Features. Build Strength.

Remote is a huge negative. Lots of tiny buttons. I have to stare at it for several seconds just to find what I want to do. It's hard to do the simple, basic things like FF and REW. HUGE UNIT! May not fit in your entertainment center without some modifications -- seriously! Notice that when you are buying an Onkyo DVD, you are buying the internal components from a Toshiba, along with audio upgrades by Onkyo and a heavier build. That is what I read in an audio magazine where some guy took one apart.

I bought this unit refurbished from Ubid. I paid $272.67 shipped. I knew all about the shuffle problems, and that the remote was not great. I also knew I would have to modify my entertainment center to fit it, since it's over 17" deep, not including the cords you plug in. I figured that for the price -- it was still a good deal. I've had an Onkyo CD player for over 10 years that's been through over 20 moves throughout high school, college, and adult years -- still works great.

I am disappointed to say that I now have to send this unit in for service (the day after I got it) because I have a faint white line along the upper right edge of the TV. This is most noticable when I'm in the 0.0 IRE reduced Black mode, however it's still there in the regular mode -- barely noticable then. Upon pausing the DVD, I have determined that the black bar along the right side does not go all the way to the edge of the screen??? Weird, since the video underneath it does. If anyone else has had this problem, please e-mail me. I'm sending it into my Sanyo 31" TV through the S-Video input.

I am now hoping that I don't have to wait a long time for the service to be done (have to ship it out of town) and will HATE paying a shipping fee!

If I had it to do over again, I'd have bought a Pioneer DV-333 for about $200-$250. I don't think it's worth spending much more, since the Pioneer has had such great reviews. Or, if you wanna go cheap until the DVD Audio comes out, buy Sanyo's DVD Player. It's about $155 at Wal-mart, and had really good reviews on here. Hook up thru the S-Video and the Optical out, and who cares!

Similar Products Used:

My first DVD.

Build quality, Ease of use.

No shuffle between discs.

Very nice piece of equipment. Very simple in it's layout, very clean lines. Remote is fantastic!! On screen displays are very concise and extremely well though out. Access from the front panel is a snap and the carousel itself is very beefy compared to some Yamaha and Pioneer products I have seen. Audio and Video quality is right up there with the best. I have seen slightly, and I mean slightly better video in Pioneer's Elite line, but not anywhere near the extra $400-500 to see it. Like they say, once you get away from the side by side comparison in the showroom, you never see the difference at home. All in all, a wonderful piece of audio and video equipment. I highly recommend it!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Pioneer

Great sound, great picture quality, reasonable price

Disk shuffling is a pain

Have this hooked up with a Onkyo 777 receiver and the sound is fantastic. The picture on my Sony big screen is excellent.

Solid build, picture quality

Remote, difficult to program CDs

I just hooked it up last night and hardly got any sleep at all. I almost called in sick just to play with it, but common sense prevailed.

I am just starting to build my system and I think I started off in the right direction. The unit itself is very solid and I like the way it looks. The only thing I don't really like is the remote. Useless in the dark - no backlight. And as stated in earlier reviews, it is difficult to program CDs. That isn't a main concern since I am mainly going to use this for video.

Picture quality is great to my untrained eye. As expected, a major step up from the DVD drive in my PC. The zoom feature just blows me away. The Matirx just blew me away.

Overall, I agree with previous reviews that it is great for DVD but only so-so for audio CDs. I also feel it is a little bit expensive for what you get.

Solid Build, Sound, Picture quality

Remote, CD functions

After 9 1/2 years I finally replaced my old Onkyo 5 disc changer (although it still works fine!) I bought a nakamichi mb-10 changer and 3 buttons on the console didn't work and I wasn't that impressed w/ the sound, so I returned it. I have an adcom system and Definitive tech speakers. So after looking at nearly every cd changer out there including CAL, I went w/ onkyo again. Very solid transport and quality build. The DVD video is incredible. I mainly wanted a cd player and I am pleased w/ the sound. It is more lively than the nakamichi. The remote however is too cluttered and you have to use an on- screen menu to program memory for the cds.
At 550$ I think it is a great buy and I bet it will last me 10 years..

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi MB-10

Compared to the Sony DVD player I owned, the sound on CDs and DVDs was remarkably better! Personally, I had no idea two similar priced players could sound so different. Sony must pocket a lot of money in profit.

