Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DVP-PQ1 PSYC DVD Player with MP3 Capability

This is an excellent player for the price -- Sony is finally competing with the Chinese products like Apex, and with a better product. For the record, versions of this player sold in Asia do indeed play SVCD. However, since SVCD has roughly half the playback time of VCDs, most movies on SVCD span three or more discs, and who wants to get up to switch discs two or more times?

This player, as advertised, plays everything it claims. Picture quality on pressed VCDs is excellent. What looked murky on my Daewoo player looks like VHS quality on this Sony. In addition to playing DVD-R (Apple brand) and DVD-RW (Sony brand) flawlessly, MP3 playback from CD-R/W is impressive. The sound, even on 128kbps encoded files, is clear and distinct. The player displays long filenames (not ID3 tags), so if you name your song files properly, the player displays them onscreen and in a pleasing, easy-to-read font. I noted it even plays variable bitrate MP3's up to 384kbps.

In addition to the standard formats of audio CD/VideoCD/MP3 CD/DVD/DVD-R/DVD-RW playback, I found this player is capable of playing back "XVCD," a VideoCD whose video bitrate is outside of spec. The maximum bitrate I tested was 1.7Mbps, and the disc played flawlessly (note: the standard VCD bitrate is 1.15Mbps).

This player was an Amazon impulse buy ... and I'm quite pleased with this purchase.

I would have given the player 5 stars, but it doesn't have the ability to play more than 200 songs on an MP3 disc.

It has been over a year now since I have this player and no problems. I play it every day DVD's & CD's. The size is the coolest thing about it. Forget about those VCR sized DVD players because the more elactronics a player has, it is more likely to break. I couldn't ask for a better DVD player than the SONY PSYC. #1 player out there and I have owned a few high dollar DVD players in the past in which all have skipped and paused during playback.

Why buy a plain silver box when you can have this little item? Just get used to the phrase: "*That's* your DVD player?!"
The functionality is just right for someone who isn't planning their living room around a gigantic home theatre. It plays DVDs and it plays them well. The CD player function is also good for people like me who don't necessarily have the space for a stereo as well as an AV setup. The slideshow feature for photo CDs has come in handy, too.
I have yet to run into the problem some people have had with SVCDs, but then again, this is not really an advanced machine. It does what it does, and it does it well. I rate it high because for someone like me, limited on space and with no need for supertechnology from my DVD player, it's perfect.

This is just an awesome little player; I also bought it due to "lack of space" in my computer area...now I can watch/listen to a movie or CDs (even my burned ones) while on the computer...hey, who needs anything else, right?

We also use it in the motorhome, just plug right into the front of the TV, and [throw away] those videotapes....

Delightful little product; perfect for our needs!

Easily the best simple DVD player I've ever had, and no problems with any type of disc I put in it.

One earlier review complains that it's "sold as a portable, but it really isn't" etc. This seems to be the main complaint there. But it's NOT sold as a portable, it's advertised as being "transportable." No, you can't watch a thing sitting in the car or the bus or the train. But if you want to bring it with you on a trip and watch something in a hotel or a friend's house (assuming they don't have a player themselves), then it's pretty good. Small, compact, no muss, no fuss. (Clearly, some people need to read more carefully...or look at the picture...)