There is a remote control (yes, another remote control to clutter your room), but it also does not work in the dark without a flashlight. I guess that Sony should not be singled out for these failings, because most modern entertainment equipment is similarly designed to look good, but be impossible to use under normal operating conditions (i.e., in a darkened room). Ultimately, I guess that we tasteless and impractical customers are to blame.

When DVDs end they return to the menu and repeat forever, while the motor continues to spin the disc. You only have to turn off the monitor and amplifier to make the mistake of allowing the thing to run for hours/days looping the menu over and over. Why manufacturers can't make machines that will shut down after a few repeats of the menu is beyond me (or allow the menu to exist in a small RAM chip where it doesn't have to spin the disc infinitely).

HDMI is full digital, not analog, so a signal is a signal. Monster cables don't matter with digital signals. The player comes with the useless triple RCA yellow-red-white composite cable that is good only for very poor quality video.

The tiny symbols on the keys are invisible unless the room is well lighted and the viewer is very close, and the user must be above the level of the player to read the symbols, because they are only on the upward-facing surfaces. In the dark, nothing at all is operable. There are not even any distinctive parts which one could feel by touch.

The quality of the pictures were basically the same. Maybe a little more detail was available on the CGI parts of the system, but nothing like I expected. Still, it is a good DVD player, just not what I understood it to be...

This unit does play, and seems to work well. Once you get it going, you can then turn down the lights and watch, but be prepared to get up and run around turning on the lights if you wish to operate the controls.

Make sure it is really off or it will die in no time. A good player. Not a great value at $90, but not terrible.

It seemed like the best for the money. Set up was not difficult, nor is the use of the controls. What I found disappointing is the difference, or lack thereof, in the picture.

Fewer wires are always good. Buy a cheap HDMI cable at amazon along with the unit rather than going to a store. HDMI cables are very overpriced at most brick and mortar stores (a decent cable should not be over ~$15).

Why not 5 stars? its a bit on the slow side and the automatic resume function is not as easy to use as you might think. I dont expect (and I wouldnt use them..) cables to come with anything like this, so no points lost for that issue.

So I purchased the Sony DVD player that does upscaling. Bottom line - You do notice a difference in picture quality but it's not the same as BlueRay or HD because of the media being used. I purchased this for 2 reasons...

Overall I'm very happy with this DVD player, it's a little slow to initially load the DVD's but otherwise it seems to be a very good system.

I can't speak to the up-scaling because I'm using it with my 480p theatre projector. I didn't try it with my HD monitor. Honestly I can't imagine why it would be any better than letting the monitor/television upscale it for you.

If you get close to your HDTV, you can see some conversion artifacts, but back about 6 feet from my 40" Sony 1080P Bravia, the arifacts are negligible. Yes, Blu Ray discs are superior, but not enough so to make me replace my DVD collection.

Makes the picture quality much better for rental DVD's. It's a little slow to load but not unreasonable.

Details such as hair, skin, fabric, textures in general, are sharp, clear and vivid. The upscaling and progressive modes are not gimicks and they work superbly on this player. Additionally, this Sony player offers a lot of customization for picture control (color, contrast, sharpness, etc.) as well as other features you can turn on or off or change.

And for the JPEGS, there are several different modes to change from picture to picture. Also, get this: if I take a DVD totally out of the player, then put it in later, it starts where it left off.

For some reason the idea of a DVD player that upgrades standard DVD to simulated HD DVDs seemed a bit suspicious.

I bought this because of the reliability of the Sony name and was not disappointed.

Personally, I would like to see better menu controls on the front of the unit say in case you lost or had a broken remote. I think the small blue light on the front of this unit annoys some people, it didnt bother me at all, I guess I just dont focus on it while watching a good movie.

When dvds end they return to the menu and repeat forever, while the motor continues to spin the disc. You only have to turn off the monitor and amplifier to make the mistake of allowing the thing to run for hours/days looping the menu over and over. Why manufacturers can't make machines that will shut down after a few repeats of the menu is beyond me (or allow the menu to exist in a small RAM chip where it doesn't have to spin the disc infinitely).

