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Official Sony BD Mega-Changer Thread: BDP-CX7000ES & BDP-CX960 - Page 2

post #31 of 3241
8/20/09 at 5:59am
Thanks guys.
That is very helpful. I think I will first purchase the 7000ES and go from there. The Escient unit is pretty sweet, but want to see first hand what the 7000ES can do.
Cheers!
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post #32 of 3241
8/20/09 at 6:04am
Escient gives you more options if the Gracenote data is not correct: you can do a search for the correct data manually as I recall

[other servers like Request Audio give you even more: Request gives you the option to use other subscription services to get cover art: there are several other services both free & paid]

I have an RTI control system and they just released 2 way drivers for Escient: this is why I may buy it but figure there is no rush until the firmware for the 7000ES is released
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post #33 of 3241
8/20/09 at 6:23am
So I found the listing for the Escient VS-100 at "wholesale" on ebay.

$2600 for a slicker GUI? NO thanks.

There has got to be a better way, or another way, period.

I nearly spit up on my laptop.

It stands to reason that there's at least a decent chance Sony will execute one of their billion or so firmware updates and supply a better menu, including larger title sizes. SO, I'll wait it out a bit and see what happens.

Personally, I am not made of money and could never justify this purchase. Hell, I don't know if I could even if I did.

Sincerely, god bless those that can.

James
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post #34 of 3241
8/20/09 at 6:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mastermaybe View Post

So I found the listing for the Escient VS-100 at "wholesale" on ebay.

$2600 for a slicker GUI? NO thanks.

There has got to be a better way, or another way, period.

I nearly spit up on my laptop.

It stands to reason that there's at least a decent chance Sony will execute one of their billion or so firmware updates and supply a better menu, including larger title sizes.

Personally, I am not made of money and could never justify this purchase. Hell, I don't know if I could even if I did.

Sincerely, god bless those that can.

James

You're largely correct - in my case, even employee accommodation pricing was tough to swallow, but it was lot more attractive that that eBay price.

I've also been itching to integrate whole-house HD video distribution (at least four zones to start anyway), and the Escient VS-100/BDMP-7000es was a good start for a unified source device...
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post #35 of 3241
8/20/09 at 6:45am
^ Yes, good point about the "whole-home" integration. I'm not trying to undersell what the Escient is capable of, it just seems like an awfully expensive way of accomplishing it.

The list price for the unit is nearly unbelievable to me.

James
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post #36 of 3241
8/20/09 at 6:49am
Bit off topic, but, for someone who knows more than me: do/when will HDMI splitters exist to at least emit same-source material to multiple zones? I've heard that there are some around, but they don't really work well. Something like this: http://www.mycablemart.com/store/car..._detail&p=1666

I've heard many only get partial or completely corrupted signals.

I mean this way I could at least watch DirecTV in one room and BD's in another. Guess a switcher could accomplish the same thing, but I'd be nice to never have to mess with it and just have the changer "at the ready" for any room.



EDIT: Guess I should retract my statement after reading rave reviews on this: http://www.amazon.com/Powered-Splitt...0776742&sr=8-3

I always thought HDMI inherently didn't allow for "splitting", but I guess assumed incorrectly. Looks like a sure-fire way to enjoy the changer in multiple rooms.

James
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post #37 of 3241
8/20/09 at 6:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mastermaybe View Post

Bit off topic, but, for someone who knows more than me: do/when will HDMI splitters exist to at least emit same-source material to multiple zones? I've heard that there are some around, but they don't really work well.

I mean this way I could at least watch DirecTV in one room and BD's in another.

James

Purportedly very good - I should have them installed this weekend and will let you know:

The 4x4 matrix
http://www.intelix.com/products/digihdmi4x4.htm

The remote zone baluns:
http://www.avovercat5.com/products/digihdmiirr.htm
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post #38 of 3241
8/20/09 at 7:10am
Hello,
Awesome news that Sony is releasing the BDP-CX7000ES and BDP-CX960. I can only hope and pray that it proves more reliable than the DVP-CX995V that I have. It was truly a sickening feeling when it failed considering the hours spent with a keyboard entering information for discs without DVD Text. That and the surface scratches on every disc I put in the thing.

However, I will still more than likely buy a BDP-CX7000ES. The ability to have that many discs accessible is an amazing thing. I truly miss my 995V. For whatever reason, it stopped reading discs. So now it sits in a closet.
Cheers,
AD
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post #39 of 3241
8/20/09 at 9:21am
[quote=thrang;17031669]I just received my Escient VS-100 and am ripping SD DVDs for now until the changer support arrives...[quote]

Thrang,

Is it your understanding that the the VS-100 will be able to combine the movies from the VS-100, or another source like the VX-600 with the Mega changer into 1 library? Currently the Fireball combines multiple Sony 777s into one library for viewing.

