I have the sony dvd7700 for a month now, had the pioneer DVL-700 this is the player I started with as dvd player. the sony is better in every thing sound, picture and options.It's better then the panasonic A310 and denon dvd players.as reference I have 230 DVD title, don't need to compare them all. just better picture and sound . perfect!.

I have this dvd for a month now and I'm very pleased with it.The picture is great and the sound is fabulous, I even use it as my cd player and it's doind a wonderful work.
worth every dollar you spend on it!

My system:
B&K ref20
Adcom GFA6000
Mission 753f
B&W 601 S2
Paradigm cc350
Energy 12es Subwoofer
Sony 7700

I just purchased the 7700 and I am very satisfied with it. My television is a Mitsibishi 50" RP. I can't remember the model number. I am having problems with it, though. The DVD player is connected to the TV through component video.
The picture is great, and the letterbox/widescreen movies are quite huge on this TV. The video from the player looks good, in my opinion. I see what other people don't like about the remote. The weird circular controls at the bottom are somewhat difficult to use. I'd prefer FF/RW buttons that act on multiple presses.

I give it four speakers because the motorized from panel is unnecessary.

Simply put the best DVD Player I have used to date. Sharp Picture, rubust functions, and have had no problems w/ AC3 or DTS.
Plus, I give the faceplate a 5 stars for a cool factor

Dave

Sony 7700 owners:
A friend of mine told me that he read on a message board somewhere that the dreaded lip-synch problem has shown up on the 7700. The movies in question are: Brazil (collector's edition), Starship Troopers, and Austin Powers. Anyone out there heard anything about the lip-synch problem on the 7700?? This same message also mentioned a problem with the 7700 being able to make layer transitions on certain dual-layer discs.

If anyone can confirm the above information and whether there is a fix for these problems, I would really appreciate it!!

Five stars until anyone can confirm that there is a problem.

Thanks,

Mike

We purchased this piece of equipment in March 99. In May, we had to take it to the shop under warranty because we were experiencing sound dropouts. The shop had to replace the entire laser assembly and circuitry (which would have been a $250 repair had it not been under warranty). We were told that it is virtually impossible to test the lasers during production and they're like light bulbs in manufacture; some good some bad. We have not had a chance to test it thoroughly yet since getting it back from the repair shop.
I would recommend that although this unit comes will a full 1 year warranty that anyone who has it contact Sony to purchase the extended warranty that is available for this unit. The cost of the 2-year extended warranty beyond the first year is less than the above repair would have cost.

Every review of this unit we read before purchase raved about the performance of this machine. We have been very happy with ours, despite the technical problems. It certainly makes DVD's very addicting.

DVD picture quality is a very subjective issue and does also depend on the quality of TV that a person has. We are happy with the picture quality. However we do not have a state-of-the-art TV so I can't say what the picture quality of this unit would be on a modern TV.

The base was wonderful until our Carver subwoofer suffered a manufacturing defect (bad capacitor, we think) and went bad.

Overall, we still rate the unit very highly.

System:

Magnavox TV (26" 10 years old)
Hitachi Hi-Fi stereo VCR
Technics processor for DVD player (the weak link in the system)
Carver amp and pre-amp
Carver surround sound speaker system with subwoofer

This message is in response to Mike M. problem.
If you have the Sony TA-E9000ES PreAmp, then look at the review for it. There is a Firmware Upgrade for the PreAmp that eliminates the Lip sync problem.

By the way, I love this player!

Just bought this unit. Love the sound, and the dvd picture is really really good. Actually, I A/B'd the unit with my Rotel RCD-945AX, and I can't really say which player had "better" sound. The sound is different, and the Sony puts out a more "robust" and "rounded" sound, but the Rotel has a subtlety the Sony didn't have, perhaps masked by its "brightness."
This is all to say I don't have a clue which is better. I like 'em both.

I have a question for others out there: Please forgive my ignorance, but does this unit have a DD decoder built-in? Or does it simply have the ability to read the DD and dts soundstream and output it to a separate decoder? I have a Yamaha RX-795, and it has DD decoder built-in, so that's not a problem, but I haven't got a dts decoder.

Thanks.

For sound, it sucks. Lots of detail but too much digital glare and edginess. Tried it for a week then exchanged it for the sonically superior and far less expensive Pioneer Elite DV-05: a sweet warm musical sound, and awesome picture to boot.
The Sony's excellent picture, remote, and special effects do render it a star, however.

Previously I owned a 7000,I was very content,however Iam a HUGE DTS FAN and as you know the 7000 doesn't have this feature.I sold my 7000 for $700.00 and picked up a 7700 for $800.00,so I figure I made out like a BANDIT!SH.. I did better than that" I'm as happy as a fa.... in jail".The 7700's picture is both sharper and more colorful. and the sound of this thing is beautiful. As far as the competition goes,at this price there is no competition!