Is it just me or does the 777ES have no upconversion/HDMI? Why bother?

I was also wondering about the RS232 port. I heard that you can use this port to connect to your PC and it somehow makes catalogging your dvd collection much easier. Can someone expand on this and explain how this is possible? That would be a huge perk over the 995V

The RS232 has been explained quite a bit already in past posts here, just look up some of the older posts in this thread. But there is only one program that will fully automate the lookup and cataloging of DVDs in it via the RS232 connection. All the other ones require that you enter in the movie UPC or Title manually, and then it can look up the data and cover art.

SO, for the software part, there are really about 3 or 4 different ways to go. Some also such as DVDlobby and Movies! also require the addition of a program called DVDProfiler, and manual entry of the movie UPC or Title.

And there is also the one called DVPGenie, that does not. This is the one that will do it all by itself with no add-ons. It will go online scan through the player itself and then look up what it found, and then add in the movie data and cover art automatically all via the RS232. They have a limited function, free demo for D/L to show you what it can do. And that will look up and D/L the info the first 40 slots, and function for 30 minutes, and then times out.

But here is the list of most of the programs.

DVDLobby (also requires additional Cinemar programs and DVDProfiler)

http://www.cinemaronline.com/products.html

DVPGenie (requires nothing else, other than the null modem serial cable and a net connection)
http://www.ibtcorp.com/dvpgenie/default.asp

Movies! (also requires DVDProfiler, also not sure if he added RS232 support for the CX777ES yet)
http://pantherstudioscorp.com/Movies.htm

Freeware HTPC program, that can also control a CX777ES via RS232 (but not sure of what all else it requires.)
http://www.xlobby.com/

DVDProfiler (Note: There is both a free version with low rez pictures and ads. And a pay version with high rez pictures and no ads. Otherwise they are the same.)
http://www.intervocative.com/Products.aspx

Is it just me or does the 777ES have no upconversion/HDMI? Why bother?

Some could say the same about why bother, with a HDMI upconverting player, when most new TVs now do their own internal upconversion. And if it happens to be a fixed pixel digital set such as a DLP, LCD (or any of the LCD variations), or Plasma set. Then everything is already converted to the sets native resolution anyway, regardless of how it is input to the set.

The RS232 has been explained quite a bit already in past posts here, just look up some of the older posts in this thread. But there is only one program that will fully automate the lookup and cataloging of DVDs in it via the RS232 connection. All the other ones require that you enter in the movie UPC or Title manually, and then it can look up the data and cover art.

SO, for the software part, there are really about 3 or 4 different ways to go. Some also such as DVDlobby and Movies! also require the addition of a program called DVDProfiler, and manual entry of the movie UPC or Title.

And there is also the one called DVPGenie, that does not. This is the one that will do it all by itself with no add-ons. It will go online scan through the player itself and then look up what it found, and then add in the movie data and cover art automatically all via the RS232. They have a limited function, free demo for D/L to show you what it can do. And that will look up and D/L the info the first 40 slots, and function for 30 minutes, and then times out.

But here is the list of most of the programs.

DVDLobby (also requires additional Cinemar programs and DVDProfiler)

http://www.cinemaronline.com/products.html

DVPGenie (requires nothing else, other than the null modem serial cable and a net connection)
http://www.ibtcorp.com/dvpgenie/default.asp

Movies! (also requires DVDProfiler, also not sure if he added RS232 support for the CX777ES yet)
http://pantherstudioscorp.com/Movies.htm

Freeware HTPC program, that can also control a CX777ES via RS232 (but not sure of what all else it requires.)
http://www.xlobby.com/

DVDProfiler (Note: There is both a free version with low rez pictures and ads. And a pay version with high rez pictures and no ads. Otherwise they are the same.)
http://www.intervocative.com/Products.aspx


Thanks a bunch. DVPGenie looks to be the best one by far. Why even entertain the other programs when DVPGenie does it all without having to manually enter anything?

Here's the million dollar question though..... will it scan and recognize burned DVD-RW/DVD+RWs of the original discs?

Thanks a bunch. DVPGenie looks to be the best one by far. Why even entertain the other programs when DVPGenie does it all without having to manually enter anything?

Well there is alway the chance that the program or the company that makes it, it not successful in the long term. And that they may go out of business or quit supporting the program. And then you would be more or less screwed, as everything about it pretty much is run by them, including the online database it uses. Not to mention it's kind of pricey at $160, not that any of the others are really cheap. And if you look in their forum, support for it seems somewhat questionable.
I agree with you, I like this one the best in the way it works, and what it can do. But I'm just not fully convinced that they will be around for the long haul.

Where as all the other programs will continue to run even with no further updates. And DVDProfiler has been up and running for years now, even internationally. So it looks like it will be around for quite awhile yet. But even if it were to stop it's online access, you could still continue run the program. And even though it would be a major PITA, you could also continue add in any and all new movie data manually. By scanning in your own cover art and filling in all the movie data by yourself.

Here's the million dollar question though..... will it scan and recognize burned DVD-RW/DVD+RWs of the original discs?


As long as they are exact 1:1 copies, where you do not edit anything out, or compress them to fit a DL onto a SL disk, there should be no difference. Can't say for sure what would happen, if you edit or compress a DL disk to be a SL disk. But even with the original disks it is not something that can look them all up with 100% certainty and accuracy. But it's a heck of a lot better at looking up the titles than Sony's own "Title" lookup is. But then again it depends on a online database to do so. Where as the Sonys own lookup, depends on all the title data being there on the disk itself, which as many have found out, that it not always is.

I am very happy with the unit so far. I called Sony and registered the unit...they told me that the 5 year warranty is still intact as of the date of receipt for all refurbed ES units. Now I'm really happy...you guys had me shaken in my boots. Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy!!!

It's nice to really know for sure that it still has the full 5 year warranty on refurbished ES changers.
But I think it would have been better to call Sony first and confirm that before ordering one. Because they likely will be available on ebay for quite awhile, and in fact their asking "buy it now" prices for them recently went down from what they were before, by about $100 from the $499 that they used to be at. So I don't think you would have missed out on ever getting one, as they always seem to relist more of them the very next day after they sell out all the ones that they are currently offering.

All I'm saying is, with many ebay purchases it often pays to do as much research as possible first, before bidding/buying.

Believe it or not, about two years ago, someone on ebay was selling people ONLY a picture of a Denon 5803 to people in a "dutch auction" with about 50 available, yet he was wording it in a way that he was only implying that it was the latest version of a actual 5803 AVR, but not that he would be sending them a actual 5803 AVR. But that he would be sending them what he was showing, which was only a picture of a new 5803a. So he was charging people about 50% of what the MSRP of a 5803 was, for a only picture of one. Obviously it was nothing more than a full fledged out and out scam, but it took about 2-3 days before ebay shut it down.

But in your case it all worked out to be legit and as claimed. You got what you wanted, and at a good price. And you are happy with it, and like the way it works, and it also has the full 5 year ES warranty. So it sounds like you batted 1000 on this one.

Thanks a bunch. DVPGenie looks to be the best one by far. Why even entertain the other programs when DVPGenie does it all without having to manually enter anything?

BTW:

I almost forgot. There is two hardware based options/products from Escient that work with the DVP-CX777ES, that are even better and with more features than DVPGenie. The DVDM-100 and the DVDM-300. And they most likely will be around for the very long term. But at $2000.00 and $5000.00 respectively, they should be!

The DVDM-100
http://www.escient.com/products/dvdm100.html
http://www.escient.com/literature/DVDM100SellSheet.pdf

The DVDM-300
http://www.escient.com/products/dvdm300.html
http://www.escient.com/literature/DVDM300SellSheet.pdf


Plus there is also the $2500.00 VideoReQuest, which is very similar to to the Escient units.

http://www.request.com/products/videorequest.asp
http://www.request.com/products/techspecs_vrq.asp
http://www.request.com/pdf/productsheet/sellsheets_vrq.pdf


Just goes to show, you can be anywhere from free if you can get a copy of the old free version of girder software, and you write your own commands for it. Or about a $100 to $5000.00 on the pay type methods, to play with the RS232 control on the DVP-CX777ES changers.

And then there is the kaleidescape system.
http://www.kaleidescape.com/

But at $25K it is very very pricey.

I did see one of these at a local dealer... and the interface is way cool.
For those of you who haven't seen it, it will show about 20 cover art pictures,
when you select one, it will show details of the movie and then the cover arts will
re-align based on what you selected showing sequal, other movies in similar genre's, other movies with the same actor(s), directors, etc.

Does anyone know if there is software available for a HTPC that can do something similar using a jukebox... The only issue I saw with the Kaleidescape (other than price) was that all DVDs had to be ripped and kept on disk... they had about 125 movies on the 1.2 Terabytes.

But at $2000.00 and $5000.00 respectively, they should be!

OUCH!!!!!!! WAY outta my league! :eek:

I'll check into either DVPGenie or DVD Profiler :D

Oh by the way, I just received an email reply from DVPGenie:

DVD copies may not automatically identify becuse the track info is slightly different from the original. However, once you associate the DVD with the movie, DVPgenie remembers the disc fingerprint and will identify it from that point on.

-derek

Hmm, doesn't seem like know for sure whether or not it'll work if the discs are copied 1:1 exactly to each other. Guess it's a trial and error thing.

I just took a look at that page. Wow....the amount of features on the 777ES is INSANE!! Does the 995V have that many features?

I was also wondering about the RS232 port. I heard that you can use this port to connect to your PC and it somehow makes catalogging your dvd collection much easier. Can someone expand on this and explain how this is possible? That would be a huge perk over the 995V

The ES line is Sony's superior line of product...much better power supply and other. As far as the options go...I think the RS232c port makes all the difference. Take a look at www.xlobby.com and www.cinemaronline.com, they are both front end programs that can work with the RS232c port. xLobby is a free software and Cinemar would cost about $150.00 to get going. Good Luck!!!

I was happy with my CX995V, could display it on my HDTV DVI & at the same time send it out on component to another input on my Toshiba. I had entered title information for about 280 disc's and then one day turned off the power to it to see if it held all that in memory and it did...Whew. Then one day I went into display folders and it just frooze with that message that sez LOADING. I waited about 2 minutes and then turned it off and back on and yep... all the title information I entered was now gone replaced with ?, A good thing I was home alone cause KILL was flashing in my brain. I'm writeing this to inform others who may be thinking of buying this jukebox that it is no fun to sit down and write all your titles ( up to 400 ) into this thing knowing that it might be lost for some quirky unknown reason and your back to imputing them all again(KILL). By the way thankyou to all the DVD producers who charge from $10.. to $20.00 for there dvd's and do not bother to put the title information into the dvd's, about 9 out of 10 dvds are missing this info...yeah i'm being sarcastic. Well down the road I will be looking to sell this unit for one where were I can upload the title info or one that wont lose all that info. Yes I typed it all back in(KILL)
I JUST LOST ALL MY MEMORY INFO!!!!

Have been using the 995 for about 3 weeks....was VERY time-consuming to get all that data into the machine. I was using it this morning without problems, then I go to the Folder menu to fine slots 1-330 named "?". NONE of the data is there...it's completely gone...it only remembers than there's a disc in the slot.

I'm extremely peaved and hoping someone might have some solution (yes, I've tried powering off and unplugging to no avail).

Anybody else having this problem??

I JUST LOST ALL MY MEMORY INFO!!!!

Have been using the 995 for about 3 weeks....was VERY time-consuming to get all that data into the machine. I was using it this morning without problems, then I go to the Folder menu to fine slots 1-330 named "?". NONE of the data is there...it's completely gone...it only remembers than there's a disc in the slot.

I'm extremely peaved and hoping someone might have some solution (yes, I've tried powering off and unplugging to no avail).

Anybody else having this problem??

I've only had that happen when I remove the disk from the slot

The RS232 has been explained quite a bit already in past posts here, just look up some of the older posts in this thread. But there is only one program that will fully automate the lookup and cataloging of DVDs in it via the RS232 connection. All the other ones require that you enter in the movie UPC or Title manually, and then it can look up the data and cover art.

SO, for the software part, there are really about 3 or 4 different ways to go. Some also such as DVDlobby and Movies! also require the addition of a program called DVDProfiler, and manual entry of the movie UPC or Title.

And there is also the one called DVPGenie, that does not. This is the one that will do it all by itself with no add-ons. It will go online scan through the player itself and then look up what it found, and then add in the movie data and cover art automatically all via the RS232. They have a limited function, free demo for D/L to show you what it can do. And that will look up and D/L the info the first 40 slots, and function for 30 minutes, and then times out.

But here is the list of most of the programs.

DVDLobby (also requires additional Cinemar programs and DVDProfiler)

http://www.cinemaronline.com/products.html

DVPGenie (requires nothing else, other than the null modem serial cable and a net connection)
http://www.ibtcorp.com/dvpgenie/default.asp

Movies! (also requires DVDProfiler, also not sure if he added RS232 support for the CX777ES yet)
http://pantherstudioscorp.com/Movies.htm

Freeware HTPC program, that can also control a CX777ES via RS232 (but not sure of what all else it requires.)
http://www.xlobby.com/

DVDProfiler (Note: There is both a free version with low rez pictures and ads. And a pay version with high rez pictures and no ads. Otherwise they are the same.)
http://www.intervocative.com/Products.aspx


Media Center 2005 users could soon have a free option to control the 777ES as well. There is a plug in for MCE called "My Movies" which currently handles DVD's stored on a hard drive. I'm working with that developer now to incorporate support for a 777ES.

http://www.mymovies.name/home.aspx

Should have something available soon.

I JUST LOST ALL MY MEMORY INFO!!!!

Have been using the 995 for about 3 weeks....was VERY time-consuming to get all that data into the machine. I was using it this morning without problems, then I go to the Folder menu to fine slots 1-330 named "?". NONE of the data is there...it's completely gone...it only remembers than there's a disc in the slot.

I'm extremely peaved and hoping someone might have some solution (yes, I've tried powering off and unplugging to no avail).

Anybody else having this problem??

The only problem i've encountered is with slot one. I can't keep the title info for this slot. All other slots OK. Since I took the dvd out of slot one I have no problem with the remaining 200 DVD's. My unit is 3 months old.

Media Center 2005 users could soon have a free option to control the 777ES as well. There is a plug in for MCE called "My Movies" which currently handles DVD's stored on a hard drive. I'm working with that developer now to incorporate support for a 777ES.

http://www.mymovies.name/home.aspx

Should have something available soon.

Mntneer:
Will "My Movies" software be able to have clients (touchscreens) running in a server environment?

Mntneer:
Will "My Movies" software be able to have clients (touchscreens) running in a server environment?

I think that probably depends more on what MCE2005 can do.

Mntneer:
Will "My Movies" software be able to have clients (touchscreens) running in a server environment?

My Movies runs as a plug in within MCE. If you wanted to have it run via a touchscreen, then you'd have to have that touchscreen connected to an MCE system.

I JUST LOST ALL MY MEMORY INFO!!!!

Have been using the 995 for about 3 weeks....was VERY time-consuming to get all that data into the machine. I was using it this morning without problems, then I go to the Folder menu to fine slots 1-330 named "?". NONE of the data is there...it's completely gone...it only remembers than there's a disc in the slot.

I'm extremely peaved and hoping someone might have some solution (yes, I've tried powering off and unplugging to no avail).

Anybody else having this problem??

Never had this happen...what happens if you play one of the DVDs...does the information come back then?

The only problem i've encountered is with slot one. I can't keep the title info for this slot. All other slots OK. Since I took the dvd out of slot one I have no problem with the remaining 200 DVD's. My unit is 3 months old.

Also haven't seen this happen...I use 1-3 for rentals, and enter info so my family can find/play them. I've had three rentals in those slots time periods ranging from a few days to four weeks and data has alwasy been retained just fine.

anyone tried the 995 with 1080i HDMI into the new Iscan VP30 Scaler??
if so how is the picture quality??

the new DVDO has 4 HDMI inputs and I was thinking of slapping of couple of these players into my system as I have grown tired of storing my 800+ DVD collection

SDI modifying them would be to expensive and I need multiple changers, so I would need to setup SDI/Coaxial Digital audio switching also(before inputting into the VP30 since it only had 1 SDI input) :mad:

I wish Sony had enabled 480i HDMI on this changer, I would own 3 right now if they did :(

-Gary

anyone tried the 995 with 1080i HDMI into the new Iscan VP30 Scaler??


I probably would just output 480p from the sony and let the DVDO do its magic. I tried the Iscan on regular program material and it really cleaned up the signal.

anyone tried the 995 with 1080i HDMI into the new Iscan VP30 Scaler??

-Gary

I don't have a VP30 but do have a HD+. I tried a HDMI to DVI to the HD+ but found I preferred to use the SiI504 chip set that is in the HD+ so I'm feeding the HD+ a 480i signal over component. I also wish the 995 had 480i over HDMI.

We had a discussion on this in the VP forum. Below is that discussion.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=589522

Never had this happen...what happens if you play one of the DVDs...does the information come back then?
no, and while I regularly remove individual movies and replace with 'dummy' CDRs or DVDs to fool that SLOT into believing it's still full (a GREAT tip by an AVS member, btw) regretably all 300+ disappeared simultaneously :-(

I think I'm going to adopt another user suggestion which is to just use an Excel spreadsheet or perhaps one of the recently discussed DVD programs to track my movies by slot number. As upset as I am about losing the info, the Explorer is so clunky that I doubt I'll miss it much. Fortunately I did a spreadsheet when originally entering, and I highly recommend all do this in case your memory dumps too.

no, and while I regularly remove individual movies and replace with 'dummy' CDRs or DVDs to fool that SLOT into believing it's still full (a GREAT tip by an AVS member, btw) regretably all 300+ disappeared simultaneously :-(

No to toot my horn too much, but that AVS member would be me. :D

I think I'm going to adopt another user suggestion which is to just use an Excel spreadsheet or perhaps one of the recently discussed DVD programs to track my movies by slot number. As upset as I am about losing the info, the Explorer is so clunky that I doubt I'll miss it much. Fortunately I did a spreadsheet when originally entering, and I highly recommend all do this in case your memory dumps too.

I'd recommend DVD Profiler, especially if you are going to have family members/friends using the list to choose movies as well. Has some UI quirks, but pretty cool free program that allows you to create a database w/all your DVDs listed, including cover art downloaded from the company's servers. You can also downlaod and print reports ranging from simple text to highly graphical w/artwork, movie synopsis, etc.

Ouch...Sorry to hear that
Never happened to me...knock on wood.
Also, I have unplugged my unit without lossing anything.
I do have a backup Excel file.

