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- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 25 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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11 out of 11 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"not bad, less than expected from Sony - I would say 6.5"
Pros: great aesthetics and feel .. its a Sony
Cons: disappointing contrast
Summary: I did something I never do when buying electronics. I bought this one sight-unseen. My previous player (Panasonic LS50 died and would cost $170+ to repair). I figure you have to look at these units as pretty much disposable anyway, so I bought a Sony. Any and every other Sony product I have ever owned performed great and I expected that it should be just fine.
Out of the box, I have to say that I was impressed. The look and feel of the unit is great. I like the all black look and the Hard Coating over the display actually serves to create a nice integrated panel - you don't feel like you have any wasted real estate. The battery is a slim element with the same footprint as the overall unit and is pretty slick. The controls are ok. I actually don't like them below the screen. If you are holding the unit in your hands, your thumbs more naturally go to the top side of the player as opposed to the screen. Also, the control dial is pretty small so getting it to respond correctly can be tricky. I did like the ability of the screen to rotate all the way around and fold over so the unit can be used as a tablet. All in all, I think the look/feel/controls are better than most I have looked at.
Viewing a DVD on the other hand is not all that pleasant. I was very disappointed at the darkness of the picture. I adjusted the contrast and the brightness, but to little avail. The picture by default is very very dark - and I mean unwatchable. Daylight scenes were dark and night scenes were almost completely black. Adjustments to brightness/contrast resulted in washed out picture. Oh the angst of buyers remorse. I did find a solution, however. I had to tilt the screen about 5-10 degrees TOWARDS my face. Typically, these things perform better tilted somewhat AWAY from your face. With the screen tilted to me, I could get the picture as the movie was intended. I am thrilled to have found a solution, but A, this isn't the preferred ergonomic viewing angle, and B, I suspect this will not work well on a flight being shared by two people. One other complaint is that the unit has very little to offer in the way of controls. While trying to resolve the contrast issue, I had hoped to find additional presets carrying embedded picture configurations which may have helped. None were to be found. You have only the most basic ability to adjust the picture. On a positive note, I did think the picture was pretty good - maybe not as crisp as the Panasonic, but as good or better than anything I looked at in stores for a similar price.
I bought this sight unseen because none of the retailers had this unit on display. I wonder is the Sony reps have also experienced this picture contrast/display angle issue and decided to keep them off the display shelf. On the other hand, maybe I just have a faulty unit. I don't know. I will keep it as I can reasonable watch movies now, but I would have expected more.
- 1 reply to this review
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Does this unit have video inouts for camcorders, VCR's, game systems, etc.? I have been unable to contact Sony and cannot get a definitive answer from any websites. I know there was somebody that reported on this same item and said that it had video and audio inputs, but I wanted to make sure with you. Thanks for your help.
Where to buy
Sony DVP-FX810:
$124.95 - $189.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$189.99 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$136.93 | Yes |
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$124.95 | Yes |
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