For some reason the idea of a DVD player that upgrades standard DVD to simulated HD dvds seemed a bit suspicious.

HDMI is full digital, not analog, so a signal is a signal. Monster cables don't matter with digital signals. The player comes with the useless triple RCA yellow-red-white composite cable that is good only for very poor quality video.

The quality of the pictures were basically the same. Maybe a little more detail was available on the CGI parts of the system, but nothing like I expected. Still, it is a good DVD player, just not what I understood it to be...

So I purchased the Sony DVD player that does upscaling. Bottom line - You do notice a difference in picture quality but it's not the same as BlueRay or HD because of the media being used. I purchased this for 2 reasons...

Makes the picture quality much better for rental DVD's. It's a little slow to load but not unreasonable.

So I purchased the Sony DVD player that does upscaling. Bottom line - You do notice a difference in picture quality but it's not the same as BlueRay or hd because of the media being used. I purchased this for 2 reasons...

I can't speak to the up-scaling because I'm using it with my 480p theatre projector. I didn't try it with my hd monitor. Honestly I can't imagine why it would be any better than letting the monitor/television upscale it for you.

For some reason the idea of a DVD player that upgrades standard DVD to simulated hd DVDs seemed a bit suspicious.

This DVD player is a good value and has the HDMI jack which goes well with my Sony Bravia. I will wait to see who wins the DVD hd format (Blue Ray or hd/DVD) & then upgrade.

When DVDs end they return to the menu and repeat forever, while the motor continues to spin the disc. You only have to turn off the monitor and amplifier to make the mistake of allowing the thing to run for hours/days looping the menu over and over. Why manufacturers can't make machines that will shut down after a few repeats of the menu is beyond me (or allow the menu to exist in a small RAM chip where it doesn't have to spin the disc infinitely).

Personally, I would like to see better menu controls on the front of the unit say in case you lost or had a broken remote. I think the small blue light on the front of this unit annoys some people, it didnt bother me at all, I guess I just dont focus on it while watching a good movie.

There is a remote control (yes, another remote control to clutter your room), but it also does not work in the dark without a flashlight. I guess that Sony should not be singled out for these failings, because most modern entertainment equipment is similarly designed to look good, but be impossible to use under normal operating conditions (i.e., in a darkened room). Ultimately, I guess that we tasteless and impractical customers are to blame.

Personally, I would like to see better menu controls on the front of the unit say in case you lost or had a broken remote. I think the small blue light on the front of this unit annoys some people, it didnt bother me at all, I guess I just dont focus on it while watching a good movie.

This unit does play, and seems to work well. Once you get it going, you can then turn down the lights and watch, but be prepared to get up and run around turning on the lights if you wish to operate the controls.

It seemed like the best for the money. Set up was not difficult, nor is the use of the controls. What I found disappointing is the difference, or lack thereof, in the picture.

Personally, I would like to see better menu controls on the front of the unit say in case you lost or had a broken remote. I think the small blue light on the front of this unit annoys some people, it didnt bother me at all, I guess I just dont focus on it while watching a good movie.

The quality of the pictures were basically the same. Maybe a little more detail was available on the CGI parts of the system, but nothing like I expected. Still, it is a good DVD player, just not what I understood it to be...

Overall I'm very happy with this DVD player, it's a little slow to initially load the DVD's but otherwise it seems to be a very good system.

Why not 5 stars? its a bit on the slow side and the automatic resume function is not as easy to use as you might think. I dont expect (and I wouldnt use them..) cables to come with anything like this, so no points lost for that issue.

Overall I'm very happy with this DVD player, it's a little slow to initially load the DVD's but otherwise it seems to be a very good system.

Makes the picture quality much better for rental DVD's. It's a little slow to load but not unreasonable.

So I purchased the Sony DVD player that does upscaling. Bottom line - You do notice a difference in picture quality but it's not the same as BlueRay or HD because of the media being used. I purchased this for 2 reasons...

Makes the picture quality much better for rental DVD's. It's a little slow to load but not unreasonable.