Did someone press "Load"?

Ouch...Sorry to hear that
Never happened to me...knock on wood.
Also, I have unplugged my unit without lossing anything.
I do have a backup Excel file.

Did someone press "Load"?

Good guess, but you'd think that at least one disc out of the three hundred in his player would have been recognized by the 995...

I think I'm going to adopt another user suggestion which is to just use an Excel spreadsheet or perhaps one of the recently discussed DVD programs to track my movies by slot number. As upset as I am about losing the info, the Explorer is so clunky that I doubt I'll miss it much. Fortunately I did a spreadsheet when originally entering, and I highly recommend all do this in case your memory dumps too.

grob312 -

May I suggest another way in using Sony's 985 or 995 CD/DVD player without ever using the Disc Exployer :) . In order for this method to work you would need to own Philips TSU7000 or 7500 remote control. I feel this method is well worth it as it is far less expensive compared to the other programs that are available.

The programming that you need to do is already completed and available at www.remotecentral.com. If you decide to do it and have questions along the way, you can ask the author, "Lowpro", himself through RC's forum. I initially found out about the author's brilliant configuration here at AVS Forum. Do a search under user "Low Profile".

After awhile the programming becomes second nature and very addicting (fun). I'm now approaching my 2nd CD/DVD player. Also, I was able to consolidate 6 remotes into one :) .

It's worth a look!

-- wjjz106

basically, i bought the 995 yesterday and it's supposed to have a 40 disc resume. I called sony and they said that if I use the explorer, open the player or even power it off, the memory clears. so if that's the case, why have the feature if there is no way to utilize it? HELP ME PLEASE! I need good advice or a workaround! I love the player and have been in love with it since I first read about it. I'm one of those people that will watch a movie 1/3 of the way and watch something else, then go back to the origianl movie.

Hmmm....I knew about opening the door or using the Explorer, but didn't know that turning it off also cleared the resume memory. That makes that feature even weaker than it was...lucky for me I am not a "resumer" and haven't tried to make use of that feature at all.

The only work-around, assuming Sony's info was correct, would be to leave the player on, and select discs via slot number from the Display screen.

[QUOTE=Danabw]Hmmm....I knew about opening the door or using the Explorer, but didn't know that turning it off also cleared the resume memory. That makes that feature even weaker than it was...lucky for me I am not a "resumer" and haven't tried to make use of that feature at all.

I've only had this player for a few days, but I've turned the power off plenty of times and had it resume at the appropriate place when selcting a previouisly viewed disc.

For the issue with the autoplay, I created a DVD with a simple "Welcome to our home theater" message. I've got this disc in Slot #5. I then set up a Macro on my MX-500 remote that does the following

Display
(1 sec delay)
Enter
(.5 sec delay)
5
(.5 sec delay)
Enter
(2 sec delay)
Power Off

When I power the unit up, it will autoplay Slot #5 with the welcome message.

so just to be clear, you have watched something, changed the disc to another movie, turned the unit off, turned it back on and watched the original movie you started with, even though it wasn't the last thing you watched?

I've only had this player for a few days, but I've turned the power off plenty of times and had it resume at the appropriate place when selcting a previouisly viewed disc.


so just to be clear, you have watched something, changed the disc to another movie, turned the unit off, turned it back on and watched the original movie you started with, even though it wasn't the last thing you watched? in other words, you have bounced from movie to movie and had the player's memory pick up where you were?

so just to be clear, you have watched something, changed the disc to another movie, turned the unit off, turned it back on and watched the original movie you started with, even though it wasn't the last thing you watched? in other words, you have bounced from movie to movie and had the player's memory pick up where you were?

Yes. I just tested this out. I had stopped playing Return of the King yesterday and watched a couple of other DVD's last night. Just went out and loaded up Return of the King and it resumed from where I had stopped.

(shrug) seems to work for me, though as I said I've only had it a couple of days so it may be hinky.

how did you switch from movie to movie? through the guide or manually by disc number? thanks.

how did you switch from movie to movie? through the guide or manually by disc number? thanks.

Manually by disc number. I use DVD Profiler and just use the slot numbers as a reference ... saves me the stress of worrying about typing and retyping all of that info.

Manually by disc number. I use DVD Profiler and just use the slot numbers as a reference ... saves me the stress of worrying about typing and retyping all of that info.
sorry for all the questions but are you using the Excel sheet to remember the disc numbers or some other method? thanks

I confirmed how things actually work w/the resume feature. Process and results below.

1. Turn on player and select disc 1, go to a scene and play for a few seconds.
2. Press Display and then press Select/OK, enter second disc slot number, and Select/OK again

DVD player changes to second disc.

3. Select a scene in disc 2, play a few seconds and then select stop.

Message appears on screen that disc will resume at this point unless press stop again

4. Turn off player.
5. Turn on player.

Second disc starts playing where left off.

6. Press Display, then OK/Select, type first disc slot number, and press OK/Select again.

First disc starts playing where it left off.

7. Press Display and follow same steps to return to second disc

Player returns to second disc and starts playing where it left off.

8. Press Explorer to open up the disc explorer
9. Press Exit to close the disc explorer
10. Use the Display menu to return to the first disc.

Disc resumes play where it left off

11. Press Explorer to return to the Disc Explorer
12. Select the second disc and start play from the Disc Explorer

Disc begins playing from start...resume point lost

13. Press Display and then press Select/OK, enter first disc slot number, and Select/OK

Disc begins playing from start...resume point lost

So it appears that once you select and play any disc from the disc explorer, the resume points are lost for all discs. If you use the Display menu to select the disc, the resume point is held regardless of whether the power has been turned off or on, or if the Disc Explorer has been accessed. It's playing a disc from the disc explorer that clears all the resume points.

They should have a "Play" and "Resume" option on the disc explorer menu, and not clear the memory...lazy programming, or saving money on HW, or ?

Hope that helps.

that was exactly what i needed to know. I'm not crazy and I knew it! WHEW! alright dude, thank you so so much. Back to watching 1081i in peace!

sorry for all the questions but are you using the Excel sheet to remember the disc numbers or some other method? thanks

Just download the free version of DVD Profiler, and you will have no need to mess around with stuff like Excel spread sheets for this. It will go online and get all the DVD info and cover art, and you can tell it, to assign whatever slot number you want for the DVD when you are entering in the data via the DVDs UPC number. And you can even use a bar code scanner to enter it in from the UPC label by scanning the label, you can even just pick up a old Radio Shack "Cue Cat" bar code scanner on the net for about $10, and it will work. And the only difference between the free version and the pay version. Is the free version only has low resolution cover art pictures and it also has small ads, where the pay version has the option for high resolution cover art and no ads. Otherwise they are the same, and do the same things. Including the ability to print out lists in different various ways. Such as, just a simple list with a movie name and slot number, all the way up to full color with cover art and all the movie info, with only one movie per page. Or multiple movies per page. There must be at least 50 or more additional user designed "reports" that you can install and use for print outs, that you can also D/L for free also.

Here is where to get it, just D/L the free version. It costs you nothing, but it works so well. I myself even bought the paid version I like it so much, it's well worth it!

http://www.intervocative.com/Products.aspx

Can the profiler ap scan the carosel itself for the disc's or do you need to manually input the data (keyboard or hand scanner)?

Oh wait..... this one does not have the Rs-232.... does it have USB or FireWire with which to hook it up to a HTPC?

I wonder if it would use the RS-232 on the Sony 777es to scan the discs????

Can the profiler ap scan the carosel itself for the disc's or do you need to manually input the data (keyboard or hand scanner)?

Oh wait..... this one does not have the Rs-232.... does it have USB or FireWire with which to hook it up to a HTPC?

I wonder if it would use the RS-232 on the Sony 777es to scan the discs????

No it can not scan it, nor can even scan the 777ES with the RS232. Plus DVD Profiler is not a controller program. It's really only a catalog of what you have manually entered in, of what DVD' that you have put in the player, and what slot you have put them in.
In fact the only one other than the high dollar Escient and Kaleidoscope movie server setups, that can even scan through the 777ES and U/L & D/L all the info by using the RS232 connection. Is a program called DVPgenie, and they have a limited first 40 slot free demo. That also times out after 30 minutes, so you can see how it works before you buy it. You can find more info on that program, and the demo D/L here.
http://www.ibtcorp.com/dvpgenie/default.asp

Thanks...........

I keep trying to stumble across an "affordable" system like Escient or Kaleidoscope... I saw a demo of Kaleidoscope at Tweeter's and it definitely has the "cool" factor going..., but it cost double what my car does... so I had to pass!

For a while I thought the Sony Digital Living System XL1 might answer the bell, but that system has more bugs than mississippi.

I saw a demo of Kaleidoscope at Tweeter's and it definitely has the "cool" factor going..., but it cost double what my car does... so I had to pass!

Ahhhhh, that's easy to fix...... ;)

Just buy something like a shiny new Ford-GT or a Vette, and then your problems are solved and the Kaleidoscope will look cheap in comparison. Come to think of it, a new Ford-GT makes even a new Vette look cheap in comparison.... Plus just think of the "cool" factor of driving a Ford-GT...... :p

Ahhhhh, that's easy to fix...... ;)

Just buy something like a shiny new Ford-GT or a Vette, and then your problems are solved and the Kaleidoscope will look cheap in comparison. Come to think of it, a new Ford-GT makes even a new Vette look cheap in comparison.... Plus just think of the "cool" factor of driving a Ford-GT...... :p


Nah....... I would just look like another "old guy" trying to impress the young girls! :D

Nah....... I would just look like another "old guy" trying to impress the young girls! :D

Yeah but you are located in Vegas, so it just might work... :cool:

No it can not scan it, nor can even scan the 777ES with the RS232. Plus DVD Profiler is not a controller program. It's really only a catalog of what you have manually entered in, of what DVD' that you have put in the player, and what slot you have put them in.
In fact the only one other than the high dollar Escient and Kaleidoscope movie server setups, that can even scan through the 777ES and U/L & D/L all the info by using the RS232 connection. Is a program called DVPgenie, and they have a limited first 40 slot free demo. That also times out after 30 minutes, so you can see how it works before you buy it. You can find more info on that program, and the demo D/L here.
http://www.ibtcorp.com/dvpgenie/default.asp

To add to that. The main reason for this is companies like Ecient, and now even the guys at DVDGenie, have to maintain their own TOC database. If DVD Profiler would add the ability to use a RS-232 port with the 777ES, then they could probably quickly build up their own database of TOC's. Would be a nice addition to the software.

Just download the free version of DVD Profiler, and you will have no need to mess around with stuff like Excel spread sheets for this.
Here is where to get it, just D/L the free version. It costs you nothing, but it works so well. I myself even bought the paid version I like it so much, it's well worth it!

http://www.intervocative.com/Products.aspx

Johnla-

I also purchased the DVD Profiler. The software plays a intricate part for cataloging my DVD collection and displaying DVD jacket cover art that are stored/shown on my TSU7000 remote control.

I agree, the purchase was well worth it (under $30) :) . InterVocative Software stands by their product and continues to release newer versions. The free version allows the potential buyer to judge for themselves up to 40 DVDs.

- wjjz106

InterVocative Software stands by their product and continues to release newer versions. The free version allows the potential buyer to judge for themselves up to 40 DVDs.

Unless they changed it, there is no limit of 40 DVDs for the free version, and you can enter in as many DVDs as you want. But the free version also does have ads that you can not turn off, and it only offers low resolution pictures/cover art. Where with the pay version, you can turn the ads completely/totaly OFF, and also D/L high resolution pictures/cover art.

Now I do know that the DVPgenie controller program demo for the CX777ES, does indeed have a 40 DVD limit, and it also will "time out" after 30 minutes of play.

Unless they changed it, there is no limit of 40 DVDs for the free version, and you can enter in as many DVDs as you want.

Now I do know that the DVPgenie controller program demo for the CX777ES, does indeed have a 40 DVD limit, and it also will "time out" after 30 minutes of play.

Johnla -

I believe your right (my bad :( ).

It's been awhile. I registered w/InterVocative Software for DVD Profiler two years ago. When I was researching, I remembered somewhere a 40 DVD limit.

-wjjz106

DVDProfiler Users....

For those who use as sole means of managing 995's inventory.....do you have to enter them into Profiler in numerical order? Or is it easy to change the # assignment in Profiler after you've entered all your movies, regardless of order?

As you can see, after my 995 got amnesia, I'm still feeling a little timid :rolleyes:

Also, if anyone has any tips as to how to strategically format the printing output so it's an easy reference tool offline for my 995, that would be great.

it depends on how you're using DVD Profiler. You do not have to load in numerical order. I cannot speak to how you would use otherwise, but DVD Profiler has Location and Slot fields for each disc ("Personalize" the disc), so you CAN assign each disc a Location (i.e., Changer, if more than one) and Slot. I use this because I am also utilizing DMX-3000 for the HTM MX-3000 remote to control my changers.

If you want to use the Location and Slot fields to enter your information, I'm tweaking a report that I'll contribute soon to the DVDProfiler site that is very basic--thumbnail, title, Location and Slot #. Might be a few weeks before I finish it, but I should upload it there by early March. IMHO, the DVDProfiler report editor is a little picky sometimes, but after you play around a bit, you figure out how to use it. Just experiment with it using a dummy report you copied over. There are also HUNDREDS of user reports available for download on the DVDProfiler site--just flip through and try to find one you like that fits your needs. I would look to that site for more info on your reporting question.

Others may know more methods--I only know this method as that is all I have focused on to use explicitly with DMX-3000.

Attached are two if my favorite DVD profiler reports...one more verbose with larger images, three movies per page, the other much more summarized and smaller images, 18 movies per page.

I modified them from ones I downloaded from the DVD profiler site...can't remember exact changes, other than to ensure that Slot was an included field.

Remove the ".txt" at the end (put it there to allow upload here) and put in your Reports directory (C:\Program Files\InterVocative Software\DVD Profiler\reports, if you install to default directory).

Tools/Reports in DVD profiler to access.

I'm strongly considering buying this unit. Question?? If I plug into my TV via HDMI, will I still get sound out of the optical audio output to my receiver???

If you mean can you connect the 995 to your TV via HDMI and to your receiver via optical for 5.1 audio to the receiver, then yes. That's how I have mine set up.

You won't lose any data if you flip the disc....as long as there is a disc in the slot, the data is retained. No need to buy another unit.... :D

Uh, Duh....

The point of buying the 400 disc changer is so YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET UP!

Bad move on SONY

Poor Man,

I know exactly what you mean, when I first realized that they had shelved that feature from the newer models I couldn't understand why. Then I started thinking about which of my discs where "flippers", and I realized almost all of them are oldies, ones that typically had newer versions out (that probably aren't flippers), or had widescreen on one side and 4-3 on the other. This means that Sony eliminated a mechanical feature that rarely gets used, to me it means one less thing to break. The one exception I've seen to this is TV shows, and for those I just burn the B side and all is good.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the movies,
John

Uh, Duh....

The point of buying the 400 disc changer is so YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET UP!

Bad move on SONY

Uh Duh...what's the bad move, that the 995 doesn't flip discs? I guess that's too bad if you have discs that require flipping, but those aren't common any more from what I've seen...Sony can't build new models to support a feature that the majority of their customers won't care about.

If you're referring to retaining data when you remove a disc to play it somewhere else, then you're getting up to do that anyway.

OK....my turn to cry. My 995 lost all my movie info today.

Turned on the unit, inserted about five new discs in various slots, changed to an existing movie (not new) and closed door.

Then went to Disc Explorer to check and add titles, and had a sea of question marks...all my movie title, etc., info is gone.

So thank goodness for DVD Profiler. I'm not going to bother to re-enter the data into the player, since I have no guarantee it won't go away again.

Bummer...wonder if it's worth calling Sony about a replacement unit. Only worthwhile if this is a HW defect in my player, and not a general firmware problem. I know a couple others have experienced this, but I don't think I've seen anything that would indicate whether this is a general issue, or the result of some problem w/some percentage of the players.

after sony fixed my IR issue, I have started to experience a new, more annoying issue. Disks that play perfectly in my xbox 360 and powermac g5 now are pixelating at various points during the movie and occasionally freezes completely. I have cleaned the laser and rerun the auto calibration for cd, sl, and dl media. What should I do now? I am very upset with the quality of this unit, and sonys poor handling of the matter.

Call them, and tell them you want to send it back and have them fix it again. And that you want to have it fixed right this time, and with no added problems that you did not have before. Or to have them replace it with another one.

Folks, I've written off the 995's explorer feature all-together since it lost memory...and have opted to use DVD Profiler. Thanks for all the great advice so far. Wanting to contribute some thoughts of my own and also ask for a bit more advice, If I may:

I really like the Profiler. Fairly easy to use once getting familiar with the interface. It's highly customizable, and I MOST LIKE being able to share my up-to-date collection with friends via a URL.

Although I was without the original cases to scan/enter UPC codes, I found the manual entry of titles to be very easy. Having about 330 discs, I entered them in numerical order so it would automatically label them in order. There are a few issues/challenges I encountered, hence these questions:

MAIN ISSUE : whether to use Slot # or Regular number? -- I opted for 'regular' and encoutered these issues:

a) Let's say slot 15 has a DVD not in the dB, I would have to enter a 'dummy' entry to keep the sequence going (you're unable to enter something manually that doesn't exist in the dB. Can you 'force' a new/personal title into your collection somehow?

b) Let's say a slot 20 is empty, I'd have to enter a 'dummy' entry to keep the sequence of discs going that I already have in my changer

SECOND ISSUE: When doing Slot assignment, can you tell DVDProfiler that there are multiple discs associated with it (so it accounts for those add'l slots)? Seemed to have that feature, but didn't know how to approach.

Any pro/cons to either approach are appreciated before I get too far along with this 2nd round of my project :o

Thanks all!

My 995 has lost ALL movie info before to. The unit is only about 8 weeks old. One day opened the disc explorer list was fine. Picked a movie started playing. Stopped the movie, opened explorer to pick a different movie and all that was there was question marks. Won't hand enter all the titles again. I use DVD Profiler but still like the Explorer feature. I have started burning backups of my DVD's. I found a program (title writer) that writes the title to the DVD so that the 995 can read the title like it should in the first place.

My 995 has lost ALL movie info before to. The unit is only about 8 weeks old. One day opened the disc explorer list was fine. Picked a movie started playing. Stopped the movie, opened explorer to pick a different movie and all that was there was question marks. Won't hand enter all the titles again. I use DVD Profiler but still like the Explorer feature. I have started burning backups of my DVD's. I found a program (title writer) that writes the title to the DVD so that the 995 can read the title like it should in the first place.

