This could be one of the shortest reviews I might have written. Reason being I wasn’t able to witness the true potential on an LCD screen…..and a real big one too. Sad it might be, I didn’t want such a good High def player to be gone untouched by me. This might be an incomplete review for some, But what I have tested on the 21 inch Sony flat screen tv, I hope it wouldn’t be a disappointment.
[BREAK=Introduction: SONY'S SILVER.....AWWWAAAYY]
The picture on the 1st page says it all-HDMI, HIGH DEF, DIVX and all…but on the mission of trying to make this article long enough but not boring, the following are the specs of the DVD player which is written on the box. Sony is one of the best companies to fit all the necessary details on the box without messing the layout.
Main ability:
DVD video, cd and divx certified player.
Dolby digital sound, dts (Digital out)
Hdmi (High definition Multimedia interface.
72p/1080i upscale
12 bit/108mhz video d/a converter
Precision drive pro
Divx (officially certified product).
Multi disc playback capability
DVD+rw/+r, -rw (video/vr)/-r, cd-r/rw
Plays Divx video (including divx6) svcd, jpeg, KODAK picture cd and mp3 (only from cd)
Other then that it is mentioned on the box that “standby power consumption: 0.1w. Lead-free solder (meaning it’s not made from recycled Barbie from china) is used for soldering. Halogenated flame retardants are not used in front panel and certain printed wiring boards. Paper is used for packaging cushions. There are times I really cannot describe Sony’s ethics which reflects from a product. Every Sony product reminds me of a movie-“the last samurai†which was pretty heavy (words taken from Marty Mcfly from the movie back to the future).
[BREAK=The looks-you have my front and I have your back]
Coming back to the player, Even though ethics do seem to be strong with Sony from day 1, I have to say they need to work on the colour part. Sony LCD panels come in black and silver, but Sony’s DVD players come in Silver and silver only. Atleast the ones which I saw are. This is a flaw, because many people would be buying another set of speakers belonging to a different company with better sound and bass to pair up with a good screen and a good dvd player, so they should have got into the colour bandwagon too…why not black. Sure its looks classy and sturdy, Sony should do something about the colouring of the DVD players. Is it a con…well it will leave a scratch on the score board.
Another disappointment was that they didn’t give an hdmi cable-WHY SONY WHY???? Sony isn’t that generous when it comes giving out goodies and freebies in any product’s package, but a cable would have helped out a lot. Instead they give the standard rca cables. Though I knew the basic connections, I read the manual. Sony’s plus points are product, life, after sales service (So far none of the Sony products I have used ever needed one, they were all working with a pink of health) and manuals. It’s very easy to grasp, to the point and all the jibberish information at the back. Some manuals I found have jibberish information in between and on the back; one of them was my first cellphone the Samsung r220 when I got this at 10th standard for 9800 bucks and sega’s dreamcast which my brother bought it like an idiot. And please excuse me for using my toe as a balance stand; I am having a hard time taking a good picture.
Going to the back panel, you see the usual connectors, except one (for me atleast)
The hdmi connector “standing out†of the “regular crowd†connector. Nice….except they didn’t give me an hdmi cable :/.
Other then that, notice those small tiny black holes.
They are not holes ladies and gents, they are just black spots engraved at the back panel. I was pretty disappointed. The reason being there would be some sort of a vent to the heat to come out. All electronic devices emit heat. So during my sensational movie viewing with actII popcorn, I touched the top panel and read it with literal meaning “To hell with those small usb cup heaters and usb hand gloves with warms you up. Just put your hands on it and you your personal hand heater. It doesn’t heat up THAT high but then again after years of innovation done by Sony, something could have been done about it. PASSIVE COOLING. The base panel is also a funny story.
Too many holes….they don’t looks like they could cool the important parts inside, there more look like as if the rubber standoffs are missing. I checked some pics and they were identical from other users, so it wasn’t just my piece.
[BREAK=Hey its not all bad news you know!!!!]
