Value

No jog/shuttle on remote

I bought the 530D to replace my old Sony laser disc player, which finally succumbed after 10 years. I'm sorry I didn't do this months ago. Compared to the inconvenience of having to flip or change laser discs, the DVD format is a delight. Video and audio performance with my 5-year-old Mitsubishi rear-projection TV and Onkyo Dolby Pro Logic receiver have been excellent. At a street price of around $300, this model offers a very good balance between features and cost. A jog/shuttle wheel on the remote would have been a welcome touch, but that's a minor quibble. If you're a first-time buyer who's in the market for a DVD player that will do the job without breaking the bank, I can recommend the 530D highly.

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Video Clarity
Audio Clarity

Lip Synch

I have been searching for the longest time for a complete, all around DVD player that will not be obsolete in 2 years. The SONY 530D is just that model. I have read all 212 reviews of this product and have had similar Lip Synch problems with the movie "Blade," but no other movies, i.e. Matrix, Saving Private Ryan. I contacted SONY & they gave me the nearest authorized repairer, which was right down my street. I took it in, they upgraded the Firmware, they sent SONY the bill, and I am now watching all of my movies problem free. Even on Coaxial Cables, video & audio are great. I plan on updating my Home Theatre System soon, but may wait a bit so I can increase my DVD library.
I was a PIONEER man for many years, but the performance between the two products I test drove, SONY by far is the better brand, for DVD players anyway. If you want an excellent mid-level player for less than $300(I got my SONY 530D for $215 @ Bestbuy), take the SONY hands down. I give it a 5 star rating.

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Pioneer 525

Its picture quality is great and its soundquality also. its remote can be "coded" to be use as remote to some tv`s and receivers.

I havent found any yeat but once after one film I started to watch another and I think I was hearing some sound from the player but I havent heard it since that. Remote does not clow in the dark but I think its easy to learn to use it without clowing buttons.

I`mm not sure is this 530 similar to the product I have cause my model is 535 but I`ve heard that the model numbers change between continents so I thought that this might be the same player.After a week of use I can recommend this player to those who want good sound and picture quality.

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First DVD

sound, picture & easy setup

none so far. Well i'm still waiting on my free DVD's, but that has nothing to do with performane

Initially, a year or so ago, I auditioned a marantz 930. The picture was great, but I didn't like the sound. So I stuck with using the ole pro logic. Well in doing some research, because I was interested in 5.1, I found that high end companys do not offer DVD players with built in decoders. Not even Arcam, whose processor i have. I feel the company turned their back on me. Well I felt I better snag a player while decoders were still offered. My only choices were Panasoic & Sony. Panasonic was having an availability problem & Sony was $100. cheaper & offered free movies. Well I went for the Sony. For the previous mentioned perks & in a side by side with a Panasonic the Sony had a better picture to me. But it really wasn't quite fair, the Panasonic was a 5 disc changer. I havebeen told a single disc player will always out perform a changer. I have been very happy with the Sony. I was immediately surprised at how good the sound was. Far better than my memories of the Marantz. I haven't had any problems with picture to voice delay or any other quirks mentioned in other articles here. I checked the reviews here before I bought the Sony & had some reservations because I am picky. But the Sony has been doing a great job. Remember I am using the built in Sony decoder. The 6 analog outputs are connected to my processor which is only 5.1 ready. I am very happy with the Sony player & even more happy I don't have to do away with a $2,000. pro logic piece to upgrade to 5.1. Thanks Sony! Also the 530d was easy to setup. Actually once the cable was hooked up I just ran through the menus to check things out & it was ready. I have no problems with the remote. As one can see by the number of reviews Sony sold a lot of these & surprisingly still plentiful in the year 2000, so the price was good on them by the time I bought mine whic adds to my value rating. Too bad can only give 5.

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marantz 930

Wonderful picture, great user menues, Nice remote. The ablity to turn off display so it does not distract you from the movie.

Pretty loud when playing CDs or DVDs. Occational lip synk problems as well as digital artiffecs. Firm ware update fixed those problems, nothing but good times now!

