Sony BDP-CX960 Blu-ray 400 Disc Player, 1080p, NTSC, HDMI, USB, Black

2012-03-12T20:00:00

Have had my player for a little more than a year now. At first it was great and had little problem until disc titles would disappear, then some new Disney blu ray movies just stopped loading and will not play. I have bought new disc's thinking something was wrong with the disc, same problem. Also allot of different blu ray disc just lock up and stop playing in the middle of the movie. My unit is connected to the internet and gets all the automatic updates, but the problems are still there. To set the record straight--- this does not hold 401 disc, it holds 400 with the "RENTAL" slot being #1 out of 400. I also have had a Sony DVP-CX995V which is a 400 disc DVD player for about 4 years. Had to have the reader replaced after 3 years of heavy use, but it does not have the PLAY issues that the Blu ray player does...

dlcoker

Originally posted at

2011-08-27T20:00:00

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Despite my long list of overly-picky "cons", I am still glad I purchased this Blu-ray mega changer. PROS: Holds 400 discs. Plays Blu-ray, DVD or CD discs. DVD playback quality is near HD. Downloads title, year, director's name, lead actor's name, rating (like PG-13) and genre from Internet. Sorts by title, slot or year. Groups by genre, director or lead actor. Dedicated SORT and GROUP buttons on remote. Displays jacket picture in directory. After adding more discs, LOAD function only adds data for new discs, without overwriting changes made to existing discs. Very fast directory scrolling. Drill down to track names on Audio CDs. Fast and easy menu system. Easy firmware upgrades from Internet. + 100 button on front of unit speeds up physical navigation. Remote can also be used to control TV and AMP. CONS: Too tall to fit into most cabinets. Too deep to fit onto most shelves. Table top only. No 3D. Despite its size, it cannot flip discs like my older (and much smaller) Sony 300 disc DVD changer. No keyboard port for editing disc data. Editing disc data via remote is very time consuming. Disc data downloaded via Internet from Gracenote is not always accurate. Title, year and rating are almost always correct. Genre is mostly correct (obviously, this is somewhat subjective). Lead actor is often incorrect. (I do not know director's names well enough to comment on their accuracy.) Gracenote has not yet learned that you should ignore articles such as A or THE at the beginning of the title name to permit proper sorting. With all of its sorting and grouping capabilities, I could not believe that it could not group by video format (Blu-ray vs. DVD). Your only clue, prior to playback, is a little blue bar at the top of the jacket picture for Blu-ray discs. When grouping by lead actor or director name, the people are sorted by their first name, not their last name. Jacket picture is small. But, if that speeds up directory scrolling, I am OK with that. During prolonged scrolling, directory listings are not displayed. Rental slot is just as narrow as all of the other slots. Disc eject feature is shallow - making discs somewhat difficult to retrieve. Like most Blu-ray players, this changer requires about 30 seconds to power up. Despite stated specifications, does not recognize CD-Text data. (See, I told you I was picky.)

TechieGuy

Originally posted at

2011-05-09T20:00:00

I think this is a great or I would not have bought the second one. i only have three complaints 1. too long to turn on. 2. can not link multiple units together. Have to turn one off and turn the other on. It would be nice if you could access all the DVD in both units at one time. 3. Unit is way too deep to fit in a cabinent and hook up cables.

RVguy

Originally posted at

2011-04-17T20:00:00

It sure does take up a lot of room, like stated elsewhere. It may be slow, but it beats getting up and down when playing a series of discs. If I could get only one wish for this, I would just like to be able to edit the genre on the writeable discs.

jtarheel

Originally posted at

2011-02-08T19:00:00

I bought this player for its storage capabilities,DVD/CD player, connection to the BOSE system, and memory to locate CD/DVD. The screen display make it easier to locate music and movies, and it excels in this regard. It is like all SONY DVD players that I have owned, it is slow to turn on, and sometime I am unable to tell if the player is OFF or ON, and at times it goes OFF automatically, while we are trying to power it ON.

DRAGOND

Originally posted at

2011-02-07T19:00:00

Please let me know when you integrate the Model: NSZ-GT1. Make sure to add 3-D, thunderous 6.1 wattage, wireless connectivity, and a large download storage capacity. Thank you.

