The Best of the Best of the Cheap!
Written: Apr 28 '00 (Updated Jul 20 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Flawless Picture, Flawless Sound, Good Menus, Easy to Use
Cons: Why not let it have the same menus as the 500s?
|
|
|
| AVaddict's Full Review: Sony DVP-S330 DVD Player |
Brief Background
Years ago when DVD was virtually unheard of and my freakishly early adopting self was walking thru Sears, I saw a new toy, the SONY DVP-S300. I spent $547 including tax on that bad boy, and it was worth every penny. The unit itself was very heavy (by comparison to todays cheapo units) and had the outstanding picture we have all come to expect from DVDs and a good player. I kept it for over two years before selling it to a friend for $250, so I guess it was more of a lease. When I sold it, it was in as good condition as the day I bought it, a tribute to SONYs consistant build quality. After I sold that I promptly bought a DVP-S330.
Features
The menus on this unit are not quite as extensive as those on the 5 series from SONY. This is not a bad thing, they are very effective for their respective purposes. There are some items in the menu which have value only as a bell or whistle, as it were. One of those is the bit count monitor, just a bauble, since I can't honestly imagine somebody keeping this on during the entire movie, much less the bit rate history option. The language and subtitle options in the menu are easy to use and access, and can actually be activated w/o entering the MAIN menu. Though the adult film industry is, for now, practically the only sector to incorporate the multiangle feature, maybe someday we will see this in the mainstream marketplace. When this, hopefully, happens for regular movies (Matrix, Payback, Twister, etc.), the 330 will be ready, as this feature is also direct access. The display button on the remote is great for a quick check of various stats. This unit does not have the picture adjustments that the 550 does (standard, movie, etc) but if you already have a SONY television (or any other with effective picture modification) the argument of that being a useful tool is moot. Choosing the sound playback is very easy too, one only has to scroll to the desired option and click. One feature on this unit I did not fully appreciate, until I got A VEGA XBR, is 16:9 Wide option in the set-up menu. This feature allows you to take advantage of the vertical compression feature on that TV. This truly is the pinnacle of what DVD can achieve. This unit has DTS and DD pass-through, but does not have an onboard decoder. For most people this won't be a problem because if you are going for a DD or DTS environment, you will probably already have a receiver, speakers, etc. Today, with DD receivers starting at less than $300, there's not much excuse not to have one.
Ins and Outs
This unit does not have colorstream output. If you read my review of the KV-36XBR250 you will know that this isn't a big deal to me, I simply believe S-video to be a more accurate picture. This is in addition to the fact that most people don't have a TV with colorstream input, yet, so why discuss it further. It DOES have two S-Video outs as well as two RCA group outs. The two S-Vids are great because you can run one directly to the TV for the best picture possible and run the other to your receiver for the purpose of recording or viewing the same source in a different room, if you have that feature. The RCAs can be useful if you aren't using the coaxial or optical(PCM) output. Just to reduce wire count I like using optical for my CD and MD. I use the coaxial on the DVD for DVD sound. The long and short of it is that there is a lot of versatility (and obvious redundancy) to be had on the back of this basic little dude.
Remote
Overall the remote is easy to use and ergonomically sound. I would've liked to have had a jog dial, as is available on the higher units, but the 2 speed FF & rev functions make it easy to get to where you want to go as slowly or as quickly as you like.The remote is durable and compact and has the ability to access a track directly by entering the chap #. This would seem like a standard feature, but I was amazed, when I went out looking at what else is available cheaply, the sheer number of models from various manufacturers that don't have a numeric keypad on the remote. This remote, for its price class, is by far the most complete.
Summary
Overall this a very good unit. In my opinion, the first unit I owned, the S300, was better built. This is not to say the 330 is flimsy, it just doesn't seem to have the same sturdiness of build that the earlier model seemed to posses. It is relatively inexpensive and is very easy to use, even for the complete electronics novice. I gave the picture a 5 because
for the vast majority of people there will be no visible difference in this player as opposed to one of the higher units. And as they used to say about CD almost twenty years ago (its only going to sound as good as your speakers), the image your DVD produces (in most cases) will only be as good as the TV you watch it on. I would have given it a five for durability if it weren't for the fact that I feel the earlier units were manufactured better. I qualify that statement with this one; I have NEVER put in a CD or DVD that this unit would not or could not read. If you only want to spend about three hundred, you should strongly consider this unit, I see it as a worthwhile addition to any system, even if that "system" is only a TV.
>>>>>>>>>>ADDED 05/09/2000
If you are going to buy this unit you should know that it MAY NOT play CD-Rs and CD-RWs. I say may not instead of WON'T only because I have only tried to play one CD-R on my DVP-S330 and it didn't work. With just that one experience I obviously cannot say conclusively that it flat WON'T play them, but from my conversations with other SONY DVD owners, the impression I get is that they just don't play them. My guess would be that a)the surface is not reflective enough or b) the RW and R material is the wrong color (again, reflectivity). This is not an issue for me because I'm an MD kinda guy.
>>>>>>>>>>ADDED 06/15/2000
The DVP-S360 has been on the market now for about six weeks and is almost identical to the 330 except for 1) its $50 less than the 330 is now, $249.99 (you should be able to find the 360 for $199.99), 2) its substantially smaller (about 1 1/2" shorter, and 3) it now has a colorstream output. The interior circuitry has not changed except for the transport is slightly smaller. If you were thinking about the 330, don't bother unless you get a sale price lower than the new unit, cause for all intents and purposes, they are the same.
>>>>>>>>>>>ADDED 07/20/2000
My player WILL NOT play CD-Rs or CD-RWs, period. I tested it on this extensively yesterday. I do not know if this extends to the s360 or not yet.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
AVaddict
|
 - Top 200 |
|
Location: Texas
Reviews written: 139
Trusted by: 134 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.