Construction, weight, set-up menus.

Maybe the cost.

I decided to upgrade my Panasonic A110 a few weeks ago. I was able to purchase the 7700 for $799 delivered from the military PX - a saving of over $200 from Crutchfield and other such stores. There is a lot of negative press about the A110 out there but I still of had no problems with it. I just decided to upgrade. As for the 7700 the video is a bit softer (S-video) than the A110 but is still excellent. It starts the DVDs much faster than the A110 and it allows you to utilize the set-up screen while the DVD is playing. I also like the ability to change audio tracks in mid stream without stopping the DVD. I believe the A110 doesn't have that ability. What really shines about the 7700 is its audio. My movies sound better with great bass and high reproduction. I also believe that my CDs sound much better on the 7700 than the A110. I’m utilizing the analog outputs for CDs and of course the digital outs for the DVD DD, DTS, PCM bit streams. I read in Sound and Vision Magazine that the DACs in the 7700 are probably better than the DACs in most receivers. I agree. Anyway I think the player is great and I recommend it to anyone who can afford it.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A-110

Solid construction, excellent ergonomics, and video/audio performance

Picture is bit soft

I was into home theater since late '80s. I purchased this DVD player upgrading from a Denon DVD player. The picture may be slightly soft, but is simply incredible! Sound quality is excellent although I am not using it's own D/A convertor. For $900 that I've spent, I think it's the best DVD player on the market for its price.

Video quality, fast scan

Remote

I've had this unit for 10 months now and after 120+ DVDs owned and 100+ rented, I've only seen one glitch. It was the layer change on Armageddon (non-Criterion) which made the picture froze for longer than a second. It's usually seamless... or a split-second. There's an auto-align feature accessible from the service menu but I thought why fix what ain't broke. I blame the Armageddon DVD on that.

The first-time setup is a breeze; the menus are straightforward. There's an S-video cable included.

The picture quality is excellent. The colors are so vivid using the S-video out to my Mitsubishi 40" direct-view TV (model CS40503). I wish I had known about the component input before buying my TV... but during that time only the high-end TVs had component inputs.

The letterbox movies on my 4x3 display are no chopped liver, though. I calibrated the set using Avia and when watching reference DVDs like THE FIFTH ELEMENT, A BUG's LIFE, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE or SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the picture is so real and mesmerizing it's almost tempting not to go to the movies anymore and just wait for them on DVD. The Sony 7700 does a good job at anamorphic downconversion.

My Denon-AVR3300 receiver had no problem decoding the DD and DTS bitstream from the Sony's optical output. The Sony 7700 also reads VCDs, CDRs and CDRWs with no difficulty.

There's a DNR button on the remote to set the digital noise reduction from 0 to 3 but I found just setting it to 0 is just fine. When it's at 2 or 3 I sometimes find extraneous edge enhancement or artifacts.

The video bitrate display is kinda nice but I wish it also had its audio counterpart to see what the DD or DTS bitrate's set at.

The weakness for this unit is the remote. It has the circular jog shuttle ring type for scanning back and forward. I got used to using it now but still it's a pain sometimes. In the center of this ring is a circular button with the up/down/left/right and the middle is 'enter'. Sometimes when pushing 'enter' I hit 'left' or 'right' accidentally instead. No big deal really.

The remote has an up/down volume and mute switches presets for different type of A/V receivers. It comes real handy sometimes.

I highly recommend the Sony 7700. 4 stars for value because it's kinda steep. 5 stars for performance.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 7000

Picture Quality, Features

NOne

I've owned this unit for about 1 year now and I think it's an awesome piece of machinery. Picture quality is great and the unit also looks very nice. The panel slides down at a touch of the button. very cool if you can find it for uder $1000.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha s700

Smooth operation, audio quality, build quality

Price

After living with this player for almost a year now, I can confidently say that there are many compelling things to like about it. The ability to use on-screen menus while a DVD is playing and the speed at which the player starts the disk's program can be taken for granted until you visit your friends' house. Also, the sound quality is superb - and the disk tracking system beats my 100 CD changer hands down: a used Modern English CD I purchased which the changer balked on and my diskman would skip on played perfectly on the S7700. Also, the problem with artifacts I experienced occasionally on the A310 is now a thing of the past.