Skoalz

Originally posted at

2011-01-26T19:00:00

I purchased this player after a fair amount of debate. My concerns were: The variability of price over time. The price seems to be bouncing around quite a bit even on Amazon. Lack of a WiFi connection. The Ethernet works, but you still need to have a bridge. (I decided to use a Buffalo Technology Nfiniti Wireless-N Dual Band Ethernet Converter WLI-TX4-AG300N. Having the ability to connect four ethernet devices has proved to be a real plus.) Gracenote. Does it really work? Yes it does--mostly. I've loaded 158 DVD's so far. It failed to find three. Two of these were documentaries which, I suspect, had a rather limited distribution. The surprise was the failure to find "Up". The assigned genre can be strange. I found one series of eight DVD's that included three different ones. However, it's quite simple to change genre and even create new ones if you'd like to group specific disks. Lessons learned: Read the manual. There are obviously sections that can be skipped but understand the load process and information editing. The actual play is pretty intuitive and should give you few problems. Be careful when loading Gracenote information if you're not loading all of the disks at one time. Subsequent sets of disks are grouped together and you can load just those. It's pretty easy to accidentally do a full reload which could overwrite your edits. I think Sony should really have a "Do You Really Want To Do This" display prior to beginning this. It's simple enough to cancel, but it can be scary if you've gotten into a full reload by accident. Things I like: I disagree with some of the other reviewers about load time. I also have a five disk player and have to sample a disk to make sure it's the one I want. The menu display for the jukebox eliminates this and I don't think the time to load following selection is excessive. It is fairly intuitive once you remember that the "Home" and "Options" buttons are your friend. To my eyes, the HD upscaling when using an HDMI connect to a Sony Bravia TV yields a picture that, for me, is indistinguishable from the quality of BluRay. I've reserved the use of this player solely for movies and I suspect that it'll be quite a few years before I come close to filling it. The various ways you can sequence the disk find display makes finding a specific disk in your collection quite easy. Concerns you might have: Size. This is a large machine in height and depth. If you're putting it in a component cabinet, make sure that there's sufficient space. I also put mine on the bottom instead of one of the movable shelves because the weight potential of the component when fully loaded will be significant. Price. Because of the variability, even on a day to day basis, shopping is worthwhile. What to do with the emptied cases? I've found that the Iris media storage box works for me. I label each box with the slot number range it contains. (I also put a slot number sticker on each case.) Advance preparation. In addition to component size, having an Ethernet/WiFi bridge will be worth it in time saved by using Gracenote. Don't purchase two sided disks. Only one side will be available. (Note to Amazon-It'd be nice if the disk specifications indicated whether one was two sided.) For me, this player was definitely worth it. May 19,2010 I've finally got all the disks loaded. Sometimes a disk doesn't initially want to go all the way in. Don't try to force it. A little jiggling and repositioning the turntable will take care of this. I found that I occasionally skipped a slot and had to correct this. It did have a hiccup yesterday and I apparently wiped a couple of titles that had previously been loaded. The unnamed disks show at the head of the by titles list so I just did a "Load" on them. This apparently took care of the problem. I'm still glad I got it. June 25, 2010 Well, the tally is now 230 I guess it's a hazard to have this capability. You just keep wanting to add. I've noted in a number of other reviews a criticism that there is no capability to add/change disk icons. My personal feeling is that icons are nice, but I don't select based on them. The title and the ability to edit the title more than offsets this. July 16,2010 I decided to get a second on to replace my old CDP-CX220 300 disk CD player primarily because information entry was quite tedious and I really like the Gracenote function. Unfortunately, the 960 does not have the ability to group disks and repeat play a group. An example would be a set of CD's that you play around Christmas. A call to Sony yielded the suggestion that I should get a CDP-CX350. Unfortunately, that unit does not have internet connectivity and, thus, no access to Gracenote. The 960 does have genres and you can create play lists of specified tracks. However, per Sony, there is no related repeat function and the genre process is an assist to find a specific disk and does not have the capability of playing a complete genre let alone repeating all the disks in a genre. So, I'll be saying goodbye to the "Group" function. I'll probably end up creating play lists and just restarting them when they end. I haven't done anything more than study the information about playlists in the manual. Hopefully, a playlist can include multiple disks and allow the loading of all tracks on a disk at one time. I'd suggest that Sony consider a firmware update to add the "Group" functionality to the 960. 