Sony DVP-CX995V

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2.5 stars 42 user reviews

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Rating Breakdown:
5 star:
8/42
8
4 star:
12/42
12
3 star:
5/42
5
2 star:
10/42
10
1 star:
7/42
7

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"Respectable specs, but horrible implementation!"
1.5 stars

on September 14, 2005 by hanersky7

Pros: Great video up-conversion through HDMI

Cons: Disc Explore - Made and certified by idiots!

Summary: Let me start off by saying that I've been in the Hometheater business for many years and I’ve never been more frustrated and disappointed with a product such as this one. The R&D department must have been sleeping or simply didn’t care. I’ll give you some examples that will make you want to pull your hair out if you decide to purchase this unit.

Example 1: Unlike their Mega CD changers, you need to use the Disc Explore to painfully enter the titles in. (Around 8% was recognized by the player – Columbia Tri-Star titles obviously). What if I don’t want to use the slow and pathetic Disc Explore? What if I want to simply open the player up and as I insert each DVD into a slot, I want to enter the disc’s name via PS2 keyboard and then proceeds to the next! What is so hard about that? The Sony Mega changers can do that, why can’t the DVD changers do it?!

Example 2: I turned off the “Auto Play” feature. Of course it still plays ever time the player turns on. (Sony what is so hard to test these things out!) This is really annoying when you’re trying to search for a disc and the darn thing will not stop!

One last tid-bit before I wrap this simple review up. Sony claims that this plays CD’s and other media. - Dear Sony, If you know people are going to intermix their CDs and DVD collection, why didn’t you put a fast forward or rewind button on the deck itself! That option is only available on the remote! What if I want to press fast forward and I my remote is MIA?

I use an Excel spreadsheet and simply bypass the Disc Explore. The DVD changer itself performs very well in the video quality (HDMI), but the above faults simply push this player back to the Medieval Age. In a scale of ten, I would rate this product 3 out of 10!

Sony you need to fire your DVD Disc Explore R&D and testing department. I will make it my personal mission to tell all future buyers of this huge fault.
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3 replies to this review

reply on February 25, 2007 by dlmiley

I have this unit and I have to say I am annoyed by the clunky disk explorer as this reviewer states. He is correct that disk explorer is somewhat user-hostile and most DVD's are not recognized automatically. However, the disk explorer is an improvement over earlier Sony models. So, rating this unit "poor" is way too harsh. I would give it a 6 or 7. Also the HDMI upconversion is impressive in this device, which I think is a bargain at this price point. I do wish that Sony would add an automatic internet feature to do disc lookup like Escient does--it doesn't seem that hard. I have an Escient attached to three Sony 777's in my living room and it works great. Anyway, that's a different review...

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reply on January 2, 2006 by kwkkwk

1. "no page button on remote" - WRONG! the 995 has a 10 disk +/- button. The box also has a +100 button for loading disks. 2. "no title sub-sort within genre sort" HMMM... the sub-sort is by disk number, if you want to look for a particular title why not sort by title? 3. "Can't stop disk loading process" - WRONG! All you have to do is press the folder button. The dvd stops & you get the menu. 4. "Remote doesn't work well" - My 995 is behind a smoked glass door in my A/V cabinet. I've had no problems using the remote. 5. "Daisy-chaining" units. OK, that would be great. The Pioneer allows this but only two units and those only hold 301 disks each for a total of 602 dvd's. And at nearly 3 times the price. So its a trade off. When I get over 400 disks maybe I'll be more offended. 6. Sony should be praised for offering a product at this price point that does the job and the 995 does. I can't speak to the 985, that would be a different review.

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reply on December 18, 2005 by Levair1968

He must have been reading my mind! Like him, I have been in home theater since around '95. My dvd collection is approaching 600 dvds. I do not have the 995 but the 985. I had to write Sony Customer Support because I was SO disgusted with my 985. Their Disc Explorer is a joke! I think the 995 is supposed to have a graphically updated browser and a few other updates so that will be a plus, but to manage a library of 400 discs with a browser that 1. doesn't offer a "page" button (you can only navigate via remote 1 disc at a time), and then you have to wait for the screen to "paint" each and every cover art icon. 2. When you sort, for instance, on genre their is NO sub-sorting of title. So when you're looking at all your "horror" movies you may have to page thru every blame one of them just to get to that one title that started with an "A". 3. Not able to stop this disc loading process (which takes up to 10 - 15 sec) once you turn the player on, or mistakenly select the wrong disc. This Explorer is built and designed for a 25 disc carousel, NO MORE!!! This gentleman is ABSOLUTELY right in that the entire R&D department (including the fools who designed this remote) need to be fired! Hire the TV department's people their remotes have been superb. And oh, speaking of remotes, my remote's off-axis (that is, how far to the left and to the right you can point the thing and still send a signal) was ridiculous!!! I ended up programming my Marantz RC-2000 and could almost point THAT remote in an opposite direction and fire that baby right up. I was hoping they would have corrected these ridiculous problems in the next release as I now need another changer to accommodate the 200 disc overflow I have. Hey, Sony, ever thought about daisy-chaining your changers? Pioneer came up with that 5 years ago. You'd think by now you would have known that these libraries have been growing (and will grow) waayyy past 400 discs!!! You folks just don't have the right people heading this area up! Thank you!

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