Yeah...the main bummer, since I use DVD Profiler, is that my family tended to use the on-screen explorer more.

I'll likely live with it, as everything else is good, and wouldn't want to trade one problem that has minimal impact, for another that might be more bothersome...

My 995 has lost ALL movie info before to. The unit is only about 8 weeks old. One day opened the disc explorer list was fine. Picked a movie started playing. Stopped the movie, opened explorer to pick a different movie and all that was there was question marks. Won't hand enter all the titles again. I use DVD Profiler but still like the Explorer feature. I have started burning backups of my DVD's. I found a program (title writer) that writes the title to the DVD so that the 995 can read the title like it should in the first place.

can you give me a link to that title writer program you use?

Folks, I've written off the 995's explorer feature all-together since it lost memory...and have opted to use DVD Profiler.

grob312-

As I previously mentioned, I use DVD Profiler to catalog my DVD collection and capture the DVD jacket cover art, both are then used/stored on my TSU7000 remote control.

When I initially started, I stacked all of my DVDs in alphabetical order and enter using "Add DVD by UPC". Making the number that was assigned to the Title in sequential order. I did this because it would make the link (programming) of the number in the remote control easier or faster. After that, when I add a DVD to my collection, the number is assign but no longer has to be in order. That's why if you look at my DVD Profiler's "Owned" list, the numbers are out of sequence (if you click on Title).

Sometimes I would have to add more than one disk from the DVD (box sets, special editions, etc.) or a DVD not found in the Profiler's database. I would then need to add the disks manually by using the "Add By Title". De-select "Download profile from IVS" found near the bottom on the "Add By Title" screen and then add the title.

- wjjz106

http://www.intervocative.com/dvdcollection.aspx/wjjz106

Call them, and tell them you want to send it back and have them fix it again. And that you want to have it fixed right this time, and with no added problems that you did not have before. Or to have them replace it with another one.


The problem is that it cost me over $70 to send it in last time, and I was without a DVD player for a month. If i do it again, I am now out close to $150, which is half the value of the player. I could have upgraded to the 777ES for slightly more.

.

1

Sorry guys, I'm new here and I need to post an urgent message with html link about this player... I need to have more than 5 posts to do this.

Just 2 more.

Last dummy post. sorry! :mad:

Hey All,

I want to post this chat session that I just had with Sony support. This is about a HUGE problem that the DVP-CX995V 400 Disc DVD player has. The problem is that the disc information people spend hours typing in sometimes dissapears if the player is unplugged or when you are playing a DVD and you hit the eject button (this is what happened to me).

This guy I chatted with supposedly had never heard of this and doesn't have any docs to support my problem (that everone else has too). I feel he knows there's a problem with the player because he wouldn't tell me if he would buy one for himself. Also, notice that he mentions that it can happen when there is a power surge. Then later, he mentions that he has no documentation about the issue.

If you have this problem I URGE YOU to go to http://esupport.sony.com/EN/feedback/emailform-cons.html to log an issue with sony and report it. PLEASE!!!

Here is the chat session that I had (WHICH WAS NO HELP AT ALL):

user Randall has entered room

analyst Wallace_ has entered room

Wallace_> Hi Randall. Welcome to Sony Online Support.

Randall> hello

Wallace_> I'm Wallace. Please allow me a brief moment to review your question.

Randall> thanks

Wallace_> Randall, can you please tell me how the titles got disappeared.

Randall> After watching a movie, I hit the Eject button on the player. The player took about 5 minutes to eject. After the DVD ejected, I went back to the explorer and all titles were erased.

Wallace_> Please stay online while I check this information for you.

Randall> thanks

Randall> I lost about 350 dvd titles. I do not want to retype this information.

Wallace_> I can understand your concern regarding the loss of the DVD title.

Wallace_> Do you have any disc information in the unit?

Randall> All of the disc information that I typed in (350 DVD's and 50 CD's) was lost.

Wallace_> I am sorry to hear that you have lost the information.

Wallace_> I suggest that you enter the Disc information once again to the unit.

Randall> This is the 3rd time this happend.

Randall> why should I try again?

Randall> Is there a fix for this?

Wallace_> I suggest that you connect the unit to a different wall outlet.

Wallace_> This can occur due to a power surge.

Randall> I have a UPS connected to this. I've never lost power to the unit.

Randall> I would like an incident number for this support issue.

Wallace_> I am sorry. We do not have a reference number for the chat session.

Randall> Is there a fix for this problem? I have discovered that virtually every DVP-CX995 owner has had this problem through online forums.

Wallace_> As this issue requires extensive troubleshooting, I suggest that you contact our Hotline Team at 1-800-222-7669 or 1-888-772-7669.

Wallace_> They are available from Mon-Fri 9:00AM-10:00PM / Sat-Sun 10:30AM-7:15PM.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?

Wallace_> We are not aware of any issues with the Sony DVPCX995V.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Wallace_> I am truly sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Wallace_> We do conform to high quality standards, this is unusual.

Wallace_> I suggest that you contact our Home Video Hotline Team.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Randall> hello?

Wallace_> Yes, I am online.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Wallace_> I will go for the unit as we have a good review about it.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Randall> This is why I bought the product, because it had a good review, but I would like to know your opinion.

Wallace_> I am sorry. I am not authorized to reveal my personal opinion and information.

Randall> People that review products truly don't own them and experience real issues like everyone else.

Randall> I am sorry too for continuing to purchase Sony products.

Randall> If you can't reveal your opinion, can you be truthfull and tell me that you have seen documentation about this problem before?

Wallace_> I understand your concern; it is unusual for a customer to experience the challenges that you have faced.

Wallace_> I understand how you feel and apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Randall> Have you seen documentation about this problem before?



Wallace_> I do understand your concern. Frankly Randall, I feel bad about not being able to assist you.

Randall> Can you have someone contact me about this issue?

Wallace_> I have not received any similar issues about the Sony DVPCX995V.

Randall> Well let me be the first documented case.

Wallace_> Yes, that is right.

Wallace_> Shall I forward a link where you will be able to send an email to our support team?

Randall> yes please

Wallace_> You feed back about the unit will be escalated to the concerned department.

Randall> I am waiting for the link.

Wallace_> Sure, I will forward a link where you will be able to send an email.

Wallace_> http://esupport.sony.com/EN/feedback/emailform-cons.html

Wallace_> When you receive the link please click on it to open the page and let me know if you are able to view it.

Randall> Yes, I was able to view it.

Wallace_> Customer input and response is invaluable in the continued support and development of our products.

Wallace_> We want you to know that we appreciate your feedback.

Randall> Thank You.

Wallace_> I suggest that you send an email from the link I have send about this issue.

Dana, from everything I've read and experienced it is a much more widespread issue than you realize. Good luck if you opt to attempt to have it repaired or replaced.

Dana, from everything I've read and experienced it is a much more widespread issue than you realize. Good luck if you opt to attempt to have it repaired or replaced.

Thanks.

I don't like to use postings on web boards to try to generate failure statistics, due to all the sampling/selection issues, so I don't feel like I have any good idea at all as to the frequency. It seems most likely it's a bug in the firmware, however, that appears w/certain combinations of actions, and is unlikely to be fixed by an exchange. I don't buy the suggestion that it is caused by a surge at all.

I will report the problem, but have my doubts Sony will see enough of a payback here to track down the defect and fix it via firmware update, and then work out getting that update into units in the field.

Luckily, the good still greatly outweighs the bad w/the 995 for me.

The problem is that it cost me over $70 to send it in last time, .

What the heck kind of shipping did you use that it cost $70? I'm guessing it was through the post office at that price. I know for a fact that I can send one with 3 day Fed-Ex ground service for less than that. My guess is that for 3 day ground with Fed-Ex insured for $400 would be about $35-$40. Because I have sent out fully assembled tower PC's that I have built for people, that weigh about twice the weight of a 995 and are in a box almost as big. And the cost is usually $35-$45 for sending them to a residential address, and a bit less to a business address. Because when you are sending something to a business address, it is usually about $4 less than the same thing would be to a residential address. As they have a residential address surcharge that usually runs around $3-$5 per package.

Go to Fedex.com, and set yourself up with a personal Fed-Ex shipping account, there is no charge for doing it. And you can set up any shipments you want to send out online, and even print out the shipping labels. And they will even supply you with free laser or inkjet self-stick label form paper, or the plastic pouches where you can just fold up and put in a label that's been printed out on a normal sheet of paper. You can even have them pick it up for a extra charge of about $6 if it's being sent via any option above ground shipping. Plus you can ship no items a month or 500 items a month. It makes no difference as there is no requirements that you must ship any amount per month at all to have a account.

Hey All,

I want to post this chat session that I just had with Sony support. This is about a HUGE problem that the DVP-CX995V 400 Disc DVD player has. The problem is that the disc information people spend hours typing in sometimes dissapears if the player is unplugged or when you are playing a DVD and you hit the eject button (this is what happened to me).

This guy I chatted with supposedly had never heard of this and doesn't have any docs to support my problem (that everone else has too). I feel he knows there's a problem with the player because he wouldn't tell me if he would buy one for himself. Also, notice that he mentions that it can happen when there is a power surge. Then later, he mentions that he has no documentation about the issue.

If you have this problem I URGE YOU to go to http://esupport.sony.com/EN/feedback/emailform-cons.html to log an issue with sony and report it. PLEASE!!!

Here is the chat session that I had (WHICH WAS NO HELP AT ALL):

user Randall has entered room

analyst Wallace_ has entered room

Wallace_> Hi Randall. Welcome to Sony Online Support.

Randall> hello

Wallace_> I'm Wallace. Please allow me a brief moment to review your question.

Randall> thanks

Wallace_> Randall, can you please tell me how the titles got disappeared.

Randall> After watching a movie, I hit the Eject button on the player. The player took about 5 minutes to eject. After the DVD ejected, I went back to the explorer and all titles were erased.

Wallace_> Please stay online while I check this information for you.

Randall> thanks

Randall> I lost about 350 dvd titles. I do not want to retype this information.

Wallace_> I can understand your concern regarding the loss of the DVD title.

Wallace_> Do you have any disc information in the unit?

Randall> All of the disc information that I typed in (350 DVD's and 50 CD's) was lost.

Wallace_> I am sorry to hear that you have lost the information.

Wallace_> I suggest that you enter the Disc information once again to the unit.

Randall> This is the 3rd time this happend.

Randall> why should I try again?

Randall> Is there a fix for this?

Wallace_> I suggest that you connect the unit to a different wall outlet.

Wallace_> This can occur due to a power surge.

Randall> I have a UPS connected to this. I've never lost power to the unit.

Randall> I would like an incident number for this support issue.

Wallace_> I am sorry. We do not have a reference number for the chat session.

Randall> Is there a fix for this problem? I have discovered that virtually every DVP-CX995 owner has had this problem through online forums.

Wallace_> As this issue requires extensive troubleshooting, I suggest that you contact our Hotline Team at 1-800-222-7669 or 1-888-772-7669.

Wallace_> They are available from Mon-Fri 9:00AM-10:00PM / Sat-Sun 10:30AM-7:15PM.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?

Wallace_> We are not aware of any issues with the Sony DVPCX995V.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Wallace_> I am truly sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Wallace_> We do conform to high quality standards, this is unusual.

Wallace_> I suggest that you contact our Home Video Hotline Team.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Randall> hello?

Wallace_> Yes, I am online.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Wallace_> I will go for the unit as we have a good review about it.

Randall> Would you buy a product like this if it can't remember the information you would spend hours and hours typing?


Randall> This is why I bought the product, because it had a good review, but I would like to know your opinion.

Wallace_> I am sorry. I am not authorized to reveal my personal opinion and information.

Randall> People that review products truly don't own them and experience real issues like everyone else.

Randall> I am sorry too for continuing to purchase Sony products.

Randall> If you can't reveal your opinion, can you be truthfull and tell me that you have seen documentation about this problem before?

Wallace_> I understand your concern; it is unusual for a customer to experience the challenges that you have faced.

Wallace_> I understand how you feel and apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Randall> Have you seen documentation about this problem before?



Wallace_> I do understand your concern. Frankly Randall, I feel bad about not being able to assist you.

Randall> Can you have someone contact me about this issue?

Wallace_> I have not received any similar issues about the Sony DVPCX995V.

Randall> Well let me be the first documented case.

Wallace_> Yes, that is right.

Wallace_> Shall I forward a link where you will be able to send an email to our support team?

Randall> yes please

Wallace_> You feed back about the unit will be escalated to the concerned department.

Randall> I am waiting for the link.

Wallace_> Sure, I will forward a link where you will be able to send an email.

Wallace_> http://esupport.sony.com/EN/feedback/emailform-cons.html

Wallace_> When you receive the link please click on it to open the page and let me know if you are able to view it.

Randall> Yes, I was able to view it.

Wallace_> Customer input and response is invaluable in the continued support and development of our products.

Wallace_> We want you to know that we appreciate your feedback.

Randall> Thank You.

Wallace_> I suggest that you send an email from the link I have send about this issue.
Thanks for circulating that link. Here's a copy of the note that I just sent to them:

All the information I spent HOURS typing into this device was lost....very frustrating! This was purchased a few weeks ago from Crutchfield.
I didn't unplug the machine, there were no error messages.....one minute I'm browsing movies in the Explorer/Folder, the next minute, all the slots with DVDs are replaced by "?" instead of the titles I'd entered. No power surges, nothing.
After conferring with some other people on AVSforum.com, seems this is a widespread problem. Some suspect it has to do with hitting the "Eject" button while a movie is playing (which shouldn't cause all-out memory loss)....which would indicate the software/firmware is plain bad.
Anyway, I'm very displeased with my purchase since I can't effectively use the interface/menu system to navigate through the 400 discs. Rather, I have to use a 3rd party application to keep track of my movie collection since the memory of the DVD player clearly can't be trusted. Definitely less than an ideal situation.
At this point, rather than a replacement, I'd be interested in significant credit toward some other Sony product since I doubt there has been an actual "fix" to the programming (and clearly this widespread problem isn't a fluke).

Did you try fiddling with the slider button on top? I think the manual says the folder button only works on the remote when the slider is set to "navigation".
The setting choice is "Disk Explorer."

OK...sent in my "lost data" rant as well. Thanks for the link.

SECOND ISSUE: When doing Slot assignment, can you tell DVDProfiler that there are multiple discs associated with it (so it accounts for those add'l slots)? Seemed to have that feature, but didn't know how to approach.


There is, but it's kind of like two way process to do it.

First to add the additional discs, just pick the DVD you want add more discs to that is already in your list (such as maybe a box set that shows up as only one slot used, and where you want to have a slot number for each disc that is in the set), and then pick the edit option. Then in the edit options where it shows, "Features, Overview, Easter Eggs, Discs" Pick the one for "Discs", and then in there you have the option to "Add Disc", and every time you click on that it will add more discs to the title. It will default to giving the first added disk the name of "Bonus Materials" and then the next one it will call "Disc 3" and then if you click again the next one will be "Disc 4" and so on, but you can chose whatever you want to call them as those are only the defaults it assigns, and you can override them by just typing something else in.
And then after that, now pick on the disc, and there should be the new discs that you added in the above. Pick the one you that want to personalize with more information and assign a location or slot number. You then go to the menu choices on the very top of the screen, pick the one for DVD. Then in the drop down menus that one produces, pick "Personalize DVD" and in there you can access the disc you are now on, that you added with the disc edit option. In Personalize DVD menu where the choices are "Notes" and "Discs", again pick the one for "Discs", and that is the one that lets you assign the slot number and location.




And another way for Box sets, such as maybe a full season of The X-files or a 3 movie box set. Or something else like those, where they do not sell the discs that are in the set separately.

Go into Edit mode for the main profile of the Box Set. Then look for the Box Set button in the top third of the information section. Click it and begin assigning the sub-profiles to the main profile. After you Save the changes, you should see the main profile with a plus on the left and the others are hidden until you click the plus.

I am having trouble getting my changer to output to my 1920 x 1080 LCD via HDMI. Both S-vid and component work fine but no picture or sound via HDMI. I have tried swapping the HDMI cable and gone through the menu on the Sony and changed the various settings from auto to 1920 etc. with no success. My LCD is a Sceptre Naga 37" and I can't figure out if there is a problem with the changer or the LCD. Any suggestions?

I am having trouble getting my changer to output to my 1920 x 1080 LCD via HDMI. Both S-vid and component work fine but no picture or sound via HDMI. I have tried swapping the HDMI cable and gone through the menu on the Sony and changed the various settings from auto to 1920 etc. with no success. My LCD is a Sceptre Naga 37" and I can't figure out if there is a problem with the changer or the LCD. Any suggestions?

Did you disconnect component connections when you tried? I don't think you can have both connected at the same time. Try powering off the unit, remove the component cables, connect the HDMI and power on.

Another possibility is a problem w/the HDMI handshake between the two devices, but usually you'll see some sort of error message or at least snow in that case. You're getting a blank screen, or ?

Tricky question for everyone here... has anyone figured out a macro/sequence that will land you at the start of a movie? For EVERY disc? I've been working on a program on my HTPC that utilizes DVD Profiler and USB-UIRT to load and launch a DVD from the changer. Loading the disc is simple enough, but I have a trailer file triggered to play while the changer runs thru a myriad of play, fast forward, chapter skip, stop, start, blah blah blah, then finally loads and plays title 1 of the disc by the time my intro trailer is finished - this way I'm not forced to watch previews, FBI warnings, etc. Problem is almost no two discs are alike, some will allow you to press "stop" while previews run, others have that feature disabled. My program works with probably 85 to 90% of my 300+ disc collection.

Ideally, I'd like to find a way to press STOP at any time regardless of whether the disc is encoded to disable STOP. This would cut down on the amount of time to get the disc ready. If there's an undocumented IR code that I can program the USB-UIRT to blast that would be ideal, however currently I'm just stuck with a multitude of miscellaneous button presses to achieve the beginning of the movie.

Any HTPC folks out there have experience with this??

Tricky question for everyone here... has anyone figured out a macro/sequence that will land you at the start of a movie? For EVERY disc?
I have the cx777es controlled with the RS232c input...starts on chapter 1 everytime...except for Monsters Inc...Ugh!!! Don't think you will be able to do more then what you are doing with the 985 or 995 without serial control.

There is, but it's kind of like two way process to do it.