7/19/10 The "Group" function has a parallel contrary to what the first Sony tech rep said. I found that when you select a genre or artist and press the "Options" button, one of them is play. Do this at the genre display level and not the level of individual disks. This will cycle through the disks in the genre in slot number sequence. Keep in mind that you can create new genres and assign disks to them. This allowed me to convert my "Christmas" group on my old player for use on the 960. I can't recommend the playlist function for trying to do a parallel because you have to create a playlist track by track and there's a limit of 99 tracks on a playlist. There are only eight playlists available. You should also select "No" to HDMI during setup if you want to play the CD's through and A/V receiver and not use the speakers in the TV. If you don't, turning off the TV once you've set up a multi-disk will also turn off the player. I guess this latter is another reason to have your CD collection on a separate player. Unfortunately, turning off HDMI has the side effect of also turning off the ability of the TV to determine the correct input source. This means that you have to use the TV remote to do this manually and adds to the complexity of playing CD's on this player. I had been considering replacing my rather elderly Sony A/V Receiver with a new one to take advantage of the multiple HDMI inputs on the newer Sony receivers. I decided against doing this after a discussion with Sony tech support because it wouldn't let me turn off the TV after making my TV selection unless I'd disabled HDMI. The Sony tech suggested just using alternative inputs for the sound, but this would have prevented me from being able to use the player menus on the TV for making my selections. Having this ability was my reason for getting a second player for CD's. It would be nice if Sony were to enable options within HDMI to selectively turn off/on various HDMI functions instead of having it all or nothing. I would probably have gotten a replacement receiver if I'd had this ability. I'm getting to where I feel that the manual is really only a starting point. These solutions were only found playing with the machine and calling Sony tech support--and that's why I've added this comment to the review. 8/22/10 There is a way to have HDMI and turn off the TV without turning off the connected components. This is a setting on the Sony Bravia TV's. I don't know whether other brands have this capability. Go to "Control by HDMI" Within that, there's an option to not turn connected components off when the TV is turned off. There's also an option for not turning the TV on. I've found that I needed the latter when playing the player I used through a Sony STR DH810 receiver for CD's so that it won't turn the TV on when loading a new CD in a set. 11/10/10 I've now had three instances in which previously loaded disks have become unknown. These appear as a group at the head of the list. It usually includes five disks. This is fixed by pressing the options button and selecting "Load". I've no explanation why this happens since it is infrequent and, for me, doesn't merit taking the time to call Sony. You should check for this occasionally since the disks involved will have disappeared from the various selection lists. This is the end point for my comments which are specific to the BDPCX960. However, if you're interested in some lessons learned while integrating two of these players with a Sony AV receiver and a Sony Bravia TV, I've added the following comments. 1. Sony really needs to develop a system integration manual that spans Sony components. Integration information in specific component manuals is not adequate. 2. In my specific configuration, I've used two of the CX960 players. One is for movies and one is for music. After extensive attempts to integrate the movie player so that it would operate properly through the AV receiver, I've finally decided that it was easier to just do an HDMI connect from the player to the TV and connect the audio out on the TV to the TV audio in on the receiver. This was after unsuccessfully experimenting with component HDMI settings and the pass through function on the receiver. 3. This approach works and is quite satisfactory. The integration problems aren't related to the players, but to the receiver and the TV.

