Sony DAV-C990 DVD Dream System Review

Sony DAV-C990 DVD Dream System
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I've owned this system for a couple months now, paired with a matching 42" Sony WEGA Plasma TV. I use it in my bedroom as a second home theater. I can say that while it's very stylish, it's a few features short of a "Dream System". I'm a life-long Sony loyalist and fan of their industrial design, but they always manage to blow something important in each of their products' core usage scenarios. For example:
1. The unit utterly fails to give priority to dts soundtracks on DVDs. You have to manually inspect and select dts before playing a movie.
2. There is only one optical sound input jack on the back. This means I can't connect my XBox and my Sony 301-DVD jukebox at the same time unless I forego digital sound on one of them -- ...
3. There is no S-Control jack on this unit, which means I can't interconnect it with my Sony Plasma TV and stash the amp in a drawer or cabinet.
4. Why would I want to hide it? The fan is too loud and distracting at low volumes. Since when do amplifiers need fans anyway? This system is ideal for bedrooms, but compounding this white noise with that of their Plasma TV's internal fan is simply unbearable. Consumer electronic companies should be forced to disclose whether their products have fans and what decibel levels they produce.
5. In Tuner mode, you can give the radio stations custom names but you can't do so for all the various inputs -- which most people use 100x more often. You also can't skip inputs like Video 2 that may not be in use. This problem's even worse on their Plasma TV's 6 input modes.
6. ... you cannot hot-swap discs in the changer while one is playing. This turns out to be more inconvenient than you'd think. The auto-resume feature helps out a little here. Also, it's too easy to eject a playing disc by mistake.
7. You can't put in 5 DVD movies (like a boxed set) and have them auto-play. This is more of a media/menu navigation problem, but even so -- it's just not very "Dream"-like. I get so sick of wading through previews and gratuitous menus before the feature actually starts. This would be easy to fix if Sony cared.
8. There are a plethora of useless Sound Field choices, but not a single one can play a regular 2-channel stereo music CD through the rear speakers as well as the front without applying a lame digital delay effect. ...
9. The clumsy remote control is not only uncomfortable to hold, but it includes some very obscure buttons (like Stereo/Mono, Name, Clear and Memory) and excludes some vital functions (like Wide Mode and Jump). Therefore it is unusable and must be replaced with a learning remote.
10. Even with a Sony Universal and/or Learning remote, some of the unit's functions will not respond and cannot be learned. I've heard that this is an AV1/AV2 problem, but if so, there is no apparent way to switch that mode on the unit.
11. The fast-forward and reverse functions only operate at 1x and 2x speed, and are often very sluggish and unpredictable. If you're searching for a scene or backing up to catch something you missed, this is like waiting for ketchup to come out of the bottle.
12. The remote forces you to cycle through the four main functions, which sucks if you hit a button by mistake. It would be better to have a single button for each.
Even with all of these problems, this product is a good value and it never fails to impress those who see and hear it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony DAV-C990 DVD Dream System



Buy Now

Click here for more information about Sony DAV-C990 DVD Dream System

0 comments:

Post a Comment