Sony DVP-CX995V owner's thread

[mdeligny]

I've seen a couple posts out there on this unit, but one is pretty much all about where to buy it, who has it in stock and how much is it. A new start for an owner's thread might be nice.

I've had my unit only for two days now. My first mega changer. Always used a single disc player, since they had awesome features, loads of power and played anything you threw at it. Seeing this unit was progressive scan and could play all that I needed it to, I went for it.

A few things that don't make much sense. No data backup. Usually electronics that you input data in have some kind of battery backup. You can spend literally hours entering your data in and then if the power goes out in your house it's all gone. It would have been nice if Sony included a small internal battery backup.

This thing wants to load a disc no matter what. If you don't want to load a disc and you are just browsing through the navigator, the unit still has to load a disc. It would have been nice if there was an option to manual load and not always want to start playing a disc.

The time it takes to search and load a disc is not an issue at all. I've seen people complain about this, but as impatient as I am, it does not bother me one bit.

Using component video cables now going directly into my receiver. May try HDMI out, but I doubt it will look any better. At least that's what I think. Does it give a better picture using the HDMI cable?

Michael

[Andrew_Ballew]

I am certainly hoping for a cleaner picture via HDMI. The component output compared to other players I have owned has more edge-enhancement/ringing, and is a little "noisier".

I left more thoughts over in the other thread....

Andrew

[Louismc]

I am thinking about purchasing the DVP-CX995v. I purchased the 880 last year and returned it due to the explore was too slow. I loaded 150 disk and it took forever to find one.
The reviews said the 995v was faster. I have been waiting for some one to post info to find out if it is faster.

Thanks

Louis

[mdeligny]

I have heard it's faster then the older Sony mega changer. That's why a lot of people have been waiting for this one. This is my first mega changer and find the loading times aren't bad at all. After hitting PLAY off of the navigation screen the disc will start playing about 10-15 seconds. Not too bad really...not a problem for me at all and I'm a very impatient person.

Originally Posted by Louismc

I am thinking about purchasing the DVP-CX995v. I purchased the 880 last year and returned it due to the explore was too slow. I loaded 150 disk and it took forever to find one.
The reviews said the 995v was faster. I have been waiting for some one to post info to find out if it is faster.

Thanks

Louis

[LinuxSuperGeek]

Originally Posted by mdeligny

A few things that don't make much sense. No data backup. Usually electronics that you input data in have some kind of battery backup. You can spend literally hours entering your data in and then if the power goes out in your house it's all gone. It would have been nice if Sony included a small internal battery backup.

I tested this aspect first thing. I loaded up a couple hundered DVDs into it and entered in the titles of the first couple disks. Before I entered more, I wanted to be sure I wouldn't lose them if the power went out.

I unplugged the unit for 10 seconds and my entered data was still saved.
I unplugged the unit for 30 minutes and my entered data was still saved.

Hopefully this means the data is being saved to flash memory or something that doesn't require constant power.

Originally Posted by mdeligny

This thing wants to load a disc no matter what. If you don't want to load a disc and you are just browsing through the navigator, the unit still has to load a disc. It would have been nice if there was an option to manual load and not always want to start playing a disc.

I noticed this too. There is an "Auto Play" setting that I have set to "OFF" but it still does it.

Originally Posted by mdeligny

The time it takes to search and load a disc is not an issue at all. I've seen people complain about this, but as impatient as I am, it does not bother me one bit.

I have no complaints about the speed either. It is about 100x faster then getting off the couch, walking to the shelves, finding the DVD I want, walking to the AV rack, and inserting a disk into my old player.

[vid53]

I plugged mine into the UPS backup with my projector.That should hopefully save my info. that I enter, if power is off for at least 15 minutes.

Vid53

[motoman]

I would like to hear some thoughts on the HDMI ouput also. I hace a unused DVI port on my Pioneer Elite 630 and have been thinking about trying out a mega changer. Video ouput would be more important to me than anything else.

Thanks

Jim

[Louismc]

Can any one answer
How long does it take to scroll through Dvd's once the are all loaded?
Are you able to load all data using a PS2 key board
I have an older Cx355 cd mega changer will it link up

[HK-Steve]

Hey Everyone,
Has anyone compared the HDMI output to Component?

Is it really worth buying the 995 over the 777es, just for the HDMI output??

I am not interested in the Disc Menu system, as I have the MX3000 and the DMX3000 software for disk control.



Appreciate any comments
Cheers
Steve

[FBlack]

I bought one two days ago. Read my comments on that other thread. First, it plays DVD-RW very well. I make backups of my movies using a 4.7 gig disk and a compression program. About one in 8 fail to run properly by the Sony. But if I burn them to a DVD-RW, they work fine. My olde JVC DVD can read the compressed movies just fine.

I cannot get the Sony to read a DVD that has many MP3 songs on it. My older JVC DVD read them. I may try again with fewwer songs. It palys DIVX and CD mp3's fine.

The Load feature where it is supposed to read info on DVD's does not work well. It failed to read two store bought DVD movies. One it just read the cover, the other it totally missed. You can manually enter the data from the remote. I tried a keyboard, but it did not seem to work properly. Key strokes had a big lag or triple letters came out. I will test this again.