CFHJr

Originally posted at

2011-01-26T19:00:00

I bought two of these units for my vast dvd and blue ray collection. I had to upgrade my wireless setup to an N so I could install a wireless bridge to access the internet. It works like a charm. Connecting the two units to my receiver required purchasing a separate HDMI splitter. Once connected, and the remotes configured (by the way, the remotes will handle 3 of the changer units), I loaded and set up all of my movies. The units are easy to configure and quick loading. The search features are nice and easy enough for my wife to use without whining. I wish the units were set up so they can read each other via the network ports, at least. I would also love to see a USB connector for keyboard entry for those few movies that aren't correct or listed in Grace Notes. Over all the units are AWESOME and way cheaper than the alternative of using a hard drive to store movies.

VegasBob

Originally posted at

2011-01-19T19:00:00

After reviewing the positive and negative reviews, I thought I'd let you in on a little secret. You can hook this unit up wirelessly provided... "You connect wireless with the BDP-CX you will need to use the Ethernet /wireless LAN media converter. For additional information please see the product manual pg 28-29." http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=BDPCX960 The above statement was an answer to a question that someone had asked on a competitor’s website.

TheInspector007

Originally posted at

2011-01-18T19:00:00

I have the original 400 disc DVD player and liked it for its convenience of storing 400 discs but it lacked in the disc information department (manually typing in the info on a lot of disc got tedious). This unit does it automatically with Gracenotes but I agree with other reviewers that it's limited since you can't edit the contents. DIsc changing takes at least 2 minutes and I think only 40 seconds of that is the mechanical part, the rest of the time is spent waiting for ??? An Internet connected Blu-Ray player that can't do Netflix? Very disappointing.

Bicycler

Originally posted at

2011-01-17T19:00:00

I've waited for this for a long time. Saved up to purchase a mega changer Blu-Ray player that is times more than the top of the line Blu-ray players. Only to get a mega changer that is slow, EXTREMELY SLOW, no memory, ethernet port just to pull down Disc Jackets and upgrades. A USB port for extra storage (but you can't connect a external HDD(per the manual)) Who still puts pictures on disc??? And if so, who would put them in this expensive piece of equipment to view???? what is the sense of having a LAN port if i can't share ANYTHING on my network or a USB port that can't be accessed????i was hoping to be WOW'D, NOT!!! SHAME ON SONY!!! (I HATE YOU SONY)

Bonze

Originally posted at

2011-01-02T19:00:00

After spending considerable time with a local Sonystyle store staff that didn't have their own sample connected to the internet and recommended a USB based wireless router in error, I went to a Micro tech store . There they were able to assist in making this wired Ethernet capable device truly wireless, as promised in the owners booklet.. Then and only then was I able to get the promised wireless capability of the the unit to work. It was worth the effort, the Gracenotes software eventually found about 95% of the 200 discs I loaded into the changer. The picture, both in speed(set up required) and actuall performance were very good. The picture approached that of my reference BDP5000ES player. The only disappointing thing was the effort required to make the unit work and that this unit doesn't follow the Sony family of USB based internet protocol items. Other than than, it is a great functional storage device for those of us with wide selections of disc based entertainment.

Evaus

Originally posted at

2010-12-27T19:00:00

OK I've had this now for about a week and after carefully trying to reconfigure my TV Stand it's a bit bulky as the new TV stands are not built for High items. Connecting to the internet I have yet to figure it out. My internet is 5 rooms away and to run a wire and drill holes in walls seems a bit much I'm hoping someone can tell me a easy way to do this. I did watch a movie on it already and WOW it is a great picture. I just thought it would have on it somewhere to hook up speaker wires so I can get rid of my old sony all in one surround sound...Now I have to keep it and run this throught that one. Once I go through all the features I will post another review but for now this is what I found...So far It seems like it is going to be a great product just wish it was a bit smaller and had WI-FI.

MKUNZ

Originally posted at

2010-12-26T19:00:00

Overall I'm happy that it serves it's main purpose of storing, accessing and playing BluRay and DVDs. However, I agree with other reviewers that the inability to override GraceNotes inaccurancies is a bug flaw. I find GraceNotes either doesn't find or miscategorizes about 10% of the titles. Why does it take a two disk set and categorize one as a movie and the other as a music video? I agree that it really should have had a web interface, or perhaps keyboard input, but as a reasonable compromise, could Sony at least allow us to write the datafile to the USB drive, edit and re-import it. The ability to get a list of videos stored in the player would be handy for many reasons, including using at the store when you're trying to recall if you own a title. Why make it inaccessible - please add this feature to write to USB. Also there should have been a better way to select from the library with a two way remote.

