alone CD player. The sound is a little fat from the digital (optical) output, perhaps due to the 96 to 48kHz conversion? I have not experienced the lip-sync problem with either analog or digital connection to my Yamaha RX-V2095 receiver. The build-in Dolby digital decorder works fine although I more enjoy the Yamaha's DSP. I watched the Swan Lake ballet on DVD and for the first time, the beautiful picture and rich sound made me think that I was in a real theater! The only complaint I have is that the settings cannot be changed during disc playing, but I can live with that. By the way, there is a review article by Stereo Review's Sound and Vision magzine (http://www.soundandvisionmag.com) comparing this unit with three other entry-level DVD players.