Bought a 530 from a local dealer who told me that it had the dual laser pickup which it DOES NOT. The unit I got displays the audio/video sync problem. A friend and I went to a number of stores today to look at other brands. No otherplayers I could find will play CD-Rs. Also tried another 530 today and it had the same sync problems. This unit is going back first thing in the morning and I am going to see if I can find a 300 somewhere.

La peliculas se ven espectaculares, los cd se escuchan impecablemente, no ha fallado nunca, tiene salida para dts, dolby digital y optica.

No lee cd-r , sólo es zona 4, no tiene decodificador dts y dd.

Es un equipo muy bueno, confiable. solido en todas sus caracteristicas, tiene muchas opciones de control de la pelicula. una camara lenta espectacular y nitida.
Buen equipo.

UN SALUDO PARA TODOS LOS CHILENOS DISPERSOS POR EL MUNDO.

Easy Setup, Good Remote, Component Video Connections, Sony Name

Big Blue Light!

I got this unit when I bought my Sony Wega 36. The two of these together has been awesome. I had ordered the Kenwood HTB-503 and waited until this arrived had it hooked up to review everything. I love the DVD player. The OSD is complete And USer friendly. Version 2.4 of the firmware(thanks fot that info here guys). So far I have played Private Ryan, Matrix, Event Horizon and the Abyss SE. It has been amazing...I can not believe I waited this long to buy a DVD player. My wife even likes it..Thats a tough sell when you have kids. The only thing I can complain about and I'll be the first one to admit it is being nit picky is the BIG BRIGHT BLUE Dolby Digital Light on the front panel of the player. I know about the dimming feature included but it is still bright. Overall I give it 5 stars both ways

Similar Products Used:

Sony Wega KV36FV15, Sony DTR-535

Picture Quality, on-screen setup, Component out, Solid build quality

None so far

I purchased this player after all the great reviews under this one. So far, i've played all the movies that gave the Samsung it replaced a hard time (Heck, I don't think the Samsung played any movie without problems). And, not a single problem yet with the Sony. Some people have said that the remote is bad. To me, I can't find anything wrong with it. Heck, it even controls my receiver volume too. Granted, it's not as good as the Samsung's remote was, but it could be much worse. It's a keeper on my list.

Similar Products Used:

Samsung 709

I have only had this player for a week, and I haven't noticed the lip sync problem yet. The audio and video quality are very good, and I almost prefer to listen to my CDs with this player then my old CD player. It has a large amount of setup options, including some sort of virtual surround system (VES) for those who don't have a complete home theater. My only real gripe would be that the "so called" universal remote that came with it, is supposed to work with both my TV and my receiver. It does neither.

Purchased the Sony 530 August 8th. I have not had a single problem w/ the unit. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is great. The video is also exceptional. The only downside is the cd sound. It sounds flat. The one excuse could be ...I listened using the digital connection.

I like my DVD player! I think it's a great component in my system and I especially love the S-link; the S-link sets everything up just by pressing play.Example: I pop in a movie and press play, it automatically turns the reciever and TV on and sets it to the appropriate soundtrack (Dolby Digital, DTS, or prologic). Because I am so impressed by the S-link, I give it a rating of 5 stars.

Ok, here is the scoop. I have owned 4 entry level DVD players in the past month. First, I had the Panasonic A110 - had it since January '99. 7 months later the pixelation and "NO DISC" problems emerged. I sent the unit back to Panasonic and they told me it was going to cost $90 to repair since the labor warrantee is only 90 days. Also, I had to pay for shipping. Forget it, they can keep the damn thing.
I picked up the Toshiba 2109 and thought it was a decent player until I watched some anamorphic discs. The jagged lines and wavy patterns were too distracting for me. So then I picked up the Pioneer 525 - the new successor to the 414. This player had a very good picture - even on anamorphic discs. The only problem was - it felt cheap. I know this is superficial but it just looked and felt shoddy. It also didn't have enough features (ie. no screen saver, no virtual surround, very unintuitive chapter skip controls).