NorthTO

Originally posted at

2010-12-22T19:00:00

I've purchased the last two generations of this player. I'd like the update to the BD version but it needs the WiFi feature for HuLu, Netflicks, etc like other single disk players.

Mjq0

Originally posted at

2010-12-06T19:00:00

I have two, and I am considering a third to house my collect of Teaching Company courses. BlueRay is great, as is the ability to create multiple genre. The only downside is the lack of the ability to assign genre to DVD-R, which many educational DVD's are created in, and the lack of ability to plug in a standard keyboard. Most educational discs are not listed in Gracenotes, and having to load the titles to 800 discs have been a real nusance.

P3NATOPS

Originally posted at

2010-12-04T19:00:00

I truly love Sony products. I had a 55 in projection TV and several Sony sound systems and vcr's over the last 18 yrs. I have two DBP-CX850D 200 disc mega changers for DVD/CD media, as well as a BDP-S560 bluray player and a STR-DA5500ES AV receiver. As fate would have it the used DBP-CX850D started having carousel issues and did not play any longer so I replaced it with the BDP-CX960 . This allowed me to move the single disc bluray player to our bedroom and replace the BDP-CX850D 200 disc Mega changer. I really love the picture quality and the sound quality combined with my STR-DA5500ES AV receiver and my 73 in HD TV. Now for the criticism: One of the greatest capabilities for the BDP-CX850D was how easy it was to create groups and use the shuffle and repeat functions. We love Christmas around my home and music is a very large part of our Christmas season. Concerts and plays and lights all make Christmas special. The BDP-CX960 was designed as a DVD player primarily but with the addition of a minor software addition the BDP-CX960 could be an excellent CD player also. Sony needs to add the ability at the disc menu to select multiple disc and then add them to a playlist which would include all the tracks on the selected discs as could be done on the BDP-CX850D . Next add a track shuffle option for all the discs in the playlist as you could with the BDP-CX850D . When listing to a large genre of music in a playlist of say Christmas music, it is much more desirable to listen to all the songs in the playlist randomly instead of having to listen to a complete disc before changing to a different artist or album.

BKB0147

Originally posted at

2010-12-01T19:00:00

I owned a 985 Model and six 995 Model 400-disc Sony DVD changers. I've also owned two 400 CD disc changers. After trying to read through the manual, trying to figure out how to use the thing and then examining the features more closely, I dislike this product intensely. There is no shuffle feature for DVDs/BDs. Why would I buy a 400 disc changer then? Why don't I buy a single disc Blu-Ray Disc Player and switch Blu-Rays that way? This is essentially a large storage shelf contained in a BD Player case. Why buy it? I have to switch the DVDs/BDs one at a time. There is an inherent power in owning 400 DVDs...more than renting them or downloading them. It certainly costs more, it should have some advantages. Why then would I purchase (or keep) a player that holds 400 discs but doesn't make use of that power I paid all that money for? What advantage is there in me buying a DVD? the CX960 eliminates that advantage. It makes buying 20 DVDs at a time pointless. In times gone by, in the old 995 model DVD changer, I didn't have to worry...I put 400 DVDs I liked into one player and turned it on random. I didn't have to pick one, I didn't have to find out what slot number it was in. That being said, what is even more baffling is that CDs do have a shuffle function in the machine...so why not one for DVDs? The manual is not well laid out, the ones in the past were similarly hobbled by confusion. The index doesn't mention "Shuffle Mode" "Random Mode" or any other variation of what I was looking for in the CX-960 manual. I get the idea that for Blu-ray Discs, you could just scan through your discs and pick one. For DVDs, which I purchased this for (since it supports DVDs), you can't. The metadata doesn't exist, so you just have a series of worthless "Unknown Disc" markers. Besides...I don't want to have to pick a disc...I want one to come up randomly. You also have to scroll all the unknown discs to get to exactly to the right disc...if I were going to forgive the lack of shuffle feature. So essentially, I would have to go get the DVD case, find the number, scroll down the list find it and enter it. It would take slightly less time to grab a DVD case put the DVD in a DVD player and then press play. So...why bother? I don't think this changer has any features that makes it useful for putting 400 DVDs in. You still have to enter the disc number in after you find out what one it is. Additionally, the buttons on the remote are too close together in the central pod. The main down is right near return, home and options and its easy to stray one's thumb over too far and end up in menu purgatory. The only good news is that I only loaded up 6 DVDs to test this beast out, after reading somebody else's review that had advised to make sure it works before filling it. So, I was warned and held back on my zeal. Good deal. Now I can return this malevolent machination to the vendor from which it came. Hey Sony: Call me when you make a disc changer that has some real features and makes holding 400 discs more than a simple curiosity and allows an owner to use the power of having 400 discs in one place. You used to have my number. Now, after buying this on my faith in your company, I'm not so sure you have it anymore; my faith or my number. Pick one...just don't try to turn on the shuffle mode.

