Initial Impressions

Out of the box the player's superior build quality when compared to the Samsung 709 was immediately apparent. Setting up the player posed no problem, there are enough connections on the back to keep most people happy, these include two scart sockets (one of which is RGB), composite and S-video, optical and co-axial digital outs and regular stereo audio outs. Once hooked up to my widescreen TV (via RGB scart) and to my Videologic Digitheatre (via optical audio out) I was ready to switch it on and see what it could it do.

The setup menu is wonderfully designed, easy to navigate and extremely welcoming to newcomers. Everything was setup and ready to go in matter of minutes, in my excitement I stepped on the remote control and saw that a series of pop-up messages had appeared on the screen. These turned out to "helpful hints" has to why the player could not perform the requested function, though to some this may seem like a gimmick, it truly adds to the user friendliness of this player. No damage was done to the remote control, after all it's a bulky, sturdy affair, it's functional and again very easy to use. Straight away the centrally placed drive mechanism oozes quality, its smooth and quiet operation instils confidence and in my view is better than some more expensive players. Well, the time had come to test out whether this budget Sony player was all show and no go!

Picture and Sound

In went the first Region 2 disc, the quality of the picture was perfect and definitely as good as the 525 model which was a pleasant surprise. The picture at all times was crisp and the colour balance was vivid, which is not something budget DVD players are usually blessed with. As far as the sound goes there is no on-board Dolby Digital decoder, hence an external decoder is necessary, plugged into my Digitheatre surround system the sound was clean and expressive. At least, in Sony's defence, this allows the user to be flexible in their home cinema setup since the player supports Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS surround sound formats. In the past, Sony players have been plagued with lip-sync problems, however, with this player at least they seem to have solved this issue, so far with my collection of 39 region 1 and 2 DVD's I have not encountered it once.

Then came the moment of truth, my first Region 1 disc. Due to an old grudge with my Samsung the "Matrix" was the DVD of choice, and of course the Sony performed perfectly, the paragon upgrade immediately detected the disc and in a matter of seconds I was watching the film. The upgrade also disables "macrovision" which allows you to back up your films on to VHS cassettes (don't ask me why but people do!), and it also eliminates some of the problems associated with rear projection TV's.

When it comes to CD playback the Sony sadly lacks any real punch, if you have not already got a dedicated CD player then I'm sure it's fine, but when compared to stand alone players it just is not up to the job.

Extra Features

Sadly not a strong point here, there is no "Zoom function" or pseudo surround sound modes (which the Samsung 709 possessed). But there are gimmicks for the techno-freaks out there in the form of a bit rate meter, which measures the transfer rate of the DVD, and nicely drawn picture of a disc showing you what layer is being read. Something you'll look at once, then show your friends and never bother using again.

Conclusion

Sony have produced an amazing budget DVD player which really deserves to be more expensive, I bought mine for £320 already chipped (though you can find it cheaper!) and I believe it was a bargain. It comes with the trademark Sony build quality, performance to match other more expensive players and with the Paragon upgrade plays every DVD on the planet. What more could you want?