So, finally I picked up the Sony 530D. I was wary because of all the negative reviews on lip synch, however, each retailer I asked (2 were fairly reputable) told me that they had never heard of such a problem. Furthermore, they told me that they sold boatloads of this unit and have had almost no returns. Besides, I had 30 days to try it out. So, now I've had the 530 for a week. No lip synch problems yet, and the picture is superb. (Note - each of the players had virtually identical picture quality with pan and scan, the differences were all with the anamorphic discs). Performing A/B testing, I concluded that the 530 handled anamorpic conversions the best. DVD sound is on par with each of the other players. Feature and build quality wise, I believe the 530 is also the best of the bunch. So, in conclusion, I am quite pleased with the 530. As long as the lip synch problem doesn't emerge, this unit gets 4 speakers from me.

My first lip-sync error happened last night... according to the local repair center, all DVD players may experience this problem. In addition, he attended Sony's repair school training and mentioned that Sony has NO PLAN to fix existing units... instead, the next generation of players will likely ship without this problem. Bummer.
As a result, I must drop my rating a bit.

I purchased Sony's 530D ($350) only after giving up on Pioneer's 414... American had the 414 on sale for $266 but couldn't get the units in. I didn't need the digital decoder, but figured that this unit might move to another room in years to come, like the old VCR... at which time a decoder might be handy.
I'm running a Technics SA-AX6 receiver and Technics SHAC500D digital decoder. The decoder supports the coaxial connection and the bypass to allow me to compare the sound of Sony's internal decoder to the Technics unit. I discovered three things:

1. The Technics decoder was far superior in terms of audio range. It just sounded much fuller. The bass in particular was richer in all channels. The Sony decoder sounded thin.

2. The sound level controllers of the Technics decoder were much wider, allowing for unique placement of speakers. On the Technics decoder, I could test and adjust the sound level of each speaker independently. With my trusty sound level meter (Radio Shack), I can set the levels to match my speaker locations. I was able to pinpoint any one of the four speakers (center, right/surround, left/surround, subwoofer) and adjust it to the exact level I wanted...

The Sony decoder worked. However, you must adjust the levels in an odd manner. First, you adjust the front or surround levels... and then you adjust the balance between the two fronts or the two surrounds. This is not really that difficult, unless you can not adjust the balance between the speakers to meet your needs. For example, the prime listening spot is close to the right/surround speaker... which is located at head level... the left/surround speaker is located much further away (the other end of the couch) and is on the floor. Both surrounds point on an angle backwards to help with imaging. The Sony decoder will not allow me to increase the left/surround level to a point that matches the right. Overall, it just seemed rather quirky to get everything at near desired levels. I wish the range for adjustments was greater.

3. I can adjust the sound levels with the Technics decoder at any time. If the subwoofer is getting too loud... or the center channel needs to be boosted, I can do it on the fly. The Sony requires that you stop the video to make adjustments. Odd that you can adjust the Pro-Logic choices on the fly... but not the decoder levels.

I have not yet noticed the lip-sync problem. I hate to even mention that... it's like waiting for an earthquake... or after-shock. You know, you've just played up how great DVD is to your friends and family... you're watching a show... then, zap. So far, so good... but I'll continue to watch for signs.

Sony was in denial about the issue when I called for an update. The rep pretty much called the Internet reports nothing but garbage... and mentioned that only two units, to his memory, ever had this problem.

The picture quality is excellent... but my TV is rather poor. The sound is great, particularly if you run it through an external decoder... The remote is nice. It controls the volume on my receiver, which is a big plus. It also controls my TV without a problem.

I rate this unit high, given the excellent video and audio... and no lip-sync to date. I wish the sound levels could be controlled alittle easier... but I like to fiddle to make the most of the movie.

The final plus: the little dolby digital blue bar on the Sony matches the two blue bars on my Technics receiver.