Sony DVP-CX985V 400 Disc Progressive DVD / SACD Player
So Many Stupid Mistakes
First the fundamentals: this unit works--it stores and plays 400 DVDs with very good picture and sound quality; but there are so many little things that make it hard to use that the only reason to recommend this over another mega-changer is the price.<br /><br />The biggest problem is the amount of your time this unit wastes.<br /><br />As other reviewers have noted, with the cover art installed, it takes over 1.5 seconds to display the next item when scrolling up or down.  That really adds up in a 400-disc player.  You can cut down on this by alpha-sorting the folders and scrolling rapidly without having the unit display the titles as you go, but even with this it still can take over a minute to find the disc you want.  Definitely longer than when I had my DVDs on the shelf.<br /><br />It is also very annoying that the player locks-out the stop button during the FBI warning, so if you start playing a disc unintentionally, you have to wait until the warning is done before you can go back.  That can easily add a minute or two.<br /><br />Which leads to another big frustration: an extremely bad remote control.  There are lots of little buttons that are very difficult to tell apart.  Some of the buttons can kill a viewing experience if hit by accident (eg., if you hit disc skip you need to sit through the entire FBI warning for the DVD you are moving to, and then again through the one you are watching, and then you have to find your place again.  A potential 5-minute delay because your finger slipped in the dark).<br /><br />There is also a strange bug that causes the unit to sometimes start playing the current disc when you hit the power button.  (There is a feature to do this, but I have it turned off).  To continue the ongoing theme of this review, when this happens, you need to sit through the entire FBI warning before you can go select the disc you want to view.<br /><br />Two features that I've seen mentioned about this unit (though not by Sony) are not present at all.  First, some places refer to this as a 400+1 disc changer.  There is no 401st slot; you need to remove a disc to put the 401st in.  Second, I saw one site say that this unit could play both sides of a DVD.  This is not true.<br /><br />I have ended up printing out a paper list of the installed DVDs and their slot numbers, and I navigate using the dial on the base unit.  I control the unit during play using a universal remote that doesn't include any changer functions.<br /><br />Not an ideal solution, but not bad for around $350 delivered.ot present at all.  First, some places refer to this as a 400+1 disc changer.  There is no 401st slot; you need to remove a disc to put the 401st in.  Second, I saw one site say that this unit could play both sides of a DVD.  This is not true. <br /> <br />I have ended up printing out a paper list of the installed DVDs and their slot numbers, and I navigate using the dial on the base unit.  I control the unit during play using a universal remote that doesn't include any changer functions. <br /> <br />Not an ideal solution, but not bad for around $350 delivered.