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Sony DVP-CX985V 400 Disc Progressive DVD / SACD Player | 
 enlarge | Brand: Sony
Category: CE
Used (2) Refurbished (1) from $215.99
Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 26954
Media: Electronics
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 19
Dimensions (in): 23 x 23 x 13
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: DVPCX985V
Model: DVPCX985V
UPC: 027242621022
EAN: 0027242621022
ASIN: B0000DIK0U
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| Features:
| • | Progressive-scan DVD player, compatible with DVD-RW/-R, DVD+RW/+R, SACD (Super Audio CD), and CD-R/RW discs with CD and MP3 audio | | • | 400-disc changer holds your entire movie and music library; find your favorites with DiscExplorer onscreen management | | • | Connections include component, composite, optical, and coaxial | | • | High-speed 108MHz/12-bit video D/A converter; Dolby Digital and DTS output | | • | Measures 17 x 7.4 x 21.1 inches (W x H x D) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
SONY DVP-CX985V -- Forget about space-eating shelf units and wall racks -- this 400-disc changer holds your entire movie and music library, and every disc is ready to cue up and play! SONY jukebox players are so reliable they're used in more retail music demo installations than any other brand! Precision Drive 2 System compensates for warps and other imperfections in the disc being played, resulting in virtually fail safe error correction 96kHz / 24-bit Linear PCM audio decoding Coaxial and Optical Digital Outputs for optional external Dolby Digital or DTS surround processing 5.1 channel output for SACD(TM) playback Component, Composite & S-Video outputs Size - 7.4H x 17W x 21.1D; weighs about 19.2 pounds
Amazon.com Product Description
Store your collection of DVD movies and audio CDs in Sony's DVP-CX985V progressive-scan DVD/SACD player, and they'll just be ready for playback at a moment's notice. The DVP-CX985V multiformat mega-changer stores 400 discs and is compatible with DVD-RW/-R, DVD+RW/+R, SACD (Super Audio CD) multichannel discs, and CD-R/RW discs with CD and MP3 audio. Other DVD players detect image changes at the scan line level--Sony's Precision Cinema Progressive (PCP) system detects them at the pixel level. The picture is more faithful to the source--whether film or video--because separate, optimized algorithms are used to handle the differing pixel behavior. Separate algorithms are also used to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharp backgrounds with moving objects that are free from motion artifacts. The high-speed 108MHz/12-bit video D/A converter employs 4X oversampling for much more effective noise filtering. In addition to standard 2-channel CD playback, the DVP-CX985V plays 2-channel and multichannel Super Audio CDs. It reads the disc information of all the discs and loads the information into memory so that disc type, titles, and other text information can be displayed on the TV screen. It has the following video output options (with number of ports): component video (x1), S-Video (x1), composite video (x1), coaxial digital (x1), and optical digital (x1). It also has the following audio output options: analog audio (x1) and 5.1 channel (x1). Other features include: - Included remote operates the DVP-CX985V as well as a number of functions on select brands of televisions and receivers; its keys glow in the dark.
- Instant Replay feature enables you to go back 10 seconds to review a scene with a single press of a button.
- TV Virtual Surround feature generates a convincing surround-sound effect using only 2 stereo speakers.
- Dolby Digital and DTS output.
Tech Talk
- SACD: Super Audio CD (SACD) is a high-resolution digital audio format that promises vast sonic improvements over the current audio CD format. SACD discs can be played back on dedicated SACD players or combination SACD/DVD-Video players. Certain SACD discs feature a conventional audio CD layer (hybrid SACDs) which can be played back by any CD player or computer with a CD-ROM drive.
- Progressive scan: Also called sequential scanning, a progressive-scan system displays the entire image--providing all the horizontal lines per frame, rather than every other line--once every 60th of a second. This method reduces flicker and increases stability. Progressive-scan viewing requires a compatible digital TV.
- Component video: Unlike a single video input, component video maintains the video signal as three separate signals through these three jacks. This connection provides optimum quality. To ensure maximum picture quality, use three video-grade cables for the Y, Pb, and Pr connections.
What's in the Box
Sony DVP-CX985V DVD/SACD player/changer, remote control (RM-DX500), 2 AA batteries, RCA cable (57 inches), and operating instructions.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 Great Player! Only a couple of nit-picks February 19, 2008
This player is great! I bought mine years ago and I have been extremely happy with it.
