- 400-disc mega DVD and SACD changer; measures 17 x 7.8 x 21.1 inches (WxHxD)
- Up-converts video to high-definition (1080i/720p) resolution
- Compatible with SACD, DVD-RW/-R/+RW/+R, MP3, JPEG, CD-RW/-R, VCD and SVCD formats
- Outputs: 1 HDMI, 1 component, 2 S-Video, 2 composite, 1 coaxial audio, 1 optical audio, 1 multi-channel
- Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel output
The software is mediocre at best, though a large improvement over the 985V. The menu is much faster and allows scrolling by page. The folders (A, B, C, & D) now support labeling of more than three characters (a plus), though getting to the custom folders is a bit more cumbersome. Labeling remains nearly the same; a PS/2 keyboard is an obvious MUST. The remote control layout has been slightly redesigned, though I am not yet sure it was an improvement. I have read others reporting on the quietness when compared to the 985V, though I haven't noticed much difference. The load and disc change speed seam unchanged.
Several others have reported issues placing this monster into their entertainment cabinet, shelf, etc... due to its massive size. It is quite large and homework should be done to eliminate a VERY aggravating experience.
The video set-up functions are useful and probably similar to the much more expensive 777ES; though this may not be useful to an individual who has the ability to set up their TV specifically for this input.
Ok, so it is a great idea and a bit short on the software (disc explorer), but it is very functional. I don't think anyone will complain too much when only spending a bit over $300 for this monster.
Sony has a long history of maintaining proprietary connections and connectivity. This until does NOT support RS-232 connection, Ethernet connections, firewire etc... These players will NOT connect in series, nor will the software support multiple players. The 985V had a selectable switch in the back to allow up to three players to operate independently with the remotes (not very useful, but at least it's there if you need it). The 995V does not have that function.
The video quality: Yup, the HDMI works quite well with my Sony 50" LCD TV (KDF-50WE655). I've verified functionality of 480P, 720P, and 1080i via the HDMI connection. The video quality from the 480P and 720P are nearly identical (I can't tell a difference). The 1080i produces a grainier picture. I have done tests with several motion pictures (Lord of the Rings, Monsters Inc, Spider Man) using fast motion pictures and still images. ALL tell the same tale; No difference between 480P and 720P. The 1080i setting consistently losses the quality comparison. To be honest, this is no surprise, due to the native resolution of the DVD (480). It's just a novelty to see 720P or 1080i on the screen with a DVD input. The video quality is very good.
My recommendation: This is NOT a player to consider IF you are considering upgrading from the 985V, unless it is based solely on the software upgrade. It is an improvement. Video quality remains the same. I do NOT recommend using the very expensive HDMI cable. Use the component video out and you will not be missing anything (unless you're a gadget freak like me). Audio quality remains excellent
If you are considering a DVD Mega-Changer, then within this price range (there are no competitors yet) you will not be disappointed. This unit is far from perfect, but is a very functional player.
Addressing the DVD Changer Myth's:
"My data (titles) will all be lost if the power goes out." NOPE... It will hold them in memory for at least 30 minutes (that was the longest test I'd seen)
"The search function will not find any titles... what a piece of crap" Sorry, not a problem with the player, this is caused by the retail manufactures of the DVD's not placing this data on the DVD. Back-up you copy and use titlewriter. Then burn it. You will have your title automatically recognized.
"High Def from a DVD will look awesome on my TV" Sorry to disappoint you but you will find that the native resolution of the DVD is 480. This unit "upscales" the resolution to provide the high-def image. It is not truly high def. Many TV's actually have scalers built in to upscale the image. This may be the reason for no noticeable improvement on my system?
"This player automatically starts the last movie selected when powered up". Yup it sure does... and that really stinks. If you stop the movie while rolling credits, just hit the stop button once. Once your player powers up, it will begin where it left off. You can immediately Stop the video from that point. If not, you will be forced to view the FBI warning, THX audio scene, etc...
I hope this review helps others make a bit more informed decision when it comes to this specific player. Overall I am satisfied with my purchase and would buy again.
Buy Sony DVPCX995V 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer/Player Now
One small but potentially important correction to Bill's review for those who (like me) have or want to have multiple changers: this unit *DOES* support multiple command modes, allowing for up to three players to be controlled independently. Bill is right that this unit doesn't have the command mode switch on the back to control this behavior -instead, the command mode is set from the front panel. (See page 16 of the manual in the link above.)Read Best Reviews of Sony DVPCX995V 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer/Player Here
The Sony DVP-CX995V. Hmmm. Let's get the obvious out of the way.Yes. It will play your movies, your CD's and MP3's. The picture and sound is more than acceptable.