I bought this because I had always been impressed with Onkyo's quality and interoperability (with other components of the same brand). Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations for three key reasons. First, after plugging it in and attempting to run it via the Remote Interface (RI) cable with my Onkyo Integra 807 amplifier (1995), I found it did not work. Strike one--don't know why it didn't work but I tried everything with no results. *Personal note to Onkyo--stop lying about your components' interoperability! Second, I loaded up six CDs and attempted to use the 'random' function. I found it would only play random from one CD at a time! Why have a six CD changer if you cannot random play between the six CDs? Strike two. Last, I attempted to use the remote control to program CDs (it will let you program from more than one CD). Completely useless! It took more than 10 minutes to get 5 tracks programmed--and you cannot program while you playback, so this was 10 minutes of silence. Strike three. Sent it back. Not sure what I'm going to buy, now. Any suggestions?
*Personal note to Crutchfield: You advertise the remote will 'operate most brands of televisions.' This is false--there are no television functions on the remote.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-S530D

Build quality, picture quality, zoom features

Inconceivable lack of ability to play random tracks from all disks.

I did as much research on this via the web as I could trying to make sure it would meet my desire to eliminate my P.O.S. Sony 200 CD jukebox and excellent Sony DV-S3000 single DVD player.

I was very interested in the ablility to shuffle not only CDs but DVDs. Perhaps spoiled by Sony's ergonomics, I took the CD shuffle as a given. The Onkyo web site said it had 3 different Random modes. Surely one of those had to be DVD shuffle among disks...

Checking OneCall.com one day, I found that not only did they have the unit in stock, they were offering one year same as cash. Getting a quote of $480 delivered, I just could not help myself.

I wish I had. This thing is HUGE. 17 1/2 wide and at least 18" deep. It is built like a tank, a good thing.

Many options for hook ups, I used Straight Wire for both the coax audio and S-video connections.

Fired it up and was impressed by the picture quality. Oddly, it uses the same on screen display as Toshiba. Couldn't help but wonder what other parts are shared...

I do not find the remote to be a liability. Backlighting seems to be a feature only found on high-end universal remotes. You do have to aim it right at the player though.

To my dismay however, this thing only shuffles tracks on a single disk. In 1999, this is total BS. Track selection and random selection are similar in that it takes about 5 different keystrokes to accomplish:

Press SEARCH
Enter which Title
Enter which track
press SEARCH again
Press PLAY

For god sake's Onkyo, spend $350 on a Sony DVD player and see what good ergonomics are.

My real goal was to load 6 concert DVDs, hit Shuffle and watch random songs from 6 different concerts. This is not possible. I hope the Sony 650 does it.

Because OneCall's return policy is that they don't have one, I am stuck with this underachiever.

I put it into my bedroom as it just did not fit in my main room's cabinet (my fault). I can leave the kids's Sesame Street DVDs in and a few of my CDs and not worry about them having to handle the disks.

This experience has tempered my enthusiasm for net sales, at least from OneCall. The premium you pay at a Crutchfield is worth it to be able to return it in 30 days.

Very quiet, Multi disc, superb video output

An initial problem but courteously fixed by Onkyo under warranty.

The unit had an inherent flaw in the earlier releases. The unit will just stop loading/recognizing discs.
Finally, earlier this year a solution was devised by Onkyo which seems to have permanently fixed the problem.
Aside from that, I am totally satisfied with this unit. The picture is the best of all the players I've owned, this being our 5th. CD's sound better than on our Sony CD player so we gave that to my mom and just use the Onkyo.
Speaking with Onkyos' corporate office was very pleasant and the service was all around above average.
I highly recommend this unit if you don't need progressive scan output. It is definately one of the best interlace players out there if you can find it.

If you care, here's my system;
H/K AVR-7000
Onkyo DV-C600
Hughes DSS Converter
Chang Lightspeed conditioner
Tannoy S10 Front
Tannoy S8C Center
Tannoy S8 Rear/Surround
Klipsch LF-10 Subwoofer

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-4109X, Pioneer, JVC, Phillips

Picture & audio quality, solid construction.

None

After going through a Panasonic A120 (pixellation)and three Sony S330's (2 w/lipsynch problems - ver 2.01 & one with a faulty front display), I decided to go with established quality instead of a bargain. I even tried to talk a Sony dealer into checking the firmware version of an S330 before I purchased. He got quite irate and said he would not open the box without a sale!
The picture & audio quality are phenomenal. The construction is ONKYO solid. Personally, the shuffle weaknesses are far outshadowed by the overall quality of this player. I'll definately keep this one!

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A120, Sony DVP-S330

Very good screen and sound quality.

Terrible shuffle

As stated in the previous review, the Onkyo does ditch the "Zoom 1" message by pressing the setup button twice. From what I read, the same computer for the on screen menus is in the Toshiba. The likeness ends there. The reviews for the Toshiba state that the carousel is noisy, and some of the disk slots don't play DVD's. By comparison, the quality of the Onkyo is much better that the reviews I have read about most other DVD brands. - Including Sony, JVC, Toshiba, Panasonic, and GE. After working with this DVD player a little more today I would have to say it's worth keeping despite the shuffle letdown. At this point, the only other one I am considering is the Onkyo single disk player.