Sonthert

Originally posted at

2010-11-12T19:00:00

I was planning on purchasing this product but decided not to purchase and go with alternate company for the following reasons: #1 No Netflix 2. Limited Memory 3. No USB Keyboard & Mouse Access

FrankSmith

Originally posted at

2010-10-12T20:00:00

Purchased this player to replace a dead single disc player,being a video buff love being able to load all my blu-rays and tv series discs into player.great video and audio quality esp when upscaling dvds.

MUSTANG2k

Originally posted at

2010-09-18T20:00:00

First, shame on Sony for only making a reviewer who gave 5 stars the ONLY "featured reviewer". Apparently, unless you give 5 stars...well, you get the idea. There was no justification in making the unit the size that it is. The Blu-Ray software would not have added anything to warrant this units dimensions. Gracenote was a really bad idea,. Afterall, how many people have internet connects near their TV. Finally, why did they get rid of the keyboard connection. The idea behind the unit is a great one and for those that have large collections, it is a most needed machine. But, Sony needs to rethink the unit and issue a more sensible player. Further, they need to: 1. Reduce the size 2. Remove Gracenote and its internet connector 3. Re-install the keyboard connection.

StarTrek17010

Originally posted at

2010-09-18T20:00:00

It is a wonderful unit to store all your DVD together but falls short in several areas. 1.) Gracenote will not find all the titles. Customers are unable to access Gracenote database to include missing titles. 2.) Manual entry of titles is very tedious and cumbersome. Must be done with remote cell phone interface as there is no keyboard input. 3.) DVD picture metadata is too tiny. Should be larger with another page like Netflix and include a summary. 4.) CAUTION: do not 'Load All Disks' from the main menu. If you made any manual entries to previously loaded DVDs, they will be lost. Safest to load each DVD individually 'Edit-Load Disk'. There should be an option to lock manual entries from changes. 5.) Wish there was a 5-rating feature and ability to enter comments per DVD. 6.) Lacking a backup option for your titles. Again, this can be tied in to Gracenotes if customers were able to to open accounts.

bdpcx960user

Originally posted at

2010-09-15T20:00:00

It seems I waited forever for Sony to make a megachanger that would acoomidate blu-ray. I was very happy with my original mega-changer and was certain this one could only be better. While it does sound great and offers an exceptional veiwing experience, loading a disc is EXCRUCIATING. The unit seems to have to go thru a whole start up series of rotating and counter rotating. I assume this is to basically to determine where it is. My old unit just loaded and was playing is seconds. This unit however takes atleat 45 sceonds which is an eternity especially if you are waiting for it to open and load a disc. I am really hoping the is some type of firm fix.

hatchy

Originally posted at

2010-08-16T20:00:00

For the money, a very solid piece of gear. I would love to see a firmware update where you can change the cover art that gracenote finds. I would also love to be able to add my own info to home movies (cover art, genre, etc). As it is now, I can only add a title. A wifi option would be good, but there's not even an adapter you can buy. Speaking of networking, if the player can already access gracenote, how about some apps? Basically, I'm looking for more functionality. But it does do everything I bought it for. I have all my discs loaded, it found 99% of them on gracenote and it loads and plays pretty quickly for such a sizable changer. Overall, I am very pleased, but Sony really needs to update the firmware and get with current capabilities of other blu-ray players.