First to add the additional discs, just pick the DVD you want add more discs to that is already in your list (such as maybe a box set that shows up as only one slot used, and where you want to have a slot number for each disc that is in the set), and then pick the edit option. Then in the edit options where it shows, "Features, Overview, Easter Eggs, Discs" Pick the one for "Discs", and then in there you have the option to "Add Disc", and every time you click on that it will add more discs to the title. It will default to giving the first added disk the name of "Bonus Materials" and then the next one it will call "Disc 3" and then if you click again the next one will be "Disc 4" and so on, but you can chose whatever you want to call them as those are only the defaults it assigns, and you can override them by just typing something else in.
And then after that, now pick on the disc, and there should be the new discs that you added in the above. Pick the one you that want to personalize with more information and assign a location or slot number. You then go to the menu choices on the very top of the screen, pick the one for DVD. Then in the drop down menus that one produces, pick "Personalize DVD" and in there you can access the disc you are now on, that you added with the disc edit option. In Personalize DVD menu where the choices are "Notes" and "Discs", again pick the one for "Discs", and that is the one that lets you assign the slot number and location.




And another way for Box sets, such as maybe a full season of The X-files or a 3 movie box set. Or something else like those, where they do not sell the discs that are in the set separately.

Go into Edit mode for the main profile of the Box Set. Then look for the Box Set button in the top third of the information section. Click it and begin assigning the sub-profiles to the main profile. After you Save the changes, you should see the main profile with a plus on the left and the others are hidden until you click the plus.

This is really helpful....thanks for the great info. I'll definitely give it a try

Sorry for being a bit "off-topic" ... but does the cx777es also upconvert, just over component instead of HDMI?

I was really excited to hear about a 400 disc changer that upconverts and also has HDMI out, but after reading this entire thread I am wondering if I would not be better off with the older 777es instead?!?

I suppose Sony will eventually update the 777es to include HDMI........ someday.....

Sorry for being a bit "off-topic" ... but does the cx777es also upconvert, just over component instead of HDMI?

I was really excited to hear about a 400 disc changer that upconverts and also has HDMI out, but after reading this entire thread I am wondering if I would not be better off with the older 777es instead?!?

I suppose Sony will eventually update the 777es to include HDMI........ someday.....

The Sony DVP-CX777ES does not upconvert. Sorry. :-( 480p only via component.

Tricky question for everyone here... has anyone figured out a macro/sequence that will land you at the start of a movie? For EVERY disc?
....

Any HTPC folks out there have experience with this??

I think you'll find that the HTPC folks who are serious about this issue rip movie only copies of all their DVDs and save them on the hard drive and thus avoid all those problems.

Sorry for being a bit "off-topic" ... but does the cx777es also upconvert, just over component instead of HDMI?

I was really excited to hear about a 400 disc changer that upconverts and also has HDMI out, but after reading this entire thread I am wondering if I would not be better off with the older 777es instead?!?

I suppose Sony will eventually update the 777es to include HDMI........ someday.....


My guess is, and it's only a guess. Is that the CX777ES won't be updated/replaced until the new HD DVD stuff comes out, and is sorted out. As I'm thinking Sony may probably want any new flagship 400 disc ES replacement model, to have more than just a upconverting feature added to it.
Plus with many fixed pixel sets, the upconversion of the TV itself is often as good or better than some of the DVD players that offer upconversion. So on many of them a good component input, often looks just as good as the upconverted HDMI input will.

Personally, I also have a outboard scaler myself that offers me a lot more options in upconversion settings over what a TV or a DVD player that also has it built into it, so I could care less that the 777ES does not offer it's own upconverson.

John....

I have been considering either a Lumagen or one of the newer generation scalers (gennum/HQV). I was initially interested in the iScan VP30, but am confused by what I saw at CES.... :-( They were showing a demo of what initially I thought was the VP30, but turned out to be I believe their next gen processor compared to a VP30.... in the demo the VP30 sucked... which sort of led me to "then why bother." Other than iScan has been pretty good about upgrades in the past.

My guess is, and it's only a guess. Is that the CX777ES won't be updated/replaced until the new HD DVD stuff comes out, and is sorted out. As I'm thinking Sony may probably want any new flagship 400 disc ES replacement model, to have more than just a upconverting feature added to it.
Plus with many fixed pixel sets, the upconversion of the TV itself is often as good or better than some of the DVD players that offer upconversion. So on many of them a good component input, often looks just as good as the upconverted HDMI input will.

Personally, I also have a outboard scaler myself that offers me a lot more options in upconversion settings over what a TV or a DVD player that also has it built into it, so I could care less that the 777ES does not offer it's own upconverson.

Yeah...I can't imagine Sony updating their mega-changers until Blu Ray is more established, sufficient titles are out there, etc.

I wonder how quickly Blu Ray & HD DVD discs are going to appear, and what the price points are going to be...I've gotten used to DVDs at $9.99 - $12.99, and they look excellent on my set, so I don't think I'm going to be an early adopter. :)

I think you'll find that the HTPC folks who are serious about this issue rip movie only copies of all their DVDs and save them on the hard drive and thus avoid all those problems.

I agree and weighed that option - I just don't have the time to do all that, plus I experienced a drive failure on one of my mega-drives a few months ago so the risk of data loss is just too great. The 777 was another option but I couldn't justify the price just for the RS232 feature alone (plus no HDMI) I suppose another option is to rip the DVDs without previews but again that just takes too long. :eek:

I'll get it all figured out eventually - having a blast with the current setup for most movies... just looking for anyone else with equivalent or more experience on the subject.. thx!!

I wonder how quickly Blu Ray & HD DVD discs are going to appear, and what the price points are going to be...I've gotten used to DVDs at $9.99 - $12.99, and they look excellent on my set, so I don't think I'm going to be an early adopter.

I think the rumors are, that they will be in or around the $30 price range. Or at least that's where they, meaning the greedy MPAA and movie studios, probably would like them to be at. I like you, for the most part like what new release DVDs generally cost now and think they are fairly priced when at the $10-$16 range. And if they are at $30, I certainly would not be buying very many DVDs like I do now, at that kind of price range. So I think, that if they end up costing $30+ for the HD versions, the sales at first may be good, but it will only be because of the initial people that must always have such things as the latest and greatest gadgets. And after that, they will probably end up maybe either going down in price, or be mostly just end up a rental market item. And I don't think they really want them to only be primarily a rental market item. So they will probably play around with the pricing until they find the point where they are happy enough with how many actually sell, and at the most they can get for them to be at that point. Which will hopefully be under $20 for new release day sales.

Even now a $20 DVD is about $14-$16 on new release day/week, and then it goes back up to $20 after a week. Then about two months later if it's one of the many 'so-so' movie titles, you often end up later seeing them permanently placed in the $10 or less area.

do you guys with the titles problems still think its worth buying this dvd player? Cause i really want it but if im going to have the same issue after putting in 400 dvds and then all they titles get deleted i don't want to have to deal with that. SO your guys opinion please? =)

do you guys with the titles problems still think its worth buying this dvd player? Cause i really want it but if im going to have the same issue after putting in 400 dvds and then all they titles get deleted i don't want to have to deal with that. SO your guys opinion please? =)


Just D/L and use DVD Profiler instead of worrying about the player retaining the disc information. IMO, it's still a better and more usefully way to go, even if the player did/does not lose the disc info.

Plus just by going with their past history of such things with Sony. I really don't see Sony worrying about fixing this problem unless they come out with a entirely new replacement model at some time later on in the future. And that they will probably just ignore the current problems with it, just like they have done so with the auto start BS on both past and current models for years now.

I don't even think having a lot of people complaining to them about it will help much, because people have been complaining about the auto start stuff for well over 4-5 years now. And nothing ever really got fixed on that issue. So unless they decide that they can find a simple low cost way for them to fix it, such as the user only needing to play a CD or DVD that can change something in the firmware to fix it, assuming it even has a firmware chip that can be reflashed, as not all can be. I just don't see it happening.

I have the free version of DVD Profiler and have printed out a report of all my movies & Tv shows and placed them into a album......that way all I have to do is open it up and once i find a movie wanted .....look at waht slot its in and enter the # into the player and im done...the explorer browser is GREAT........but if it ever fails I cannot see me typing all movies back in!

Sorry for the delay. Been away from the computer for a few days. Here is the link to the Title Writer Program.

Well could not send the post with the link included. If you do a google search for

titlewriter it will find it. It is on a dvdshrink url.

What is the least costly approach to get PC control of the 995? Not too worried about automatically determining which titles are in it, more of what is the best way to make it easy to get to them.

Is there any MCE Add-in/addition to My Movies that might support this (using IR)?

I have an old slink-E device, can I use that in some way here? Looks like the 955 doesn't have s-link though.

Is the best bet a more expensive remote TSU7000 or MX-300?

What is the least costly approach to get PC control of the 995?

Look about 1/2 way through this thread, because all that info about this is there.

Is there any MCE Add-in/addition to My Movies that might support this (using IR)?

I have no idea if it does or not. But there are more than a few other HTPC programs that do under WinXP.
Again, all that info can be found in earlier posts that were made in this thread. They were all pretty much in one section, and it went on for a few pages, so you'll know it when you find it.

I have an old slink-E device, can I use that in some way here? Looks like the 955 doesn't have s-link though.

Yeah a slink-E can be made to output IR, and if you bought it new, it should have also came with 1 Xantech Stick-on IR Emitter. But it can not connect directly at all with a 995. Because like you say, it does not have a S-link/control-S port.

But you may want to sell your slink-E, as you can't buy them new anymore other than on ebay, and a lot of people still want them. Used ones fetch quite a bit on ebay also, usually in the range of around $100+ if you have all the parts/accessories for it. (if you look at ebay, they can go for $150+ for a new one) And for IR use as long as you are not using the slink-E for anything else and it is just collecting dust. Sell it, and instead get a USB-UIRT, because it works a lot better at sending out IR commands than the slink-E with the IR emitter does. And it is also directly supported by quite a few different HTPC programs. Cost is like $50 plus S&H, and if you sold you slink-E on ebay, you should easily end up with some extra money left over.

http://www.usbuirt.com/overview.htm

Is the best bet a more expensive remote TSU7000 or MX-300?

Well that's up to you, it's pricey way to go though. With the MSRP of a MX-3000 at about $1000, and the price of the add-on program that is also required for this. You are looking at total at MSRP pricing, of $1100+, just for a remote and a program.

Here is the add-on MX-3000 software/program that is required. And you also need DVD Profiler, either the free or pay version.

http://triplebsoftware.com/DMX-3000/index.htm


With that kind of price, for such a remote and the software. You may want to consider a DVP-CX777ES, as it has a RS232 port, and it also still has the S-link/control-S port as well. And it would be cheaper than buying such a remote and software by about $500. And you can fully control that with a HTPC, and I know that the My Movies program, is also working on direct support for the CX777ES by using the RS232 connection.

Thanks for the info. I'll go scan through the thread again. I had looked but it seemed like a lot of the talk was about the 777ES which I don't want b/c of the lack of upscaling. Good idea on selling the Slink-E though, I'll put it up on e-bay.

I haven't explored the disc/title programming capabilities of it yet, but I can vouch that the Harmony 880 is a pretty fine remote for use w/ this Sony.

Also, as others suggest doing, I have a full computer/web/iPod catalog backup of my DVD library for browsing and backup/insurance against the settop's catalog failing (FYI, package I'm using is 'DVDpedia', very solid--but I'm on a Mac, and it sound like you're on a PC), but not direct control...yet ;).

I believe someone else on this thread who has a Harmony 880 has downloaded their DVD listing to their 880, and can go directly to a specific disc via their remote. Several Harmony models have a "media" button/option which allows you to do that...

I believe someone else on this thread who has a Harmony 880 has downloaded their DVD listing to their 880, and can go directly to a specific disc via their remote. Several Harmony models have a "media" button/option which allows you to do that...


Any thoughts on this??? I have an 880 and like Danabw would love to have a more simplified method of disc selection. Can the 880 sub for the disc explorer???

Any thoughts on this??? I have an 880 and like Danabw would love to have a more simplified method of disc selection. Can the 880 sub for the disc explorer???

All you had to do was search this thread for "880" and browse a few of the results... :)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6225598&highlight=880#post6225598

Remote Control - I have used several remotes from $20 to $1,000. The ProntoPro did a decent job with the Sony, but the programming time was crazy. I had a super custom setup with DVD pictures and everything. The new Harmony 880 rocks for a $250 remote. It is an unpublished feature, but it controls the Sony 985 like magic. You can import a .CVF file from DVD Profiler or manually enter the titles into the proramming website (all 400) and then update the remote. Now, when you are in the "Play DVD" activity and press the "Media" key, it will show you alpha ranges [A-F, G-K, etc.], when you pick a range it will show you all movie titles in that range, then you push the button next to the title and it sends the correct sequence to the player. Works EVERY time!

Send robtwilk a PM and I'm sure he'll help you, or visit www.remotecentral.com and look in the Harmony forum for more information. Have fun...

I bought this player last night, but decided to return it and order the DVP-NS3100ES. It had some quirky performance issues, and I thought the labeling system was not very well designed. Each disk had to played first before I could label it, for example. I found this to be very annoying, especially since the load time of each disc was slow. Navigating to other disks with the remote required sliding of the TV/DVD/Edit button to edit in order to select a disc, and then back to DVD to get full functionality on the remote again. This is way too much trouble for me. The picture quality via HDMI, upconverted to 1080i, was excellent though; no complaints there.

Rwetmore...

FYI...you don't have to play all the DVDs to label them...you insert your discs, press "Load" on the player, and it automatically goes through all your DVDs, loads each one briefly and gets data from all the discs it can (unfortunately not a very high percentage). When it's done doing that you can then label the DVDs that still need it from the Disc Explorer menu. So you don't need to sit there and play each one...let the player do the drudgery on it's own and then label what you need to. :)

I don't use any remote but my Harmony, so the Sony remote so that wasn't an issue for me, but I agree with you there...I don't care for the Sony remote either.

Thanks for the info. I'll go scan through the thread again. I had looked but it seemed like a lot of the talk was about the 777ES which I don't want b/c of the lack of upscaling. Good idea on selling the Slink-E though, I'll put it up on e-bay.


Upscaling may not be what it's cracked up to be. Combined with a good set, or a good scaler, the upscaling may not as beneficial as you think.

My Movies! for MCE doesn't have any IR control, and the developer is not planning on adding any IR control support any time soon. I'm working with him though to add RS-232 support for the 777ES, so with My Movies, you'd have complete control over the 777ES, within MCE and for free.

In their review of the CX995V, ConsumerReports states: "There are better choices for use with a high-definition TV; provides only intermittent smoothing of progressive-scan images from film-based DVDs (such as those of most movie releases)."

Anyone using this mega changer with an HD TV or Projector? If so, what is your opinion of the quality?

I was getting ready to order a 995, but now I'm a little apprehensive.

I use the Sony with a 1080p Samsung DLP via HDMI upconversion and I couldn't be more impressed with the picture.
I am coming from a Samsung Upconvert 931 player.

As an example, I was playing the Office (UK) second series on my Xbox 360, because it was quicker to turn on at the time, and that player recieved good marks on the Stereo and Hi Fi report.

The opening credits were filled with macro blocks and herky jerky pan movements.
On the Sony, everything was super smooth.

Trust me, I wanted to hate the Sony because of the horrible Explorer UI, but the picture quality is right up there with the best upconvert players.

Your average $30 DVD player from Wal-Mart will play a movie DVD better than a Xbox will. So that's no big comparison that means very much, for just about any real player will beat a game console when used as a DVD player. Plus you are also forgetting how much the upconversion of your own 1080p Samsung DLP TV itself adds to all this.

Can someone tell me the depth of the feet on this unit? I know the whole thing has a 21" depth, but I am curious as to what the actual depth of the feet is. Just wondering if I have room for this thing on a shelf.

Hello everyone,

Im a new owner to this beast of a dvd player and I had a question or two...

I have previously been playing my dvd's from my HTPC to my Optoma H30 projector. And using FFDSHOW and upscaling Alot of my movies would fill my entire 100" Stewart 16:9 Screen.

However, with this DVD player even movies that are 1:78 arent filling up my screen anymore I am getting the black bars at the top and bottom and I dont know what is wrong. I have using component cables and have went through the setup and made sure 16:9 is selected and full on 4:3 material is there something Im missing or what?

Any help is appreciated.

Dave

Upscaling may not be what it's cracked up to be. Combined with a good set, or a good scaler, the upscaling may not as beneficial as you think.

My Movies! for MCE doesn't have any IR control, and the developer is not planning on adding any IR control support any time soon. I'm working with him though to add RS-232 support for the 777ES, so with My Movies, you'd have complete control over the 777ES, within MCE and for free.


It looks like I'm in luck in another way though since I just got a great deal on the Harmony 880. I'll have to look in to importing the title to it and using it for accessing the discs. That will solve things for me for a while.

Your average $30 DVD player from Wal-Mart will play a movie DVD better than a Xbox will. So that's no big comparison that means very much, for just about any real player will beat a game console when used as a DVD player. Plus you are also forgetting how much the upconversion of your own 1080p Samsung DLP TV itself adds to all this.

I know in your world, everyone would buy $1,000 480i players, ;) I was just explaining my experience with a player that received high marks in a comparison article that many here take very seriously.

So take from it what you will.

I've owned DVD players since the format was born and in my humble opinion, this Sony rates up there with the best "in the price range".

I was undecided between this and the Oppo, but the macro blocking scared the crap out of me (especially coming from the Farjoudi Samsung).

I've owned DVD players since the format was born .

So have I. And a Xbox or a PS2 is FAR from being even a decent DVD player, let alone a good one for playing back DVD movies!

Which IS indeed what you were trying to imply! When you said

"As an example, I was playing the Office (UK) second series on my Xbox 360, because it was quicker to turn on at the time, and that player received good marks on the Stereo and Hi Fi report."


And then you went on to compare it, the 995, with a low end upconverting player that just happen to work good, such as a Samsung 931.
Yet you called them.... "the best upconvert players". That is ridiculous!

" Sony dvp-cx995 title problems
This dvd player holds 400 discs and recognizes 25 of the movies I have in it. My question is does anyone have experience backing up their dvd collection to cheap dvd-r's with text that can be recognized by the changer???

I did this with a sony cd changer a while back and it worked marvelously. No more entering info again ever. With the price of blank dvd's so low, I am seriously considering doing this. "

Has anyone got any experience with backing up DVD originals to include title information on the disc itself? I am moving in a few months and would love to just backup my collection once instead of having to re enter disc info.

With the Price Of DVD-r's so cheap it's a good Idea, the only Downside would be that inevitably most movies would have to be compressed because most are over the 4.37 gb limit of DVD-r, and going to a Dual Layer Disk might be cost prohibitive. I'd be interested in adding DVD Text as well.

