Sony DVP-CX985V DVD Player

Comments:
This unit is just what I was looking for. It is reasonably priced, very versatile and has all of the features one could want. I would have like the disc explorer to have a better ability to read the DVDs insterted; however, I didn't have to manually enter more than half of the inserted DVDs. The unit allows you to place or group your favorite movies; however, the lables/folders only allow for 4 character names. This is a deal breaker; but, it certainly would have been nice.

Comments:
This product is a big disappointment. I had hoped for a system that would allow me to easily catalog and retrieve my CD's but this ain't it. It will read and index the title info from SACD's and some DVD's but most information must be manually input by the user. It limits you to 16 characters so you have to be creative with your naming convention. Finally, it seems to delete the information you've entered in the index (called Folders) once you play the disk. There is no search capability for Artist, Disc Name or Song. Mine's going on E-Bay as soon as I can decide on a replacement.

Comments:
Overall, Sony appears to have done a pretty good job of fixing the problems exhibited by earlier versions, particularly the CX 860. (Am the not-so-proud owner of two of these, one of which actually ate a DVD disk, physically, to the point where when I upgraded to the CX985V I came up one disk short, The Stratford version of Iolanthe. Even removed the covers from both players, no disk)
Like a somewhat earlier version, the 300 disk CX875P, the 400 disk CX985V has a feature which is rather maddening.
SONY built into both of these models a 3 way unit identity switch which can be thrown so as to cause the remote control unit to be able to signal a particular device rather than all devices. This is, of course, provided that the corresponding switch on the remote has been set to the same position.
And therein lies the rub.
The SONY engineers mounted the 3 way switch in the remote under the batteries in the battery compartment in such a way that aside from making it necessary to open the remote's battery compartment, and remove one of the batteries simply to get at the switch, the switch is so placed as to require either a tool, or at least a longer fingernail than many folk possess to change the device setting.
Which does rather defeat the purpose of what would otherwise be a really outstanding feature.
Yes, they do provide a remote with each player, but why in the name of common sense didn't they put the switch where it would be conveniently accessible if they just must use a physical, rather than electronic, switch on the remote?
If I have dwelt on this one problem it is because I find it sad to see a truly fine machine's virtues reduced by silly engineering.
It would have been nice if the EZ play and FLIP features could have been retained, but the tighter spacing required to get 400 disks into a case with a basic footprint only about 2 inches deeper but about the same width and a much better access door than the 860 or 875 models probably had its effect.
It is a necessity to be quite careful not to block the access door on the earlier 860 and 875 models by either getting something under it or on top of it so as to keep it from opening. This problem not only does not exist on the 985 model, but the possibility of actually breaking the door off has been eliminated, as well as making it easier to determine which slot is in loading alignment if the unit is at or above easy eye level. The door rotates into a recess rather than lowering like a drawbrige. This does add about an inch to its height as compared to the 860 and 875 models, but the improved convenience is quite noticeble.

Comments:
This unit supports DVD-R/W, and Mpeg music recorded on CD-R/Ws, and Progressive Scan (480p max) component video. For myself, this was an upgrade from the 301 Disk Sony DVD changer. Which I'm glad I kept.

Image quality goes from poor (from the standard video), good (from the S-Video) to better than average (from Component w/ Progressive turned on). The standard video is bad enough that many movies are unwatchable, but as most people buying this level of product have S-Video or better TV/Monitors, this should not be a major issue. I did notice that on some movies there seemed to be a problem with picture noise. This could be an issue with the unit or the disk, I can not say.

Sound quality is very good, both from the standard stereo (from CD's) and from the digital audio. I tested both the composite and fiber outputs, and they both had equally high quality. I will say that you can notice an improvement when using DTS over Dolby Digital.

The 'Disk Exployer' is the same one used on the previous DVD (200+) changer models, and is still limited in both speed and lenth of title names. Why put a second line under the title if you can not use it? Also, you can not overwrite a title from a DVD (or CD) if supports DVD (or CD) Text. You MUST have a keyboard to enter title text. If you think you can get by with just entering text via the remote, you are having a wet dream. Why can they put a mini keyboard on something as small as a cell phone, but not on this monster ... is beyound me.

In conclusion, for the price (I paid 399), this player would have been a great overall deal, if it had not broke. After about 650 hours of use, the player simply froze up. I tried everything but none of the remote or panel buttons would work (not even the power). Final I unplugged the unit, only to discover that it would not power back on. Sony was more than happy to fix it for me, if I would simply send it back to them. The problem with this is I happen to have nearly 400 movies 'locked' into the unit. The front cover will not open without the power! The idea of sending off the unit with 4K to 5K worth of movies is scary.

Comments:
alaTest has collected and analysed 114 reviews of Sony DVP-CX985V DVD Player from international magazines and websites....

Comments:
Store your collection of DVD movies and audio CDs in Sony's DVP-CX985V progressive-scan DVD/SACD player, and they'll just be ready for playback at a moment's notice. The DVP-CX985V multiformat mega-changer stores 400 discs and is compatible with DVD-RW/-R...

Comments:
The DVP-CX985V is a terrific multi-purpose addition to any A/V system. It combines top-notch progressive-scan DVD picture quality with the ability to store and organize an entire collection of DV......