Excellant picture for entry level player.Very good CD sound.
Simple menu system and on screen setup.Remote is very easy
to use.Player seems to be well built.

Won't play some CD-R's or photo CD's.Can't figure out how
to pre-set the player where I don't have to switch to DTS
everytime I load a new disc with DTS.

For the money I spent I am very pleased so far.The quality
seems to be good,the picture and sound are excellant for
a entry level player.It was very easy to setup and connect
to my receiver.It has a great menu that anyone could use
without having to read the entire owners manual.It has a
good selection of digital outputs,s video,and component out.
It loads a DVD and CD very quick.And the scan is clear,fast
and smooth.I like the instant reply button.I highly
recommend this player.

Similar Products Used:

None.

difficulty playing Dual Layer DVD

Three of six DVDs would play for about ten minutes and then start over from the beginning. They would play to the same spot and then start from the beginning again. I called Blockbuster and asked if they have had problems with dirty disks not playing and told them what it was doing. They said "You have a Sony, don't you?" They said many Sony owners have that problem when playing Dual Layer Disks.
I took it back to BB and due to a different false advertising issue (they advertised it would play CD-R and CD-RW)they upgraded it to NS400D. Of course they squirmed and weaseled their way around the issue for 30 minutes and four employees before they agreed to give me a Sony that would do what the ad said it would do.

Similar Products Used:

Sony S530D

Great picture and sound. Good remote. Easy menus. Multiple slow and scans speeds. WILL PLAY CD-R!

Menus are simpler and less useful than last year's model.

I got this DVD player as an open box buy at Best Buy for $129 without a remote. But I have last year's model(S360) and the remote is the same on the NS300 except for the lack of direct number keys, and it is the best remote out there in my opinon.

Now as for the CD-R playback. The NS300 will play CD-Rs, but only certain brands so you might have to experiment. Mine will play PNY CD-Rs but not Memorex CD-Rs (the only kinds I have to test it with).

This is the most polished DVD player in its class. The menus are easy and intuitive. It has 3 different scanning and slow speeds which are very useful. The picture and sound are great. There are many setup options, with 2 sets of AV outputs.

My only complaint is that the menus have changed from last years's model. The is no longer one large menu that can be used to control all the aspects of the DVD player. You have to use the individual keys on the remote. So you can't just program the 'display' key and the navigation keys into a universal remote and keep all the functionality.

I had looked at the Panasonic RV31 and the Pioneer 343. The Panasonic was out because it horrid to use, with completly stupid menus and such. The Pioneer is a good machine, but I the Sony outclasses it. And now that I find the Sony will play CD-Rs, there is no reason to get anything else. Spend the extra $30 and get the best.

Similar Products Used:

Sony S360

picture,sound,disc readability.

no cd/r,cd/rw

Good inexpensive unit,performs well,menus are well designed.

Similar Products Used:

rca,integra,pioneer,

Picture Quality, passes pluge test, nice setup and menu.

led display dimmer

This is my third dvd player within last two months. Due to my limited budget I was looking for a decent and inexpensive machine with all the basic features and good build and picture quality. No Dolby or DTS built-in as I already have a good receiver that has it all.
I've had a newest jvc (got noisy after 2 weeks) and a newest hitachi (it played all possible formats incl.mp3, but it didn't get my Wega to do the automatic 16x9 enhanced squeeze when playing anamorphic dvds.) It may sound trivial, but one of the factors was also the looks. My player sits just below my Sony Wega, so I wanted a silver player to match it (believe it or not, there isn't much choice outthere then)
So far the Sony is the best. It is quick, precise, picture quality is very nice, deep black levels, great shadow depth, awesome color acuracy. It has very good menus and it passes pluge test (neither of my previous players did)
The only weakness is the fact that the front panel dimmer has supposingly three positions: bright, dim (which is really still quite brite) and off- no display at all. I wish you could actually dim the LEDs and have them still visible.
The remote is OK, but I'm using the universal one I got with my receiver.
One of the features on this player is so called Block Noise Reduction. It is supposed to reduce pixelation. I have yet to see what it acually does, as it seems to make no difference to a grainy areas of some movie scenes for example. The BNR filter has three steps and the manual doesn't really explain it, the cute little led on a player's front panel is all I noticed so far when activated.
Overall this is a very nice player. Obviously I have no comparison to any $1000 machines, bur it is excellent for an entry level player. After all it is just that.
I recommend it 100%.

Similar Products Used:

jvc,hitachi

Quick loading, plays CDR's

to many features that are not used

I just replaced my RCA player with the new Sony and the first thing I noticed was how fast the movie loaded. My RCA use to take about 30-45 seconds to load the sony takes just a few seconds. Also I was not expecting it to play CDR's but it does. It has a great picture for the price I recommend this player to everyone.

Similar Products Used:

RCA

Plays everything I have tried.
Nice picture.

Remote could be layed out better.

Has done everything asked of it and done it very well. What more do you want for $189?

Cheap. Good looking. Matches my Wega. Works fine. Quiet.

None

For a sub-200 dollar DVD player its all you need. I like it not having the digital decoder. Saves me money when I (and most real DVD people) already have a receiver that will do that. That was a big point in my decision to get it.
Unless you have to get a progressive scan DVD player get this instead.

Similar Products Used:

DVD-ROM