Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DVPNS725P Progressive-Scan DVD/CD Player

The DVPN725P is a great DVD player! I haven't had one problem, and neither have 2 friends who have this same model. The best thing about this Sony is that it is very consumer friendly and easy to use, with a remote that is simple and equally easy to use. I'm sure there are always a few in a product run that have problems or are defective. But the one I have does everything I tell it do, and does it well. Certainly a recommendation from me for the Sony DVPNS725P.

PROS: Good sound and very good progressive scan output.

CONS: None.

Recently, my old high end DVD unit quit working. As a short term solution, I purchased the Sony DVP-NS725P player in order to have time to research and purchase another high end DVD unit. I was very pleasantly surprised of the picture quality of this Sony DVD player. The Sony progressive scan output works very well to display a lot of picture detail without aliasing: the progressive scan picture quality is amazing. Sony did a very good job here. I've owned the Sony DVD player for about two weeks now and everything that I have played on this unit so far looks wonderful. The Movie "Forrest Gump" plays incredible well on the Sony DVP-NS725P DVD Player. The Remote control buttons that I normally use are very good size (Power, Play, Stop, Pause, Left arrow, Right arrow, Up arrow, Down arrow and Enter). The other buttons that I don't use very often are smaller which is not a problem. The remote fits easily in my hand and works well without any problems. The first time that the Sony DVD player is turned ON, a Setup configuration screen is displayed and within a minute the owner can easily Setup the DVD player and start using the player.

A partial list of the components used in the test:
Sony DVD Player Model DVP-NS725P
Monster Power AVS 2000 Automatic Voltage Stablizer
Monster Power HTS 2000 Power conditioner (Targeted for an upgrade soon)
MonsterVideo3 component cables
Mitsubishi 65 inch Platnium Plus Television Model WS-65857

Purchased this unit at the beginning of 2004 as my first DVD player. I went with the 725 over the less expensive but functionally similar 525 because of the higher end DA converter in the 725. Compared to other brands the Sony also appeared to be a better value as there was nothing really close to this price range that offered a DA converter that was similar in performance. As you can see I put a lot of emphasis on the DA converter, but I understand that it is the heart of the DVD and was really the only major diference between the 725 and the 525.

Cant say how much difference the better DA converter is as I was not able to make a side by side comparison. But the price difference wasnt that great so I went for the 725.

What I can say is that the picture output form this player is superior to my old high end VCR. I didnt think there would be that dramatic of a difference between a mid level DVD and my old high end VHS but the difference was apparent immediatly.

This unit has a full size chasis and has a very low overall height. Fits into my system easily as I used this to replace my CD player as well.

The remote is well laid out and easy to use. It is a universal remote that will run the DVD as well as your TV. Only down side is that the buttons are not backlit so you cannot see them very well in low light conditions.

I have watched at least one to two movies a week and play more CDs since I have owned this and it has never let me down. No jams or skips ever. Only had to clean one DVD that wouldnt play...but it was a rental DVD that was dirty and probably wouldnt have played on any machine. Plays CDs as faithfully as my old Yamaha untit did...but lacks the display size needed to show all of the track info (i.e. Title, time, remaining time, etc.) so you have to use the remore and strain your eyes to see the one line dislay.

The set up menu is logical and easy to use. Initial set up will take about half an hour to get it to your liking but the standard settings are pretty good to start with.

Overall a great enrty into DVD players.

I have had two Sony NS series players fail on me in a period of 12 months. After a few months, the drive starts to make grinding noises and will say "Cannot Play Disc" on disks that play just fine in my other DVD player and on my desktop and laptop computers. For awhile tapping the case a few times causes the player to work again, but once the grinding noises start, it's downhill until the player fails completely.

Maybe Sony high-end players are more reliable (I wouldn't know) but the low-end players are a RIP-OFF. I hate to say this because I have been a loyal Sony customer for years, but after this second failure, I don't know if I'll ever buy Sony again...

I have had this player for about 8 months now and it has performed great. I traded up to this one after my older panasonic died. It plays dvd-r and dvd+r great.

It has all the features you would expect in an entry-level plus some that you might expect in a higher priced model like digital optical output and component video.

As an unexpected bonus, the remote works great for my sony vega flat screen tv without any adjustments. It even has input and display buttons! Say goodbye to one of my several remotes! It is a super-slim design and it looks great in my rack.

Overall this player is great for entry-level to mid-level consumers and the price just keeps falling.