Sony DVP-NC800H DVD Player / Changer

For a number of years we owned a standard DVD player that featured a single disc drawer, and we were pretty content with that option.  When that player died, my husband (who is definitely the electronics/entertainment person at our house) persuaded me that we should purchase a DVD player that would hold 5 discs.  This seemed unnecessarily decadent at first, but I admit that I've gotten used to it and now I love it.  The Sony DVP-NC800H DVD Player and 5 Disc Changer has become something I rely on every day.

Features

This DVD player not only holds 5 DVDS (or CDs), it will remember where you stopped watching them for up to 6 discs.  It has a 4x image zoom, which can be useful for reading text on things on the screen or for visualizing detail if your television is small.  You can change 4 discs while the fifth one is actually playing.  It has an onscreen display for programming CDs, and it will play MP3 and JPEG CDs.  This machine offers upscaling to 1080p for playing standard DVDs on a Hi-Def television. 

It also comes with a remote, which is actually necessary for accessing most of the player's features.  It is important to keep track of the remote!

Installation/Set-Up

Set-up for this machine is simple; basically you connect the audio and video cables, plug it in, and you're done.  The first time you turn it on, it allows you to choose the language for the onscreen display, select the type of television you have, and change several settings for audio.  All of the default settings (English, 4:3 television, and the audio settings) in this player were correct for the way we have our entertainment center set up.  The other languages available were French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and this player does support 16:9 wide screen tvs.  The audio options include Dolby Digital and DTS. 

The DVD player comes with a manual and a remote control.  The manual provides exhaustive operating instructions in both English and in Spanish.  It includes information about how to set up the machine, how to operate it, and troubleshooting when problems occur.  The remote control is a small black control that provides access to the more specialized features of the DVD player, such as the zoom function and the subtitle function.

Use and Experience

I have found this DVD player to be very easy to use.  A power button on the front left hand part of the panel turns the machine on.  There's a button over on the right hand side that opens the tray for the 5 DVDS out; when you push this button, it advances forward out of the machine.  The 5 DVD spots are arranged in a circle and each has a small number (1 through 5) next to it.  These numbers correspond to five numbered buttons (again 1 through 5) right above the tray.  To play a particular DVD, you simply select the number. 

There are also several other buttons on the top; play, pause, and stop.  Over on the right, underneath the button that opens the DVD tray, there are two buttons; one skips you to the next disc, and the other one allows you to change out any of the four DVDs when the fifth one is playing.

This sounds complicated when written down, but it's very easy to use.  The one complaint I have is that occasionally I hit the button to open up the DVD tray and nothing happens.  This is always resolved by hitting the button a second time; it may be that I need to wait a moment after hitting the power button to turn the machine on and I'm just not patient enough! 

I use the five DVD slots for movies that I'm in the middle of watching and whatever DVD the kids have out from Netflix.com.  One slot is always reserved for an exercise DVD that I use twice a week; this DVD has been used so often that it is very fragile and I am afraid to keep moving it in and out of its case!  I’ve been surprised at how useful having the five DVD slots has been.  I don’t think I’d want more than five, but one no longer seems like nearly enough. 

The only operations that are possible using the front panel of the actual DVD player are turning the machine on, selecting a disc, opening the changer, starting and stopping a DVD, advancing or regressing by scene presets, moving to the next disc, and exchanging the discs.  To access the machines other abilities, use of the DVD remote is required. 

I use the remote most often to hit "pause" on a movie while I run off to make popcorn, get water, or answer the phone.  I also use it to advance forward or regress backward by scene - but more often I use the "slow/scan" buttons to go forward or backward within a scene so that I can catch whatever I might have missed!  The button labeled "subtitle" is very useful for those of us who can't always hear everything perfectly; it turns on the closed captioning for the hearing impaired - something I started using back when it seemed like Agent Mulder was always mumbling on The X Files.

The remote also allows you to zoom in, skip to the next disc without getting up, move to the main menu of the DVD and navigate DVD menus.  The menu navigation is really critical for me; often I watch television programs on DVD I can’t choose an episode by using the DVD player itself.  When I can’t find the remote for some reason, I wind up frustrated pretty fast!

I love the fact that the DVD player automatically remembers my spot in whatever I’m watching.  I’ve come to really rely on being able to just hit play and start again wherever I left off.  Again, it “remembers” where you were for up to 6 discs – and only 6 discs.  If you go past that number, your place will be lost forever.  I do love that it remembers the spot even after I take the disc out of the player.  As long as I keep myself from trying to watch too many things at once, it works perfectly.

The picture quality that we get when playing DVDs in this player is excellent; noticeably better than with our previous DVD players.  It is also much less sensitive to dirty or scratched discs than DVD players we have had in the past; this one has played every disc we’ve put in, including one Netflix disc that wouldn’t play without skipping in any other player we tried it in (which included a computer and a VHS/DVD player that we have). 

It plays CDs in the way you would expect, but it allows you to jump directly to a specific track by using the on-screen menus.  You can also use these menus to program which order you want to play the tracks in – a method infinitely advanced from the old style method of pressing buttons on a remote in an arcane pattern.  The sound quality is excellent – the player provides a digital audio connection to the stereo receiver, so there’s no degradation in the quality of the signal before it reaches the receiver.  The audio quality, at that point, is wholly dependant on the quality of the receiver.

The player plays both regular audio CDs and MP3 CDs successfully.  

Longevity

We purchased this machine in July, and so far it works perfectly.  It's hard to guess how long it will last, however.  While it does appear to be very sturdily built for a modern electronic device, it also seems like electronics have gotten flimsier every year.  I remember my family's first VCR (a Sony Betamax); it was built like a tank and it lasted a decade (which was somewhat unfortunate since the Betamax format never really caught on…).  The Sony DVP-NC800H DVD Player and 5 Disc Changer doesn't have that same "indestructible" feel that the electronics of the early 1980s sometimes had, but it has a sturdy, heavy feel to it.  I will be surprised if it doesn't work well for at least 4 or 5 years.

Cost and Where to Buy

We purchased this DVD player from Amazon.com two months ago for $125.00.  Looking at Amazon.com right now, it is available through two different venders for $129.99 (Electronics Expo) and $164.87 (Zalmar).  Buying in person from a store like Best Buy is likely also an option.

While at first I thought it was kind of decadent, I have come to love our Sony DVP-NC800H DVD Player and 5 Disc Changer.  I love being able to turn it off one day and return the next day and have it remember where I left off on whatever DVD I'm watching and I really love that there are enough slots in it for every member of my family to be watching something different!  This is a great machine for the price.  5 stars.



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