I hate this zoom. If you zoom a movie, the "zoom" icon stays on the screen. Anyone know if there is a button or something that removes the icon? Hitting display or clear drops the zoom back to 1 to 1.

I am not sure I am keeping this and Tweeter has a 30 day policy. BTW... I paid $339 at Tweeter.

[FBlack]

The folder button on the remote does not seem to work. Folder works fine on the face of the Sony. Anyone else have trouble.

[mdeligny]

I agree...the data you enter does NOT erase when unplugged or power is interrupted. Very nice!

[mdeligny]

If you are scrolling through without images, it's very quick. Just a button push and the next screen appears. No waiting.

I entered all my data using a standard plain jane AT keyboard. It was a Dell. Some characters were doubled...but I finally got them all in.

Originally Posted by Louismc

Can any one answer
How long does it take to scroll through Dvd's once the are all loaded?
Are you able to load all data using a PS2 key board
I have an older Cx355 cd mega changer will it link up

[FBlack]

But if you remove a disk the Sony loses the info. Does your Folder Button work on the remote?

[harveybirdman]

Originally Posted by FBlack

Does your Folder Button work on the remote?

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".

[NoPlasmaYet]

Originally Posted by HK-Steve

Hey Everyone,
Has anyone compared the HDMI output to Component?

Is it really worth buying the 995 over the 777es, just for the HDMI output??

I am not interested in the Disc Menu system, as I have the MX3000 and the DMX3000 software for disk control.



Appreciate any comments
Cheers
Steve

Steve,

In my opinion the picture looks better over the HDMI output, when compared to the component output. I have a Sony 55WF655 TV. It just seems sharper via HDMI. YMMV...

As far as comparisons to the 777es...well the ES does give more tweaks...gamma adjustment & such. If you want those then your choice is clear. Personally, I just put the picture mode on "Cinema 1" and I'm happy...Maybe, I'll be bold and try Cinema 2, or even Dynamic 1....maybe later...

Oh, one other thing. I don't find the 995 to be slow. If anything I'd rather see my disks handled in a slow gentle manner... Plus, it's great to have my DVD collection in one place.

Do wish there was a way to directly go to a disk number. I'm used to the Sony CD Changer and I can enter a disk number a go right to it. I have not seen this feature on the 995. I'll check the manual (again) maybe I missed it...

[HK-Steve]

Thanks NoPlasmaYet
I appreciate your comments on the HDMI and Components outputs,
and I think that the 777es is the way to go for Me,


Now all I need to do is find someone who has the 777 for a good price, and is Code Free, and Ships to Switzerland.



Cheers
Steve

[nmo]

Has anyone used the single-disc 975 and compared it with the 995 changer?

I'm interested in getting the PQ/SQ of the 975 with the convenience of a mega-changer.

[harveybirdman]

Owners, under what circumstances does the 995 "forget" your disc info when you take it out? For example, if I take out a disc and put it right back in without doing anything else, is that enough to erase the info? How about if I leave the door open and the machine on, and return the disc an hour or a day later? How about if I pull out several from around the carousel and put them back without closing the door? My theory is that you may only lose info if you close the door and maybe also if you spin the carousel to pull another disc. Can anyone confirm? EDIT: It looks like you have to press eject once you've queued up the slot to get any disc out - so if the eject button wipes the slot memory, that sucks. /EDIT

I just pulled the trigger and ordered mine from B&H (very good price, btw). Hopefully I'll have it by the weekend and I can confirm this myself.

[FBlack]

The remote that came with my 995 has no slider. Just a switch to go from TV to DVD. My remote is model #RM-ASP001. The Enter/Folder Button says Folder in Blue. Does it take a special "keypress" to get the blue Folder button to work?

As for forgetting title info. I did a few quick tests. If you just take the disk out and put it back, it will hold the inforamtion. But if you take it out and turn off the machine, it does a full rotation of all the slots before it shuts down and cancels info in empty slots.

It is not the door closing operation that maters. It's the process where the machine looks for DVD's in the slots that it deletes info in empty slots.

[FBlack]

OK... call me an idiot. I did not see the third position before on the remote slider TV/DVD/Disk Explorer. It workd now.

[la916]

I purchased three DVP-CX995V. I waited to purchase this model over the DVP CX777ES because of the HDMI and the other improvements. I was intending to purchase the Escient Fireball and connect all three to have a storage and access capacity of 1200 DVD's / CD's.

I found that Sony elected NOT to include a RS-232 port for this model and therefore there is no way to connect any sort of external controller or disc management component.

The Escient Fireball can build and store a database with title, genre, cover art and more and it will do it automatically and accurately with about 90% of the DVD's and CD's that are available commercially. The data for the other 10% of discs not recognized, can be manually added which helps update Escient's database to create an even higher percentage of available future data.

This is something Sony has not been able to accomplish even with the new improved Disc Explorer.

