Sony DVP-NS700H/B 1080p Upscaling DVD Player, Black

To dispell a misconceptions in a previous review: This machine does support 4:3 aspect ratio. You simply need to read the manual and find the right display menu. Also, if you have a wide screen TV, it may be that it is set up wrong.As for my review, I will start by saying that I am not using an HD TV. I have a regular TV I bought in college and I am forced to use the regular outputs on the machine. That being said, I can tell a difference in picture quality. I know I am not getting the benefit of the upconvert but this machine makes my DVDs look better than my old Toshiba.As for the gentleman who said that it made his older DVDs look worse, I can only speculate that either the output settings are incorrect or that upconverting old movies that have been transfered to the DVD format might make it easier to see imperfections from the original footage.PROS: This machine has every hook up you could want on a player - including the digital optical audio output. Many players are ditching this output (including the next model of this player) because they think everyone has the money to drop cash on a HD TV and use the the HDMI cables. This forces you to buy two HDMI cables and route the signal through your reciever to get digital quality audio (this is true for all players. I don't think any of them allow you to use your optical out and HDMI out at the same time even when they do include these connections). Anyway, I have been using an optical out to my reciever for the best audio signal and simply haven't had the money to get an HD TV. This is one of the few players that allows you to have digital quality sound without the HD TV... bravo. Some other players have coaxil digital outputs, but hey, I bought the optical because it was better, faster signal and now most the companies are ditching it. Kind of annoying. Anyway, the versatility of the differnt hook ups allows buyers who are in the middle of converting all of your compenents to make this work with just about any set up. Other machines (including the next generation of this one) requires the buyer to pretty much upgrade your whole system at once in order to benefit from certain features - IE: I can't get digital quality sound unless I go out and buy an HD TV, too.)Enough about that. This thing also supports DTS and 24-bit sound. I guess what I am saying is that the sound output is awesome on this machine.As for the upconvert I can only speculate. All I know is that it did make my DVDs look better even at 480p with a tube television.The machine is thin and sleek. Looks nice and doesn't take up a lot of space.CONS: The menu interface is the antithesis of intuitive. Sony must've thought that using really tiny graphics that have nothing to do with what is in the submenu was a great way to organize things. You have to read the manual if for no other reason than to reference their graphics index to figure out which menu to select for the feature you want. What was wrong with just using words like - "display" and "audio"?There are like three different display menus that all have different things in them. (Which is probably why the previous user thought there was no 4:3 support). Why they didn't put these all in one place and create more sub categories I will never know. Some of the set-up menus will not allow you to access them unless you stop the DVD you are watching. Also, the manual assumes a certain level of techinical knowledge which a regular user may not have if they do not keep up with all of the HD TV and digital lingo. Bottom line, the menus are confusing, but if you read the manual, you'll be fine if you have a reasonable amount of technical knowledge.This is a small complaint, but neither the remote nor the buttons on the machine itself have a backlight. If you're like me, you watch your movies in the dark. On the machine, they didn't even paint the button icons on there. They are engraved in the button and left black. Even in a dimmly lit room I have to get a few inches from the machine to tell which button is which. Eventually, I'll memorize them... A small gripe for a great player.Sometimes the remote is a little touchy. You really have to tap the buttons.My rating would be a 4.5 out of 5 but I gave it a 5 to counter act the people who gave this bad reviews because they didn't read the manual carefully enough to set up their machine correctly.The bottom line for me is that this was a perfect machine for my situation. I can't afford to drop $3000 on a new HD TV and a reciever that will accept HDMI to get all the features I want. I wanted to continue getting digital quality sound (via optical connection), replace my dead DVD player, and future proof my video capabilities by getting an upconverting player. This machine hit a home run on those particular points so I am willing to accept the other small issues.

I checked and looked for a deal on HD DVD Players this 1 came up. the cost was cheap. it was written in the advertisement as HD but after I ordered it found out after reading the discription on the box that it wasn't and can not play even the home made dvds I was highly up set. Call the company I got it from and told them this is not what I wanted the charge me for shipping both ways and a 20% restocking fee which was not in the advertisement to begin with. over all this was a bad experience. They took 1/2 my money and I have nothing to show for it.

Sony DVP-NS700H/B 1080p Upscaling DVD Player, BlackAlthough I don't consider myself a Hi-Tek geek who knows all the intricate details of DVD players, I am somewhat computer literate and know the difference between performance of electronic equipment good or bad. With that caveat, I can only describe my new purchase of a Sony DVD player (listed above) as a very satisfying experience in all respects.From its sleek appearance to its ease of setup to its admirable performance, it's been flawless. Compared with the several past generational DVD players owned, this one is far and beyond superior in every way. Coupled with my new 32in. VIZIO plasma TV the viewing experience is nothing short of awesome. Sure, there are some programming delays, if 30 seconds counts for a delay and the little blue pilot light shines brightly and the remote probably could be more user friendly, but those just constitute griping. The picture and sound quality just blew me away and I may never attend another movie theater again (an exaggeration).One of my favorite films which I've watched several times on my old-fashioned equipment, 2001 A Space Odyssey, came alive anew on my new rig.Considering the nominal cost of the player (purchased with a gift certificate and shipped at no cost) this acquisition was most satisfying.

We bought this last may. It worked great...until last week when it decided that it would no longer reconise any disc. Today I finally got the time to check things out, we bought it 1 yr 2 days ago. Out of warrenty, ugh what a bummer. We had no other problems with it. It worked way better than our last Panasonic dvd player.

I was very impressed by the many 5 star reviews on Amazon. But now that I've got the Sony, I don't see a significant difference from the very old and cheap DVD player that I've been using for 5 years.