You can buy dual layer media for as low as $1.71 each now online. Or even less, if they have a good sale offer going on.
In fact I just recently last month bought 100 of the Ritek dual layer 2.4x DVD+R/DL and also 100 of the 4x DVD-R/DL inkjet printables, for only $1.80 each w/free shipping. And that's a darn good price with the free shipping, for brand name printable dual layers.

I've used Ritek's and Verbatim Dual Layers what seems to be best ?

I've used Ritek's and Verbatim Dual Layers what seems to be best ?

Those are also the only two brands I have used so far, and so far they both seem the same to me.
Or in other words, they both worked.... ;) So I just go with whatever I can get cheaper, and now that they finally also have them available in inkjet printable versions. Whichever I buy, they must now also be the printable versions.

Just check all the usual online sources, such as. Supermediastore.com, allmediaoutlet.com, meritline.com And sign up for their email newsletters that often have sale codes in them.

Hello everyone,
However, with this DVD player even movies that are 1:78 arent filling up my screen anymore I am getting the black bars at the top and bottom and I dont know what is wrong. I have using component cables and have went through the setup and made sure 16:9 is selected and full on 4:3 material is there something Im missing or what?

nimda:
Had a similar problem. Try setting the projector at its native setting (if its 16:9 or 4:3)then set the DVD player to the format you are running full time. Should work.

Man that ebay seller of the refurbished CX777ES's sure is inconsistent with his pricing on them. One time he is at $399 for them as "buy it now", and the next time he is at $499 as a "buy it now". Now $399 is a good deal even though it's a refurb as it still has the 5 year warranty, but at $499, it really is not. Not when you can get it NIB for only $50-$60 more than a refurb.

I could or put up with a few possible scratchs or scuff marks on one at the $399 price. But at the $499 price, no way. I would rather just add another $50-$60 to it and just get a nice clean brand new one.
At the $399 price with the 5 year warranty, I was actually considering getting another one that way, even though I do not really need it yet. But I soon probably will in about another 4 months or so. And I'd rather wait until it gets closer to where I will really need it. So I guess I'll just wait and see how his prices go in the future. And if it looks like he just changes them from one price to the other for no real reasons, other than he wants to. I just wait to see if he has them at the lower prices when it gets nearer to crunch time for me. And maybe by then there may be some new light on any possible new HD or Blu-Ray megachangers becoming available.

Johnla,
I think that you need to look again at his adds, I read something different. The $399 price is for B stock or refurbished units. He apparently is out of them today, because I could not find them on ebay.

The $499 price is for new units that have a slightly damaged outer carton.
>Brand New Factory Sealed/Slight outer carton damage only!< is on the top line of the specifications section.

All have the 5 year warranty.
Hope this helps.

"Sony dvp-cx995 title problems
This dvd player holds 400 discs and recognizes 25 of the movies I have in it. My question is does anyone have experience backing up their dvd collection to cheap dvd-r's with text that can be recognized by the changer???

I did this with a sony cd changer a while back and it worked marvelously. No more entering info again ever. With the price of blank dvd's so low, I am seriously considering doing this. "



What software did you use to create CD with CDText? I have a 300 CD changer and need to do this. I had done a few CD's as a test, but lost my harddrive and the S/W I had to do this.

Thanks,

Hate to be repetitive, but can someone tell me the distance between the feet on this unit? And, how much length is there from the back feet to the deepest part of the rear of this thing?

Thanks in advance.

I think that you need to look again at his adds, I read something different. The $399 price is for B stock or refurbished units. He apparently is out of them today, because I could not find them on ebay.

The $499 price is for new units that have a slightly damaged outer carton.
>Brand New Factory Sealed/Slight outer carton damage only!< is on the top line of the specifications section.

All have the 5 year warranty.


And at $499, that is still no great deal. I can do very close to that within $50, with what I know for a fact is a legit authorized Sony ES dealer anytime I want.

" Sony dvp-cx995 title problems
This dvd player holds 400 discs and recognizes 25 of the movies I have in it. My question is does anyone have experience backing up their dvd collection to cheap dvd-r's with text that can be recognized by the changer???

I did this with a sony cd changer a while back and it worked marvelously. No more entering info again ever. With the price of blank dvd's so low, I am seriously considering doing this. "

Has anyone got any experience with backing up DVD originals to include title information on the disc itself? I am moving in a few months and would love to just backup my collection once instead of having to re enter disc info.


I am in the process of doing this now. About half way through 250 DVD's. I use DVD shrink to shrink the DVD to my hard disk and I also am removing all the extras and menus. That way most of the movies I have done will fit on a single layer DVD with very little compression. I then use Title Writer to enter the DVD title and then use Roxio to burn it to a new DVD disk. Stick it in the Sony 995 and it reads the title with no problem. The Title writer program can do more of the process but I haven't played with it much and only use it to write the title. If you do a search for Title Writer on google it will show up.

Joe

Hi,

I have a CX995V and also a Logitech harmony 880 remote. I've followed the various threads and managed to upload all my DVD titles to the Harmony. I've also learned on this Forum, how to select a disk by number using the Sony CX995V Remote. Now I'd like to know how to incorporate that 3 key sequence into the DVD Harmony Activity? Here is my scenario: I am in the "Play DVD" Activity on the Harmony and I have pressed the "Media" Button and pointed to a particular Title. On the Sony Remote, I've learned that I need to press these keys:

Display
Right(Arrow)
#/Slot
Enter(Select)

It would seem that I need to set up a hard "Display" key on the Harmony in order to make this work. Is that correct? Has anybody done this already? TIA

So have I. And a Xbox or a PS2 is FAR from being even a decent DVD player, let alone a good one for playing back DVD movies!

Which IS indeed what you were trying to imply! When you said

"As an example, I was playing the Office (UK) second series on my Xbox 360, because it was quicker to turn on at the time, and that player received good marks on the Stereo and Hi Fi report."


And then you went on to compare it, the 995, with a low end upconverting player that just happen to work good, such as a Samsung 931.
Yet you called them.... "the best upconvert players". That is ridiculous!

You seemed to be tripped up on something. First, it is the Xbox 360, not a PS2 or Xbox. An inferior player to be sure, but not as bad as the current gen players. But if that helps your argument, so be it. I even gave third party information to back up my assertion.

I was also giving my humble opinion on the article someone posted about the 995 not being film like. Forgive me for giving actual examples and leaving out $2000 players from the equation. I'm also sorry that I had the nerve to not classify the players I have used as "bargain bin upconversion". I guess the "for the price" wasn't enough of a qualifier.

Unless it is being compared to the cheaper player, you'll be sure I'll never comment on $1,000+ 480i dvd players. In my eyes, with HD DVD/BluRay so close, I can't even relate to that.

Hate to be repetitive, but can someone tell me the distance between the feet on this unit? And, how much length is there from the back feet to the deepest part of the rear of this thing?

Thanks in advance.

Ok,,,, assuming we mean the 995V, here are some reasonably close numbers for you.

Width - 17 inches,
Depth (F to B) - 20.5 inches
Height - 7.5 inches

Front feet - (center to center) ~ 14 inches
Front feet diameter ~ 2 inches

Back feet are a little ambiguous,,, I wasn't about to turn the thing over, it's got 359 DVD's in it,,,,,, aproximately 11 inches back from front feet,,, but it's got several bumpy things on the bottom that act like feet,,,, anyway, it sits on them.

hope this helps

p

Thanks P...that is exactly what I was asking for...the distance from front feet center to rear feet center. I wanted to make sure the feet would sit on my shelving so I could arrange for the rear overhang.

Thanks again!

Johnla,
Please PM me the name of the dealer.
Fred
PS I have gotten some quotes, but above the amount you mention.

You seemed to be tripped up on something. First, it is the Xbox 360, not a PS2 or Xbox. An inferior player to be sure, but not as bad as the current gen players. But if that helps your argument, so be it. I even gave third party information to back up my assertion.

Oh excuuuuuuuse me, it's a Xbox 360 and not 'just' a Xbox, whatever.... And yeah we also know it's not a PS2.... But it's still not as good as many low cost stand alone dedicated DVD players are, for playing back DVD movies. And your OWN DVD movie playback issues that you mentioned you had/have, also even confirm that. Now granted beyond a doubt, a Xbox 360 will absolutely crush any stand alone DVD player, if they even try to load a Xbox 360 game disc, let alone let you try and play a game with one.

Oh excuuuuuuuse me, it's a Xbox 360 and not 'just' a Xbox, whatever.... Now granted beyond a doubt, a Xbox 360 will absolutely crush any stand alone DVD player, if they even try to load a Xbox 360 game disc, let alone let you try and play a game with one.

So that explains why Xbox 360 games don't work on my Xbox? :cool:

So that explains why Xbox 360 games don't work on my Xbox? :cool:
And that also.... And don't try to play a PS2 game with it either.. :rolleyes:

I have searched through the thread but did not find it....

Has anyone compared the output quality of this mega-changer to the Oppo 971H. That is the unit I have so a reference to it would be very helpful if someone happens to have both.

Thanks,

(PS. I am using the 720p output from the Oppo as that is the native for my projector)

So that explains why Xbox 360 games don't work on my Xbox? :cool:

True, but they all (PS2, Xbox, Xbox360) use the exact same, bargain basement DVD player hardware! ;)

Hi,

I have a CX995V and also a Logitech harmony 880 remote. I've followed the various threads and managed to upload all my DVD titles to the Harmony. I've also learned on this Forum, how to select a disk by number using the Sony CX995V Remote.

John...can you point me to the thread on how you uploaded your DVD titles into your 880? I have the 880 and just got the CX995V today and I would like to see how this is done.

TIA

John...can you point me to the thread on how you uploaded your DVD titles into your 880? I have the 880 and just got the CX995V today and I would like to see how this is done.

TIA

Alan,

It's just as easy for me to just tell you how to do this. It's best to begin by cataloguing your DVDs with a free program called DVDProfiler. If you don't already have that program, download it and input your DVD titles by inputting the Bar Code numbers. Add Titles in the order you wish to load them in the changer and Assign corresponding slot Numbers. DVDProfiler has a neat Export feature that allows you to Export your Title List to a text based Comma Separated Variables File(.CSV). If you look at this File in a Text Editor like MS NoteBook, you will see a list text lines with many Fields of Text based Data corresponding to Title, #, Genre and on and on, each separated by a comma. This is too many fields of Data for the 880 so you will need to port that .CSV file to MS Excel for appropriate editing.
Delete all the Data Fields(Columns) except Genre, Title and Index, arranged in that order. In other words, the 880 will expect the first Row of data to be Genre, Title, Index and same for all the data below. It's much easier to do this in Excel than in a text File since all you have to do is cut, copy insert and past columns of data.
Now Save the edited File to a another (.CSV) File for uploading to your Logitech Home page. Again, this file should only have three data fields arranged in the order I've given. Also make sure that your Titles are not too long, I don't know the Max length but I do know that I have Titles up to 30 Characters and was able to upload without difficulty. Also, people have said that all Commas within Titles should be avoided, else you will not be able to upload.
finally remember this, if y ou are unable to upload the file, it merely means that you need to edit file further in Excel to get in the correct form for upload. When you have done that, you will be able to upload all you disks in one upload!

One final point, since I first posted my query above, I have discovered that the 880 does almost all of those steps automatically. In other words, I asked the questions before I actually clicked on a Title to see what would happen.
Here's the scoop:
When you are in the Watch DVD Activity Just Press the Media Button and an alphabetical list of your DVD Titles will be shown.
Next, If you Press the button Next to a Title, the 880 will execute the steps to start up that Disk Number Automatically. BTW, this is something that I had not seen in any earlier discussions. The only thing missing is that it does not Dismiss the On Screen Display. I think I can tweak that by adding a Display Key in that Activity.

John:

Thanks for the info...I appreciate you taking the time to detail this for me. I have just started using DVDProfiler so this will be fun to play with.

Thanks again for the info!!!

Do you know how many DVD's can be added to the Media Function on the Harmony Remote? Could this also be done with a CD jukebox? If so, what would the total amount of entries be for both formats.

Thanks, JayMan

JayMan,

Yes this can also be done with a CD JukeBox. I don't know what the limits are, but since these text files are quite small, I would imagine that you could store many as the jukebox could hold.

In the Export function of Profiler I don't see any choice for Index which would send the Slot number you Entered.

In the Export function of Profiler I don't see any choice for Index which would send the Slot number you Entered.

Click on File, Export Profiler Data Base and choose .csv for the file type. The data base includes all the fields of data, including the disk number you assigned when you added the disk to your collection.

Sorry to post this on the 998 thread but I didn't see a thread for the 985 version of the Sony 400 sidk changer. I have had the changer for a little more than two years and just recently it won't play any disks. It just trys to play a disk for about a minute spits it out and goes on to the next disk. It will continue doing this forever I guess but I switch it off to avoid damage.

Is this a common problem that can be fixed by having the unit cleaned? If so is there a cleaning disk or routine that I can perform without sending the unit in to Sony?

Alan,

It's just as easy for me to just tell you how to do this. It's best to begin by cataloguing your DVDs with a free program called DVDProfiler. If you don't already have that program, download it and input your DVD titles by inputting the Bar Code numbers. Add Titles in the order you wish to load them in the changer and Assign corresponding slot Numbers. DVDProfiler has a neat Export feature that allows you to Export your Title List to a text based Comma Separated Variables File(.CSV). If you look at this File in a Text Editor like MS NoteBook, you will see a list text lines with many Fields of Text based Data corresponding to Title, #, Genre and on and on, each separated by a comma. This is too many fields of Data for the 880 so you will need to port that .CSV file to MS Excel for appropriate editing.
Delete all the Data Fields(Columns) except Genre, Title and Index, arranged in that order. In other words, the 880 will expect the first Row of data to be Genre, Title, Index and same for all the data below. It's much easier to do this in Excel than in a text File since all you have to do is cut, copy insert and past columns of data.
Now Save the edited File to a another (.CSV) File for uploading to your Logitech Home page. Again, this file should only have three data fields arranged in the order I've given. Also make sure that your Titles are not too long, I don't know the Max length but I do know that I have Titles up to 30 Characters and was able to upload without difficulty. Also, people have said that all Commas within Titles should be avoided, else you will not be able to upload.
finally remember this, if y ou are unable to upload the file, it merely means that you need to edit file further in Excel to get in the correct form for upload. When you have done that, you will be able to upload all you disks in one upload!

One final point, since I first posted my query above, I have discovered that the 880 does almost all of those steps automatically. In other words, I asked the questions before I actually clicked on a Title to see what would happen.
Here's the scoop:
When you are in the Watch DVD Activity Just Press the Media Button and an alphabetical list of your DVD Titles will be shown.
Next, If you Press the button Next to a Title, the 880 will execute the steps to start up that Disk Number Automatically. BTW, this is something that I had not seen in any earlier discussions. The only thing missing is that it does not Dismiss the On Screen Display. I think I can tweak that by adding a Display Key in that Activity.

I didnt know harmony remotes could do this until you mentioned this. I started doing some digging around. I had been dying to upgrade from a 659 to an 880, so this was a selling point worth mentioning to my wife. I guess the 600 series can do the same, but my dog decided to chew it when she was a puppy, and since then its been slowly dying.

So my wife gave me the ok for a new remote, and I came very very close to getting the 880, but was hesitant because people are having problems with the $50 MIR.

I had also been looking at the MX3000 using http://triplebsoftware.com/DMX-3000/index.htm (DMX3000)
, which i thought was the better way to go. So i ended up buying one off ebay. Its a tad bit more than I planned on spending, but I was able to get it new from a dealer, for about 50% off MSRP!

The only thing missing is that it does not Dismiss the On Screen Display. I think I can tweak that by adding a Display Key in that Activity.

John:

Did you figure out how to add this key to the DVD selection action? I could not find any way to do so from my Harmony home page. Not sure if its something that has to be added on the remote itself or not...not familiar yet with how to get to those macros and edit them.

John:

Did you figure out how to add this key to the DVD selection action? I could not find any way to do so from my Harmony home page. Not sure if its something that has to be added on the remote itself or not...not familiar yet with how to get to those macros and edit them.

I've been busy on some other things so I have not done it yet. But here is what I think needs to be done:

1. Go directly to your Logitech Home Page
2. Drill down to Customize the Watch DVD activity
3. Get to a page Entitled Add or Chaange Behavior of Buttons
4. Assign a real physical 880 Button to the DVD Player's Display Key

In doing this, you will be looking at an image of the 880 Remote showing all the 880 keys which are active during the Watch DVD Activity. For example, you will note that the select key and the Arrow keys are assigned their usual DVD Player Function etc., but there is no Display key Assigned. Do that now. Then update your Remote.
Please report back your results and do update me/us on your success so far in uploading Files and getting the Title Access to work.

Okay...I mapped the "E" key to the Display command and updated the remote but it did not change the failure of the on screen menu from getting "stuck" open when starting a movie from the media selection list on the 880. Must be a way to edit that macro to add that command since I thought it had to activate the Display command initially to get the menu up as it goes through the macro.

Alan,

It does activate the display initially but you would not want it to activate anything further. That's since neither you not it knows initially what DVD you wish to play. So the way to use this is to get the film/DVD started and paused perhaps on the disk Set up Screen. Then press your assigned E key to dismiss the display screen.
It's pretty neat actually, you have your coffee table book with your Disk Cover Images and descriptions, etc. listed in the same order as on your Player and stored in your Remote. You find and select a film on your Remote. The film is cued up and waits at the disk set up screen. You press"E", the display is dismissed. You are there.
I suppose you could go into that Smart Key Def and add the extra display command but I don't know how to do that. Nor do I see a need. I just need to have a "Display" key available on the keyboard when I am in the Watch DVD Activity. Initially there was no Display key there. BTW, what is the "E" key?

JayMan,

Yes this can also be done with a CD JukeBox. I don't know what the limits are, but since these text files are quite small, I would imagine that you could store many as the jukebox could hold.

Thanks John,

Do you think there is enough memory in a Harmony to have a CD jukebox & a DVD jukebox? -JayMan

JayMan007,

I don't know the 880 memory spec but, as you recall, it does have enough memory to allow for useless jpeg files to be stored. These jpegs are 160 kB each. On the other hand, the .csv file that contains all my DVD information is only 9 kB. So you can see that one jpeg uses up more memory than 16 .csv files with DVD or CD information. So my guess would be that yes, you will have plenty enough memory to do two jukeboxes.

I also have the Harmony remote 880. I had problems exporting the proper file by DVD profiler, so I just entered a short name for each movie in the order I have in the slots. The Harmony page shows you numbered entries where you enter the title. When I press the media when watching DVD's it shows alphabetical lists and you just choose the move and viola, you are watching!

