Sony DVPNS705

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Excellent
Sound Level	Excellent
Range of Features	Above Average
Durability	Excellent
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Fantastic picture and good sound
Disadvantages:	only one scart socket

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This is my second Sony dvd player, and am happy already!

Here’s some of it’s features:

Firstly, price: Whilst the player is advertised at £350, I bought mine over the counter at Techtronics for £230. You may get it cheaper, but this included multi region and also disabling Macrovision (something that stops you recording onto video). That £230 also included delivery is you buy over the Internet at http://www.techtronics.com

Looks: Sony seems to be able to make anything look good. It comes in either black or silver, is normal hi-fi width (around 18 inch wide) and just short of 3 inch high. It looks more expensive that it is, and matches my Sony cinema amp

Build quality: As mentioned above, the Sony does not feel cheap. It weighs around 5 KG, and feels solid. When you press ‘eject’ the DVD drive slides out better than a CD player on a Rolls Royce!

Remote control: Whilst it has all the features on there, it's a little cramped.

Features: Firstly, outputs. The Sony has a Scart (RGB), composite video, Super Video, 5.1 sound output, left and right sound output, and both Optical and coax digital output.

It can play: DVD, VCD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, SuperCD, but the only thing it can’t play is DVD audio. However, as there are few titles available in this format, it won’t be a problem for most!

The player also has both DTS and Dolby Digital capability, although as it has two digital outputs, if you have an external cinema amp, then this shouldn’t be a problem if newer formats emerge.

There are also various video features that clean the video signal up as well. Even if you are not sure about your TV, go through the set-up on the player and make sure RGB is selected. Whilst you have a DVD on pause, swap between normal and RGB and you will see a massive difference in picture quality.

For sound setup, there are various features are available. If you are getting the DVD player to do the sound processing, then you can feed in various parameters, such as speaker size and distance, and also get the player to produce a test tone for each speaker.

Manual: One thing you probably won’t need is the manual, unless you really want to get the best out of it. It’s clear, concise, and well set out, and you’ll be able to find what you are looking for relatively easy.

The first DVD I tried with it was Lord of the Rings. Blown away would be an understatement… The quality of the video was fantastic, and the sound incredible!

Whilst there are cheaper Sony’s on the market, you lose the 5.1 output and optical output on them. The 905 has some better circuitry inside, and an extra scart, and is slightly taller, but unless you have a fantastic TV and surround speakers, the 705 will do you just fine. It’s a good player, with some fantastic features, and, above all, it’s a Sony!