newtownbeans's Full Review: Sylvania NB500SL9 Blu-Ray Player
After careful research into the various Blu-ray Disc Players on the market, I settled on the Sylvania NB500SL9, which is basically the same unit as the NB501SL9. According to Sylvania customer service, the NB501SL9 replaced the NB500SL9, but the two machines are really identical. Only the model numbers have changed so if you can pick up either one at the best price, you can’t go wrong. The NB500SL9 was rated #1 in Consumer Reports magazine and that review helped me to choose this brand. There were many good reviews by consumers on various sites also.
The advantage of having a Blu-ray disc player is that you can play Blu-ray discs on it. Blu-ray discs will give you a much better video and the disc can hold much more information so there are usually many extra features included on these discs. At this point in time, most available DVD movies can be found in Blu-ray format as well as standard DVD format. If you play a standard DVD in this machine it will also upconvert it automatically for enhanced resolution up to 1080p.
Besides upconversion, this player provides for full high-definition video playback which gives a highly detailed picture and increased sharpness. This unit provides full backwards compatibility with DVD and CD and you can view JPEG photos by inserting a SD memory card directly into the player. It has multi-channel surround sound for those with home theater speaker systems. It also supports PIP (picture-in-picture) for those discs that have a secondary video. Some BD-video have pop-up menus which is a navigation menu and this unit also supports that. One of the best features of this unit is that it connects to your HDTV with one single HDMI cable which transfers the output signal to your TV without conversion to analog signals, providing an excellent picture and sound quality, completely free from noise.
One caution about this player….you might have to contact Sylvania for firmware updates, depending on when you buy the unit. When I set up my player I noticed that a few Blu-ray discs would not play on the machine because they were encoded for certain regions so I called Sylvania and was told that they are working on firmware to correct this and I am to call them back in about a month to request a firmware disc that will update my machine. Depending on when you buy your unit, it may already be updated with the firmware, if it was manufactured after the update was completed.
This is a handsome unit with one tray for discs and several buttons on the face of the machine, including open/close button, stop, pause & play buttons and a lighted power button. There is also an infrared sensor window for the remote and an SD card slot on the front. The front panel also has a lighted display with several icons to indicate the staus of the player and what mode it is in, e.g. playback, stop, pause, fast forward, etc. The rear panel includes component video out jacks, audio out jacks, HDMI out jack, digital coaxial out jack, video out jack and an AC in terminal. Setup is fairly easy and straightforward. I had no difficulty setting my unit up.
The remote control unit is a bit cluttered and takes some time getting used to the numerous buttons, which number 38 plus the enter and curser buttons. One feature that I found a little unusual and annoying is that you cannot reverse playback from the pause mode. You have to be in the playback mode in order to reverse or skip playback. Another small annoyance is that you have to access the menu in order to play CDs or memory cards and then reset the menu in order to play DVDs.
As with all Blu-ray players, there is a longer time for this unit to function step into varios modes. There is approx. a 40 second delay after turning on the unit before you can open the disc tray and approx a 45 second delay for the machine to load the disc and be ready for play. This is common with all Blu-ray players and I believe it has something to do with the additional information that has to be read from Blu-ray discs. Hopefully manufacturers will resolve this problem in the near future and Blu-ray players will operate as fast as standard players.
The owner’s manual is fairly extensive and easy to understand. There is also a toll-free number to call for assistance with setup or operating. I have called this number and found that they answer promptly and are very helpful. Included in the box is the player, remote unit, batteries, RCA audio/video cables, AC cord, HDMI cable, owner’s manual and quick start guide. There is a one-year manufacturer’s warranty. I paid $200. for this player at Amazon.com.
After using this player for several weeks, I am very pleased with its performance. It plays standard DVDs and upconverts them very well to give playback a much better picture than they would show on a standard player. When playing Blu-ray discs, the video is stunning and lifelike with sharp details and perfect colors. The audio is great and I suspect would be even better with home theater speakers, which I do not have at this time. I am waiting for a soundbar from Boston Acoustics which I look forward to installing on my TV to greatly improve the audio that comes from the TV. I will report on this soundbar in a separate ePinions review after I receive it.
The following are the specs for this unit which I retrieved from the Sylvania website:
BLU-RAY/DVD Plays: BD Video, BD-RE (Single/Dual),BD-R (Single/Dual), DVD Video, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, Audio CD DTS-CD, HD JPEG Profile 1.1 (BONUS VIEW)
HDMI Full-HD 1080 24/60p Output HDMI 1080p Up-Conversion Output Progressive Scan Video Output HDMI ver.1.3 Support Deep Color Processing
HDMI Audio Output Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Lossless Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS HD, Linear PCM
Advanced User Interface Screen Saver Virtual Surround System
INPUT/OUTPUT Video Output: 1 [set] Component Video Out: 1 [set] HDMI Output: 1 [set] Audio Output (L+R): 1 [set] Digital Audio Output (Coaxial): 1 [set] SD Memory Slot: 1 [set]
WEIGHT & DIMENSIONS Dimensions (WxDxH): 17.2 x 2.8 x 13.9 [inch] Weight: 9.1 [lb] Dimensions with Packing (WxDxH): 21.2 x 6.5 x 17.7 [inch] Weight with Packing: 14.1 [lb] Owner's Manual Printed In English & Spanish UPC Code# : 053818 671337 UL Listed, FCC/DHHS Certificated
Specifications:Blu-ray Disc Player with remoteFull HD resolution 1080p Video Output24fps (frames per second) for Cinema-like picture qualityHDMI Outpu...More at Walmart
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