As for other questions about CD boxes, you can do the same.

I find I like to scroll through the names on the disc explorer on the Sony but sometimes use the remote to select a movie. It is a cool feature though and I think the Harmony remote 880 is just awesome. It controls everything I have. Just have to be patient and set it up right.

Alan,

It does activate the display initially but you would not want it to activate anything further. That's since neither you not it knows initially what DVD you wish to play. So the way to use this is to get the film/DVD started and paused perhaps on the disk Set up Screen. Then press your assigned E key to dismiss the display screen.
It's pretty neat actually, you have your coffee table book with your Disk Cover Images and descriptions, etc. listed in the same order as on your Player and stored in your Remote. You find and select a film on your Remote. The film is cued up and waits at the disk set up screen. You press"E", the display is dismissed. You are there.
I suppose you could go into that Smart Key Def and add the extra display command but I don't know how to do that. Nor do I see a need. I just need to have a "Display" key available on the keyboard when I am in the Watch DVD Activity. Initially there was no Display key there. BTW, what is the "E" key?


John:

That is actually what we have been doing, using the "E" key I mapped to clear the display menu once it has cued the movie. Would like to have it clear itself...but definitely not that nitpicky about it.

I am in the process of doing this now. About half way through 250 DVD's. I use DVD shrink to shrink the DVD to my hard disk and I also am removing all the extras and menus. That way most of the movies I have done will fit on a single layer DVD with very little compression. I then use Title Writer to enter the DVD title and then use Roxio to burn it to a new DVD disk. Stick it in the Sony 995 and it reads the title with no problem. The Title writer program can do more of the process but I haven't played with it much and only use it to write the title. If you do a search for Title Writer on google it will show up.

Joe
hey joe how is it going with titlewriter is it hard to do ,mark

I also have the Harmony remote 880. I had problems exporting the proper file by DVD profiler, so I just entered a short name for each movie in the order I have in the slots. The Harmony page shows you numbered entries where you enter the title. When I press the media when watching DVD's it shows alphabetical lists and you just choose the move and viola, you are watching!

As for other questions about CD boxes, you can do the same.

I find I like to scroll through the names on the disc explorer on the Sony but sometimes use the remote to select a movie. It is a cool feature though and I think the Harmony remote 880 is just awesome. It controls everything I have. Just have to be patient and set it up right.

mrtbig,

Did you have to do anything special to get the 880 to dismiss the Display screen without a manual key press? Perhaps a timing change?

mrtbig,

Did you have to do anything special to get the 880 to dismiss the Display screen without a manual key press? Perhaps a timing change?

Go to the DVD player in your device list, select "More Options" and then "Advanced Setup for this DVD". After working your way through the wizard, you'll find a way to add commands to the macro for selecting a DVD. On the "after" set, you can add some display keypresses from the drop-down list. It will send these extra commands after it has selected the DVD.

You'll probably have to play with your timings and the number of "Displays" that you enter. Start with 2, and then decrease your timings or increase the number of "Display" commands until it starts to work regularly.

Sclick,

Thanks, I'll try that tonight.

Go to the DVD player in your device list, select "More Options" and then "Advanced Setup for this DVD". After working your way through the wizard, you'll find a way to add commands to the macro for selecting a DVD. On the "after" set, you can add some display keypresses from the drop-down list. It will send these extra commands after it has selected the DVD.

You'll probably have to play with your timings and the number of "Displays" that you enter. Start with 2, and then decrease your timings or increase the number of "Display" commands until it starts to work regularly.


When you get to the "How do you select a disc with your original remote control?" screen, of the four options, which one do you have selected?

I currently have the second option selected, "I use direction buttons to select a disc from an on-screen menu."

I guess my real question is whether or not you can have the remote send extra commands after you choose a movie using the "Media" interface, where you load your discs into the remote, and simply choose the movie using the LCD buttons.

I have my movies in my remote currently, and it works just fine, but I do have to press the "Display" button twice (which I have programmed to the LCD) before the on-screen display will disappear.

I have the Xbox 360 version of this remote can you add DVD selections to it?

I have the Xbox 360 version of this remote can you add DVD selections to it?

I have the Harmony Xbox remote as well, and as far as I can tell it does not have a media function.

Just remembered that I have the Harmony 659 laying around...and it has the Media function. :)

But my CSV file won't upload. It's 6K in size, title DVDlist-3-1-06.csv. I get the error message:

"Cannot upload the file."

Here are a few lines from the top of my file...the format is fine from what I can see:

Genre,Title,Index
Comedy,13 Going on 30,5
Comedy,Galaxy Quest,6
Comedy,Kung Pow! Enter the Fist: The Chosen Edition,7
Comedy,This Is Spinal Tap,8
Comedy,"Planes, Trains and Automobiles",9
Comedy,Some Like It Hot,10
Comedy,The Producers,11
Comedy,Zoolander,12
Comedy,Napoleon Dynamite,13

Globule, sclick, etc., any obvious reason why it isn't working?

Got it...found the comment earlier on about not having commas in the titles..cleared out commas in three titles and all was well...

This is a pretty slick feature, now that I'm playing with it. There are (on the 659) four alpha ranges you can select, and then the titles in that range are displayed. Press a button and the disc is selected.

I'm still playing with the correct settings/timings to clear the Display menu automatically. Haven't found the magic combination to do that yet.

I"ll only be using the 659 to select movies, and the Harmony 360 for everything else, so I can just leave mine in the watch DVD/media mode all the time...if I can get the display menu to clear automatically, this should give the family another option for selecting DVDs that I think they'll like. Cool..... :)

Hmmmm, and I thought it was just probably rejecting you because of owning the Galaxy Quest movie... ;)

Hmmmm, and I thought it was just probably rejecting you because of owning the Galaxy Quest movie... ;)

Oh man, that hurts. :)

I grew up w/the original Star Trek, SciFi is one of my favorite genres, and I love satire, so that movie has it all for me. :D With such a great supporting cast (Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub) having such a good time how can you not love it!? :D

OK...here's what almost worked for me:

Power On Delay: 7000 ms
Inter-key Delay: 800 ms
Inter-Device Delay: 500 ms

"How do you select a disc with your original remote control?

"Setting up your DVD.

I use number keys to select a disc"

What command do you use to START disc selection?

Setting up your Sony DVP-CX995V DVD.

Use these infrared commands:

Display
Select"

"What command do you use to FINISH disc selection?

Setting up your Sony DVP-CX995V DVD.

Use these infrared commands:

Select
Display
Display
Display"

I've tried Inter Key delays from zero to 800 ms in combinations w/varying number of Display commands (from 2 to the max of 5) and I can't get the Display menu to close automatically. <sigh>

So unless I work that out, family has to remember to press Media key again, and then Info (where I've mapped the Display command) to close it. For my kids, fine, but my wife will never remember....

Oh man, that hurts.

I grew up w/the original Star Trek, SciFi is one of my favorite genres, and I love satire, so that movie has it all for me. With such a great supporting cast (Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub) having such a good time how can you not love it!? :D

I like most 'spoof' type movies also, and although it was not nearly as bad as most of the reviews it was given. To me at least, Galaxy Quest is one of those movies that seeing it once or twice, is usually enough for me. And I even like most anything that is remotely sci-fi stuff, and even the original Star-Trek and even more so the later ST Next Gen. So much that I bought the whole 7 year Next Gen series on DVD. ST Voyager I liked it almost as much as Next Gen, but not enough to buy the DVD set. And the last one, ST Enterprise, I liked, but again not enough that I would buy it.

But I'm sure I probably have a few movies that I own, that you would maybe say the same about them. In fact, I even sometimes say it about some of them, and even wonder why I ever bought them... :rolleyes:

I think what makes Galaxy Quest so hilarious is the amount of "behind the scenes" truth was demonstrated in the movie......... as we found out years later, Nimoy turned into a paranoid alcoholic and Bill was just using the fame for money and "babes!"

The story concept is loosly borrowed from a Star Trek paper-back book (cannot remember my name most of the time let alone an author) in where the actors step on the transporter pad's during a normal script shoot and then wind up on transporter pads of the (in the book) "real" Enterprise.... was a pretty funny book also.

As you can probably tell I also was facinated by the original Star Trek (watched every one during the original broadcasts and then over and over and over again as long as syndication lasted). I was a bit miffed at Gene during the early episodes of NG as all they were just quick re-writes of some of the original stories... :-( , but later came to forgive him as I felt that the Picard charecter was much more in keeping with what you would really find in a military/diplomatic organization... (I guess I got older). Of course thanks to VCR's, then ReplayTV, and finally Tivo I was able to enjoy all of the following series in the ST universe.

But back on Topic...........

Thanks for all of the posts on this Harmony remote project... I had almost given up my idea of purchasing this player and going with the 777es instead so I would have some way the wife could control it!

Interesting, HiHoStevo...I hadn't heard about the connection w/a book so I went looking, found this interview with David Howard (credited as original story and screenplay author) here http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/035/035851p1.html. Where did you find the reference to a book inspiration? I'd like to read it if it is out there, but based on what I've found so far looks like there wasn't a book behind the movie. David Howard says it was an IMAX film that inspired him.

PLUME: How would you describe your writing process?

HOWARD: It varies from project to project. Sometimes, I'll just get an idea that I think is really exciting -- and from there I just let it develop. For example, when I wrote my draft, Captain Starshine which became Galaxy Quest I got the idea when I was in an IMAX film. I was waiting for the film to start, and the trailers for the coming attractions started, and there was a feature coming called Americans In Space.

The voiceover for this trailer was Leonard Nimoy, and it took me a few minutes to recognize his voice. Then it just struck me, "Aw, that poor guy." I could just see these marketing guys putting this together saying, "Who could we get to do this?" "Oh, let's get William Shatner." "Oh no no, he's out of the country. Who else is there?? ?Let's get Leonard Nimoy!" You know? The idea of being trapped in that world struck me as something potentially very funny. How do you walk away from that and decide, "No, I'm not going to do that anymore?"?

I just started playing with the idea of them being in this world, and all of a sudden real aliens show up. This was a script that?in a lot of ways?just wrote itself, because it just seemed so self-evident once the idea was there. So, in answer to your question: a lot of times something will just spark my interest and I'll think, "There's something there." There's something there that is intriguing on a human level, and I'll start exploring it, and the plot will come later.

Did not mean that I had actual knowledge that the film was "intentionally" based on one of the books........ just that this part of the story was used in an earlier book... that perhaps was never seen by the person doing the screenplay.

To me having seen so many of these silly shows there was a "connection" at least in my feeble mind.........

Back to something sort of on-topic... :)

Can anyone using a the Harmony Media function to select DVDs who is able to get the Display menu dismissed automatically please post their timing and number of Display commands sent after the DVD is selected in the "Finish" phase?

Below are my settings which select the DVD fine, but don't dismiss the Display menu:

Power On Delay: 7000 ms
Inter-key Delay: 800 ms (I've tried from zero to 800)
Inter-Device Delay: 500 ms

"What command do you use to FINISH disc selection?

Setting up your Sony DVP-CX995V DVD.

Use these infrared commands:

Select
Display
Display
Display"

I've tried from two to five Display commands (five is the max allowed, at least on the 659).

The main problem is that the 995 gets "busy" when you select the DVD and I can't find the right combination of inter key timing and number of Display command(s) to send to close the Display menu. I keep ending up needing to send one or two Display commands manually to close the Display menu after the Harmony finishes sending it's programmed commands.

Thanks!

Did not mean that I had actual knowledge that the film was "intentionally" based on one of the books........ just that this part of the story was used in an earlier book... that perhaps was never seen by the person doing the screenplay.

To me having seen so many of these silly shows there was a "connection" at least in my feeble mind.........

Ahh...I misunderstood. If you remember the book or author, would love to hear it. Sounds like it would be interesting to check out in light of Galaxy Quest.

Ahh...I misunderstood. If you remember the book or author, would love to hear it. Sounds like it would be interesting to check out in light of Galaxy Quest.

If I run across it I will drop you a PM... however the chances are even less than slim!

Back in those days I was flying a private jet for a company and spending 80% of my time on the road in one Hotel/motel or another with lots of time on my hands...

Every couple of months I would take a moving carton of paper-backs down to the hospital for them to put into their library.

C'mon you guys...share your settings, please! :)

Back to something sort of on-topic... :)

Can anyone using a the Harmony Media function to select DVDs who is able to get the Display menu dismissed automatically please post their timing and number of Display commands sent after the DVD is selected in the "Finish" phase?

Below are my settings which select the DVD fine, but don't dismiss the Display menu:

Power On Delay: 7000 ms
Inter-key Delay: 800 ms (I've tried from zero to 800)
Inter-Device Delay: 500 ms

"What command do you use to FINISH disc selection?

Setting up your Sony DVP-CX995V DVD.

Use these infrared commands:

Select
Display
Display
Display"

I've tried from two to five Display commands (five is the max allowed, at least on the 659).

The main problem is that the 995 gets "busy" when you select the DVD and I can't find the right combination of inter key timing and number of Display command(s) to send to close the Display menu. I keep ending up needing to send one or two Display commands manually to close the Display menu after the Harmony finishes sending it's programmed commands.

Thanks!

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Maybe I'll have to wait until the Sony DVP-CX777ES and the Escient Fireball both are updated with HDMI. Maybe Escient is waiting for Sony or another manufacturer to provide a changer with HDMI before they update the Fireball. But, most likely, by the time all that happens, something else better will be available.

Currently, I believe Sony is the only manufacturer making 400 disc changers. It would be nice if Escient's parent company, D&M Holdings (Denon, Marantz & McIntosh), would also manufacture a 400 disc changer that would provide all the things that are missing and therefore provide more of a market for the Escient Fireball line of products.

Also, I recently purchased the Denon 4806 receiver with three HDMI inputs, but I was also trying to avoid occupying all three HDMI inputs with the three Sony DVP-CX995V changers. If the Escient Fireball had three HDMI inputs and one or more outputs, I figured I would only have to occupy one HDMI input on the Denon receiver, leaving the others for other components.

Instead of using each HDMI out from the cx995 to the Denon, couldn't you master/slave two of the cx995's? That would only use one HDMI out for both of them. Just a thought...

Instead of using each HDMI out from the cx995 to the Denon, couldn't you master/slave two of the cx995's? That would only use one HDMI out for both of them. Just a thought...
They do not support doing such a thing.

My 995 has had a couple of problems...turned it on and display came up completely nuts (magenta background w/five or six horzontal lines garbage/noise spaced evenly down the screen, then the 995 shut down.

I had to press the "Open" button, change to another slot (from 4 to 1) and then it loaded the DVD. Haven't had a chance to troubleshoot since then, but I'll be looking into it.

Well, appears to be a problem w/a specific movie...same behavior (bizarre screen and shut down) if I try to play it from other slots as well.

It is copy on a DVD-RW of one of my movies that I had misplaced the original of, so unforunately that means I've lost the original and copy. :( But at least the unit appears to be OK. Tried the DVD in my PC and it wouldn't play there either, so must be something badly wrong w/the disc.

i picked up this unit the other day and i really like it. the one thing i didnt like was that it didnt read quite a few of my DVD's, i know it wont recognize the title on DVD's that i created but i didnt recognize quite a few of the store bought ones. and most of my store bought CD's. i hooked up the HDMI connection to my Denon 4306 and the picture quality is really nice. and i ran 3 lines to the kids tv in another room using the Video and Audio out so that tv can see this too. it has been really nice seeing all Titles listed on the screen after manually entering them with a keyboard.
i think it is worth its price and would recommend this unit.

tekki;

Ok, I don't want to burst your bubble, but you are probably going to have a little blood pressure issue when it decides to drop some of your discs from it's memory, on a purely random basis, I might add. The first time it happens it's rather startling. Don't get me wrong, I like the unit, but I'd like it better if it was more user friendly, and kept what you've spent hours typing in, in memory.

You may want to search this thread for the conversation on "dvd profiler". I just finished setting mine up today, using a bar code reader I loaded 340 DVD's into the data base in a little over 2 hours, and I've made a report that prints them out in an index with a thumbnail cover pic, title, run time, aspect ratio, and...... the Sony slot number! All 340 on just 10 pages, alphbetical order. Now we can quickly look up what we want to watch, and enter the disc number discretely, no more fiddling with the disc explorer on the Sony, and no more frustratiton. (while I was testing it, I discovered another one it dropped, bummer)

cheers
phil

BTW, it works so darn good, I paid the $29.95,,,,, well worth it!

i have read this entire thread, i know about the dropping of Titles. i already typed it up in another program and got all the cover art for the DVD's from a web site. i arranged them in Genre, this way the kids have an easy way to select the discs themselves from the other room. i just got done putting in an IR sensor in theyre play room so they can select titles from thier TV, or look at the print out i gave them for what slots which DVD sits in.

thanks to this site and all the people who have posted thier troubles, i was prepared. Thanks to everyone who has posted thier opinions and troubles, if it were not for this site, id be lost.

Hi,

I found a combo of commands that works for the most part when using the Media button to select discs.

I set the interkey delay to 700 ms.

Then in the advanced options for what I do to finish selecting a disc. I have.....

"select"
"clear"
"clear"
"clear"
"display"

This does work, but is slow. The "clear" command works as a dummy command to fill space until the "display" command needs to be sent. You must keep the remote pointed at the Sony until the chain of commands is finished. Don't panic. Point the remote, hit the proper button, and be patient. The final "display" command will be sent.

Personally, I found it to be a little too slow, so I ended up changing my delay settings back to 100ms and just hitting the "display" button to clear the menu.

Of course saying too slow is a relative statement, and more a product of being spoiled by this player. Being able to fiddle through over 270 dvds without moving from the position I'm in, is almost unfair to call slow.

The only downside, if you want to call it that, is the PQ isn't quite up to the standard of my XP-30. However, until the XP-30 can open itself, take out the old disc, put it back in it's jacket, jump off the shelf, put the old disc back, grab a new disc, open it, put it in it's tray, close it's tray, jump back on the shelf, and play the disc, all w/in a matter of about 20 seconds, the Sony is definitely worth every ounce of "slow" that it provides.

Thanks, Dueric...tried that, and doesn't work for me for some reason. :(

I'll play around w/some more settings...

INterestingly, if I do it manually, it takes two presses of Display to clear the Display menu. When you do it manually, does it clear w/one press of Display for you?

Sorry it didn't work for you. I found that it was just too long to keep the remote pointed at the player anyway.