The Remote: it has a lot of buttons. Most of them you don't use. has 4 sets of 'Forward/backward' buttons that have different uses (Next/previous chapter, Fast-forward/Rewind (hold-down), fast-forward/rewind (toggle), Skip forward/replay). The 'folder' button brings the list of DvDs in your player, plus the normal expected buttons (play, pause, stop, language, etc) are the only buttons I really use.
The System: One nifty feature is that most (if not all) of the buttons you need on the remote, is on the front of the player!
The DvD Menu: Yes it takes time to load each picture... But you don't need pictures if you don't want them... And you can page up/down in (skipping the load time) by holding down the up/down button.
The nitpicks..
The BIG problem I have (lost a star for this) is... it sometimes 'Forgets' DvDs you put in it. If I go to a DvD that is fully labeled and has a thumbnail... there is a chance it will think it's a new disc and delete the title and thumbnail! This was a much bigger problem before moved my old wireless keyboard to the DvD player (Having a Keyboard plugged in is GREAT! Typing titles in with the remote is a pain.)
My other Nit-pick is: It sometimes has trouble playing recordable DvDs. I have some TV shows recorded on DvDs and the player sometimes has trouble playing the last episode I record on the disc (but it works fine on my computer and other DvD player). This is a bit of a rare problem tho.
 Excellent in performing its main purpose. April 4, 2007
This player is perfect for taking that stack of DVD's & CD's (neat or otherwise) and putting them in one place, away from fingerprints and dust, and makes them easy to view and/or listen to. If you read other reviews of this product you'll hear all about how hard it is to enter title and track info, or how the cover art isn't always there, or whatever.
The bottom line is that most of the complaints are rooted in the fact that the discs very often don't have the info engrained into them, making manual entry a necessity. Not the player's fault.
My solution? Create a simple spreadsheet on the computer and enter in the basic info (title, genre, format, slot location number) and put it in a plastic sleeve inside a thin binder or presentation folder and leave it next to the TV or the remotes. Scan the list, pick your title, enter the number, press play...done!
Worrying about all the things that this unit supposedly "can't" do is like being upset that the remote for your car audio deck doesn't work. Burn off a half a calorie and just lean forward and press the button for pete's sake.
Maybe my only complaint (and I'm not alone in this regard) is that the remote control stinks. There's no flow or sense of order with it. You basically have to memorize the buttons (and only if you live and breathe learning the remote). And my word of caution is to make sure you measure the space where this unit is to be placed BEFORE you purchase it. It's very large (depth, especially) and just barely fits into my entertainment cabinet. I paid around $225 for it last year. So I'm sure it has dropped some, or had more features and improvements added for the same price. If you can find a used one for less than $200, buy it. You won't be disappointed.
 Scratching my discs? March 9, 2007
After reading all the complaints about this unit scratching their discs, I went home and pulled out the disc I have played the most. I found very lite circular scratches near the center of the disc. This disc was brand new and in pristine condition when I installed it. I then pulled out many more discs and could not find any other damage. I will discontinue using this unit if I see any more damage. Other than that, I really like the unit. I don't know why others are having a problem with explorer. I think it's great. The two things I don't like is the fact that you can't view explorer without stopping play and that it doesn't display song titles. Even if I had to type them in myself, would be better than nothing.
Incorrect information December 25, 2006
Contrary to the info here, and also what it states in the Sony manual, this unit DOES play DVD-Audio disks. I have the unit, have had it for several years, have 7 or 8 DVD-Audio disks and the ALL play perfectly. Other than that, most of what the reviewers here say is true. It is slow, and the disk labeling and sorting is VERY cumbersome. It's too bad Sony didn't take some of the great sorting and labeling features from it's earlier 300 disk CD models and bring them here. It is also annoying that most menus and features are only accessible by using a TV screen.
 Clearly designed by clueless people that don't watch DVDs November 14, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
First and most importantly, if you're not willing to have your entire DVD collection seriously scratched/gouged (for which you will never be compensated unless you take Sony to small claims and win), skip this line of Sony DVD players (985 & 995 series at a minimum) and buy something else. I don't own any electronics that aren't Sony so this isn't coming from a Sony basher, it's simply a fact. If you're willing to risk destroying $4,000 to $8,000 worth of DVDs then continue reading. Unfortunately I only recently became aware of this when I discovered a problem with one of my DVDs, looked at it, then went online to do some research. after spending countless hours loading DVDs and entering the text descriptions, I've yet to pull all my DVDs out to inspect them all, but I'm definitely going to be purchasing a different DVD changer in the immediate future. $300-$500 isn't worth sacrificing thousands of dollars worth of DVDs to a player that has a flaw which will unquestionably destroy your DVDs given enough time.
