Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DVP-NC800H/B HDMI/CD Progressive Scan 5-Disc DVD Changer Black

I purchased this DVD player to replace an outdated (probably produced around 1998) Sony Progressive Scan DVD player that still got the job done but was lacking in many areas (stopped playing burned CDs). I cannot say how happy I am with this purchase. First and foremost, the picture is absolutely beautiful. There is no comparison between the video output of this machine and that of the outdated Sony, which was an early iteration of the progressive scan.

I had thought about purchasing a Hi-Def media player (most likely the PS3 but an HD DVD player was probably more in the realm of affordability), but decided, quite fortunately as it turns out, to go with this player seeing as though I do not own nor plan to purchase any type of Hi-Def media in the near future. This player makes those old crusty DVDs shine in 1080p. Each time I throw in a movie that I haven't watched in years, it looks like a completely new movie. This player single-handedly brought the life back to my DVD collection.

The player has many other good features, as well as a brilliant video output, such as a six disc memory for the resume feature which threw me for a loop the first time I experienced this in action. It displays JPEG image CDs/DVDs better than any other I have seen in recent memory and allows a soundtrack for a picture slide show. The load time is pretty quick for both switching discs (about 20 seconds for audio CDs and a little more for DVDs), and exchange feature is quite intuitive, which can be said for most of the controls of this machine. I could go on but I think I have said enough to make you all think that I'm a salesman for Sony.

The only gripe I have with the machine so far is that the remote is very sensitive when navigating menus, but it does not hold much water in my book because of how little time I, or anyone actually, really spends in the menu.

All in all, this is the best upscaling DVD player around for the money, and depending on the longevity of the output, I will enjoy this player and more importantly my DVD collection for years to come. So provided that you do not want to spend the money on a shiny new Hi-Def player, this machine packs a wallop for a relatively small price.

Do not buy this changer. I have had two of these, and two of its predecessor, the H85 (non-HDMI precursor). It seems that Sony just can't make a DVD player worth owning any more.

It has all the features I want, including the upsampling HDMI, excellent image and audio output and logical controls.

The problem is that it's a piece of junk. Tonight, I just boxed-up my newest version (bought 3.5 months ago) to send back to Sony for exchange ($33.00 plus tax) since it just stopped playing DVDs entirely.

I have had similar problems with every one of them - at some point, the player does "loading... loading... loading..." and doesn't load. This time I suspect the laser has died entirely, 14 weeks in!

The others lasted at least a year before this problem surfaced. This one was barely used.

Sorry, Sony, but your quality control has gone down the drain, particularly on the changer. I'll be looking for a different brand next.

I don't usually buy something that hasn't first been tested by Consumer Reports but I needed a new DVD player and I preferred one that allowed more than one disc to be loaded at a time. I couldn't believe how remarkable the picture was on my HD tv. Granted I haven't ever seen an HD movie being played on an HD player but this picture appears to be just like HD. I have not had any problems watching a movie. I am a teacher and I tend to watch movies only during the summer and it has received a lot of play time. I highly recommend this product.

I bought this to replace my 8-year-old Pioneer DVD changer that didn't play RW or mp3 discs. Other than that, the Pioneer still worked OK. Some other reviews mentioned this Sony's fine picture quality to which I agree; my DVDs and the ones I burned from my analog camcorder all look better. But the Sony's operation frustrates me. It takes a very long time to load, during which time it will not accept other commands from the remote or front panel, so if you want to play a different disk than the one it automatically starts loading when the platter closes you just have to wait until it finishes. Also, when the partly-full tray opens it does not present the empty slot(s)outward; instead you must hit the button up to 4 times to rotate the tray to the empty. And you cannot hit the button until the tray's rotation fully stops each time, there's no command memory, so this takes up even more time. In other words, just loading this machine is a whole process in itself.
These may be nitpicks to some but after enjoying the convenience & speed of the Pioneer for so long I find this Sony to be big-time irritating. But choices are few so unless I find an updated Pioneer changer onlne in the next few days I'm stuck with this one.

I reviewed many DVD players before purchasing the Sony DVP-NC800 HDMI/CD 5 disc player. I was looking for a multi disk player that played both DVD Movies and CDs to replace a 3 disk CD player. I discovered that this DVD progressive scan player played my DVD movies flawlessly whereas my previous Sony DVD would not open some of the special features on DVD disks. The HDMI connection allows DVDs to be played in 1080p resolution whereas the composite connection on the DVD only allows 720p resolution. Also this Sony DVD plays all of my recorded CDs and MP3s. Please note, because this DVD is a 5 disk carousel it is 16 inches deep and after you plug your cables in, it requires 17 inches of space. It wouldn't fit in the space where I first intended to place it.