Usually just once. However, sometimes it does take 2 presses. It really comes down to timing and patience. The player will stay "busy" for a few seconds after disc selection either delaying or blocking any remote commands. Blocking isn't so bad, it's the delaying that initially was frustrating. I'd clear the display, only to have it pop back up.

I spent some time on trial and error until I just decided that all the time and effort I'm saving with this player, one more button press on the remote isn't too bad.

It would be nice if things that you pay good money for would actually work the way they are supposed to. I usually don't make compromises on these sorts of things. However, in the case of the Harmony and the Sony, the benefits they provide, far outweight the little quirks that come up.

Thanks, Dueric...tried that, and doesn't work for me for some reason. :(

I'll play around w/some more settings...

INterestingly, if I do it manually, it takes two presses of Display to clear the Display menu. When you do it manually, does it clear w/one press of Display for you?

I just wanted to say that I usually have to press "Display" twice to get rid of the menu.

edit: Also, I have updated my remote with this combo, but I haven't had a chance to actually try it. I will let you guys know how it turns out for me.

I just wanted to say that I usually have to press "Display" twice to get rid of the menu.

edit: Also, I have updated my remote with this combo, but I haven't had a chance to actually try it. I will let you guys know how it turns out for me.

Thanks for posting that confirmation.

Hi all -

Looking to pick up an up-converting DVD player and am trying to decide between the Sony CX995V and the Oppo DV971H. I must admit that the idea of having all of my DVDs in one player is enticing, and any lag times is still shorter than getting up and putting the DVD in manually. I would create a spreadsheet with each DVD as well, so the 995 mysteriously "losing" DVDs won't be a deal breaker.

My current display is a Sony KV30HS420 (30" WS HD CRT TV), but I do plan to upgrade to an LCD/Plasma/Projector once my attic is furnished and turned into a media room later this spring/summer (as my free time permits). Does anyone have any specific experience with PQ with either of those players (hopefully the 995) and the KV30HS420 over the HDMI connection? I need to know if there will be a noticeable difference in PQ before I can drop that kind of money on the Sony as the WAF (wife acceptance factor) will be very low if it isn't.

I really want to run to CC and pick up the Sony ASAP, but any thoughts before I potentially have to sleep on the couch for a night or so? (at least I'll have the new player to keep me warm :D)

Boss,

I just returned the OPPO in favor of the Sony. In my opinion neither had PQ advantages over my XP-30. Even with the DVI/HDMI inputs being used.

That being said, the OPPO's PQ is noticeably better than the Sony. Not saying the Sony is bad by any means, it's still quite good, just not nearly as good as the OPPO.

However, it's all going to come down to what you want more. The OPPO has tons of features, excellent PQ, and good cutomer support. I also experienced some quirks (freezing, looping, over all kinda cheap feeling). Plus the OPPO only sends 480i over the component connection, which may or may not be a deal breaker, but is weird nontheless. In the end, the OPPO just didn't do it for me and was being returned before I even thought about buying the Sony.

The Sony on the other hand HOLDS 400 DVDS IN ONE PLACE! That to me is worth any, and I mean any, small quirks it may have. Most of which are more "nature of the beast" issues than functional issues/defects like those I experienced with the OPPO. The PQ isn't the greatest, but isn't the worst either at least in comparison to other "good" players.

My opinion may not help you much though because for the one thing, I'm using a different TV than you. Two, I'm using the Harmony 880 remote which enhances the experience of having the Sony. If I didn't have the Harmony 880, I most likely would have stayed with my XP-30.

In either case the OPPO didn't meet the XP-30 or the SONY in overall satisfaction.

995 PQ is excellent...I have it connected via HDMI running at 1080i to my 65" HP 1080p DLP, and things look great. Friends and neighbors go "Ooooo" when they watch movies with us, and even my hyper-critical home theater gear head buddy has given the 995 his approval. :)

I haven't seen the Oppo side-by-side w/the Sony, so I can't comment on whether there are significant PQ differences between the two. Those differences would have to be pretty significant to talk me out of my 995 at this point...moving all the DVD case clutter to the garage is great, and frees up room in my TV stand/entertainment center. Being able to access any DVD I own in just a few seconds has radically improved how much use I get out of my DVDs and (hadn't thought about this in advance) reduced lost/misplaced DVDs to zero. Go for it, I wish I hadn't waited so long!

Just picked up the 995 from CC last weekend and love it. I'm only running 480p via component connections to my ED 42" panny plasma, but the picture quality is excellent, much better than with the Toshiba player I replaced.

Using a Harmony 659 loaded with all 297 movies for control of the system which is working well also, except the issue of the proper timing/command chain for the display menu after a movie has been selected. I am using Movie Collector from Collectorz-dot-com for the movie data base and to create the csv file for the harmony remote. Took me about a day to catalog all of the movies into Movie Collector and to load them into the 995 and set up the remote.

Besides using the remote to sort through the movies and find the one I want to view, I have found it very easy to use Movie Collector to sort and find the movie I want and manually enter the disk number from the remote.

Can't believe that all of those movies which took up most of two 48"H x 24"W movie storage units now fit into such a small, convenient to use player.

Thanks to all that have posted info on the player and using a Harmony remote for control.

Thanks for the replies. I've decided that I'm going to go pick up a 995 tonight when I get out of work or tomorrow on my lunch break.

I just purchased this unit. Can you tell me if I can load, say 100 DVD's & CD's randomly throughout the carousel. Will the unit keep slots I loaded them in, or would it try to fill in blank slots I intentionally left open??? I initially hope to put my audio CD's in one area of the tray, my kid's in another, my wife's & I's in another section, etc....
I appreciate any feedback on how the machine trys to catalog, as I haven't tried this out yet?

I just purchased this unit. Can you tell me if I can load, say 100 DVD's & CD's randomly throughout the carousel. Will the unit keep slots I loaded them in, or would it try to fill in blank slots I intentionally left open??? I initially hope to put my audio CD's in one area of the tray, my kid's in another, my wife's & I's in another section, etc....
I appreciate any feedback on how the machine trys to catalog, as I haven't tried this out yet?

You can put the discs anywhere you want. Not sure what you mean by "would it try to fill in the blank slots..."

It can't move the discs on it's own, if that's what you're worried about. :)

If you are using the built in Disc Explorer menu (which has some risk, as it can forget what you've entered) then you can sort there by title, slot #, and genre, and show all slots or just slots w/movies, music, etc. It's pretty flexible.

But yes, you can separate discs by area in the player's slots if you want to, w/no adverse affects.

I'd suggest, based on my own painful experience, that you consider whether you want to enter all the data into the unit, or keep that data in a tool like DVD Profiler. There's no way to tell how common the problem is, but like some others I lost all the data on the DVDs I have in my player. Since then I have decided to keep my DVDs indexed in DVD profiler, rather than re-enteriing everything all over again in the unit's on-screen listing. You should maintain a backup listing anyway in case your unit's internal listing does dump the data.

Thanks for the input! I will try and use DVD Profiler. I just went to their site... Which version do I download??? Released version(6/20/05) or the Beta version (11/17/05) release dates??
I appreciate it!

Go with the release version, as there may be bugs in the beta. Hence the name beta version.. The later when the beta version is debugged enough and becomes the new release version, you can always upgrade to it.

I'm using 2.4, released version, from this page:

http://www.intervocative.com/Products.aspx

Works great.

If you want to really speed up entry of a lot of DVDs, you may want to consider a scanner (if you search back through this thread I believe there's a post about a very cheap Radio Shack scanner) that will allow you to quickly scan and add your DVDs by barcode.

Otherwise it is pretty fast to type in the UPC number. When you're ready to print out a listing, the function is "hidden" under Tools>Reports.

One thing to consider w/DVD Profiler is how you assign 995 slot numbers to the DVDs when you enter them in DVD profiler...DVD profiler includes fields for Collection number, location, and slot number...do some reading on the DVD profiler forums about which one you want to use. I used Collection Number to assign the 995 slot numbers to the discs because I didn't realize until I was well into it that the Location and Slot fields existed, as they are on a secondary tab. Hasn't caused me any problems (actually helped when I was exporting my list to CSV for the Harmony, as Collection Number is included in the export, and Location and Slot are not) but it's nice to make the decision about how to use those fields actively, rather than by accident. :)

If you want to really speed up entry of a lot of DVDs, you may want to consider a scanner (if you search back through this thread I believe there's a post about a very cheap Radio Shack scanner) that will allow you to quickly scan and add your DVDs by barcode.

Time for a little CueCat 101...;)


That would be the Radio Shack "CueCats". That at one time about 5-6 years ago, they used to give them out for free. As a way for you to look up their catalog items online with a PC, and also with many ads that were placed in various magazines for other brands of products and even just articles you where they asked to be scanned that you read them. And all of that also used send the info back to Digital Convergence about what you were looking up or reading. Also if you hooked up the optional cable to you TV and installed their software, it could even send them info about what TV shows you watched! And it was a total failure, for both Radio Shack and Digital Convergence, who were the makers and the actual idea/backers behind the use of the CueCats.

But the good thing was/is. Is that they ended up to have many other numerous uses, that they were never even originally intended to be used for.

Now you can find numerous amounts of them them for sale on ebay, for about $10-$15 shipped. In both the modified and unmodified versions.

Or you can buy a unmodified USB one from Electro Mavin for $12, or $20 for the PS2 version. As they originally purchased about 3 million of of the PS2 versions and about 1/2 million of the USB versions of them.

http://www.mavin.com/index.php?search%5Bterms%5D=cuecat&search%5Bmode%5D=any&x=15&y=10

Here is what remains of the original Digital Convergence CueCat site.
Which now is pretty much nothing at all.

http://www.cuecat.com/

And here is some info about why they are sometimes modified.


http://www.cexx.org/cuecat.htm


http://air-soldier.com/~cuecat/


http://cuecatastrophe.com/


You do not need a modified version to work with DVDProfiler anymore, because they added support for them. But you used to need to use a small free program called "catnip".

http://www.cedmagic.com/cuecat/catnip.exe

Woah boy, I'm psyched. Went over to CC at lunch today, checked out the 995, but didn't buy (wanted to argu....er, discuss it with the better half first), and also drooled over the Logitech Harmony 880 for a few minutes.

Well, I get back from lunch, call my wife, and not only does she tell me that we should buy the 995, but that we should also really look into getting a HD-DVR because she wants to start recording stuff and watching it when she has more time to enjoy it!

So I'm on cloud 9, and I peruse another local HDTV website and I find out how to get a Harmony 880 for half price...I ordered it right then and there.

Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket or something.... :D

Woah boy, I'm psyched. Went over to CC at lunch today, checked out the 995, but didn't buy (wanted to argu....er, discuss it with the better half first), and also drooled over the Logitech Harmony 880 for a few minutes.

Well, I get back from lunch, call my wife, and not only does she tell me that we should buy the 995, but that we should also really look into getting a HD-DVR because she wants to start recording stuff and watching it when she has more time to enjoy it!

So I'm on cloud 9, and I peruse another local HDTV website and I find out how to get a Harmony 880 for half price...I ordered it right then and there.

Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket or something.... :D

Man, did the planets align for you... :) Skip the lottery, just go up to any ATM and tell it to give you all its money before your luck wears off. Nice how the spouses can give a pleasant surprise sometimes.

The WAF on these units is very high...a couple we know was over the other day, and I showed my 995 to them. The wife was actually more interested than the husband...really excited about booting the DVD cases out to the garage, particularly due to being tired of having DVD and DVD cases laying around their den. :)

Where did you find the 880 for 1/2 price?

Man, did the planets align for you... :) Skip the lottery, just go up to any ATM and tell it to give you all its money before your luck wears off. Nice how the spouses can give a pleasant surprise sometimes.

The WAF on these units is very high...a couple we know was over the other day, and I showed my 995 to them. The wife was actually more interested than the husband...really excited about booting the DVD cases out to the garage, particularly due to being tired of having DVD and DVD cases laying around their den. :)

Where did you find the 880 for 1/2 price?

Yeah....tell me about it. My only concern is about dropping nearly $300 on a DVD player now, and wanting to upgrade again to either HD-DVD or BD in the near future. Oh well, I'll deal with it when the time comes.

PM sent on the 880.

Boss,

I just returned the OPPO in favor of the Sony. In my opinion neither had PQ advantages over my XP-30. Even with the DVI/HDMI inputs being used.

That being said, the OPPO's PQ is noticeably better than the Sony. Not saying the Sony is bad by any means, it's still quite good, just not nearly as good as the OPPO.

However, it's all going to come down to what you want more. The OPPO has tons of features, excellent PQ, and good cutomer support. I also experienced some quirks (freezing, looping, over all kinda cheap feeling). Plus the OPPO only sends 480i over the component connection, which may or may not be a deal breaker, but is weird nontheless. In the end, the OPPO just didn't do it for me and was being returned before I even thought about buying the Sony.

The Sony on the other hand HOLDS 400 DVDS IN ONE PLACE! That to me is worth any, and I mean any, small quirks it may have. Most of which are more "nature of the beast" issues than functional issues/defects like those I experienced with the OPPO. The PQ isn't the greatest, but isn't the worst either at least in comparison to other "good" players.

My opinion may not help you much though because for the one thing, I'm using a different TV than you. Two, I'm using the Harmony 880 remote which enhances the experience of having the Sony. If I didn't have the Harmony 880, I most likely would have stayed with my XP-30.

In either case the OPPO didn't meet the XP-30 or the SONY in overall satisfaction.


I looked at several single players prior to the 995 but having all of the discs in one place with upconverting is hard to beat.

My old Toshiba DVD player plays DVD-Audio discs through the 5.1 direct inputs on my amp and the sound quality is nothing short of amazing, I have about 50 DVD-Audio discs and also have a 5.1 DVD-Audio system in my truck. I was looking forward to the 995 being able to play SACD but the high quality audio playback is only through the direct 5.1 input also. The problem is only 1 set of direct inputs on my Yamaha HTR-5990 receiver. I do have 2 HDMI inputs on my receiver and 3 component though.
I have the 995 connected to my Yamaha through both HDMI and component and on to my Sceptre 37"1080 LCD. When watching the HDMI connection the onscreen display indicates 1080i and when through component it says 480p. The upconverted 1080i picture has much more detail than the 480p but both are way better than the 480i.

Enter the new Samsung single disc DVD-HD1080 DVD player due out soon. The claim is it's going to play both DVD-Audio and SACD and output the audio through HDMI. That and it is supposed to upconvert to 1080P (yes 1080P)! I would love to have this for the state of the art audio and see the 1080P picture on my 1080P LCD. (but the 995 isn't going anywhere) This would be handy for playing a single disc, high end audio and would go great alongside the 995.

SacTownMan--

I too had a similar problem--I have an older panny dvd-audio player and a few dvd-a titles I want to continue to listen to, but also would like to play some sacd's, but only have the one set of 6ch analog inputs in my avr. The solution for me was to purchase a multi-channel switcher. My 2 995s and the panny are connected to the switcher, and the switcher to the avr. I didn't do a LOT of shopping around, because I already own another zektor component switcher and went with their 6ch audio switcher, but there may be others on the market (maybe cheaper too!). Zektor discontinued their dedicated multichannel switcher, because their HDS4.1 model actually does dual duty as component or multichannel switcher (3 inputs, 1 output). Just thought I'd offer an alternative!!

So what are the chances that this player can be moved w/o having to unload the whole thing?

What may be some of the potetial consequences? Player damage is no good. However, if the major concern is possible damage to one or two discs, I'd be willing to live with that as opposed to unloading and reloading this thing.

Any tips on how to move it w/o unloading? Or is the risk just too great?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

So what are the chances that this player can be moved w/o having to unload the whole thing?

What may be some of the potetial consequences? Player damage is no good. However, if the major concern is possible damage to one or two discs, I'd be willing to live with that as opposed to unloading and reloading this thing.

Any tips on how to move it w/o unloading? Or is the risk just too great?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

dueric -

If you keep the player on a level plain during the course of the move you should be all right. If it gets tilted, and the DVDs dislodge (just one will do the trick) from their slots, well lets just say it's "game over". A jam will most likely occur when you try to use the player.

Unfortunately, that's what happen to me. While reorganizing my audio equipment, I moved the player and DVDs shifted inside the unit. The player came to a grinding halt (that's the sound you hear) when I powered it on.

After removing the screws that hold the black outer casing in place, I had to put back the displaced DVDs to their appropriate slots. Have that list ready. :p

So handle with extreme care if you decide to take the lazy route.

Good luck.

-- wjjz106

SacTownMan--

I too had a similar problem--I have an older panny dvd-audio player and a few dvd-a titles I want to continue to listen to, but also would like to play some sacd's, but only have the one set of 6ch analog inputs in my avr. The solution for me was to purchase a multi-channel switcher. My 2 995s and the panny are connected to the switcher, and the switcher to the avr. I didn't do a LOT of shopping around, because I already own another zektor component switcher and went with their 6ch audio switcher, but there may be others on the market (maybe cheaper too!). Zektor discontinued their dedicated multichannel switcher, because their HDS4.1 model actually does dual duty as component or multichannel switcher (3 inputs, 1 output). Just thought I'd offer an alternative!!

This looks like a great idea for multiple 5.1 inputs. Their website shows it actually has 4 in 1 out. I could use it for the Sony (SACD), my Toshiba (DVD-Audio) and my HTPC Audigy X-Fi soundcard's analog out. Thanks for the tip. I still am thinking about the Samsung for it's 1080p picture, HDMI sound output and to have a single disc player for rentals etc.

What are the conditions that the player will loose its memory? Is it every time the power is cut, or only sometimes? Will it happen even without loosing power?

What are the conditions that the player will loose its memory? Is it every time the power is cut, or only sometimes? Will it happen even without loosing power?

BTT917 -

After reading the associated threads concerning the issue, there appears to be no set of circumstances that will make the problem rear its ugly head. It can occur at anytime with no "rhyme or reason" as to why the player loses the user's Disc Explorer data. Ouch! That's one heck of a glitch. :confused:

If you do own the player, I would strongly recommend you take some type of backup precaution.

In fact, a number of users have abandoned the Disc Explorer feature all together. They either enter the disc slot number (referring to a list) to play the DVD using the system's remote or another manufacturer remote control (macros).


-- wjjz106

My two cents:

During the past week I had a power outage for aprox. 3 hrs. I thought for sure that the disc explorer would lose its info. I checked when the power came back on and it didn't lose a single title. Then two days later I had to finish painting the room, so I unplugged my 995 for the next two days. I hooked everything back up last night and guess what......it STILL had all of the info I had entered!!!!!

btw: I also keep my disc info in DVDProfiler (just in case)

I love this unit. Then convenience is fantastic. I just can't beleive how fast this thing is starting to fill up.

