Awesome player.

Minor problem with the shuttle jog on the remote.

My DVP-S550D has firmware version 2.4 - it continues to operate flawlessly. Anamorphic quality is stunning through component out.

I forgot to mention that along with the purchase of this player, you can get 7 DVD movies for free. Five of them are already picked for you, but you can select 2 from a large list. This mail-in offer ends February 29, so act fast if you're thinking of getting the S550D or any other player that is involved with this cool offer (though I highly recommended this player - absolutely fantastic!).

Well built machine with all the bells and whistles.

Possibly overpriced for what you get.

After agonizing over this product which I purchased less than a month ago,
Im starting to get used to Sonys soft picture. Im still not sure if ILL keep this because my Toshiba 2108, which was 100 dollars cheaper, has a better picture. I can trade it in for a Sony 7000 but Im not sure If its wise to get a unit thats outdated at this point.
Jury is still out on the 550!

Similar Products Used:

Tosh 2108

Excellent picture and clarity, especially on "reference" DVD's (Armageddon, Pleasantville, Saving Private Ryan...). Running the audio to my receiver via Coax digital cable is so easy and make the 5.1 come alive!

Jog shuttle is difficult to use for scanning through scenes at different speeds. Lip syn cproblem encountered after 3 months on The Other Sister, but cleared up after "rebooting" the player.

Overall an excellent player and it is easy to find at a great price. For those who are just starting out in HT, or who don;t have a lot of money, this is a great investment.

Similar Products Used:

none

Everything

Back on August 23rd, I reviewed my Sony 550D after it returned from Sony's service center, where they upgraded my chip to 2.21. Since then, my player has worked flawlessly!!!

Superb Picture, Great sound, ample and flexible set of
outputs, DD/DTSdecoding

lip-sync. audio CD features such as A-B looping are on the
video menu and not the remote. Remote and front panel seem
to need "awakening" when neither is used for a prolonged
period of time (double pressing of buttons to get first
response)

I've owned this unit for about 8 months and I finally
experienced the lip-sync problem last night watching
American Pie. I did not experience it the first time I watched AP and haven't had enough time to watch it again
to see if it will occur again. I've rented about 50
movies and have not experienced it until now.

Otherwise this unit has performed excellently for me, and
has offered me the flexibility to simulate 5.1 with my
existing audio equipment. I have a the HK AVR25 ProLogic
receiver which I drive the fronts, center and sub from the
standard R/L audio outs from the S550, and an older 2
channel Pioneer receiver which I drive the rears from the
surround rear audio outs from the S550. I'm doing this
retard setup until I get around to getting a DD receiver.

I found out that the software version I was running was
1.5000 and that my S/N fell within the warning range

Build, outer case design, audio, and menus.

Picture is a bit on the soft side, but a little adjustment of the Video Equalizer does it.

I had my unit for about two months until I finally noticed the lip-sync problem on the Saving Private Ryan DTS version DVD. Problem was that I was not able to recreate it, so I let it slide even though my unit’s serial number fell into the "bad" range. My Firmware version then was 2.12. After finally seeing the problem again on the new Austin Powers Movie, I finally called Sony and they advised me to bring it down to the service center in Mesa, AZ. Once I got there, I was told that it would take 5-7 days to fix and that I had the choice of them shipping it back to me if I wanted. Since the drive down there is about 45 minutes from my house, I decided to have them ship it back to me. Six days later, I received a Fed Ex package from Sony that contained a brand new unit with a Firmware version of 2.4. So far, no lip-sync problems. I think Sony is trying to make up for the problems all the other reviewers experienced. Kudos to Sony for finally doing the right thing.

Considering everything, the unit is still the best out there without getting into the higher-end units costing upwards of $600.00 for a single disc design. All these problems started to come up when Sony moved away from the Dual Discrete Laser pick-up design they employed on the earlier version of DVD machines. My 5-disc changer does not suffer from the lip-sync problem since it still has the older design. The only model Sony offers that still has the Dual Laser design is the DVP-S7000 model that costs about $999.00 MSRP.

This unit’s price is still a little bit too high, but I rarely pay full price for anything anyway. I got my original unit for the measly price of $320.00 open box. Can't beat that deal.

Similar Products Used:

SONY DVP-C600D, Toshiba 3108, Panasonic A-120U, Samsung 709, Pioneer Laser Disc Player

Great video, Audio, Nice downward conversion.

Great audio, video, 3D virtual surround sound. My firmware version is 2.3.

Movie frezees during the layer change, But, Its acceptable as other products have audio loss (PIONEER), and flicker. It has a very good laser tracking system for automatic drive adjustments (great feature).

I am totally happy and satisfied. I purchased this from goodguys for $499/-. Always buy extended warranty with the product you can get it serviced after the standard warranty period.

If your serial number is greater than 87500 then you have the newer firmware.

However you can do following to verify your firmware version:

1) Power off your DVD using remote.
2) Press title button on your remote.
3) Press clear button on your remote.
4) Press power button on your remote.
5) you'll now get the setup screen.
6) click on the version information.
7) check the revision info it should say greater then 2.2000 then your fine.

If you have any question please feel free to contact me, also let me know
the results anyway.

Mahesh

Video quality

Audio

Just received the 550 for Christmas. Played half a dozen or so titles. Only had problems with Saving Private Ryan. In on scene, the audio mutes. Pausing and resuming play brings back the audio. Also noticed a pause in the playback, presumably during a layer change.

This is one of the s/n > 875K units, revision 2.21.

Overall the video quality is great. Quite pleased with the player.

Similar Products Used:

None

Great picture, very good build quality, and a plethora of features--no ZOOM though. The remote is also very good--far
better than the ones supplied by other manufacturers--Toshiba, Pioneer, Panasonic.

The well-documented---in newsgroups and other forums anyway...lip-sync problem. I thought I was lucky, as I
played over 20 discs before finally encountering the bug
while viewing "The Matrix" and also "Blade." It's a really
annoying occurence, but apparently, others have upgraded
their firmware--'courtesy' of Sony and the 1 yr. warranty
and have gone on to enjoy trouble-free playback. I will
bring mine in for the 'fix' after the holiday season.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the 550d. Despite the
lip-sync bug, the unit's performed well. I especially
like the Video EQ feature that allows the user to alter
picture settings for DVD playback only, leaving the
tv's unaffected. It's quite a tedious procedure to
adjust the picture controls over and over going from
DVD viewing to regular tv, vcr, etc. watching and back.

Now that Sony has allegedly remedied the lip-sync bug
in all their more recent production models, I'd whole-
heartedly recommend the 550d to anyone looking for a
mid-level player.

Good all around. I really like the onboard Video controls. Onboard Dolby Digital decoder.

Remote jog dial is overrated. I would have preferred separate controls for step, slow and fast jogging

I like the features offered by this machine. The onboard video controls are great for me because when I had the DVP-S530D, whenever I adjusted the colors on my TV for DVD watching, it affected the colors when I watched a VHS or regular TV and vice-versa.

This solves the problem pretty good.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-S530D, Toshiba 3109.