200 disk cap. 3 sets of AV outs (2 sets of comp/svid/L&R + component and 5.1 outs, even if you don't need it you can still use the L&R outs) and all video/audio outputs are on, both coxial & optical digital outs, passes pludge, 0ire, custom video, enhanced bitrate meter, very good 16:9 to 4:3 conv, Bookmarking, if you own other Sony products the slink.

Size, no access to some features while disk is playing. No 96/24 from digital outs. poor search facilities. limited number of genre and pictutes, but they do include an offer to get a CD with more that you can upload into the 850, what do you dod with rentals, wish it had a single play slot.

I will only use this play for DVD as I have a CD mega. I've loaded 184 DVD into it and only about 12 have any text and only Ghostbusters has a Jacket Picture. It took about 2 hrs to load and type in info. Setup with VE was quick and looked excellent thru the component outs to my Sony 35" XBR. The bookmark feature memorizes the starting point of the VE test patterns. The 16:9 to 4:3 test patterns where very good. I have one set of AV out to a VCR for RF video distribution, the second to my Pre/Pro, and I feed the TV with the component and L&R from the 5.1, all work at same time. I have only watch a few movies so far, all enhanced W/S looked good, but everthing has looked good, I hope there is no lipsync or layer change problems.

Similar Products Used:

many single play dvd from Sony & Toshiba, currently own Tosh sd2109, prev owned sd3006, I also have a Sony 200 cd mega.

Shiv, It would help if you left an email address! I hate to leave non review info here! You can Email me at westly197@yahoo.com . I have found it at Video Direct, price: US $629 + $19 s/h* according to the email I got from them "http://www.video-direct.com/sony/dvd/dvp-cx850d.html"

I got my 850D from www.onecall.com. These are not allowed to be sold on the internet so you have to call and order on the phone.
This unit has excellent sound and video & holds 200 DVD's!

Size and the menu is limited.

The best price I have found (not verified) is at http://www.video-direct.com/sony/dvd/dvp-cx850d.html .
I got my unit from www.onecall.com for $640.00. They will match prices. You have to call and talk to someone to get this price. A excellent unit for this price. You can Email me at westly197@yahoo.com

Similar Products Used:

several by sony, panasonic, JVC, zenith

Ability to hold 200 CD's & DVD's.Excellent picture & sound quality.

Enter button on remote sometimes requires multiple pushes.

Excellent unit for people who are looking to combine a DVD player and a CD changer. Picture and sound quality are both excellent. This unit is a great value.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-3106

It's got a great geek factor as well as having better than average sound/visual performance. Keyboard disc naming is a nice touch.

The Disc Explorer is disappointing to say the least... 'Rushed' is the word I would use to best describe it. The fact that you can't scroll quickly through the list without losing visual contact with the disc names is very poor. As is the fact that you cannot enter the Explorer while a disc is playing without stopping playback. (Come on Sony. At least allow this during CD playback... I can understand disallowing that during DVD playback and this machine demonstrates that it can tell the difference between the two). You also can't scroll through the naes of your discs on the unit's display which is very odd since that is a feature on some of their CD changers. Seems like an obvious thing to include when you have CD text as a feature. There is either a very insufficient amount of memory on this machine, or it is very poorly managed as indicated by the extremely slow scrolling that occurs when you've added an icon to a disc name... And speaking of that, once you've made the mistake of putting icons in, there doesn't seem to be a way to get them out! DON'T USE THE ICONS FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!
*ehem*
Nitpicky issues include the monsterous size of the machine, too few folders in which you can categorize your discs (a feature which might have made up for the slow Explorer interface), that @$*& lip-synch bug and the general pain in the butt it is to get the thing set up. And why the heck would Sony think that anyone who would buy this thing doesn't already have a DD decoder? I wish they had spent that money on a better Explorer interface.

Here's an excellent example of a device that should be the coolest thing in my system but isn't because of poor implementation of one major feature. It's rare that Sony makes a product that I am disappointed in. In fact, this is a first for me.

The best thing I can say about this thing is that it is functional in all of the ways it absolutely has to be. It sounds great, it plays DVD's great and it holds 200 of em' to boot. Couch-potatoes dream, right?

Well, sort of.