I really can't believe how many incredibly stupid mistakes were made when designing this player. With a minimal amount of testing/QC, by a handful of individuals with some common sense, this player could have gone from being rather annoying but functional, to the best DVD changer on the market. Below are a list of my complaints, virtually all of which could easily be corrected or have been avoided, but apparently they didn't have anybody who actually watches DVDs QC this unit before mass producing and shipping them (also evidenced by the horrible scratching problem that went undetected through the QC process):
1) Loading DVDs into the DVD Changer - The DVDs are so closely packed together that it's extremely difficult to tell which slot is which. When you scroll to a particular slot using the dial on the front of the DVD changer with the intent of loading a DVD into the slot, you really can't tell which slot is the one in the center. They have a very small black arrow on the front that points to the slot you've selected, but it's so small, dark and difficult to tell which slot it's pointing at (because they're so small and close together) that it's practically worthless. The very simple solution would have been to have that outer arrow lit by an LED, and more importantly, an LED underneath the edge of the carousel in the corresponding center slot to match up with. This would easily enable you to see which slot you were looking for to load a DVD into or remove one from. The problem is seriously compounded at night or if you're in a poor lighting situation. You're pretty well screwed if you don't have a flashlight. Even then you'll occasionally pull the wrong DVD out or put one in the wrong slot. It's also more difficult as your DVD changer gets filled up, the problem wasn't nearly as bad in the beginning when half or more of the slots were open and there were spaces between most of the DVDs. On that note, be sure to leave spaces between your DVDs when you put your collection into it if you have 300 DVDs or less and want to try to keep things alphabetical. Once you get over 300 DVDS in the changer it will become a never ending battles of shifting DVDs around and having to re-enter the text (which as you'll find out below is a nightmare).
2) Loading DVDs into the DVD changer cont. - I should also mention that if your power was turned off on your DVD changer before you went to load a new DVD into it, it will automatically load and play a DVD with no way to stop it as soon as you turn the power on. This is an extremly annoying problem anytime you turn on the DVD changer, not just when you want to load a new DVD. I think I might have seen someone else post that there's a way to turn this off, but I'm not sure and it's certainly on by default.
3) Detecting/Entering DVD titles - Only a small percentage (about 25-30% average for me) of the DVDs I've loaded have the text auto detected and loaded into the DVD player's disc explorer. Even fewer of those have a thumbnail image. This means you're going to have to enter the titles manually for the majority of your DVD collection. This really sucks because of the following problem.
4) Detecting/Entering DVD titles cont. - The process they designed for entering the titles of your DVDs into the disc explorer using the DVD remote has to be the absolute worst imaginable. I swear it would take a think tank to create a process this bad. Heck the method that cell phones have been using for nearly a decade would work 2-3 times faster than the process they invented. They laid out the alphabet horizontally across the screen in layers, uppercase text, lowercase text, and numbers/symbols. That might not be the worst design were it not for the fact that the cursor scrolls very slowly and every time you enter a symbol, the cursor returns all the way back to the upper left corner (capital A). You then have to press the enter button or a direction on the remote twice before you can start scrolling again (IE you have to press it to the right twice just to get to capital B). This takes about 2 seconds each time, every time, you enter a letter. Compounded with the incredibly slow scroll time, and having to start all the way back at the upper left corner each time, it takes on average about 2 minutes to enter a title (and it can take longer). The only upside to this is that if you're willing to sit down in front of your DVD changer you can plug in a PS2 keyboard and type the DVD titles in rather than using the Hellishly designed DVD remote process. If you know how to type this will slash the time it takes to enter DVD text by about 80%. However most people don't have a chair plopped down right in front of their DVD changer so you either have to sit on the floor or go grab a chair and a keyboard (unless you keep a dedicated one plugged into the unit which looks lame) every time you add a new movie.
