Died 2 months after warranty

Author's Rating:

Pros: nice picture & sound

Cons: lasted only 14 months

Author's Review
Read several reviews before choosing this model for its quality picture, sound, and upconversion of standard DVD's.  Unfortunately, the unit had not been on the market long enough at the time for the model's poor reliability to show up in any of those reviews.  At 14 months, the unit began to freeze up after just a few minutes of play time.  This despite the fact that the player had seen only moderate use and had always been plugged into a good surge protector.  Tech support recommended a firmware update, which I did, but that did not resolve the problem.  Sony did not offer to repair the unit; their only solution was to exchange for a refurished unit at a cost of $152.99, which is more than the cost of many new units now on the market.  Considering the fact that it was less than 60 days beyond the end of its warranty period, I would have expected a much more reasonable exchange cost.  In view of this product's poor quality and the manufacturer's refusal to do a better job of standing behind their product, I will never buy another Sony product of any kind.