Unfortunately, I will be returning these three units and either purchase the DVP-CX777ES or wait until they add HDMI and improve the DVP CX777ES with Sony's next ES revision. The DVP-CX777ES currently has a RS-232 port.

It would be nice if someone came up with an RS-232 port add-on kit for the DVP-CX995V.

[cubsfan]

I bet Sony has an updated 777es in the works. They're most likely waiting on comments on the 995 , and what would be an easy upgrade . Let them know, as the no database scrolling ,while disc is playing , and supposed disc info loss if disc removed and player turned off , coupled with
no direct disc input keys have me scratching my head and waiting again. I hope they get the message and include it on the sucesssor to the 777es. Let Sony know what they did wrong ,and what should be corrected on the new XXXes !

[kfisher109]

What's the difference between the 985 and the 995 other than the HDMI output. I can get the 985 for 50 bucks less and can't use HDMI anyway.

[harveybirdman]

Originally Posted by la916

I purchased three DVP-CX995V. I waited to purchase this model over the DVP CX777ES because of the HDMI and the other improvements. I was intending to purchase the Escient Fireball and connect all three to have a storage and access capacity of 1200 DVD's / CD's.

I found that Sony elected NOT to include a RS-232 port for this model and therefore there is no way to connect any sort of external controller or disc management component.

The Escient Fireball can build and store a database with title, genre, cover art and more and it will do it automatically and accurately with about 90% of the DVD's and CD's that are available commercially. The data for the other 10% of discs not recognized, can be manually added which helps update Escient's database to create an even higher percentage of available future data.

This is something Sony has not been able to accomplish even with the new improved Disc Explorer.

Unfortunately, I will be returning these three units and either purchase the DVP-CX777ES or wait until they add HDMI and improve the DVP CX777ES with Sony's next ES revision. The DVP-CX777ES currently has a RS-232 port.

It would be nice if someone came up with an RS-232 port add-on kit for the DVP-CX995V.

Bear in mind that the Escient Fireball only has component video (3 in, 1 out), so waiting for the 777 update with HDMI wouldn't do you much good. Recievers with HDMI switching are still in the thousands, and you still wouldn't have the convenience of funnelling all three changers through the fireball to one reciever input.

[harveybirdman]

Originally Posted by kfisher109

What's the difference between the 985 and the 995 other than the HDMI output. I can get the 985 for 50 bucks less and can't use HDMI anyway.

The 2 big improvements are HDMI and better navigation. The 985 interface is universally despised for being too limited and too slow to be usable. Early reports on the 995 are that the navigation is much quicker, with the only complaint being that your data erases when you eject a disc (a problem for the 985 as well). Plenty of under the hood improvements, I'm sure - early reports say the 995 mechanics are faster and quieter. I'd say the navigation is worth 50 bucks, easy.

[Heywood]

You should be able to find the 985 for a better deal than 50 less.

For memory- the problem I had with my CD 400 changers was a power surge knocking out the memory of what I typed. (I have had the player unplugged for days without memory loss.)

What are people using for Video/ Audio and Monitor hook ups?

To be honest, my old 1st gen Sony over S-video to the DLP looked better, until I played with some settings, (now it may be a liitle better, but not striking)


I have a Sam HLR 5067 DLP, and an older Sony ES AVreciever.

Currently-
Video: DVD-Component-DLP
Audio: DVD- optical- HT Receiver

Some audio lag

Thoughts:

DVD-HDMI-DLP
DLP-Optical-Receiver--- Does the Audio go over the HDMI, and if I output the signal from the DLP to the reciever will it be more or less likely to have lip sync issues?

[1nite]

I upgraded my 985 to the 995. I have both componet video and HDMI connected to my TV.

The componet video is sending 720p and the HDMI is sending 1080.

The 720p picture is excellent....so much so that I can see no difference when switching to HDMI.

My question is this...should I really expect a big difference from a DVD source that wasn't recorded in HiDef to start with? Another way to put it..can you really make a silk purse from a sow's ear?

I know broadcast HiDef from HD Net is dramatically superior to HBO HiDef. But they film right from the start with HiDef cameras.

[FBlack]

One thing I do like is that the 995 is very quiet. I almost cannot hear the disk tray and door when you eject a disk. The 995 does let you type info in the disk explorer and add a cover picture. But as yet, unless someone else knows how to do it, the disk explorer does not show the picture until you open a line in the explorer. I wish there was a way to just show the cover pictures and select a movie that way. I have a Printo 7000 and will probably do it that way.

Scrolling through the list on the disk explorer is OK, but not really that fast. I cannot compare it to the older 985. I am not sure how to speed through the list or manually input a disk number. I guess I better get out the manual.

Loading a new disk seems to take forever, but really about 30 seconds. As has already been stated, even with it set to off, it always loads a disk and starts playing when you first turn on the machine. But you cannot access the disk explorer list until that disk starts to play. You cannot shorten the process by pressing stop either. The 995 must go through the initial startup and read the default disk before the disk explorer can be opened.

You can access the disk explorer while a movie is playing.

[longshanksdvd]

480i over HDMI? Can anyone confirm? Also any control for video black vs. PC black?