Now after much criticism, there is something that I would give Sony a reason to smile for, the DVD player is firm. Heck I even found the tray to be more firm then the ones my friends have. I read it somewhere that Samsung has the High def player with hdmi cable (nice) but I don’t like Samsung at all. Whenever I see their LCD, Sometimes I feel that their plastic supplies come from Carlos Moya’s badminton fibre glass reject warehouse- not insulting Samsung in a professional reviewer sort of way, just by the look of things.
Other then that, the interface is great, before I do that-I will have to comment on one of the most important component for dvd or any optical device players-the remote and its layout.
Since this is a Sony, I will compare it with my Sony TV’s remote. Reason? Simple. Reason is that Sony makes bad remote for TV and a good one for DVD.
[BREAK=The remote: May the force....be...the final frontier]
The DVD remote is gorgeously long and incredibly detailed. Reminds me of the ps2’s DVD remote layout. It feels as if I am holding the actual lightsabre from the star wars movie and the phase pistol from the star trek: voyager. I would love to say nitendo wii’s controller but where are the fun and the love if I don’t do so.
In order to show if this remote is very comfy for fat hands and the small girly ones, I taken picture with 2 ways of catching this remote.
The onboard buttons have just basic play/pause/fast forward/rewind thing which is that is all about it.
[BREAK=Picture quality: That all that matters]
Picture quality:
In order to test the picture quality, I bought 1 DVD and a vcd. I chose the movie 300 in order to find the true power of high definition even though I am on an rca cable. I want to see how a colour is shown on the flat TV screen. The vcd I have chosen is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man’s chest. The reason being I have seen at times that a dvd AND cd players show some “skid marks†on low light, especially when the scene is been at evening or at dark.
DVD QUALITY: I AM SPARTA
If masterchief saw this movie, he would be thinking that his version of Spartans must be something else. Even though its size, it widened my eye when I seen the messenger entering the Spartan’s town with the heads of the dead kings. The colour reproduction is amazing. I wish I could have taken the picture, but sadly since this is an ordinary TV and not LCD, it wasn’t allowing me to take good picture to show what I am really talking about. It was so incredibly detailed-even when of those yucky guys were licking the oracle (ewwww). I know it’s a bad scene to comment in a good way, but the tongue came out to be very clear and it should make your girlfriend puke. The other scene I would to comment when a city was burning. The fire’s reproduction was impeccable and outstanding. Let me remind you that it doesn’t completely depend on the player, but the original disk too. I wouldn’t expect wonders on a pirated “4-in-1†DVD movies. They should be worse then the vcd.
VCD Quality: PAARLE???
Captain jack sparrow made the same escape just like how the guy did who trained Antonio banderas in the movie “Zorroâ€. And that’s when the disappointment started. I think it could be the cd but then again, it’s a vcd probably for a reason. The dark water looked as if it been brushed with the brooms we use daily to sweep the floors. The fighting scene looked bad especially when the windmill pulled jack out of the hole. By the looks of things, it is the disk. Sad it is!!!!
[BREAK=Final Conclusions]
Final conclusions:
I have only 2 complaints about this. No air vents and why not black colour if they make black lcd panels under bravia brand. I would have complained about the unfinished work on the base, which I should, but I decided to skip. The ones which were present did its job. By brother bought this player and didn’t reveal the price. However when he given me the bill, he bought it for 5,990 bucks-same price in the box and its purchased at Metro radio at bandra west.
I was happy because this isn’t made in china or else I would have made a “made by Barbie†joke on the sony’s player considering the point that on the package it mentions the point “lead free solderingâ€. There are other players like Samsung, pioneer, etc. but this review isn’t against dvd or a stand alone vcd player. This is a review from a person who never owned a dvd player and all of a sudden he gets a high def version. Keeping my view regarding the product and enthusiasm, I would give it 4 out of 5 and a two thumbs up. The reason I didn’t cut the half is because the casing and the tray is very strong for a dvd player. I think you should be able to get cheaper somewhere else. But then again-I GOT IT FOR FREE HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHA.