I've really already vented about all my points of contention with this machine in the Weakness category. Still, like many people who write reviews here, I want to somehow justify the fact that I spent good money on this machine:

I do like having it on my system and the fact that it has some problems hasn't scarred me for life on ever buying Sony again. Or to put it another way: I didn't return the dang thing.

Suffice it to say,however, that I will never have blind brand name loyalty again. Not such that I am so confident in a brand name and what it has always stood for to me that I would hardly research their product before buying it.

Ultimately, I can't recommend to anyone else that they run out and buy this machine. If I had to do it over again, I would read this review and decide that the machine is probably pretty cool, but wait until Sony gets it right in the eyes of other fellow enthusiats like me. This thing is too pricey to buy in what I have to believe is an unfinished state. Again, I'm kepping mine and if you buy this thing anyway, I welcome you to the club. Just be prepared to find AT LEAST one thing about it that really makes you grimace and curse.

I'm really disappointed in Sony on this one. I'm having trouble getting my brain around the fact that they would release such a product given the great reputation they've proven to me time and time again. For the first time, I've bought something from the that I would deem average at best. It's too bad. The thing has so much potential.

2 Stars for Value because the thing covers the basics well and everything else is weak. At the checkout you think you're getting a Sports Car and you end up with a Sedan with a spoiler on it. This machine is a total poser.

3 Stars for Overall Value because you might like it enough to keep it, but write a less than glowing review about it on-line. =)

Similar Products Used:

Sony's 330 DVD model and any of Sony's CD changers before this one

Plays 200 DVD/CDs and has analog outputs for 24/96.
Clean SONY styling up front.

My one 24/96 audio DVD always jams and you have to turn the thing off and rotate the carousel manually and hear the disk click inside as you do so. The whole "Disk Explorer" is a joke!!! If you want to search for the next CD/DVD to play, the music stops!!! The Disk Explorer doesn't have enough memory to load all those stupid picture icons that don't really do much.. You have to turn on the TV to see what you have inside your playlist...meaning that the CDtext is a joke on this machine. Other Sony changers shown the Singer and titles for songs on the players L.E.D. screen...this one you have to press a button to see the text. The fast foward and rewind dial remind me of a fishing reel when I'm scanning through songs or movies. The opening for putting your disk into the machine is smaller than previous models so you have to manipulate the carousel positioning and your hand placement. The feet under the maching are...just...little retangles of rubber (very tiny),the list goes on...

Why did I buy it? Well, I like changers, they let me relax by changing the disk for me (I use it for music playback only). Also this one had a 24/96 DAC that enabled me to play the higher bit rate/resolution CDs/DVDs, which they do perfectly (except for the one audio DVD). I bought this machine knowing it would keep me busy until the SACD or DVD-A or Universal changers came out. (Which will be at least another year or so). Yes, it's a love/hate relationship with this one until the new ones come along...

it barely makes the 3 star rating...

Similar Products Used:

Older Sony Changers...forget the model #
Bought this before I knew about the Pioneer 300 CD/DVD 24/96, but that one is sorta visually busy.

This unit has the infamous lip sync bug

I posted a review previously but felt the need to mention that this unit also has obvious lip sync problems, at least when using the coaxial digital audio output. I'm watching Groundhog Day right now and some of the early chapters' audio is out-of-sync by about 3 or 4 tenths of a second. Annoying at best. Caveat emptor.

MASSIVE DVD STORAGE,GREAT PICTURE AND SOUND,INTUITVE MENU

CRAPPY ENTER BUTTON ON REMOTE-LONG ACCESS TIMES,NO AUDIO ON FAST/SLOW SPEEDS,CANT CHANGE SIDES MUST GET UP AND OPEN PLAYER TO CHANGE SIDES

