Sony BDP-CX7000ES 400 Blu-ray Disc Mega Changer

2 Comments

1. David Stephens says:

   February 2, 2010 at 1:40 pm

   I’m a Sony fanboi, but this is the weakest Sony product in over a decade and there’s no reason for it. For the want of a horse a kingdom is lost… Sorry.

   It plays disks wonderfully but there’s no reason to have a changer so limited. Gracenote supplies disk information but it’s just not sufficient unless you are only watching mainstream movies. If you watch indies or special-interest movies, you have to enter the information by the remote, which is data-entry hell. For over a decade Sony has had a keyboard input. This is a step back from the 400-DVD player. And the ES non-HDMI player before that. And the 300 DVD player. And the 200 CD player… All of which I’ve owned and all of which were more user friendly.

   If iTunes had the ability to enter DVD information, that would be okay. Pop the DVD into my Mac, label it, and then into the changer. I’ll do data-entry hell for Blu-ray. It would be an extra step but it would be a service to the community. It’s simple with a CD to enter information with iTunes, but the latest iTunes doesn’t let you do it with a DVD. There is I think an SDK [...] to let you write a program to do it, but my CS degree is 30 years out of date, and why should I have to? A keyboard input is simply not that hard to do.

   Also it crashes. I don’t use it that much for the above reasons (I bought one the used market another 400-DVD changer AFTER I bought this) but perhaps a quarter of the time I have to turn it off because it’s stuck. I don’t have to unplug it, or even lever myself out of the chair–the remote’s power button will do it. But it’s a problem. A software update can fix this though. But it can’t fix the lack of a keyboard input.

   The specs are wonderful. It has a lovely interface, like the latest Sony receivers (which I have and love). But the lack of a keyboard input means that I’d suggest passing on this unless you do nothing but mainstream movies.

   This is the first Sony product that I regret having bought.
   Rating: 2 / 5
2. Busy Executive says:

   February 2, 2010 at 2:32 pm

   The Sony “mega changer” is a unique product, capable of storing a medium-sized disc collection in a single, convenient device.

   A wide range of disc types are supported in addition to Blu-ray, including conventional DVDs and audio CDs. Note that DVD-Audio, HD-DVD and SACD are *not* supported.

   The build quality is first rate, typical of a Sony “ES” product. It weighs over 30 pounds and seems like it’s built to last a while. It hooks up easily using a single HDMI cable (assuming what you’re connecting to accepts this type of input). If you’re using Sony gear, you can control the “mega changer” using a common remote and Sony’s “Bravia Sync” protocol. For older equipment, there are 2 and 7 channel analog outputs, as well as digital coax. If you use high-end AV control system (such as Crestron), there are RS-232 inputs as well. The 5-year warranty is also a good touch.

   In terms of sound and picture quality, I’d rate it as excellent. I have a variety of other high-end disc players, and in no case could I see or hear differences on the Sony. DVDs are upscaled for better performance, and the unit supports 24p True Cinema, BD-Live and so on. It supports all the latest surround audio formats and video features, and Sony has a built-in network connection supporting easy firmware updating. While I haven’t seen a specific commitment from Sony to support future standards, at least the infrastructure is there if they choose to do so.

   The unit also features a built-in Ethernet port that can connect to the Gracenote service to retrieve album art and disc cover graphics. This is a nice touch, saving you from having to manually enter disc information most of the time. Unfortunately, the graphics are sometimes low resolution and on a small display, they can be difficult to see clearly. Also, on prior generations of this product, Sony included a way to connect a computer keyboard so you could easily edit disc information. This feature has been dropped on the BDP-CX7000ES…so long as you’re Ethernet connected and storing discs that can be found in the Gracenote service, this isn’t a big deal – but if (for instance) you tend to burn your own discs and want to edit titles, it can be quite a chore doing it without a keyboard. Some complain about the lack of WiFi, but you can always use a wireless Ethernet bridge to eliminate the need for any cables (this is how I have mine connected, and it works fine).

   Finding discs is always a challenge with units like this, and so Sony provides a variety of ways your collection can be indexed. It’s possible to search by title, genre, rating – even director and cast member.

   The unit can be somewhat slow loading and unloading discs, which I guess is a function of the size of the carousel. It can take 30 seconds to unload a disc, spin the unit to the desired slot, then load the chosen disc.

   There’s also a slot that can be used to play a single disc without loading it into the unit. This is a good idea, but as I’ve kept my single disc player connected to my system, I don’t use the Sony for this type of disc. Similarly, there’s a USB port for connecting various types of media to the unit (for instance, special BD-Live content, or photos, etc). So far, I haven’t found a compelling use of this feature since it duplicates capabilities I have on other devices.

   One problem I’ve had with the unit is that it seems sensitive to being moved – some of the discs seemed to move out of their slots just by sliding the device on its shelf. It seems important to not move the unit once its loaded with discs.

   Although this is a fine unit overall, there are a few other areas that could use improvement:

   1. WiFi should be built-in…I shouldn’t need to buy an outboard Ethernet bridge to connect wirelessly.

   2. The Gracenote service is still immature, mislabling about 10-20% of all discs.

   3. Would be nice to have built-in support for Amazon’s video on demand (or Netflix).

   4. Takes a long time to setup initially if you have lots of discs. A wireless keyboard would be a big help.

   5. The overall software interface is a bit clumsy…would be nice if it was easier to simply connect the device (over that USB channel?) to a Windows Media Center or iTunes.

   6. It runs a bit hot in an enclosed cabinet and tends to generate audible fan noise.

   7. Would be nice to have a way to link multiple units for those having more than 400 discs. While you can certainly connect multiple units to your system, each acts independently – without a coordinated index, you need to remember which discs are in which player.

   Still, in spite of these shortcomings, I think this is a great product and I give it a solid four stars. It would probably be five stars for picture and sound quality, five stars for construction quality, and three stars for usability and software design.
   Rating: 4 / 5