Worth importing Sony DVP-NS900V Progressive Scan?

melvynadam

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From what I can fathom, Sony make two versions of this excellent player: one for the US and another for the rest of the world. The US version has progressive scan.
I am a complete novice at home cinema and am researching this kit for my first setup. Does progressive scan make such a difference that I should import the US one? I'll be using it in conjunction with a projector (which accepts prog scan) so I understand that picture imperfections are emphasised even more - should this affect my decision?
Ususally the advice this kind of question receives is "test them out side by side" but obviously, a model only sold in the US is going to be hard to demo!
 
Depends where yr located?

There is a small av shop in Soho London that stocks US models.

Cant remember the name off me head but I used to have to get all my DVD's from them 4 years ago.


They also have a second shop in Chelsea.
 
the british ns900 is audio tuned for the uk, it has higher grade components fitted which may or may not matter to you. I hav seen the uk model used with a projector through its component outs onto a large screen and the picture was excellent, I would look to audition this first if I were you.
 
I wouldn't advise getting the ns900 at all until Sony have managed to produce a version of it without the 4:3 scart switching issue. You'll find a lot of UK resellers, especially online ones, don't have any stock and don't know when Sony will be supplying again.

It's uncertain if Sony can fix this player, they have removed it from their UK and European product webpages.
 
"Rochdale" I think you might be a little behind the times. I'm only as good as the information I'm given (personally, like I said I'm a novice) but this is a quote from Sevenoaks Sound and Vision when I put the SCART problem to them:

"As far as we are aware, the only problem which we have experienced in the past with the DVP-NS900 is the scart output voltage for switching to screen aspect ratio fluctuated, causing the screen aspect ratio to keep changing during disc playback, but this has been rectified some time ago,"
 
I've heard that too, but it doesn't explain why Sony have removed the ns900 from their UK and European websites and why Techtronics withdrew the product just last week. The other retailers I have asked said they have had the player on back order for weeks and Sony can't tell them when they will be available again.

Maybe there is another problem, or maybe they haven't fixed the original problem. I'm very confused about this player, I don't seem to be able to get the same story out of 2 people. Everyone tells me something different and Sony haven't been helpful.

Some links

Techtronics ns900 page - Another forum thread - Current DVD players on Sony UK website
 
hello everybody,

in France, Sony doesn't know, since December 17th !!!! this is the date at which I asked the question, WHEN and IF they will realease a version of the NS900 with the 4/3 scart switching issue resolved in their factories.

an official fix exists, but needs some weeks for repair, and it seems that, according to some people of this forum, in some cases (don't remember exactly the one) the fix doesn't work properly.

I would be at your place, if you don't want to have issues with this player, I wouldn't buy it : the situation, as it is managed by Sony (any european county) is a total MESS and a lot of their new produts suffer unbearable issues.

I think that the best solution, unfortunately, would be to no longer give credit to Sony, buy products from other brands. All the recent situations show clearly that Sony considers their clients as musch as assholes......
 
Bearing in mind Stranger's experience then....

Originally posted by stranger
had mine since october no problems.
Just how widespread is this problem? I've also asked Sony but had no reply as yet. I wonder why Home Cinema Choice still have it as their top over £300 player.

If it turns out this is a very common problem and that Sevenoaks are wrong (and it's not been sorted) then I guess I have to research my player again. Bugger.
 
It affects some Phillips and Sony TV's when playing 4:3 DVDs.

So you may never notice the problem and other than that the player is a good one. The problem I have is that this machine is what my insurance company are trying to replace my stolen Sony 7700 with and I don't feel comforatble accepting a defective player no matter what the fault. The fact that Sony seem to be withdrawing it without saying anything only makes me more uncomfortable.
 
Melvynadam, if you're going to buy a region 1 Sony player get the 9000ES. Forget the 900. The 9000ES has as good or better pic than the 900 and it's sound is way better, even though it only plays SACD's in stereo. It plays them real well in stereo! Eventually, there might be a great many multi-channel SACD's, then again maybe not (?), but there's not that many now anyway, if that influences you choice of kit? The 9000ES is down to $799 here at the low price joints. It's a hell of a deal at that price, me thinks. The 9000ES's interlacd picture is good too, should you choose to use it that way. I'd say it's very comparable to the Sony 7700's. A replacement to the 9000ES with multi-channel SACD is in the works. When it appears I'd expect it to cost $1500 +. BTW, I really like my 9000ES. Best wishes!
 
I wish I could get a 9000ES for that price in the UK. About the cheapest I can find is £1,075.96 which works out at about $1,529.87 :(
 
rochdale, Ive seen the sony 9000 advertised at around £700.00 but cant for the life of me remember where, I think it was in one of the HT mags but didnt bother as Id just got the 900. try a web search and a forum post.
 
Originally posted by Rochdale
I wouldn't advise getting the ns900 at all until Sony have managed to produce a version of it without the 4:3 scart switching issue. You'll find a lot of UK resellers, especially online ones, don't have any stock and don't know when Sony will be supplying again.

It's uncertain if Sony can fix this player, they have removed it from their UK and European product webpages.
Had mine since February no problems
 
Originally posted by Rochdale
I wish I could get a 9000ES for that price in the UK. About the cheapest I can find is £1,075.96 which works out at about $1,529.87 :(

That means it's stille full-priced because that's what they cost here ($1499 actually) when they were a brand new thang about 18 months ago. I'd keep my eyes open for a possible close-out in the next few months. You might get lucky? Best wishes!
 
Krish AV does the 9000ES for £700 region 2 or £850 multiregion. I have one and it is superb. The shop is in Chiswick High road off the North Circular. I think www.krishav.co.uk

At 700/850 this machine is a steal - buy one.
 
It might well be a steal but at over double the price of the 900V it's quite a lot more than I was looking to spend.
Back to the drawing board.
 
Does the 9000ES do progressive PAL too?

I'm looking for a good player with component output (for my VW11 projector) which can do PAL progressive, the projector itself does NTSC progressive.
 
Sorry Melvynadam - thought your budget was a bit higher.

The 9000ES does not do progressive PAL, but then my understanding is nothing does. Some machines are PAL progressive capable, if and when all the copyright nonsense is finally sorted, but for the time being no machine can output progressive scan on PAL region 2 discs. At least that's what I read in the magazine.
 
Don't go believing all that you read in magazines.....

Do a search for 'pal progressive' and you should find quite a few players out there already.

Regards,
Ian Guinan
 
My Malata DVD-N996 does NTSC and PAL progressive. I don't have a PAL display so I haven't actually seen it do it. I bought it to play out of region and out of format discs. It will convert PAL to NTSC or vice versa. It's a Chinese player and I'm sure there are a few more such players in east Asia. Best wishes!
 
Dear all,
I own a Sony ns900v. It has been a brilliant machine in every respect, although I must point out that at present it is hooked up directly by normal scart lead to a Philips widescreen tv. Is the 4:3 switching only an issue when connected to a amp/receiver?
Regards, Paul Cookson, London
 

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