5) Detecting/Entering DVD titles cont. - Unfortunately you CANNOT enter the text for a DVD until you've played it. So when you buy a few DVDs and load them into your DVD player, you have to navigate the painfully slow disc explorer (which I'll get to later) to load and play each of your new DVDs (which you typically cannot interrupt until after the FBI warning and sometimes other misc slates), before you can then go back to the disc explorer, navigate to the desired title, and enter the text. I can't imagine why Sony should require that it knows exactly what's in the slot before you're allowed to enter a text description for it, but those are the rules you must play by.
6) Detecting/Entering DVD titles cont. - The steps you take to edit/enter DVD text require that you A) Load the Disc(s) into the carousel B) Flip the switch on the DVD remote to "Disc Explorer" C) Press the Folder button on the DVD remote which is nearly invisible because the text is in dark blue on a black remote, and located in an obscure location in the middle of the roughly 40 buttons on the remote D) SLLLOOOOWWWWLLLYYY navigate to find the DVD(s) you loaded E) Press Enter to play the DVD F) Wait for the movie to get all to the way to the main menu which is usually the first place you can interact with the DVD due to the way store bought DVDs are typically authored to force you to watch the slates G) Stop the DVD and/or or press the invisible "Folder" button on the remote to access the Disc Explorer H) Navigate to the desired title if it's not already on it I) Prss the EDIT button on the remote which is also dark blue and located nowhere near the Folder button J) press ENTER (which of course is the button that also launches DVDs when using the Disc Explorer). K) SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWWLLLLYYYY enter the description of the DVD L) Press the invisible EDIT button on the remote M) Press the ENTER button on the remote. VOILA, you're done!!! Isn't that a snap! Now here the problem, I guarantee you will frequently accidentally forget to press the EDIT button BEFORE pressing the ENTER button when you've navigated and found the movie you want to edit, because it just seems natural to press the ENTER button to access the title and start editing it. Unfortunately when you do it will launch and play the DVD and you will once more have to wait a couple minutes while it plays the FBI warning etc. etc. before you can stop the DVD. The same thing happens when using a keyboard instead of the remote, if you scroll up/down the Disc Explorer and then press Enter on the KB without going into edit mode first, you will again launch a DVD and be forced to wait a couple minutes to get back to where you were. Unfortunately there is yet another problem that commonly occurs when you're using the keyboard. As I mentioned, you press ENTER on the keyboard (once you're in edit mode of course) to take you to the screen where you can enter or edit the text of a movie. You also press ENTER on a keyboard throughout your entire life whenever you've finished typing something (including IMs etc.), so it seems perfectly logical you should press the ENTER key when you're done typing the text for a DVD/CD right? WRONG!!!! If you press ENTER on the keyboard when you've typed in the desired text, it CANCELS what you've done and returns you to the previous screen! You have to hit the EDIT button on the remote when you've typed in the text you want (I don't even know how to stop editing with the keyboard but there's probably a key). Like I said before, it would literally take a think tank dedicated to figuring out how to make something as UNintuitive as possible, to design something this backwards. If you don't own this changer it may be hard to visualize what I'm talking about, but fellow owners will surely empathize.
7) Detecting/Entering DVD titles cont. - So do you own one of those cool SONY DVD recorders to go along with your 400 disc Sony DVD changer? They work really good and the quality is great (depending on the model of course). They work great right up to the point that you want to use your home recorded DVDs with your Sony DVD changer. Sony in all their wisdom decided that their should be certain pre-requisites before allowing you to enter text for one of your DVDs or CDs. We came across this earlier when I said you cannot enter the text for your DVD until you've played it and it recognizes that it's actually a DVD. I can think of no good reason why I shouldn't be able to enter text for any disc, whether the DVD changers knows what kind of disc it is or not. Getting back to the point, it just so happens that the Sony DVD changer will not allow me to enter text for any DVDs recorded with my top of the line (at the time) SONY DVD recorder. Isn't that lovely? Did I mention that the DVD changer WOULD allow me to enter text for DVDs that are recorded with OTHER manufacturers DVD recorders?!? I know, this sounds like a joke but it's anything but. DVDs I recorded with a crappy GoVideo DVD recorder prior to purchasing my Sony DVD recorder worked just fine in my Sony DVD changer. So, all of the DVDs I've recorded with my Sony DVD recorder have to sit in my DVD changer with no text description whatsoever. That means of course that I have to maintain a completely separate spreadsheet or database for my Sony DVD changer, completely negating the necessity for the pathetically designed and extremely cumbersome Disc Explorer (which I'll get to). I should mention that if you author your own DVDs using programs such as Scenarist, the DVD changer will allow you to enter text for them. So far, the only DVDs that I have not been able to enter text for are ones recorded with SONY DVD recorders. Of course I have not tested all DVD recorders and all DVD authoring programs, so it's very possible that DVDs created with certain recorders, burned with certain burners, or authored with certain programs, will not meet the criteria set by the player for allowing you to enter a text description.