I mail ordered this player. From the get go I thought it was a great player. I have watched about 300 movies on this player. 99% of them played fine. My Star Gate last chapter would have a small lip synk problem, as well as with Water Boy only once. Well I could live with that. Almost a year had gone buy and I rented Gallexy Quest. This is the first DVD that made my player display digital artiffects and lock p so bad it started over. Well I thought it was just a dirty disk, NOT! It did the same thing again after wshing it. Well I rented Stelf Fighter and it did the same thing. I was really bumed out sence this had been such a good player in the past. Well thanks to this site I found out that Sony was willing to update the Firm Ware on all players with in a certain serial number group, and I fit in this group. I sent it in to Sony and waited for three weeks with no info about my DVD Player. The next day I got a bill in the mail for $179 it said that I had two circuit boards bad and also charging me for the firm ware up date. Well I called Sony's Info line and gave them my work order number. The lady said they would send it to me when the bill was paid. I told her that it was still under warrenty. She told me to Fax her a copy of my receite and I would be good to go. I guess filling out my warrenty card and mailing it in when I bought this player was a waist of time!!!!!:-( Oh well the end result is a great player that now plays all the DVDs I had problems with before. I am extreamly happy with this player. My intent was to buy a solid performer that did'nt break the bank. HDDVD is on the herizon and I will be happy to save my money until this happens. In fact I use this for a CD player as well hooked up with digital Coaxial Cable. I would recommend this player to any one because the ones you buy today have the same new firm ware that I now have.

My system:
Toshiba 36" (TV)
Sony DVP-S530D (DVD Player)
Panisonic (VCR)
Denon AVR-3300 (receiver)
Definitive Techology Speakers
BP 2002TL (front)
BP 2002TL (rears)
C/L/R 2002 (center)
PF15TL (LFE Sub only)
Philips Pronto (remote)
All Monster Cablbes (all speakers bi-wired with 10 gauge THX speaker wire)
Tirk Pi AM/FM

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Pioneer 414, RCA DVD Player (rented), Sony DVP-S7700 and Sony DVP-3000 (friends), Pioneer DV-525.

Easy to use.

AS in all DVD players needs it's own remote and the buttons are quite small to access dvd menu and a little confusing with the ff and rw features.

A very good purchase for for a person who has DTS suround Sound amplifier. I have it hooked up to an HK AVR65 with dts. and the sound has a little delay but otherwise is awsome. The picture quality is great.

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1st dvd player purchase

Great video and sound. I love it.

A couple of lip sync problems in 18 months

I bought this player in June of last year, and don't see the need to get another one. I keep hearing humors about HD-DVD and DVD-A, but I'll believe it when there's someting to purchase. Anyway, the 530D fits very well into my HT and really pumps out the sound through my H/K amp and Klipsch RF series speakers. Picture is crystal clear on the 36" Wega, everyone else I know loves coming over and they bring DVDs to watch. In short, I would recommend this to anyone.
I'm giving it 5 starts for value because there's no way you could get this kind of feature set and quality for the price. The 530D gets an overall rating of 4 stars only because its missing some features you may find on other players, like zooming and CD-r/RW compatibility.

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Just this one

brand name

quality

I put up with the lip sync issues - yes its one of the bad units s# 804048 - but now this DVD player constantly comes up with C-13 errors or claims there isnt a DVD loaded! This happens with new and older DVDs. If I open the drawer or power it down several times it finally may sync up and play the movie. I am currently on line waiting 30+ minutes just to talk to Sony Service - poor customer service as well! I am very dissatisfied with my experience with this Sony DVD player. BTW, the warranty card with my player claimed to have 1 year parts in labor instead of the 90 days mentioned in past listings.

component-out, good video quaility, lots of features

Constant spin noise, glitches, lip-sync, 90-day warranty

I wouldn't recommend this player to anyone. A week doesn't go by where it doesn't hicup on a seemingly good disc and the constant drive noise has started to really bug me. It has all the marking a of a solid player, but it seems like it suffers from QC problems.

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Several Sony & Toshiba models

Nice picture, clear sound, easy to use

When playin' a cd, can't watch tv.

Was lookin' for a cd player seen this on clearence, so I picked it up. Don't have a remote or instructions. So if you don't want your remote or instructions email me. Have had nothing but good luck so far. Great product.

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