I absolutely cannot believe some of the stupid, assinine reviews that people post to this forum. What about that guy from Florida who gave this player a 1 speaker becuase his brother sat on the CD tray and it broke?! big duh, believe it or not, the CD tray on this machine, or any other, was not designed to be a chair!!! I'm sure that many use this forum to evaluate a unit before purchase, and when people post stupid ratings, or ficticious ratings when they don't even own the machine, that hurts the overall rating for a unit. Lets wake up and be smart about this, okay? By the way, I do own this unit, and give it 4 speakers. No lip sync problem to date, (owned it for 3 months, probably played about 30 movies so far) but somewhat thin sound, especially on CD playback, but excellent picture and overall a very nice player.

Excellent color balance, no downconversion problems, built-in decoder, plenty of outputs, good universal remote

Build quality (very light), does not play CD-Rs or CD-RW

Bought this player about a month ago from a local BestBuy for $399 and so far I am pleased with it. Played 2 dosen DVDs on it including MATRIX, MUMMY, 5 th Elements and I experienced no problems on it, no artifacts, lipsynch etc. The firmware version is 2.3. I am not using built in decoder so I do not know how good it is. It came with a decent universal remote control which is much better than toshiba versions. Most of the player functions are also supported on SONY AV2000 universal which I use. Audio cds sound acceptable on it also. If you do not want to spend $800-2000 on a better player such as Sony 7700, Toshiba 9100, top line Denons or Pioneers ,I would recommend this one. If your budget is unlimited, buy a Denon 5000, it is outstanding.

Similar Products Used:

toshiba 2109 and older models, Denon 5000.

Plays the Matrix, Armagegon, and Blade Runner

Remote does not have Shuttle capabilities... Does not support HDCD CD's

The Sony 530d is ok, was irriated that it would not play HDCD's. Obviously Sony has been fighting the HDCD standard for some time since none of their audio releases support HDCD. Front panel has shuttle capability but remote does not. Must have slipped by Sony Q/A or marketing or Sony was so cheap that they decided to re-use the same remote that they ship on their cheaper units.

So far no problem playing the trouble DVD's. Serial is S01-99+ so assuming ROM rev is 2.4+. Still would recommend this unit over similar in price range, i.e. Toshiba 3109 w/transport and remote functions that do not work or Samsung 907 that won't play troubled DVD's.

Have not had the lip-sync problems on the Matrix or Blade Runner and have review specifically the troubled chapters mentioned in this forumn. Check and make sure you get a serial S01-99+.

Similar Products Used:

Samsung 907, Toshiba 3109

Sound and sharp picture

lip Synch problem, freezing and skipping

I bought this DVD player in early November after everyone said the lip synch problem was fixed. Well, I placed an order with Amazon.com and got it for $349+$8 shipping and handling. It worked great until I bought Matrix and wanted to replay the big training fight scene. What happened was the screen froze and then skipped. I didn't think to much of this until I played Austin Powers which produced the dreaded lip synch problem. So I decided to call Sony's 1-800 number and at first the phone rep I spoke to was totally rude, this woman didn't even want to help me and told me to send the player back. I told her to put me back into the queue. I was shocked that Sony would hire someone who could care less about the customer. Eventually after REP surfing, I got someone to commit to sending a FED EX to pick up my DVD player for repair. I didn't want to pay for shipping this defective player back to them. I thought that was crazy. Now I'm waiting for them to pick it up next week. Hopefully I get it back repaired and without a scratch. I was told it might take 2 week turn around time. Hopefully all those Christmas shoppers don't start sending it back at the same time. Any other people with similar experience with Sony's bad customer service reps. I've never spoke to such a lousy
rep in my life. This lady was practically dead and sounded like she didn't want to answer the call.

beautiful picture

lip sync problem is real

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on my experience -
I had the unit for almost 6 months and it worked flawlessly on every disc including Matrix. I was thinking I was home free with the lip sync thing. Then I played Blade Runner for about the 3rd time and boom - there it was. I called Sony, they game me the nearest service center to send it to. I did, and it came back in about 10 days. On top of upgrading the ROM, they bench checked everything else and replaced a couple of resistors and things to fix some speed variation problem that I was unaware of. Very pleased with the service.

I would suggest anyone with a player in the bad serial # range to get the upgrade while it's available free!

Got this unit in August. Played about 20 disks , mostly rentals. No lip sync problems, real good video. I'am just running s-video out to my T.V. As soon as I'am finished building my surround sound system and a new flat sceen T.V. with component input I'll see what happens. There is an article in the Oct. Stereo Review by David Ranada about the lip sync problem .Sony confirmed the the problem in some units due to the decoder circuitry. Sony says if its the DVD player causing the problem they will repair it free of charge (1-800-222-sony). There may be some earlier models out there. dan

sharp picture, great sound

none I can think of

This is our first DVD. And I love it. Hooked it up to our normal Technics Receiver and just regular Bookshelf Speakers and this thing makes the house shake. The sound is clear as a bell and I love the Dolby Surround. The Player has much more Sound Capabilities but we need to upgrade our Receiver for that. The picture is sharp and I experienced no single problem with lip sync or skipping or any kind of problem. Played the Matrix too and it was a pure joy. No pausing or skipping. I paid 379.00 for the player, which I thought was a pretty good price for a Sony. I highly recommend this player to anyone who is starting on DVDs and wants quality but not spend too much money. For around 380 bucks you get a really good one so I dont even think its overpriced for what it has to offer...

Similar Products Used:

none

Excellent picture, sound, and remote

Wish it had a jog on the remote(like the 550)

I like this player a lot. It is a good choice for someone looking for a middle of the road machine. I was lucky enough to get Firmware 2.4 so that eliminated some of the complaits listed by people who got earlier versions. If you buy this player you should be happy with it. I am.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 525

Great picture and superior sound.

Menu may be difficult to understand at first. Slight buzz heard from the player(DVD spinning) but with the sound on you won't even hear it.

This DVD player is great. The picture is really sharp, the Digital Surround Sound is really clear. The menu is slightly difficult to setup but after a bit of practice you sould be able to use and understand all the options. There are many outputs. This is one of the best DVD players out there!!!

Plays everything without a glitch. Matrix, ID4, and other DVDs that have caused a problem w/ other players.

2 lip sync prob in over 300 plays

My first DVD player has been trouble free and delivered for a year and a half. The only reason I will replace this disc is to get a progressive scan player. I will keep this one as the old reliable back-up!