Sony DVPNS75H Single Disc Upscaling DVD Player
It is just an OK player
Folks, this is just a DVD player that does indeed do its job. It has the basic jingles that DVD player technology currently offers (as of summer of 2006) and it will give you an excellent picture and sound. But let's not get carried away; it is not any technological marvel anymore than any other brand like LG, Samsung, JVC etc can offer. It can read a DVD and do the upconverting trick just as any other player would. I personally attribute the performance (and people's excitement) to the current state of technology, and not to this particular product. My rating of 3 means that it is an average piece that does what it is expected to do and it does NOT do anything more than other players do. If you compare it for example with an LG product that would read card media on top of playing DVDs, then you would see that other products go much further at comparable prices. So I really do not understand the excitement beyond the fact that other reviewers are dazzled at what you can get with an HDMI connection and upconversion. <br /> <br />The one and only reason that I bought this player is because I am fed up with having to deal with a dozen remotes. It was time to get a new player (my old JVC player was fine but it got old and I wanted the upconversion and HDMI which it could not do) so I got this one because my TV is also Sony and I can control both from one remote (without having to spend for universal mumbo jumbo). That's it; very simple. If it was not for that reason I would buy an LG in a heartbeat. <br /> <br />Now if you really want to rate this on technical issues, I will reiterate what other people say: it is SLOW in responding. Not just reading the disks, it is VERY SLOW in starting up and responding to the remote. With my old JVC turned off, when I pressed the button to open the disk tray, it would open the tray before its lights would come on. With this Sony player turned off, when I press the tray button, it first scrolls a \\"welcome\\" message on its screen and when it has made certain that I have been thrilled to have been welcomed and that I have had time to return the courtesy (*#@!), then only it will open the tray to accept the DVD. Then it will turn on an annoying very bright blue light to inform me that it has found an HDMI connection so as to constantly remind me that I am using HDMI and thus relieve my constant anxiety of whether it is talking through HDMI as if there was any other way it could be talking to the TV.   <br /> <br />The remote has a button that skips a movie about 5 seconds backwards (so you can do an instant replay of a short scene - as when you did not quite hear what someone said or wanted to review some scene detail). Well, my old JVC could do that too and it was really instant. This player TAKES ITS TIME. It will freeze the picture at the moment you pressed the button and then it will be sitting there thinking \\"should I do him the favor\\" and then it will do the backwards skip. I personally have noticed the same response lag on only one other player before: a Chinese made COBY, cheapest of them all which my mother owns. This SONY player that I got is made in Malaysia (that's fine) but that means that it was put together in Malaysia, otherwise who knows where the various components were made, maybe they are made where the COBY components were made, I do not expect that all of the components inside are made by SONY, my computer is a SONY and it came with a DVD drive made by Pioneer. Do I care? No, as long as SONY warrants the end product to perform. But I would trust Samsung or LG just the same. As long as there is upconversion and HDMI I do not care which brand it is, a remote that also works the TV was the decisive factor for me. For the sake of those who are looking for the detail, I am reiterating that its slow response is annoying. Also, this player will not read a Memory Stick (Sony's own flash media card) whereas an LG (for example) would read media cards including Sony's own Memory Stick. <br /> <br />Finally I would also like to confirm what others have said about HDMI cables. An HDMI is supposed to carry digital signals much like a USB computer cable does and all the stuff that expensive brands claim are irrelevant and only serve them to market outrageously expensive stuff. I cannot imagine how much harder it is to make a cable than it is to make a DVD player since the cable costs more than the player itself. That alone should indicate that you are paying too much for the expensive cables. Expensive cables for example might have an LED light on them that lights up. Now, that light is behind your TV so you do not normally see it. But aha! It tells you whether the cable is carrying a signal, which is great because if the cable was not carrying a signal you wouldn't notice(!) Now I say that that light actually puts a load on the signal itself because it is powered by it (otherwise how does it indicate a live signal - and if it does shows anything else other than a live signal then who cares), but then what do I  know.  I do know that if there is a possibility that a simple solid cable can break down then one that is equipped with Christmas lights and ornaments is much more sensitive and likely to break down. I suggest that you spend half the money of an expensive cable to buy two cheaper ones so that you have a spare one for the case your dog chews on the one you are using. <br />