8) Disc Explorer - Dozens of people have already commented on how pathetic the Disc Explorer is so this is redundant, but to be complete I'll put in my 2 cents. You can only see 5 titles at a time using the Disc Explorer that Sony designed, that's problem number 1. This means a LOT of scrolling when you're talking about a 400 disc DVD changer. This could have easily been designed such that you could see 10 or more titles at once by dispensing with the pointless thumbnails, using a slightly smaller font (the current font is overly large), and some reorgnization.
8) Disc Explorer cont. - Because of the font size/layout/poor design, you can only enter and see a very limited amount of text for each DVD. It's not like you can even enter the full description and it just limits how much of the description you can see when navigating, they simply limited the field that stores the text to 20 characters. That means that most DVD titles are either truncated (if auto detected by the DVD changer and the title is too long), or you have to be creative when entering your DVD titles so that they make sense when the title doesn't fit. At least half if not more of my DVD collection has truncated or abbreviated titles. This is really annoying and for some movies (especially when they have a bonus disc) it's extremely difficult coming up with an abbreviated name AND tacking on the text to let you know this is the bonus disc that may or may not also have a movie on it. I should also point out that if the DVD changer auto detects text for a movie, you CANNOT edit or change that text, you're stuck with whatever description it imports.
9) Disc Explorer cont. - Speed and Efficiency. These two words cannot be used in the same sentence with this DVD changer. Whether it's loading a DVD into the carousel, detecting and/or entering the text for a movie you've just added, or navigating the Disc Explorer to find a movie you want, be prepared to spend a lot of unnecessary time doing it. The Disc Explorer has this nifty feature of displaying thumbnails for each movie. Sounds like a great idea, but only a small percentage of movies actually have a thumbnail, even current movies. More importantly, when you navigate the Disc Explorer it takes about 1 second to load each thumbnail, so if your movie isn't one of the mere 5 that you can see on the screen at one time and you want to scroll a little, be prepared to wait 1 second every time you press down or up on your DVD remote (again keeping in mind we're talking about 400 discs here). If you hold the up or down button for a few seconds it will stop displaying the thumbnails AND text and start to scroll faster. That would have been fine if it would have just stopped displaying the thumbnails, but it turns off the text descriptions too so you have no clue when to stop scrolling unless you already know exactly where the desired DVD is. If you do, don't waste your time navigating, just type in the numbers of the DVD you want (this is the ONLY positive thing about the Disc Explorer, but of course you have to already know the slot your DVD is in). Of course when you're scrolling rapidly and blindly through the slots using the Disc Explorer, you often have to stop to let the text display so you can see where the heck you are in relation to what you're trying to find. Unfortunately, every time you stop scrolling it has to load ALL the thumbnails for the 5 titles on that page, so you have to wait about 5 seconds just to get a glimpse of where you are. You won't grasp how slow and painful this is until you actually use this thing, words alone cannot do it justice.
10) Reliability - I've had this DVD changer for around a year I guess, perhaps a little longer. So far it has been pretty reliable with fairly minimal problems reading discs. However I should point out that I have owned 3 other Sony DVD changers, all of which have lasted less than 2 years with VERY minimal usage (the last one I used less than 10 times) and all of which have had repeated problems reading discs that were perfectly fine. Own a Sony DVD player any length of time and you'll become intimately familiar with the C13 error. That's what it throws out anytime it can't read the disc, the problem is that it happens all too often with discs that are perfectly fine with no scratches, smudges, or anything else, or scratches so minimal that it would play fine on any other player. They especially had a lot of problems with DVD -/+Rs in earlier generations, but that has gotten better over time. What hasn't gotten better is the longevity. Perhaps the unique design of the DVD changer versus their typical players will have some effect on the life span, but I'm wholly confident this player will not last. It's irrelevant since I'm already looking for another DVD changer, having discovered the unacceptable problem this player has of scratching and gouging your DVDs and CDs.
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