Page 1 of Sony Dav-800 DVD

Can any one please tell me if this system is any good. I have seen it in Currys and quite fancied it but it was quite expensive.
Since then I have seen it advertised on letsbuy for £649, but I have heard rumours that the super woofer is no good.

Can anyone help please !!!

Thanks in advance

Darren

The S800 is meant to be a mean bit of kit - the S300 was criticised for being underpowered - the subwoofer on the S800 is well up to the job! My neighbour has one, and it`s very nice (although I prefer my separates).
A couple of guidelines:
Make sure you buy a multiregion version of the S800 - you`ll regret it otherwise. There is NO HANDSET hack to make Sonys multiregion (unless you have a special service remote). It will cost you at least £50 to have it altered to multiregion afterwards. If you don`t get a multiregion player, you will miss out on some fantastic cheap prices, particularly from Australia, and also you will miss out on buying films on DVD WELL BEFORE they are released over here (particularly from the States). Have a look in the bargain forum for a quick taster!

In my experience, LetsBuyIt are hardly ever the cheapest. Try http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/50-sony-dav-s800-multi-region-dvd-player.html - watch out the price is ex-vat, but for the standard mod still comes in at under £650, or http://www.multiregionmagic.co.uk. I`m sure others can post alternate suppliers.
Just had a look at the LetsBuyIt deal, and fortunately it`s multiregion. However there are different "levels" of multiregion-ness(?) - it`s good to have it RCE compatible (RCE - an extra region coding thing that some American studios add to their discs to stop people with multiregion players viewing the disc - can be got round!). Doesn`t mention how much delivery is, so maybe one of the suppliers above will add up cheapest.


The Sony does not have a SCART connection - this isn`t a massive problem, but to get best image quality from it you will need to buy a SCART to SVIDEO lead - try http://www.beyondhifi.net - look in Hi-Fi Leads / S-Video Leads / B-Tech X Range and get the XS32 - SCART to svideo and twin audio.

Hope this helps - don`t jump into a purchase, that £650 price can be got in plenty of places - have a browse round the forums - there have been quite a few posts re the S800 and S500 recently (use the search box at the top of the page)

Richard

This item was edited on Wednesday, 23rd January 2002, 06:20

Darren,

I have one of these systems. I purchased it in November from unbeatable.co.uk

It`s in no way underpowered and the sound and picture is fantastic. I have it connected to my 32" Sony TV through an S-Video-SCART cable and it works with no problem whatsoever. To top all that it looks great aswell!!!

Also, the sound from SACD`s has to be heard to be believed. I know there aren`t many on the market at the moment but when it does take off it will be great!!

Any other questions, please ask!!

Mike

I was also thinking about this for the convenience of it all. It comes with everything you need (assuming you buy it multi-region of course). I may still get it subject to another proper listen to them.

My main qualms were the lack of an RGB output and availability. I realised I could buy seperates for not too much more which would be a lot more future proofed so I`m following that avenue instead now. They`d also sound better if you can put up with the size of them. It`s also quite hard to get hold of I believe, which should indicate that it`s pretty good too.