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 Sony DVPS7700 DVD Player Performance Rating: A Just hearing the word makes you think of quality. I am a Sony junky, and this player gave me quite the fix. It out performs any player I've tinkered with since I've started reviewing DVD. Let me just say, I like this player so much, I own one. 
This is a very easy to use player. The remote is big and well organized, nicely serving as a Universal remote for all of your other equipment. Just drop the disc in and say hello to the wonders of DVD. Value/Overall Rating: A/A Alright, with a MSRP of $1299, it's not exactly the easiest player to just run out and pick up. If you can afford this, this is the best your money can buy (in my opinion -- so take that for what it's worth.) It won't be long before this player becomes the standard by which all other players are judged. Sony DVPS7700 DVD Player Specs and Features:
Wow. When I first got this player to review, I felt like it was Christmas time. I kept hearing how great this player was going to be; from friends, from business associates and of course from the people at Sony themselves. I played with every Sony player since the beginning of DVD, and had nothing short of nirvana each time I used one. When the 7700 was finally at my door, I couldn't believe it. When I opened it up and hooked it up to the TV, I still couldn't believe it. I mean, c'mon -- the front of the player slides down when you open it up. It's something out of the future. All black, sharp and it's heavy, man -- 15 pounds at least. First, let's get all of the "improvements" made so that this player could surpass the 7000 in excellence, out of the way. It's got an improved dual-discrete laser pick up along with a new DSP Servo to quicken up the menu access time. It's one of the fastest players I've ever looked at -- and quiet, let me tell you. This tank is also equipped with a Smooth Scan feature. This gives you a super clean picture while you fast forward or reverse your way to a favorite scene, I was blown out of my sofa when I played with this. It stops on a dime and you can make everything out while you scan. It's a huge improvement, not only over the other Sony players, but over all players I've seen so far. For the audiophile, it's also DTS ready, which is a major improvement over the 7000. Let's look at the player, shall we? First off, the front is very clean. It should be, all of the buttons are under the sliding aluminum face plate. You can keep it down, or put it up -- it'll play either way. It'll automatically close, unless you pull it down using a button located on the front of the player. One of the neat things is -- on the front of the player, there are three small lights for Play, Pause and Stop. These are actually buttons, that if you run your finger over, will do what they are labeled. Maybe it doesn't take much to excite me, but I think that's très cool. The faceplate's LED display can be dimmed down, or turned off. There's also headphone jack with it's own volume control. I've always liked when players offered this, because so many time, I've had people around that hated to hear movies at 3 o'clock in the morning. When you're up that late reviewing titles, it really helps to have this and a great pair of headphones. The back of the player is nice and clean and has a gold colored finish, maybe just to remind you that you dropped a pretty penny to have this thing in your home. All in all, it's a fine looking player. The remote is big. Big and bulky (it's basically the same remote as the DVP-S600D). Every button is on here, and they are well placed and nicely shaped. The buttons also glow in the dark, which is nice. The best feature on the remote is the Navigator jog/shuttle dial. It's perfectly built for your thumb, so you can quickly, er, navigate around the DVD backwards and forwards. If you're a scan freak, then you'll get loads of use out of this. I really like this remote. It's not as hand friendly as, say, the Toshiba, but I'd also use this remote to replace all the other remotes in my theater, whereas, I wouldn't use a Toshiba's to do such a thing. The picture quality of the Sony 7700 is dead on. Some discs that look simply okay on other players, come to life on this one. The colors are crisp and lusty, the blacks are deep black and there is no noise to be found. I went through a S-video out, and I had a great time doing it. If you have a component TV, then obviously you'll want to do that. I can't but, I know that the picture is greatly improved, especially on the 7700. My bud Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits says, "the component signal . . . was more film-like, and had more accurate color rendition (than the S-video image)." I can't begin to explain how great the picture looks on this player. I'm literally speechless when it comes to this player. I don't want to get bogged down with high tech words explaining it, so I won't. The sound quality is equally awe-striking. As I said above, the 7700 improves the 7000 by making this player DTS ready. This player produces both DVD and CD sound that I haven't heard come out as crisp in along time. In the past, I would never suggest to anyone that they use their DVD player as a CD player -- but after playing with the 7700, I'd step away from that stance in a heartbeat. Not only do you get a soundfield (well, as long as you have a properly setup receiver and speaker system) that is comparable to a theater, but I'd say you get some great concert sound as well. Classic, rock even industrial music comes out nice and clean, and I haven't had much luck playing CDs on my DVD player in the past. Bottom Line: This is one stand up player. I'm proud to own one, regardless of how much it set me back. It does everything I want it to, I've had no problems, whatsoever with this player. Sony has done me proud, and I'm their biggest fan -- as well as being their biggest critic. You can't go wrong with a Sony player, and you sure as hell can't go wrong with the 7700. Todd Doogan January 1999 (Tood Doogan also reviews DVD movies for The Digital Bits, if you have any questions regarding this review please e-mail todd.doogan@dvdcity.com . For sales enquiries please e-mail sales@dvdcity.com)
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