Sony DVP-NS 15

...of products that typifies what Sony does at their best.

1 What it is.
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It is just a DVD player.
So it does not record your latest TV show and play it back to you in real time.
It does not have a TV tuner of any kind built in, and even less does it boast freeview digital as some of its bigger brothers do.
It does not burn your programmes to a dvd disc or store your content digitally ...
.../> It just plays dvds. through your monitor or TV.

2 What it plays.
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You may have suffered one of those embarassing moments when you are asked to play your friend's latest home-burned dvd of the family's holiday pictures.
As your fears mount that you are in for an intolerable hour of meaningless snaps dubbed with a track of 'You raise me up', repeated for the whole hour, you suddenly realise ... more

There are signs that Sony's reputation for quality could be getting a little suspect.
But here is one of their vast range of products that typifies what Sony does at their best.

1 What it is.
************

It is just a DVD player.
So it does not record your latest TV show and play it back to you in real time.
It does not have a TV tuner of any kind built in, and even less does it boast freeview digital as some of its bigger brothers do.
It does not burn your programmes to a dvd disc or store your content digitally to a 350 GB on board hard drive.

It just plays dvds. through your monitor or TV.

2 What it plays.
****************

You may have suffered one of those embarassing moments when you are asked to play your friend's latest home-burned dvd of the family's holiday pictures.
As your fears mount that you are in for an intolerable hour of meaningless snaps dubbed with a track of 'You raise me up', repeated for the whole hour, you suddenly realise that the disc is incompatible with your rather ancient dvd player.

The sense of relief when you hand it back, whispering, 'Sorry mate, but this old dvd player came out of the ark, and can't play your disc', may make you think that buying a new player like this Sony, which can replay most formats, is a totally bad idea.

But you should remember that your friend will not give up that easily. He will go home, disconnect his own player, return to your sitting room and play the dvd anyway.
But now, you have spent 30 minutes waiting for him to do the journey, 45 minutes setting up his player to work on your TV, and given you a quick 35 minute demo of all the brilliant gadgetry built into his ultra-modern machine.
Then he will play the whole dvd through. Then he will replay it, showing how he can slow it down, zoom in and out, speed it up, play it backwards, show you stills, record a 5 minute take, and replay it back to you in a window on the screen etc.
Right, so now you are getting the message. Having a modern, simple dvd player that plays all formats, but without too many gizmos attached, is a good idea.!

And just so that your friend can be impressed, this player will play back CDs and CD-Roms and CD-RWs whether they are recorded as music , video, MP3, Kodak pictures or Jpegs.
In terms of DVDs it will replay DVD-ROMs, DVD+RW's, dvd-RWs, and DVD+Rs.

In case you thought that this player can clearly do the lot, you should be warned ! It won't be happy with dvds in odd shapes and sizes; it will object to dvd audio discs, the data part of CD extras and anything in PHOTO CD format.!

3 How you use it.
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On the rear panel, there's a scart socket and a coaxial or digital out jack, so most users will use the scart socket to get an output signal for sound and video through to the TV. But you can put sound through a quality audio system if you want.

On the front panel, there's an on/off switch, a button to open and close the disc tray, a play button and a stop button.

So it is a low, sleek uncluttered looking machine, and you can link it up, put in a disc, press play and have your first viewing within a couple of minutes.

There is also a remote control - just to add to your vast collection!!.
Here you find a grand total of 27 buttons to press, three with a tactile dot - so that you can feel your way round the control in the dark, or without taking your eyes off the TV screen.

Now you are free to watch a dvd with the same ease as by using the front panel only, or you can go creative.
The remote will allow you to select the title, chapter or track you want.
It will allow you to check the time elapsed and the play list you create.
You can create a programme, and shuffle or repeat bits to your heart's content.
Then you can select the file on a jpeg or audio disc, find the date they were created and decide how long each should be allowed to play for.

As with most players today, there is the facility to restart a stopped disc from the point where you stopped - so much quicker, isn't it, than trying to remember whether you have already been bored by that part of the video or not.!

And, as ever, there is a parental control, so that your kiddies - and your guests - are not forced to watch unsavoury items on your discs - last year's holidays; the wedding reception hooley, and grandma's fall down the stairs.!!

4 What comes with it.
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Well, sorry to disappoint you - but there's no free dvd, no sample images of ciao members, and no invitations to Buckingham Palace.! You get the player, the remote, a guarantee, a very good instruction book, a power plug, and a brightly coloured box. There is no scart lead included, but there are batteries for the remote control.

Conclusion.
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This player is sold just below the £50 mark in places like Argos, Curry's etc.
There are hundreds of choices of cheap players, right down to £12. The functions may not vary that much, so I think it is worthwhile paying for the brand with its great reputation.

However, unless you are sure you only want a player, then you should consider the advantages of having a recorder function - for an extra £40 or so.!
And if you decide you really need the recorder function, you should consider having a freeview digital tuner in it, for an extra £30 or so.
And if you really think you need the recorder and the freeview, why don't you get one with a hard drive facility - you could store a week's favourite programmes in it.!
And if you fancy that, then why skimp on the hard drive - get one with 250 gb - you can keep 300 hours worth of programming safe for ever... they start at under £200 now.!
And then if you want to show your mates all your holiday snaps, you don't need to take a dvd disc to their homes - just take the whole machine, and they'll have no excuse for not watching all your holiday snaps you have ever taken, since the day you and Noah had that sailing trip.!

 

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