Sony DVP NC655P/B DVD changer
Great replacement player or 2nd unit
I was looking to replace my trusty 4 years old Panasonic DVD-C220 dvd player. I had wanted to purchase a Tivo or Replaytv unit, but I hated the fact that I had to pay...just to use the unit. And I had also considered a stand-alone DVD recorder. But since my PC already acts like a TIVO, (without any of those nasty service fees) along with a dvd-rw recorder, I decided to look for a unit that plays all these types of discs: CD-R's, CD-R/W's, MP3 files, dvd-rw, and dvd-r discs, and also the VCD's. My Panasonic did read those dvd-rw discs, but sometimes it had trouble reading the discs. And it doesn't even read MP3 files, or those CD-R discs. So instead of spending...or more on a stand alone dvd recorder, or one of those hard disc recorders, I decided to get the Sony DVPNC655PB. <br />This unit is awesome. Not only does it play those home burned dvd-rw discs, it plays CD-R's, CD-R/W's, and discs encoded in the MP3 format. Sony also lists that it plays the dvd rw discs. Which is another type of rewritable dvd format. The recordable dvd medium currently has 5 competing formats. These include dvd-ram, dvd-r, dvd-rw, dvd r and dvd rw. The dvd recorder that I have utilizes the dvd-rw format. But this is another story. So I will not go into any more detail on this. <br />This unit comes in two colors, black and silver. I got the black one since the rest of my equipment is black. But they are basically the same unit. The Sony DVPNC655PB is a 5 dvd changer with selectable progressive scan output. The front panel of the unit is sleek and clean. It has all of the necessary buttons on the front of the unit. So in the event that you lose or damage the remote control, you can still pretty much operate any of the functions. <br />Hook up was uneventful. You would hook it up like any normal dvd player, whether it is the progressive output, S-Video or the regular RCA jacks. I hooked it up via its S-Video jack, since I have yet to purchase a high definition television set. You would needto have a television set that has component inputs in order to utilize the progressive scan output feature. The unit does not have a built in Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder, so you would have to hook it up to a receiver that decodes the 5.1 signals. The back of the unit has one coax output and one digital output. And also sports two analog RCA jacks. <br />When you first plug in the player, the player goes into the quick setup menu mode, which allows you to tweak the dvd player's picture, sound and other enhancements. Of course you can enter this mode anytime by pressing the button on the remote control. The unit will remember the different settings that you have set for each disc, up to 200 discs. The unit also has a parental lock out feature, but only up to 40 discs. <br />Upon playback of a dvd, one thing I have noticed about Sony's dvd players is that they have a much softer picture than my Panasonic did. However, this Sony has 3 sharp settings that you can you can set, if you do not like that softness setting. I prefer the sharper setting, so I use the #3 sharpness setting. I guess this is just a personal preference. Otherwise the picture quality is pristine. And so was the audio. The fast forward and fast reverse scan of the player is nice and smooth. No jerky movements when you use this feature. <br />One major cool factor of this player is that it is able to memorize the point at which you had stopped playing the disc, even if you took out the entire disc. It would resume playback. My old Panasonic did not do this. It would remember the point where you left off, but once you took the disc out, you have to go to the point where you left off manually. Another cool thing is that when you stop the disc, it would display a jacket of the dvd that is currently played. At first I thought that this feature is only available if you are watching a Columbia Tristar dvd, which is of course, owned by Sony Corporation. But as long as the DVD is encoded with this feature, it would work. Otherwise, a plain old SONY DVD PLAYER screen saver just comes on. <br />The remote control itself is logically laid out, and is easy to use. However, the buttons are somewhat small, and the remote is not backlit. So using the remote in the dark is not going to happen. And also I wish that they had put the arrow keys a little more in the middle of the control panel, instead of towards the end of the remote. This is usually the layout design for Sony remotes. The remote control also controls your television and some receivers. <br />Normally I would have had issues about buying Sony products, due to the lack of customer service support. But Sony has really out done themselves this time. This is an excellent player, especially at the price that I have bought it at. <br />Other than these few minor gripes, the Sony DVPNC655PB DVD player is a joy to use. So if you are in the market for a replacement player or a second unit, then the Sony DVPNC655PB is the one to get.