Tag : vgp xl1b3, sony vaio, changer, digital living, systems media

Company : Sony List Price : Amazon Price : Used Price : Average customer review :

Features

• DVD/CD changer/recorder with storage for up to 200 discs
• Connect with compatible PC to download metacontent for easy management of your library
• Automatically and sequentially record up to 200 audio CDs; record TV episodes to the hard drive and transfer them to blank DVDs stored in the changer
• Dual-layer DVD burner with 8x write speed for single-layer DVD-/+R discs
• Compatible with PCs running Windows XP MCE 2005, Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate

Product Description

DVD/CD changer/recorder with storage for up to 200 discsConnect with compatible PC to download metacontent for easy management of your libraryAutomatically and sequentially record up to 200 audio CDs; record TV episodes to the hard drive and transfer them to blank DVDs stored in the changerDual-layer DVD burner with 8x write speed for single-layer DVD-/+R discsCompatible with PCs running Windows XP MCE 2005 Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate

Customer reviews

Big product
This thing is really big. It does what it suppose to do. Usefull if you have a media center PC. Otherwise it is not useful stand alone.

Disc changing is noisy. Operations need to be controlled by a PC, as a consequnce not as smooth as most dedicated DVD players.

Media Changer Works With Vista Ultimate

I’ve had this unit for about 2 months. I got it in order to rip my whole CD collection to disk, to burn multiple copies of my own CDs and to serve up a DVD library. Although the initial setup experience was frustrating even for an expert, once installed properly it works like a charm. So, I really hated it for a couple days and was almost ready to give up on it, but now, I absolutely love this changer and I think it is wonderful. My setup includes an HP Media Center PC and an HP Media NAS with 1TB.

Set up with Vista Ultimate:

The Vista installation disk that shipped did not work at first (even though I am running Vista Ultimate it kept abending, telling me to update my system to Vista Premium or Ultimate), also the included instructions are horrible, and Sony tech support had me install an erroneous old Media Center patch that thankfully did no damage to my PC and later then told me that Vista was not supported at all(!), but I did find out how to install it properly in Vista Ultimate, No thanks to Sony:

(1) use the Vista installation disk that ships with the changer, but do not let it autorun.

(2) instead, find the Setup.EXE file on the disk and right click Properties, then click Compatibility, then check the box for Run As Administrator (even if you are installing from the primary admin account on the PC this is necessary!). Then run the setup from there and it should install normally and properly.

(3) Note: DO NOT run any other media programs while installing, nor while initially using the changer functions, this includes Nero, etc., if you want it to run perfectly. Use these other programs only after initially using it with supplied software under Media Center “My Changer.”

Operating the changer

The included software works well with Media Center in Vista Ultimate for all functions including playing CDs and DVDs, ripping, burning, etc. It is easier to use the Media Center functions most of the time. The changer does not always work perfectly when controlled over the network from a device other than the PC on which it is installed, but Sony never said it was supposed to, so this is not a complaint. When installing a large number of disks such as for ripping your CD collection to a media server, it is a little slow to recognize disks initially, and if there is any interruption on the primary PC or the changer (from other programs running, or from misfeeding a disk by operator error, etc.) then I recommend starting over at the “manage disks” menu in Media Center under My Changer to check that all disks were recognized correctly. Look for errors in the changer disk library menu like duplicte disk listings to catch this before starting a long automated operation. If you take a little care in feeding the disks in the first place and make sure it reads them all correctly, then the automated functions like ripping CDs works perfectly for a large number of disks.

Terrible experience - broken tray
Summary: Too many moving parts means high chance of failure at some point. If you get 200 DVDs in this thing without error, please let me know. I’d like you to buy me a lottery ticket.

I bought this product with high expectations to place 200 DVDs in it so my kids would stop scratching them and watch them from the various MCE PCs we have around the house (all Vista or Vista MCE extenders). To my dissmay, the unit began exhibiting problems from the beginning. Initially, it would fail to load a DVD. Sometimes a retry would result in success. After just 10 DVDs, some DVDs mysteriously ‘disappeared’ from the inventory list. I tried ejecting them all and that resulted in even more getting ‘lost’ in the system. It no longer thought it had the DVDs but they were obviously still in the system after failed unload operations.

To make matters worse, I called Sony Tech support. This was really the worst part of the whole experience. They informed me I would have to pay 29.00/hr on the call as that particular model was no longer supported. I told them I had the unit for a week brand new and they told me to fax them my receipt. This was on a Friday. I asked the guy if I could fax and then call back. He said they were open 24/7. I called back on Saturday after faxing and got a voice mail saying normal hrs of operation were Mon-Fri and to call back.

Once I did get ahold of tech support (post fax) it was still horrible. Nobody seemed to understand this was a DVD changer and everyone tried PC troubleshooting on me. I even tried online help that Sony has via chat rooms. Everyone pointed me to phone support. Phone support kept me on the line for hours trying redundant operations (unplugging it, replugging it in). Eventually they agreed to send out a technician. After 2 weeks of trying to sync up our schedules he finally arrived. I don’t know why he bothered. He was obviously unfamiliar with the device. Had a difficult time even opening up Media Center in Vista. He manually removed the DVDs that were in it, replaced several items and then told me to ship it to Sony repair. Of course I shipped it back minus the 3 screws he left out of it. They sent me a box and I sent it in. I just received it today.

I am so dissatisfied with the whole experience, I was hesitant to plug it in when I got it back today. I did, though. It still has problems recognizing some discs when doing multiple ones. At least it didn’t ‘lose’ them this time. However, I had to eject all discs in the system to get the 1 out. When you are loading 100+ discs, this is certainly a deal breaker as you could spend all day loading discs and unloading, hoping to get lucky.

I would stay away from this product. Too much mechanical operation resulting in many points of failure. My next step is to see if Amazon will take this back even though Sony took 35 of my 30 days to return.

Happy with it
It’s OK for the money. I got it for $199.

It only works within media center. Not in windows by itself.

I’ve got MCE 2005 and had some problems with the install but it worked fine after that.

The only problem I have is the unit has to be turned on after the computer is booted.

I don’t know if that’s my pc or not. After I reboot, I have to turn it off, then back on, to be recognized.

I like it though.

Very good when it works
This DVD changer is too flimsy and by its very nature unwieldy. You are out off luck if UPS does not handle it properly. In a few days of use I found that it did not read about 2 out of 10 DVDs from about 25 I tried.

When it works, it is a perfect addition to Media Center. I tried it with WindowsXP MCE, LinuxMCE and Vista Premium. Vista Premium works best and supports it with the default installation. Even though LinuxMCE also has default support for this DVD changer, the OS configuration itself is a nightmare (it is long before LinuxMCE becomes a main stream media center). A nice feature of LinuxMCE is that it can share CDs/DVDs from this changer across many Media Directors (MDs are disk-less computers functionally similar to Media Extenders). Obviously, only one MD can use the DVD changer at a time.