RE: CD/DVD Jukeboxes

["Doogie Brodie" <doogiebrodie@xxxxxxx>]

> I don't think this is off t pic?!

Nothing is off t pic in here :-)

> My inital search has shown 2 sony products, a 400 disc CD, and a 300
> Disc DVD machine, does anyone have any experience with either of
> these?

I have the 300 DVD Sony, which I used t  replace my Samsung 807 (don't
laugh! It was a bargain!) and t  replace my 100 year old (not quite, but
old) 25 CD Pioneer changer, although I'm thinking about putting the Pioneer
back in, as I'm getting to  close to filling up with DVDs t  bother about
pesky audio CDs!

> - I asked in the sony shop at the weekend, and it seems the only way
> t  get the CD Text info in and out of these machines, is by
> connecting a PS/2 keyboard, which is ok, but I would prefer to
> connect my PC t  download the data in one hit. (400 discs is alot of
> info t  type in again when you already have it on the PC!)

With the Sony CD players, (not the DVD players unfortunately) you can get a
Slink-E from LetsAutomate (http://www.letsautomate.com/10600.cfm)
but at
223.25, its quite an expensive way t  do things....!

> I realise that at £300 for the CD version and £500 for the DVD I am
> not going to get amazing quality, but these units do seem to offer
> quite good features for the money.

I was surprised at the quality, so have reviews I've read. I believe its
the
same transport etc as the 725 range of Sonys (although I'm prepared t  be
wrong!) certainly blows my old DVD player out of the water for picture (old
one only had an 8 bit DAC ....!), sound, features, convenience etc, etc,
etc. I'm viewing on a 43" RP, and its fabulous at that size, I think
Phil's
got one which he uses with his proper projection setup. The ability to flip
discs over is fabulous... I will actually be able to buy Friends on DVD now
(less said about series 7's doubling of cost, the better!) without having
to
worry about getting up and flipping after 4 episodes!

Got mine from LinkOnline (www.linkonline.co.uk) and I can't fault them for
service. Useless courier (Securicor Omega) meant I had t  drive 10 miles to
pick it up, but it was worth it to get it on a Friday night :-) Also
handles
RCE disks seamlesly - I have Hollow Man and Charlie's Angels, and I didn't
even think of doing anything, they just played straight off. You've got
forced region change as well as 6 for multi region.

One of the main pains in the backside about it is the integration with the
Pront  - my CD player had a press disc change button, then type number of
disc sort of philosophy. Because the DVD is designed t  be operated by
menus, it can be a bit hit and miss getting it int  a known state. My macro
issues two St p commands before going menu, then doing the jiggery pokery.
Occasionally it misses the last disp command and the bit rate monitor is
left up, or worst case, I manage t  avoid turning the power on (eg cat gets
in the way of IR!) and my number commands change it to a specific region,
then only certain discs will play!

The actual disc changing mechanism is pretty noisy when changing between
discs, but silent during use. I thought it was annoying at first, till I
hooked up a videosender with IR t  the bedroom. If I take the Pront 
through
there, and ask for a disc, there's n  reassuring noises to tell me its
loading the disc, and not that it missed the command because the IR sticky
on pad fell off.......!

> Your thoughts on these, or better products t  consider would be
> appreciated........

I know Kenwood have a 400 DVD player on the cards (Its on Kenwood's website
(http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/product.jsp?productTypeId=25&productId=78
2) - that'll possibly wrap....! but not on US retailers (I normally check
www.crutchfield.com) ) - don't know when official US release is, and don't
know if its scheduled for Euro/UK release........ Kenwood's website says
the
list price is USD 1,500 so it's a little more pricey than the Sony,
depending on what the final street value is.

Hope this has helped and not droned on to  much :-)

Doogie




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