Wintermute

Originally posted at

2010-08-04T20:00:00

///in my review of thin=s bit I was completely satisfied until I tried to use the LPCM to connect to my Lexicon MC-12 HD. I found the it only has LPCM 2 channel. I cant figure out what good that is. Without it I cant take advantage of the DTS-HD or Dolby Tru-HD. So I only get Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.d. This is no better than my older DVD juke Box. It would be great if a firmware update could fix this deficiency.

Ultmt1

Originally posted at

2010-07-26T20:00:00

I've owned the predecessor of this unit, the one that also holds 400 discs but only plays standard DVDs, plus I own the CD version. Despite reading the reviews of how large this thing is, I was still surprised at its size when I set it in my entertainment center. It really is a monster, so measure carefully. This aspect really doesn't bother me, though, because my shelving more than adequately houses it. Here are the two big drawbacks (IMHO) that warrant the three-star rating: 1. I am disappointed that the Sony software does not allow you to search Gracenote, find the title you need, and then apply that title to that specific slot for any backed up copies of movies. While the unit does play them, it simply labels them "No Name." Typing the names in with the remote is tedious, to put it mildly. So tedious, in fact, I've decided to just use an Excel spreadsheet instead of going to all that trouble. I highly advise you write down which discs you are inserting into which slots as you load. You may be sorry otherwise. Is this something you should have to do with such an expensive machine? Why in the world did Sony take away the keyboard hookup it had on the previous model? I've even tried putting the original disc in, which automatically links to Gracenote and uploads the movie data, and then carefully sneaking it out and putting in the back-up copy (not even using the disc eject button), but the data disappears and up pops "No Name" again. For those of us who prefer to keep the original disc in a safe place and only play backup copies,why can't the unit allow the user to do an online Gracenote search for the movie and save that data to the slot? Sony, are you listening? 2. I have several discs of HD family video that are in AVCHD format that the unit will not play. My one-year-old Panasonic BD player plays them beautifully, but this unit is unable to (yes, I have the latest software uploaded). What's the deal with that? It does play some AVCHD discs, but not all. The manufacture date on my machine is February 2010. To have discs that a player a year old can play and this one can't is unacceptable. The things I do like about it: 1. The Gracenote interface, even with the hideous drawback above, is better than nothing. 2. The fact that it can link to the internet, albeit without wifi, is a definite plus for updating the software and, hopefully, adding future capabilities (like fixing item #1, above). 3. The up-converting is almost about as good as Blue-ray, and I tend to agree. The picture produced is really outstanding. Generally speaking, I like the unit. It's about your only option at this point. I may be wrong, but I fully expect a "better" unit to be on the way, with wifi and (hopefully) with better movie labeling capabilities. I mean, come on, even my tiny Media Player allows me to put icons against movie titles. I remain hopeful that new software updates will improve this model, though. We'll see.

MWPlus3

Originally posted at

2010-04-26T20:00:00

My worst nightmare!Paid $599 for this block of useless technology!The Blu-ray picture is the WORST I HAVE EVER SEEN!There is lots of pixelation with blu-rays but DVDs are playing fine.I am trying to get the supplier to take it back.Tried lots of different blu-rays and also updated the firmware but picture is still very bad.

Doc76

Originally posted at

2010-03-16T20:00:00

I dont understand why Sony has not enabled Netflix on this machine Through an update of the bios. Once they do that I will but it, but until then its a no buy.

