I have to agree with the great reviews on this unit given here. As many have said, if you put it up against many of the others - it really stands above the field. I have it connected to a Yamaha RX-V995 via coax digital and it works great. Have not seen the lip sync problem some have reported.
I had looked at the Panasonic A120 and am glad that I got the Sony instead. Better visual and workmanship quality on the unit. And best of all, no pixelation problems as reported on the Panasonic units.

The only negative that I have seen is the inability to play CD-R disks as has been noted by someone else. But since I don't play my music CD's on this puppy, I have to give it a 5 .... nothing less.

I have had this DVD player for two months and experienced the lip sync problem maybe 3 times out of 15 movies. I'm ok with it but it is a little frustrating. What is bothering me more is a vertical bluish line that appears a little to the left of center on my tv screen. It is very visible in night scenes and low lighting conditions. I am not sure if it is the TV or the dvd player or possibly my connection. I have the player connected to the TV via a standard RCA cable, which is the only way I can connect it -- no component or s-video input with my TV. Everything else viewed on the TV does not have the fuzzy blue line -- it only appears when I watch DVD movies. The line is more visible on certain movies such as the Matrix and Get Shorty. What is interesting is that the line is not as visible when I plug the Video cable into the front component jacks of the TV as opposed to the rear. Its pretty upsetting and i'm thinking I should return the DVD player to JandR Music. I am still wondering if it is indeed my TV. Has anyone else experienced this problem with the Sony 550 player? I would appreciate any tips. I'd like to test it on a tv with s-video or component video inputs to see if it is indeed the TV. This is a great player -- it's just a shame that at this price I'd have to endure this strange blue line and the dredded lip sync problem. If anyone has tips please feel free to e-mail me. Many thanks to everyone. 5 Stars, with blue line and lip sync = 3.75.

LipSync Problems with different titles. Impossible to reproduce. Completely upredictable. If you do not care about this problem, it is a great unit. Had to return mine back to the store. Would recommend to wait until the problem is fixed. This is a pretty major problem to me so I had to put 2 stars.

I do not have this model, but I do have the precursor, the 500. I note with interest the lip sync problems mentioned by some who have posted here.
Without at all trying to insult anyone, are you sure you have the product configured correctly? It has an AC-3 decoder built-in. If not configured correctly, the center (dialogue, among other sounds) channel will not appear to be in sync in with the picture. I have never heard this effect, but I have read somewhere in manufacturer literature that this is the cause of lip-sync problems. You may not notice the problem with every disc because not every disc has Dolby 5.1 sound, and not every 5.1 disc exploits the separation equally.

In short, make sure everything is configured perfectly! Good luck.

I am forced to make a rating, so I am giving it a perfect one based on the 500 model as this is the same model with dts output and some other minor features added.

i didn't do to much research when buying this player, but since having it i can say that it is a terrific machine. and now for the bad news. although this may be of minor concern to most people, i discovered that the dvp-s550d will NOT play audio cds made from cd writers! i have a hp 7200i cd burner on my dell computer and occasionally make a cd of various tracks for home use. after thinking i incorrectly burned an audio cd (3 times no less), i took the cds and put them in my discman and they all worked perfectly. all the while the 550d display said "no disc". after contacting sony, they told me this is due to the fact that the 550d is "more discriminating" than the normal audio cd player. they seem to be fully aware of this situation and further went on to say that even certain commercially made cds may not work. in spite of this i still give the 550d a high rating.

Sony called me yesterday to arrange for a FedEx pickup of my 550D. I was assured that the process would take 10 day from the day of pickup. Honestly, I never thought Sony would come clean on this one and offer repairs, much less at their cost. Hopefully this will be the end of this saga...

Whoa. This bad boy is sweet. Some of the finest quality froma player in this price range yet. I only payed 375 for this 500 dollar
player. I did my research read what others had to say and decided to
take my chances. So far im impressed the unit is well built
and looks really nice. The remote is well laid out and
feels well built. So far i have watched matrix and wing commander
and i am totally blown away.I cant quite give it a 5 speaker
rating since i dont have my reciver yet and cant test the audio quality
but the video is sharp and crisp.

Has anyone encounted a lip sync problem with this unit? I'm not sure if it is my 550 or an anomaly with Lost in Space. I have heard of other units having a lip sync problem but not the 550. I have only watched 2 other DVDs since I connected it to my RXV995, I did not notice any problems with either of these movies. If you are aware of this problem did you return the 550? If so which DVD player did you replace it with? If the lip sync issue is related to Lost in Space only then I would give the 550 a five star rating other wise a 1 star is appropriate because it was very annoying to watch.

"Enter" button on remote confusing. Slight pause at disc layer change. Drawer doesn't always open the first time.

Well,
After reading the reviews here I didn't know about any of the problems that others have experienced. This is my first DVD Player and my first Sony anything. The main reason I bought this player was the onboard decoder which my Yamaha RX-V990 did not include. I have had no lipsync problems, no C13 error (I don't really know what that is anyway). There is a slight pause when the disc changes layers, but not too annoying I guess. My player has played every DVD, CD I have put in it. It has an excellent picture (svideo) and the sound through the Yamaha is excellent too. Sometimes when you push the open drawer button when it powers up it takes several seconds for it to open, better to use the remote door opener - works everytime. The remote is great, but the ENTER button is mushy, never really sure when you get it right on. Sometimes changes your selection inadvertantly which is a pain, but the jog dial is good enough. All and all a good player for me so far. Top notch sound and picture.

Similar Products Used:

none

Controls, Outputs

Not progressive

The criteria for my purchase was the component video, digital audio out, and DTS, and for that this unit has been great. The remote is full featured with a jog dial which is fun to play with, and I could care less about a back-lighting.

The sound quality is first rate, and picture quality made me wonder if the progressive scan players are really worth it... so I finally had a salesman show me one and I'm tempted to make a change, however not in much of a hurry.

I've had this player for 1.5 years. I did run into the lip sync problem a few months after I purchased it but that was remedied and haven't seen even the slightest issue since.

Similar Products Used:

None.