Sony DVP NS315 - DVD player
From Sony
With its slim design and variety of features you'll love watching movies or listening to CDs on this Sony DVD player. Connect it to a compatible TV using the component video outputs and you'll see a clear, vibrant picture. Custom parental control keeps you in charge of your children's viewing capabilities and the advanced SmoothScanM-^Y mode keeps everything flowing while you jump around to different areas on a disc. You can also play a variety of formats including CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW and MP3.
Make favorite movie moments come alive with Sony's slim-design DVP-NS315B DVD player. The player has high-quality component-video outputs and Sony's Precision Drive 2 system, which maintains quality audio/video performance even when discs are scratched or warped. The DVP-NS315B is compatible with just about every disc format out there, including DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW (video mode), CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3 CD. BNR (block-noise reduction) minimizes choppy image distortion during scenes where the whole image changes quickly. SmoothScan and SmoothSlow modes provide clean playback of DVD in slow motion and scan speeds. Top-of-the-line component-video outputs help minimize line scan and digital artifacts on compatible advanced televisions, and composite-video and S-video outputs bring compatibility with nearly any television. The back panel offers one output each for composite-video, S-video, and component-video. A 10-bit video DAC with 27 MHz processing ensures accurate video with smooth gradations of color and contrast. Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can be routed through the player's digital-audio output for direct connection to a full-featured audio/video receiver. Built-in 96 kHz, 24-bit linear PCM decoding extracts the full performance of all the linear PCM audio formats in CD and DVD-Video. You can also process two-channel sources for surround sound--Digital Cinema Sound DSP reproduces the precise acoustics of acclaimed Hollywood mastering stages. TV Virtual Surround System generates the effect of surround sound speakers, even when you're limited to the stereo speakers inside your TV. Instant Replay jumps back 10 seconds and commences play. It's great for those times when you miss a line of movie dialogue or when you just have to see that dance move again. Custom parental control locks playback of user-designated discs with a four-digit code, whether or not the discs carry an MPAA rating.
Great DVD player with a future! I just purchased this DVD player about a week ago, and I've been very pleased with the purchase. For those of you who just want to put a DVD in and play it, this is a perfect player for you. If you stop the DVD and turn off the player but don't remove the DVD, it'll start playing from the same spot when you turn it on again. S-Video, component and digital coax outputs, as well as RCA outputs, make this a DVD player with a future, as does the fact that it can play MP3's, CD-R and RW and DVD-R and RW discs. The surround sound feature is wonderful, particularly if you just want to use your regular stereo TV - the surround modes make it sound like you're surrounded by speakers, even though the player is using only the two speakers in your TV. (It also hooks up to a full stereo system, providing Dolby 5.1 sound if your receiver supports it.) As well, one of the surround options (Night Mode) plays everything at the expected level except for explosions, rumbles, and other neighbour-disturbing sounds, which it cuts the volume on. Great for late night viewing! The player also features video enhancement, with dynamic contrast and colour adjustment through five video options. The remote is somewhat disappointing, with the play, rewind, etc. buttons placed counter-intuitively above the menu navigation "disk" in the centre of the remote. It is, however, fine for most people. Note that the remote offered with the 315 doesn't control other TV's, etc. Only Sony ones. I understand the model 415 comes with a universal remote, if you need one. All in all, a very satisfactory player for the price, with crystal clear picture and audio. I should also mention that I'm using this player with standard RCA audio and video hook-ups, and the picture and sound is still great - much improved over my VCR, or even satellite. Highly recommended for the mid-range consumer. Nice Low-Endish Player I didn't really have any intention of replacing my old JVC XV-501 DVD player - despite being several years old, the size of a truck and generating enough heat to keep a home snug and warm during even a Wisconsin winter, I had yet to encounter anything it couldn't play and it had, for its age, a pretty decent feature set.However, then along came the Superdrive in my PowerMac and suddenly I could create my own DVD-Rs. Except the XV-501 couldn't play them. Disaster!My mission - to find a DVD player that was cheap (as in non-expensive) rather than cheap (as in you've never heard of the manufacturer, the name on the box and the name on the casing don't match and the thing burns your house down after six months).The DVP-NS315 fit the bill perfectly. It's very reasonably priced, downright petite (less than half the height of the player it replaced) and it manages to be no-frills without leaving anything important out. I've got it hooked up via S-Video and RCA audio, but when the time comes for my trusty Trinitron to give way to something large, flat and expensive, it's got all the necessary bits round the back to hook it up to.If it's got any flaws at all, it's in the slightly bizarre remote design, and the matching slightly bizarre menu system. They're not broken or bad, just...different.In short, a nice little player for someone who, like me, wants to watch DVDs but has no particular need to hook it into a home theatre system that costs as much as a car. Plus, of course, it plays DVD-Rs just fine, so I can marvel at my mediocre iDVD creations. Nice player - Sony finally adds MP3 capability This is a good solid basic player witha few features that you actually can and will use. Plays DVDs well, no issues to speak of (yet) and it offers component outputs in addition to regular outputs. It plays DVD, CD, CD-R(W), and my favorite, decodes MP3. The MP3 software work just like a normal CD player (track numbers and all that), so you don't have to have the monitor on to play MP3s. It does have a nice GUI if you do want to use the monitor, though. Nice added touch. I've enjoyed the unit so far, but since it's a newer model, I will post again if I have additional comments. Only 4 stars because it most of its features are operated from the remote only :(. Don't lose that remote.