Dalgarnif

Originally posted at

2010-03-14T20:00:00

First, the good. The player works very well, and the loading of my first 21 discs went okay (although slowly). The user interface is easy to use and the sorting / grouping of discs is descent (although a little limiting). Here's the bad for me: Parental Controls on the player are bad. Firstly, the "ratings" on the system are setup via very generic numeric ratings. While this may make "technical sense" it doesn't fit the expectations of a parent (namely me). I'd want to see things like PG, PG-13, TV-MA, etc. However, once you get the idea that "lower is more restrictive", you can guess your way though it a bit. So I set the options for both DVD and BD playback, set a parental password and then tried to load 2 discs that should have been restricted. Shrek (DVD) loaded the disc and then I got a clear warning about the parental controls not matching between the disc and the player. It prompted me for the password and everything was good. I then tested Tru Blood (BD - TV Series, and very TV-MA). Gracenote labeled as TV-MA, yet oddly enough, it allowed this to go through right to playback. Thinking I had done something wrong, I double checked everything. It looked okay to me. I contacted Sony support. Basically the answer I got was that the disc itself is responsible for parental controls. So Tru Blood doesn't have the content protection flag set. My other players treat discs that don't have parental information as "unrated" and in the most protected category of discs. Instead, Sony has opted for the opposite, and allows any disc to play if it doesn't mark itself as restricted. One other thing Sony mentioned was to use the "Child Lock" feature. This basically stops the front door from being opened by the front panel or remote. This is good to restrict access to the discs in theory. However, turning off the option doesn't require the parental password at all. So, it's good to stop your 2 year old from playing with the door but not for restricting any older child from circumventing the player. This is all very backwards in my opinion. Of course, I can restrict this by not having the discs in the changer, but that defeats the purpose of the changer itself. I now have to check every single disc I put into the changer to see if it properly identifies itself. It seems to me that Sony should consider some of the following to make this player more usable: 1) Discs that are unrated / not protected should not be treated by default as "playable", but rather as the most restricted type of disc. Relying on the content producer to label the disc appropriately is not a good idea. 2) If Gracenote has a rating for something, allow it to restrict playback of the discs. 3) Allow setting a disc manually to "restricted playback" (or set the rating directly) so that discs that aren't protected properly aren't allowed to play. 4) Restrict the list of discs in the UI to only show properly rated discs (this may or may not be appropriate). 5) Require the parental password on child lock being turned off. Basically, I'm not able to restrict my library of movies from my children except by storing the discs separate form the player (which I could have done with any other player on the market and defeats the concept of having your entire library in a changer).

Drakmir

Originally posted at

2010-03-05T19:00:00

I purchased my new Sony Mega-changer to replace an older Sony mega CDP SX335 changer that finally began to skip after several years of pretty hard service. I really liked that old CD changer and was not happy about spending the money, but it was my lucky day when I decided to upgrade to the Sony CX-960! I carefully read all of the reviews I could find online and was a little hesitant based on the negative eat my DVD collection stories. I’ve always had Sony products and have always been satisfied. Grant you I’ve never had to deal with Sony and any problems with customer service, but that is a good thing right? I will admit that the size could be a problem for some people as it is large and bulky. But keep in mind it does hold your entire collection of DVD's and CD's, unless you have more than 400, so that large cabinet in the corner of the room can go away. I did spend a couple of hours opening the back of my built-in cabinets to make it fit, and I then decided to re-wire the entire system. Something I did not read in the reviews is the fact that you save cabinet space by having this piece of equipment. My old Panasonic Blu Ray that had audio problems and the old CD changer are now gone and wrapped up in one complete unit. The CX-960 is impressive as you walk into the room and for me all this work was a labor of love. It was also time for a little wire maintenance and clean up, and somehow I found several cables (more than I thought) that are no longer required. Hooking up the 960 took about 5 minutes at most. I'm using an HDMI connection to my projector and an optical audio cable directly to my Sony STR-DA555ES receiver. Man that old receiver has been a workhorse and I dread the day that it finally goes pop! But then again I will purchase the latest Sony and expect years and years of service with improved features. Just got to stop spending money! The onscreen interface took less than 10 minutes to set up and Gracenote had no problem finding my small Blu Ray collection (37) in about 40 minutes from loading to finish. Now locating the movie of the evening is a joy as you scroll from title to title that has the jacket cover, actors and year of release. It would be nice if the onscreen jacket covers were larger but my 70" screen negates that problem for me. You can also search by Genre, but I was not as impressed with its ability to sort into the correct category but still pretty cool. I was watching The Killers and found new and improved menu options that are not only useful but will impress all of your friends. I only had time to load a single CD last night but again Gracenote was able to identify and load the CD into memory. Today I’m going to load the hundreds of DVD’s and CD’s and look forward to continued success. I could provide a list of some options and whine about not having WiFi or a keyboard connection, maybe even a little better remote…. but there really is nothing that should prevent you from giving this piece of equipment a new home and allowing this to become the center piece of your audio components. I like it!

RoadKingClassic

Originally posted at