I'll admit that I was one of the folks who waited for the arrival of the 7700 with open arms - after seeing the 7000 and hearing/reading about the coming replacement, I couldn't wait to write out a check. But a year later, I'm still happy with it. I'll agree that it's not a cheap buy, and that the picture is not as sharp in the normal mode as I had expected (this can be adjusted from a menu), but these are nits in the big scheme of my enjoyment when I plug in something like T2 or Singing in the Rain. I predict a long relationship!

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A310

I really can't add more than what was already stated, but here it goes. I have listened to both CD's and watched DVD's on this player so far. BTW, it is hooked up to a Yamaha 995 receiver. So far, everything that has been played has met my expectations.

I will tell you that one of the main reasons I bought it was for playing recorded CD's I made from the computer. To this day I have not tested this out, so I cannot comment on how this feature is.

Only as a rumor, I have heard that some 7700's don't play CD-R's well. They even said that Sony never intended it to be a feature anyway. But, test the player in the store and make the decision for yourself.

In the end, I feel that I make a great decision.

A reference quality DVD player

no zoom feature for widesreen dvds

I purchased this player back in january.this machine is solid like a rock.top of the line dvd player with 24/96 dacs.go out and purchase this one truly a must have for home theater.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 2109

Construction and Materials, Access speed, Wealth of outputs

Jog shuttle remote and center "mouse" GUI selector, 24/96 is downconverted.

I have owned this for a couple of months and am very pleased with all the important aspects of this unit [playback, access, features]. But I must warn the convenience conscious, navigating via the remote is an acquired skill. The jog shuttle, which doubles as a run through the various speeds of forward and reverse, is nice. But it can be so touchy. Ditto the central selector button, which controls an onscreen GUI. I use the Sony STR-DE90ESG with its infamous "vision touch" as my receiver and have become accustomed to its GUI arrangement. But, once again, the 7700 is so touchy. You finally get the highlighting over the feature you want and press ENTER - NO! you pressed left, then enter in qick succession you silly. Now everything is French.
That being said, everything on this unit seems made to make you forget the machinery and enjoy the movie or concert. Operation is silent, swift and efficient. Video output is flawless. Audio output is wider, larger, more dynamic and more engaging than any other medium I have input into my system, analog or digital. Prior to using the 7700, I was on the verge of hocking everything for new speakers [my mains use a dual 8" passive sub that just wasn't cutting it anymore]. The audio output is sufficiently superior [and so amazingly distortion-free] that I feel able to put the great speaker search on hold for a while.
One last note, I have noted a considerable amount of coloration when comparing CD output through the analog channels, versus the toslink. The analog is warmer and softer than the toslink [on the plus side, it finally gets rid of the sibilance on piano recordings which have plagued every Sony CD player I have owned. I have not as yet determined whether this coloration is due to quality differences between interconnects, or to quality differences between the 7700 DAC and the 90ESG DAC.
One star [begrudgingly] off for ergonomics.

Similar Products Used:

First DVP owned, tested many - Denon, Pioneer, Meridian - of high end in process of purchase

Graphic Interface
Clear resolution
Sound Quality
Built in Digital Decoder

None

Excellent product! The absolute DVD player available.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVD-S7000

Reference Standard DVD/CD Player

None

I purchased the Sony DVP-S7700 about two weeks ago and was very pleased with the performance of the unit. I have the best of both worlds. I have the Sony DVP-S7000 and the DVP-S7700 DVD/CD Players. The advantage of the DVP-S7700 of course is that you can play DVD movies that encode the DTS Surround Sound. Both of these DVD players are of Reference Standard Quality. Sony has done a excellent job in making two (2) Reference Standard DVD Players. I rate this unit five stars:

Similar Products Used:

None