Thanks
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post #40 of 3241
8/20/09 at 9:27am
[quote=Noah Winter;17032922][quote=thrang;17031669]I just received my Escient VS-100 and am ripping SD DVDs for now until the changer support arrives...
Quote:



Thrang,

Is it your understanding that the the VS-100 will be able to combine the movies from the VS-100, or another source like the VX-600 with the Mega changer into 1 library? Currently the Fireball combines multiple Sony 777s into one library for viewing.

Thanks

Yes (well, whether it is one menu choice, "Movie Library", or two, "Movie Library" and "External Library" or something like that, I don't know. I believe it is the former -

Thanks
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post #41 of 3241
8/20/09 at 11:30am
[quote=Noah Winter;17032922][quote=thrang;17031669]I just received my Escient VS-100 and am ripping SD DVDs for now until the changer support arrives...
Quote:



Thrang,

Is it your understanding that the the VS-100 will be able to combine the movies from the VS-100, or another source like the VX-600 with the Mega changer into 1 library? Currently the Fireball combines multiple Sony 777s into one library for viewing.

Thanks

Yes, the VS-100 will seamlessly integrate the movies from all Vision units on the same network with the titles on the changer(s). There is one caviat however, the titles on the changers are only available to the Vision unit they are physically connected to, they cannot be streamed to other Vison units as the hard drive based titles can.
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post #42 of 3241
8/20/09 at 2:52pm
[quote=SORAPP;17033877][quote=Noah Winter;17032922]
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

I just received my Escient VS-100 and am ripping SD DVDs for now until the changer support arrives...

Yes, the VS-100 will seam;essly integrate the movies from all Vision units on the same network with the titles on the changer(s). There is one caviat however, the titles on the changers are only available to the Vision unit they are physically connected to, they cannot be streamed to other Vison units as the hard drive based titles can.

This is indeed good news. I would think that it would become problematic to segregate the media some way, say movies in the BD player, TV shows on the VS-100, due to the mixture of content and most people's growing BD library.

To have any type of media, SD DVDs, BDs, and movies stored on a hard drive all in one library really would be great.

Thanks for the confirm
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post #43 of 3241
8/20/09 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
[quote=SORAPP;17033877][quote=Noah Winter;17032922]
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrang View Post

I just received my Escient VS-100 and am ripping SD DVDs for now until the changer support arrives...

Yes, the VS-100 will seamlessly integrate the movies from all Vision units on the same network with the titles on the changer(s). There is one caveat however, the titles on the changers are only available to the Vision unit they are physically connected to, they cannot be streamed to other Vison units as the hard drive based titles can.

This is as much a function of the audio/video switching capabilities of the Escient, as it is to present a unified interface based on the content fed to the Escient unit from the changers that are attached. At the end of the day, this amounts to a potential interface for up to 1600 discs. The audio/video switching from changer to changer permits us to use only one HDMI input on your AV processor or receiver.

While the user interface on the BDP-CX7000ES is more than adequate, it is simply inferior to the Escient. All of this presents a risk/benefit decision for everyone that is interested in a changer, since the added cost is significant--first, to get the more expensive ES changer (which I will bet is the identical A/V performer to the upcoming CX960), and then to add the cost of the Escient to boot.

While I've made the choice to go the spend-more-money route, I will freely concede that the ultimate objective--audio and video performance--is not enhanced by it. Rather, the issue becomes one of ergonomics or user-friendliness. At a certain point, every one of us is only willing to bite so many bullets.

Nick
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post #44 of 3241
8/21/09 at 4:58am
Some screen shots (sorry, just from my camera phone as my wife had the regular camera)

Main Interface


Sorting Content


Grouping Content

Edit Options


Editing Interface


Selecting a genre
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post #45 of 3241
8/21/09 at 6:56am
thanks for the caps Thrang! Ive been curious what the interface looked like after hearing all of talk about it!
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post #46 of 3241
8/21/09 at 7:39am
How acurate is the info on the Blu-ray when you load it into the changer?
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post #47 of 3241
8/21/09 at 7:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by uw69 View Post

How acurate is the info on the Blu-ray when you load it into the changer?

you mean Gracenotes? of 13 discs, it read 12 properly: the only one it could not ID was the Spears & Muncil BD test disc that comes with the OPPO 83