I LIKE THE PLAYER AS I USED IT SOLELY FOR DVD PLAYBACK,ALSO IT WAS ON SALE FOR $599 AT THE WIZ.THE MENU WAS GREAT ALSO THE DISC EXPLORER WAS VERY GOOD.I ONLY WISH YOU COULD DAISY CHAIN TWO OR MORE FOR MORE STORAGE CAPACITY.I LIKE THE FACT THAT YOU CAN USE A KEYBOARD FOR DISC INFO ENTRY.THE THING THAT PISSED ME OFF WAS THE REMOTE ENTER BUTTON,NO HUMAN MALE HAS HANDS THAT SMALL DID THEY THINK MUNCHKINS WERE GOING TO BE BUYING THIS PLAYER,OVER AND OVER I PRESSED THE DAMN BUTTON THE WRONG WAY.IF IT WAS'NT FOR THE KEYBOARD I WOULD HAVE RETURNED IT. ALL AND ALL FOR THE MONEY THIS PLAYER CANT BE BEAT AT $673 W/TAX I DARE ANY DVD PLAY TO OFFER THE SAME GOOD LOOKS,FEAT'S OR PLAYBACK QUALITY,THE 200 DISC CAPACITY IS THE ICING ON THE CAKE. NEED A NEW DVD PLAYER LOOK NO MORE .

Similar Products Used:

PANASONIC DVD-A7 AWESOME SOUND AND PICTURE

Quality picture and sound. Enjoy having all DVDs loaded in unit instead of poping one in to view.

Not enough characters for labeling CD/DVDs. A bit bulky.

Like the storage offered by this unit. Put all the boxes and crystal covers in a box somewhere, not taking up space in my living area. Best of all is the quality of the output this thing produces. You might think that a carousel unit is not as good as a single disk unit, (More design considerations given to the multi-disk capabilities) but this is not my expeience. This unit is every bit as good if not better than the DVP-550D I referenced above. I have this unit hooked up to a Sony STR-DE935 A/V receiver and a Mitsubshi 27" TV. Hopes are to upgrade to a Sony WEGA in the future. Can't wait to see this DVD player perform on a WEGA!

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-550D

picture, sound, convenience

Filing & indexing software

I recently chnged my old high end stereo system into a home theatre system. Upon doing this, I discovered how inadequate the Pioneer DVD was on audio. I bought this unit mainly as a transition piece until a good progressive scan changer comes to market, aaand HDTV gets standardized.

After reading the reviews on this site, I decided to pay a little more and purchased this unit from a walk in store so that it could be returned if any problems developed. So far it has worked perfectly, and the picture and sound are great.

It appears to me that there are some units out there that are lemons, and others work fine. I am somewhat disapponted with the build quality, but it is in line with other players in this price range.

I have loaded approximately 30 DVD's and 60 CD's so far with no problem. I absolutely love the convenience of being able to select what I want to see or hear from my chair. I plan on loading the rest of my CD collection as soon as possible, but inputing the cd name into the index can be tiring.

Similar Products Used:

pioneer A414

200 DVD & CD / Audio / Video

Disc Changer / Remote / Inability to play CDR

I was a little nervous purchasing from Best Buy as they do not sell any high-end equipment. The price was just so cheap though, I was very tempted and bought it.
I am pleased with the sound and video, something Sony is NOT known for doing well, their products look nice but it ends there. This product does sound very good, and the picture can't be any better in this price range, so it is an excellent buy for under $300!

The remote control is not real good, the main reason I say that is because there is no FF or RR for scanning a DVD or CD, there is a disc toggle switch for this, which is not as good. To solve this problem I purchased the Philips Pronto remote, problem solved, so complaint on this is over.

The player cannot play CDR's, wow that is crap . . . I understand Sony did this on purpose . . . I really hate that type of control. I bought a CD player to do this, which defeats the purpose of having a 200 DVD/CD changer together. To deal with this, I have decided this is a DVD player only. I feel Sony should not call this a DVD/CD player if they are going to put controls in the unit to prevent CDR's from playing. CDR's are the reason for play lists in CD players, as this unit cannot program specific songs in CD format, a CDR is the only way to create your own playlist. So this unit totally blows in that area, and defaults the purpose of programming and changer configuration.
As a DVD changer, it's quite good, has only jammed maybe 5 times in the 7 weeks I have had the unit.

With this said, this is an excellent DVD only player/changer for the money (under $300), so for a DVD only player I am quite happy with this unit, and with the added purchases to make this a DVD/CD & remote: $300 for Sony DVD, $400 for Pronto remote and $300 for CD player which brings the cost to $1000.
It's only money and it's all good for this cost, I would do it again.

One more thing, I love the size of this thing, it is big but it makes the unit appear to be of excellent quality and cost, quite impressive to see in the rack of my home theatre.

Similar Products Used:

JVC / Yamaha