Yes. It will hold a lot of discs in a relatively compact space and eliminate clutter in your A/V / Home Theater Room.
Saying that, the product falls short of being truly usable for its intended purpose. The interface is horrific...and that is coming from a confirmed gadget geek who loves to play with the latest electronic wonders. I am very disappointed that Sony would put a product like this on the market.
Some of the simplest things you would expect of the DVP-CX995V are missing or very cumbersome. For example, it would seem obvious that with 400 discs, there would be some quick and efficient method to select a disc such as keying in the disc slot from the keypad. Wrong. You either manually turn the disc skip control on the unit, or repeatedly press the "disc skip" on the remote while the player sequential spins the carousel (or repeatedly paging through screens of titles on a television). Thankfully, on the player there is a button that allows you to skip 100 discs at a time so that you only have to manually go forward or backward, may be 50 slots. Yes. It is that primitive.
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UPDATE 2/03/2006 I learned from another user the following shortcut (which is not documented): With the remote switch set to "DVD", press the "Display / File" button on the remote. This will bring up the Control Menu 1 screen with the number of the disc currently playing highlighted in the first entry. Pressing the "Enter" button on the remote will clear the number and allow you to key in a new disc number. Press the "Enter" button and the player should now begin the process of changing to the disc you selected. Press the "Display / File" button until the menu screen toggles off.
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The unit does not allow you to enter and save programs for favorite CD's. The closest you can do is to categorize the discs by artist, genre, etc and then select that group to play. This information needs to be keyed into the player. However, a disc (slot) can only be assigned to one category. This leads to the next item.
The highly touted ability to enter and create a library of title information is flawed because the player loses its memory if it is without power for less than 24 hours. I live in Florida...this is an issue. Even if you live in an area which has stable power, what if you want to move or unplug the unit? It boggles my mind that in an era when you can buy 128MB of non-volatile flash memory for less than $20, why does this unit have this problem?.
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UPDATE 2/03/2006 I have started the process of entering disc information of my DVD collection into the player. You have two options: (1) Insert all your discs into the player at the same time and hit the "Load" button on the front panel of the player. The player then sequentially mounts every disc in the player and attempts to read disc information if it is available. As others have pointed out, probably less than 10% of current discs have any information so this doesn't buy you much. You will then need to use a keyboard to enter title information for the remaining discs, as well as artist, genre and selecting a folder if you want to use that options. BTW, you cannot just select a slot number and begin to type in data and then put the disc into the slot. The player must load every disc first before it will allow you to enter any data. Apparently the player must know what type of disc is in the slot first (it will categorize disc type automatically DVD, CD, CD-Data, etc.) If you have been following this process, you should recognize a problem...how do you know what disc information to enter (unless you have already written it out and carefully inserted the discs into the proper slot number)? This means you will have likely have to wait for the player to again mount the disc, wait through the interminable FBI warnings, etc before you can determine what disc is playing in order to enter the title information. (2)The second option which I have been doing is to load 10 15 discs at time, hit play and wait for the player to spin the discs around to the back and allow it to mount and begin reading the disc. At that point, with the remote selector switch in the "Disc Explorer" position, I hit the "Stop" button and then press the "Folder" button which brings upon the "Disc Explorer" menu. I keep the empty disc cases in the same order as I loaded the discs and then enter then disc information for the current disc. Once the data is saved, you index down to the next slot on the "Disc Explorer" menu , press play, wait while the player dismounts the current disc and then mounts the new disc and starts reading. Etc. Etc. Etc. Expect to spend 2 minutes total for each disc you want to file. I currently have approximately 300 DVD's in my library. An Excel spreadsheet is starting to look pretty attractive. One other oddity, if the disc does have text information, the player will not allow you to edit or override it. My DVD of "Independence Day" has a title of "ID4" which the player picks up and will not allow me to correct.
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By the way, the DVP-CX995V is s-l-o-w to mount and read a disc. Forget about shuffle play of tracks between CD discs.
I was disappointed to learn that this player will not read MP3's from DVD media like the other current Sony players do. Given the slowness of the unit, it would be nice to collapse 30 or 40 albums of music onto a single DVD but it is not there.
Yes, the player forces you to wait 20-30 seconds upon startup while it loads and reads the information from the last disc played....whether you want to play it or not. This is such a simple bug...why doesn't Sony fix it.
Yes. You will need to read the manual. This must be the least intuitive machine I have ever used. "Steep learning curve" would be an understatement. After playing with it for over a week, I don't understand what Sony was thinking about when they designed the DVP-CX995V. It doesn't have to be this hard.
