Video Asylum: REVIEW: Sony NC875V DVD Players by budget minded

Model:	NC875V
Category:	DVD Players
Suggested Retail Price:	unknown
Description:	5 disc changer
Manufacturer URL:	Sony
Manufacturer URL:	Sony

Review by budget minded ( A ) on January 18, 2006 at 03:17:16
IP Address: 4.156.3.169

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for the NC875V

i don't like this DVD player too much:
1. you can't change discs without stopping the player unlike other changers. it's also slow as molasses loading discs. my 5 year old onkyo is twice as fast.
2. if you play pause a CD-R and skip back to the beginning, it will cut about a second of the beginning off even if you use the analogue outs! there's no reason for this except maybe to make it impossible to dub tracks to cassette etc. don't try to DJ with this player!
3. you cannot zoom widescreen images more than 16:9! my 5 year old onkyo does that just fine! the ironic thing is that the player has two 4:3 modes... they just don't seem to work. the player really only has a 16:9 mode. that's it. once you zoom a 2.25 film a second time, it will cut the top and bottom off in 16:9 aspect.
4. when you do zoom, an annoying blue [2X] tag sits at the top of the screen and never goes away. that is outright HIDEOUS as i always used to watch 16:9 discs in "zoom 1" and 2.25 discs in "zoom 2" for reduced letterboxing with no problems on my onkyo. there's a zoom tag on that too, but it disappears after 2 seconds like it should.
5. there's an annoying bright blue light in the lower right side of the player that can't be dimmed.
6. there's no "tray reverse" or "direct access" when loading discs. if you're on disc 1, you have to skip all the way to disc 5 to load that disc instead of just backing up even as you have to stop play altogether. why is it a 5 year old player gets it right, but not a new one?
7. the buttons on the player are laid out terribly. the disc skip button is under the eject button. it should be on the very top of the player where one doesn't accidently hit 100 other buttons trying to simply change discs (again, without reverse or 'direct access' buttons). once the tray is open, if you hit the "disc #3" button, the tray should skip to that slot so you can change that disc instead of closing to play the disc.
8. the remote sucks rotten eggs! there are no landmarks on it so you can intuitively find the features you need. it's just a wall of similar sized buttons with the important ones eg. DISC SKIP buried where you'll always be hitting the wrong one. you literally need to turn the light on and LOOK at the remote for just about everything. here's ANOTHER place where "zoom" really gets the shaft. it's buried in the center of the buttons. zoom and skip are two of the most important buttons!
9. it will not play the video clips on CD singles.
the "remember location" feature is nice for DVDs that you've stopped watching, but the wretched "we hate you if you still have a 4:3 TV" zoom features and losing a second off the beginning of every CD even with analogue out is reason enough to despise this player for me. those are EXTREMELY important features that i expected to be there like my old player. i think it's sony's way of saying, we hate home tapers and you better get a widescreen set now!
it also does a nice job of playing scratched discs, but EVERY time i need to load a disc i curse the player under my breath for being so cumbersome as well as curse it every time i'm forced to watch a DVD in 16:9 with no way to zoom or get rid of that on screen tag.
stick your bright blue [2X] zoom icon sony!
if my onkyo weren't about to die and require ANOTHER $140 repair, i'd go back to that even if it won't play CD-Rs.
reviews claim it has an awesome picture due to it's 2 bits over and twice standard sampling rates, but i found that the player makes text look lumpy. i prefer my older (and burrier) onkyo as it doesn't make letters look deformed.
i still need to find another player so i can... actually watch movies in near full screen. (1/2 zoomed)

Product Weakness: terrible disc loading, clunky remote remote, anti 4:3 zooming and non functional CD pause features.
Product Strengths: plays fussy discs well and remembers where you stopped watching up to 30 DVDs. nice sound out of analogue outs. configurable video eg. contrast.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	panasonic sa-xr55
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	DVD & VCR
Speakers:	NHT super zeros
Cables/Interconnects:	monster & generic
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	varied
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	terrible disc loading, clunky remote remote, anti 4:3 zooming and non functional CD pause features.
Product Strengths:	plays fussy discs well and remembers where you stopped watching up to 30 DVDs. nice sound out of analogue outs. configurable video eg. contrast.