My old Sony 200 disc DVD changer (DVP-CX850D) just went out last week, Took the cover off and it appears that it is not spinning the disc when trying to read it.

I placed an order at idealav.com for the 400 disc unit. I hope I am not disappointed by ordering from a lesser known internet shop. The price was right, and free shipping. We'll see if it ships tomorrow. Has anyone even heard of this place?

I currently own the 870D which was the first gen sony DVD megachanger. I just bought a Panasonic PJ (the 900u) and am now thinking to get the 995 to use the HMDI input. Did anybody go through such an upgrade? Is the picture of the 995 an improvement over an older megachanger (when using component 480i on both)? Do you see another improvement by using HDMI?

I currently own the 870D which was the first gen sony DVD megachanger.

There was also a CX860 301 disk changer, that was out before the CX870. But just moving up to a CX875p, which was the first model to offer a progressive scan 480p output, was a upgrade in picture quality from the prior models that only had a 480i output.

I currently own the 870D which was the first gen sony DVD megachanger. I just bought a Panasonic PJ (the 900u) and am now thinking to get the 995 to use the HMDI input. Did anybody go through such an upgrade? Is the picture of the 995 an improvement over an older megachanger (when using component 480i on both)? Do you see another improvement by using HDMI?
in my case i don't see any improvement in fact the hdmi input makes the picture from this player look worse i have other components hooked up to my tv with hdmi and in those cases the hdmi does have a improvement so i think its the player. aside from the hdmi connection, this is a nice player not perfect but what is.

Does anyone know if the CX995 plays double density disks that you can burn on to?
If so, can you copy HD files to it and will the CX995 play them in certain formats?

I can verify that the 995 will play double layer discs with no problems. I'm using that for some tv series that were double sided, where I ripped side b to avoid having to flip discs (what good is a changer if I have to getup to turn over a disc?)

I cannot speak to the ability to record HD material to these or how the 995 might react to them.

I am in the process of doing this now. About half way through 250 DVD's. I use DVD shrink to shrink the DVD to my hard disk and I also am removing all the extras and menus. That way most of the movies I have done will fit on a single layer DVD with very little compression. I then use Title Writer to enter the DVD title and then use Roxio to burn it to a new DVD disk. Stick it in the Sony 995 and it reads the title with no problem. The Title writer program can do more of the process but I haven't played with it much and only use it to write the title. If you do a search for Title Writer on google it will show up.


Joe, thanks for the tip. I am trying to do the samething now. It'll make this DVD changer a little more palatable. It's amazing the crap people have to go through with this player to make it work the way it should in the first place.

Anyway, I have a question for you. Are you able to add any text to the second line? TitleWriter help says you can, but I am not able to do this. No biggie. I am very happy putting in just the title.

I ran across something while I was searching: someone was adding info to the second line and he was adding a jpg of a single frame to the DVD info so it would show up. But he was using a 985. Does the cover art show up on the first screen in disc explorer on the 985? It's pretty useless on the 995 because you have to access the 2nd screen.

-mk

I can verify that the 995 will play double layer discs with no problems. I'm using that for some tv series that were double sided, where I ripped side b to avoid having to flip discs (what good is a changer if I have to getup to turn over a disc?)

I cannot speak to the ability to record HD material to these or how the 995 might react to them.

Thanks Mike1812 :) That helps to know that.....

I ran across something while I was searching: someone was adding info to the second line and he was adding a jpg of a single frame to the DVD info so it would show up. But he was using a 985. Does the cover art show up on the first screen in disc explorer on the 985? It's pretty useless on the 995 because you have to access the 2nd screen.

-mk

I was just looking at the manuals for the 985 & 995. The 985 does/can show a jpg and has 2 lines on the disc explorer (5 discs per screen).

What would be cool is if it has where you could put a paragraph -or list actors-about the movie with the cover art on the 2nd screen of the 995.

What would be really cool would be a way to just put the data the way you want it in Microsoft Excel and just copy it to the DVD Player with a simple transfer command.... That way you have a permanent backup of the data and can modify it anyway you wish....

If I'm not going to use the hdmi out does it make sence to buy the 985 instead. I can pick one up for under 200 bucks. i'm just afraid it might be a little more difficult to use than the 995.

As far as I've heard, I believe the 985 is just about the same as the 995, except the 985 lacks HDMI and upconverting...the 985 outputs 480i/480p only, I believe, over component.

Joe, thanks for the tip. I am trying to do the samething now. It'll make this DVD changer a little more palatable. It's amazing the crap people have to go through with this player to make it work the way it should in the first place.

Anyway, I have a question for you. Are you able to add any text to the second line? TitleWriter help says you can, but I am not able to do this. No biggie. I am very happy putting in just the title.

I ran across something while I was searching: someone was adding info to the second line and he was adding a jpg of a single frame to the DVD info so it would show up. But he was using a 985. Does the cover art show up on the first screen in disc explorer on the 985? It's pretty useless on the 995 because you have to access the 2nd screen.

-mk

I have not been able to put anything into the second line either. Played around with it for a while then gave up. I think it's a sony problem. The first line works great though. No more typing titles in.

This has been a very informative thread. I'm considering a multi DVD player. The Sony website indicates that this player is no longer being produced. Does anyone know what they might be doing as a replacement? Or would this be the ES blu-ray unit?

And as a side note. Wouldn't an ethernet connection be the way to go for not only adding titles, etc, but for controlling the unit as well? Put it on a LAN and select the DVDs using a wireless notebook or whatever.

This has been a very informative thread. I'm considering a multi DVD player. The Sony website indicates that this player is no longer being produced. Does anyone know what they might be doing as a replacement? Or would this be the ES blu-ray unit?

You must be looking in the wrong place, because it's even the first picture of a DVD player that shows up.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=hav_DVD&Dept=tvvideo

Also you can even buy them direct from Sony. http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=DVPCX995V%2fKIT2&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=hav_DVD_DVDPlayers


Also, I don't think you are going to see a blu-ray megachanger from Sony right away when blu-ray finally does come out.





And as a side note. Wouldn't an ethernet connection be the way to go for not only adding titles, etc, but for controlling the unit as well? Put it on a LAN and select the DVDs using a wireless notebook or whatever.

It may be the way to go, but the unit itself is not even capable of doing any of that.

Thanks Johnla, I had Googled the unit and the first link sent me to the Sony Style page and that gave me the error. I should have dug deeper.:)

Anyone out there that has inside scoop on upcoming products know if any AV products will have network capability?

I just checked the SonyStyle linked above.
Take a look at the bottom of the spec page and check its dimensions.
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=hav_DVD_DVDPlayers&ProductSKU=DVPCX995V%2fKIT2&TabName=specs&var2=
Talk about a typo.:)

Dang! The unit is sitting 1.3 miles from me at the UPS Distribution Center. Of course since it's Saturday, they won't deliver it until Monday, and the customer service desk isn't open on Saturdays.

I was just looking at the manuals for the 985 & 995. The 985 does/can show a jpg and has 2 lines on the disc explorer (5 discs per screen).

What would be cool is if it has where you could put a paragraph -or list actors-about the movie with the cover art on the 2nd screen of the 995.

Yeah, that would be cool. It looks like Sony took a step backward in that respect.

What is really frustrating about the DVP-CX995V is that is has a lot of things in place that would make this a great unit. It seems like they didn't finish the job. A firmware update would be awesome, but I know that is highly unlikely.

Here's what needs to be fixed on the next unit:

1. Make the disable Auto-play option actually do something.
2. Show the name of the disc on the front display on the unit. I can't understand why it says "Disc 1" "Disc 2" etc. instead of the name of the disc. Sony's 10 year old CD changers show the info on the front display.
3. Ability to read more titles on the discs.
4. Don't disable the continue points when you access the Disc Explorer.
5. Need more info in Disc Explorer. JPG on the first screen would be nice.
6. Add CD-TEXT.
7. Don't delete typed info when a disc is removed. (There should just be an icon showing the disc is not in the player while keeping the info intact.)
8. OMG. I almost forgot about the horrible remote. Why is there that awful switch on the top to switch to Disc Explorer? It shouldn't even be neccessary, just push a Disc Explorer button.
9. Should be able to link it to other changers and receivers.
10. The ability to connect to a computer would be nice.

Most of the changes could have been fixed before Sony shipped out the units, but I guess they don't care because they is pretty no competition on the Mega-changer front.

-mk

I have not been able to put anything into the second line either. Played around with it for a while then gave up. I think it's a sony problem. The first line works great though. No more typing titles in.

I've been able to add a second line and display it with my old model 860. Perhaps that's yet another feature that was lost on the newer models. :mad:

Anyway, the help file for Titlewriter really stinks, but I finally figured out that if I click on "volume" it creates another text enter under the "volume" label and then I use the dropdown menu to change that entry to a "movie" type entry and then use the little edit box to enter the info I want.

The thing I still haven't been able to figure out how to do, is to add the menu back into a movie only shrink. :confused:

Does this unit have any problems with DVD-r discs ?
No problem with the DVD-r's in mine so far...it really has alot to do with the burning software you are using. I use Nero and everything seems to be great.

2. Show the name of the disc on the front display on the unit. I can't understand why it says "Disc 1" "Disc 2" etc. instead of the name of the disc. Sony's 10 year old CD changers show the info on the front display.
5. Need more info in Disc Explorer. JPG on the first screen would be nice.
7. Don't delete typed info when a disc is removed. (There should just be an icon showing the disc is not in the player while keeping the info intact.)
8. OMG. I almost forgot about the horrible remote. Why is there that awful switch on the top to switch to Disc Explorer? It shouldn't even be neccessary, just push a Disc Explorer button.
=-mk
2. The disc name displays if you press TIME/TEXT 3 times.
5. I would rather have 11 titles on screen than half as many with pix.
7. I like this feature. I think Sony will get flak either way.
8. Agreed, but a good universal remote solves the problem -- and is a good purchase for many other reasons.

2. The disc name displays if you press TIME/TEXT 3 times.

I'm not talking about while I am watching a movie. I already know what movie I am watching. I am talking about when you scroll through the discs from the dial on the front of the unit. It won't display the name of the DVD until it is loaded. That wasn't the case with their CD changers.

-mk

If I'm not going to use the hdmi out does it make sence to buy the 985 instead. I can pick one up for under 200 bucks. i'm just afraid it might be a little more difficult to use than the 995.

I looked at buying a 985 when they were the new changer, but the layer change was too slow IMO; so I decided to wait. The 995 on the other hand has a very fast layer change.

If I'm not going to use the HDMI out does it make sence to buy the 985 instead. I can pick one up for under 200 bucks. i'm just afraid it might be a little more difficult to use than the 995.

smddoc -

The units are basically the same, except for the HDMI (1080i, 720p). The older model, DVP-CX985V, has the capability to accept signals in progressive format "480p". I could not see a big difference between the 480p vs 720p. I thought the 480p looked great!

Besides the cost, BTW - 200 dollars is a nice price, the 985 has a work-around for the "Auto Play" issue.

I'm the owner of two 985 players. My suggestion would be to go with the earlier model and pocket the change :)


-- wjjz106

Can anyone verify the dimensions of this unit? As I mentioned above, the Sony site had incorrect info. Is it really 12" high?
And, it really can't send an upconverted 1080i signal out the component lines?
My Mits WS48311 only has component inputs (unless I add the optional HDMI connection ($$$)).

smddoc -

The units are basically the same, except for the HDMI (1080i, 720p). The older model, DVP-CX985V, has the capability to accept signals in progressive format "480p". I could not see a big difference between the 480p vs 720p. I thought the 480p looked great!

Besides the cost, BTW - 200 dollars is a nice price, the 985 has a work-around for the "Auto Play" issue.

I'm the owner of two 985 players. My suggestion would be to go with the earlier model and pocket the change :)


-- wjjz106
Thanks for the input, I might just do that. I can get one for like 179 at a sony outlet store near me. I think they are refurbs thats why the low price.

Thanks for the input, I might just do that. I can get one for like 179 at a sony outlet store near me. I think they are refurbs thats why the low price.

The slow layer change comment above caught my eye...that's something that can really bother me (others may not care so much). On the 995 it is fast enough for me.

I'd ensure you can return the 985 just in case the layer change on the 985 bothers you. I've never seen/used a 985, so I can't confirm if it is different from the 995 as noted above.

Can anyone verify the dimensions of this unit? As I mentioned above, the Sony site had incorrect info. Is it really 12" high?

WxHxD

17" x 7-7/16" x 21-1/7" (430 x 189 x 537mm)



And, it really can't send an upconverted 1080i signal out the component lines?My Mits WS48311 only has component inputs (unless I add the optional HDMI connection ($$$)).
No 720p or 1080i via component. That can only be done through the HDMI output.

UMMMMMMM...my 995 has about 100 more slots left :( ......I have bought more movies since buying this player THAN EVER BEFORE......

No 720p or 1080i via component. That can only be done through the HDMI output.

Are you sure about that? My 8300 DVR cable box lets me upconvert a component connection to 720P or 1080I..... I would think the Sony would let you do the same thing....

Are you sure about that? My 8300 DVR cable box lets me upconvert a component connection to 720P or 1080I..... I would think the Sony would let you do the same thing....

It may be a function of the upconverter being used, much like the Oppo player, it is limited to the HDMI ports, only. The difference between HDMI and component, is digital versus analog.

Keith

Are you sure about that? My 8300 DVR cable box lets me upconvert a component connection to 720P or 1080I..... I would think the Sony would let you do the same thing....

Yes I am sure about that, and no Sony does not allow you to do it. Your cable box is showing you TV stations. A DVD player is playing DVD's, and the MPAA does not want them to be upconverted to 720p or 1080i over a analog output, so it's only allowed on a digital output. In fact the MPAA and many movie studios just recently last month went after Samsung with a lawsuit for some of their older DVD players that could be easily be "hacked" with some rather simple remote control commands, to also let them upconvert over component.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=897

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200602/kt2006021919273711910.htm?www.daiytech.com

Yes I am sure about that, and no Sony does not allow you to do it. Your cable box is showing you TV stations. A DVD player is playing DVD's, and the MPAA does not want them to be upconverted to 720p or 1080i over a analog output, so it's only allowed on a digital output. In fact the MPAA and many movie studios just recently last month went after Samsung with a lawsuit for some of their older DVD players that could be easily be "hacked" with some rather simple remote control commands, to also let them upconvert over component.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=897

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200602/kt2006021919273711910.htm?www.daiytech.com

Not to pick too many nits here, but that case was about circumventing copy protection, not that it could upconvert component outputs. The movie studios care about digital copy protection, not analog (well, not as much). Plus, an upconverted analog picture is going to be less worthwhile to copy than the original 480i/p in digital mode.

There are a couple of DVD players out there that will do it, but they are non-name brands. My thinking is that is purely a cost issue. It is probably much cheaper to put in a digital scaler, than an analog one.

Edit:
After doing a bit of research on this, I have noticed that the reason behind it is that the upscaled outputs would lose their Macrovision protection, which is why they don't do it. I guess you just have to hope the scaler in you TV is at least as good as the one in the DVD player.

Keith

WxHxD

17" x 7-7/16" x 21-1/7" (430 x 189 x 537mm)




No 720p or 1080i via component. That can only be done through the HDMI output.Thanks for that info. Those dimensions are different from both places I checked. Now to rethink this whole thing through as that depth is very close to the depth of my cabinet.

Thanks for that info. Those dimensions are different from both places I checked. Now to rethink this whole thing through as that depth is very close to the depth of my cabinet.

It's pretty much the exact same size as the Sony DVP-CX777ES. Which they do have listed as the correct size on their website.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=hav_DVD_DVDPlayers&ProductSKU=DVPCX777ES&TabName=specs&var2=


Here is another listing, that shows the correct size of the DVP-CX995.

http://www.oade.com/Home_theater/sony/dvd/dvpcx995V_specs.html

UMMMMMMM...my 995 has about 100 more slots left :( ......I have bought more movies since buying this player THAN EVER BEFORE......

quickfire -

You might want to check yourself into a "12 step" program for OCB (Out of Control Buying) for DVDs :D

I did but it hasn't done any good as I'm on my second player. Even though you can't daisy chain the player, you do have ability to control 3 players* using the COMMAND MODE switch with the unit's remote.

* I could command up to 6 players using my Philip's remote control (IR & RF) but I think the wife would have me committed before that could ever happen :)


-- wjjz106

* I could command up to 6 players using my Philip's remote control (IR & RF) but I think the wife would have me committed before that could ever happen :)



Only 6, that's childs play..... ;)

You can run/command up to 16 of the CX777ES's with a PC, when using the RS232 serial port connection. For a grand total of 6400 DVD's...
But of course you would also need some sort of a 16 in, and 1 out video switcher for all those changers as well.

Heh. . .16 (because that's how many individual channels are assignable) individual MRF-300s (RF receiver/IR transmitter for URC remotes) times 6 ports per = 96 individual changers controllable!!! Of course, that's assuming I only used ONE emitter per port. Using a 3 emitter cable per port gets me to. . .um. . .ok, carry the one. . .288 changers. . . :D

(that's 115,200 discs).

I think that's called a fire hazard!!!

Only 6, that's childs play..... ;)

You can run/command up to 16 of the CX777ES's with a PC, when using the RS232 serial port connection. For a grand total of 6400 DVD's...


Heh. . .16 (because that's how many individual channels are assignable) individual MRF-300s (RF receiver/IR transmitter for URC remotes) times 6 ports per = 96 individual changers controllable!!! Of course, that's assuming I only used ONE emitter per port. Using a 3 emitter cable per port gets me to. . .um. . .ok, carry the one. . .288 changers. . .

(that's 115,200 discs).


Johnla and mike1812-

And the thought of having six wasn't insane enough (2400 DVDs) :D

I haven't seen this in the previous thousand or so posts: When I enter a disc number directly in the navigator (a tactic that's not mentioned in the manual) and hit Select or Enter, it plays the NEXT disc. Enter 4, it plays 5, enter 168, it plays 169. Kooky.

Refresh my memory...what is "the navigator?"

And the thought of having six wasn't insane enough (2400 DVDs) :D


Aw come on, you can watch at least that many in just one very loooong weekend of a only few hundred days...... :rolleyes:

Only 6, that's childs play..... ;)

You can run/command up to 16 of the CX777ES's with a PC, when using the RS232 serial port connection. For a grand total of 6400 DVD's...
But of course you would also need some sort of a 16 in, and 1 out video switcher for all those changers as well.

John did you ever get that computer program running to control your 777ES similar to the way Kalidescape works?