I plan to fill up the changer this weekend so will have more data in the next few days
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post #48 of 3241
8/21/09 at 7:54am
Probably a stupid question, but does it, like the ps3, support network media (servers)?
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post #49 of 3241
8/21/09 at 10:53am
loaded 75 more BD discs: took an hour to do lookup

have 3 unidentified discs out of 89
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post #50 of 3241
8/21/09 at 2:03pm
Mine found 225 out of 252. To be fair the 27 were all obscure titles which I didn't expect it to find and it found every one of my Blu-ray titles, including cover art. Actually it found a few I didn't expect. The oddest thing is that of the 225 found titles, almost half have no cover art. I can't wait for Escient to release the Vision upgrade for this.
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post #51 of 3241
8/22/09 at 11:51am
mine missed a disc (The Day The Earth Stood Still: Keanu Reeves): I did a reload and that fixed it

I edited some titles that Gracenotes could not find: if you do a reload, it does not seem to save your edits

[fixed]

Aside from a few quirks, I really like this changer
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post #52 of 3241
8/22/09 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by markrubin View Post

mine missed a disc (The Day The Earth Stood Still: Keanu Reeves): I did a reload and that fixed it

I edited some titles that Gracenotes could not find: if you do a reload, it does not seem to save your edits

I tried to make the changer load info for disc 37: instead it went to disc 1 as if it were loading all discs: don't understand that

Aside from a few quirks, I really like this changer

Did you use Load from the Options menu of the actual disc? I found out the hard way that this is how you do an individual disk. If you want to Load all recently added discs, use the Load key on the remote.

Do you feel the "Load" command is kind of amibiguous? It uses load to mean different actions at different times. I would have preferred a different term such as "Registering" to mean adding discs to the data base. A minor detail, overall it is quite useful.

Update: In an earlier post I said that the unit loses manually entered info if the power drops (tested by pulling the plug), since then I have had an actual brief power outage and nothing was lost. Perhaps it depends on how long the power is out.
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post #53 of 3241
8/22/09 at 3:14pm
the load command [under options] will show loading discs 1/1:

it is only doing the one selected disc

I edited my post
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post #54 of 3241
8/23/09 at 10:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markrubin View Post

mine missed a disc (The Day The Earth Stood Still: Keanu Reeves): I did a reload and that fixed it

I edited some titles that Gracenotes could not find: if you do a reload, it does not seem to save your edits

[fixed]

Aside from a few quirks, I really like this changer

I think that this changer comes with a setting enabled that it will not recognize horrible movies... it can probably be disabled...
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post #55 of 3241
8/23/09 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrkalel View Post

I think that this changer comes with a setting enabled that it will not recognize horrible movies... it can probably be disabled...

you may be right: it did recognize the original 1951 version properly
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post #56 of 3241
8/23/09 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by markrubin View Post

you may be right: it did recognize the original 1951 version properly

Ha...true, true.

James
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post #57 of 3241
8/23/09 at 11:29pm
I have the old Sony 400 DVD changer. CX-985v.

Did they fix many of the old issues?

1) Someone mentioned the 7000es was slow at loading, but is it slow like my unit, or faster?
2) When you turn on the unit, does it still load disk 1. I hated that. I couldn't load in my new DVD untill it was done loading disk 1.
3) The dvd listing was useless. It took forever to scroll pages. Does the new menu system move faster to a useable stage? Or is it eye candy, but eventually it'll be easier to keep all titles on a piece of paper and choose the disk number?
4) In the cx-985v the titles couldn't be longer than 12 letters or something. Which is meant alot of titles was cut. Does the 7000es have the same problem?
5) How does the usb slot work? I stick in a usb thumbdrive and it'll automaticly store info on it?
6) Once the Blu-rays are loaded and I "load" a disk, how quick does the movie startup? As fast as my PS3, or slower?

Thanks!
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post #58 of 3241
8/24/09 at 5:48am
I have not read much about the quality of the playback of the changer. Can anyone comment about picture quality compared to any other players? How does it compare to the Oppo or other newer Sonys?
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post #59 of 3241
8/24/09 at 5:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stepmback View Post

I have not read much about the quality of the playback of the changer. Can anyone comment about picture quality compared to any other players? How does it compare to the Oppo or other newer Sonys?

I have the BDP=S5000es (for sale here on AVS), and I can't see a difference between it and the 7000
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post #60 of 3241
8/24/09 at 12:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stepmback View Post

I have not read much about the quality of the playback of the changer. Can anyone comment about picture quality compared to any other players? How does it compare to the Oppo or other newer Sonys?

The Blu-ray picture/audio quality is the same as my Pioneer BDP-95FD. Load times are slightly faster than the Pioneer (after the disc is loaded into the reader). DVDs are exceptional in the 7000ES, far better than my Pioneer or my old Panasonic DVD player.
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