Not really a weakness but be sure your cabinent or shelving is strong and large enough. The unit is over 21 inches deep. With video component cables extended out the back, you should allow at least another 1-2 inches. Think about how heavy 400 DVD/CD discs weigh and add-in the weight of the player.
Prior to buying this player, I read some of the negative reviews and thought they were written by the sort of person who gets confused setting up a VCR or using a remote control. Well, I was wrong. In fact, I don't understand the positive reviews that you will find listed.
Bottom line. Unless you must have a player that can store 400 pieces of media, avoid the DVP-CX995V. Save your money and peace of mind. You will thank me. Hear me now...believe me later.
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UPDATE 02/03/2006 After owning for over a month, my opinion hasn't really changed much about the DVP-CX995V. Video and audio performance are OK but nothing to get excited about. Although I am starting to learn and get use to its quirks and limitations, I'm not sure if it is worth all the trouble because it is so unusable. Definitely a niche product. On the other hand, when you consider all that it does, at $300 it isn't a bad deal. Still, I would not recommend this product without reservations.
Want Sony DVPCX995V 400-Disc DVD Mega Changer/Player Discount?
Just to set the stage I know my electronics as I have been dealing with this stuff for over 25 years in all categories. In my Home Entertainment System I have a big screen HDTV and a Yamaha AV system with a set of Klipsh speakers and this is my first review on any product. I own 4 DVD players (3 are Sony's). I have over 300 DVD's with 7 kids. You can see why I wanted to protect my investment.I think we all recognize that over the years, electronics has become more and more disposable and I have certainly cycled through electronic equipment. This is certainly the case with this product. After loading all the discs and information on the discs which took one Saturday, we started to enjoy the convenience of having all the discs in the player. Then it happened. One day all the data was gone. There was no power outage. Fortunately I have the DVD information on the computer. But I was bothered. I called Sony and after 3 hours of talking to a number of people (mostly telephone receptionists who are paid to screen out calls) knew less about the product than my 75 year old mother. I finally demanded to talk to a technician who talked to other technicians (and so-on) who finally concluded that I probably had a bad memory chip on the mother board. Whew!
After that bad experience, I debated for a day as to send it back for a (a refurbished unit in exchange for my near new one) this is Sony's idea of a full one year warrantee. I thought that if the physical RAM is bad then it may lead to other problems; so I reluctantly unloaded my machine knowing the task ahead when I get the replacement. I then had to ship it to Texas which cost me $35 of which Sony will not pay. I was the told the turnaround time, once received in Texas would be 5 days.
Two weeks later I had heard nothing from Sony so I called. After spending another hour on the calling tree, I finally found someone who could update me which was they had lost my machine and had no record of receiving it. Fortunately I had my UPS tracking number and proved to them that a guy named Gomez signed for it at their shop. This caused them to search more until they finally realized that they sent my broken machine to some poor chap in Arizona by mistake. I stated that I simply want a replacement and that this is there problem. There response was that we need to first get your machine back from this guy (of which they wasn't sure who it was) and then they can repair it and send it back. I reminded them of their policy and demanded a replacement to be sent that day their response was I'll get back to you. No one did so I called the next day you can either send me a replacement or a refund.
This type of discussion went on for hours as I talked to different people (they do not have direct numbers at Sony's Customer Service). Each time I called I had to review the whole story because they wouldn't note it in the computer.
To make this long story shorter, I might get another machine or I might not time will tell. I'm worn out and I've noticed that the price of this unit has dropped $100 in 4 months what does that tell you.
I don't care what other reviews say, I will never buy another Sony product of any kind. The company has become so large they are out of touch with their costumers (just talk to their employees I've gotten to know them well). This is a company that has diminishing quality and services.
I have answers to many of the concerns raised regarding auto play, disc explorer, auto loading, etc. But who cares this is not the point. Sony is the point and I do not feel that we as customers need to put up with it otherwise we all loose. So tell your friends!
Use Excel or a DVD library program (like DVD Profiler). Use that to store your DVD titles, along with the disc slot number where it was stored at.
Then get a 880 or 890 Logitech Harmony Remote (don't know if the lower models work). Export the title information to a .csv file (basically a comma delimited text file). Then upload that .csv file to your Harmony remote. With that, you can store all the title information on your remote and press a button on it to play the movie! If for whatever reason the remote memory gets wiped, I can easily upload the info again using the .csv file.
Another benefit of using a program like DVD Profiler is that I can just input the UPC number to get the title information. Don't have to waste time inputting the title information manually with the keyboard into the dvd player.
Oh yes, the Sony DVPCX995V is a great jukebox DVD player also. :)
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