Can this models play VCDs DVP-S360 DVP-S560 DVP-S660, an d Can the ps2 play vcd?

-- Magnus Ver Magnusum (bufeo@hotmail.com), June 03, 2000

Answers

You'd best check with Sony. My experience is that they will probably play COMMERCIALLY PRODUCED VCDs, but not homemade CD-R media. I actually swapped a Sony DVD-S530D for an older 330 model to get the CD-R capability.

Incidentally, Sony will provide all kinds of excuses that supporting CD-R and CDRW media is too technologically challenging.

At any rate, I bought an APEX DVD/VCD/SVCD/MP3 unit for under $200. The Sony is sitting in a box now.

-- David Martin (dgmartin@lvcm.com), June 03, 2000.

As-a-matter-of-fact, Sony's models do read CD-RW media and play VCDs burnt on these discs. The newest players DO play VCDs also, but only CDRW, not CDR.

Correcting David, the 330 is the entry player, below the 530, but they are both from the same series ie. '30'. They can both read CDRWs and play VCDs. The older models like the 300, 500 etc. have dual lasers and can play CDRs and CDRWs.

-- Gene Williams (genewill@earthlink.net), June 03, 2000.

I agree with David about Sony making excuses because I read somewhere its lackluster responses to pointed questions in certain hi-fi reviews about why its latest DVD set-tops don't recognize CD-R when the older generation set-tops did. If the intention is to intentionally prevent CD-R compatibility, Sony should have done this on the very first DVD set-top it rolled off the assembly line. Why stop there? Sony should also quite simply stop making CD-R media and CD-R/CD-RW drives to stop abetting what it says is a big CD-R mafia (piracy and other kishkas included). I do all I can in my own way and time to prevent anyone who wants to know from buying a DVD set-top that doesn't recognize CD-R. If enough made this an important issue Sony, along with Toshiba, JVC, Panasonic, etc. will be jolted into providing the goods.

-- EMartinez (epmartinez@yahoo.com), June 04, 2000.

All DVD players with two lasers are capable of reading CD-R discs. All Sony DVD players are capable of playing VCDs. However, not all Sony DVD players are equiped with two lasers (Sony calls this feature dual discrete optical pickup). Check on their website for players that have a dual discrete optical pickup, and these will play cd-r vcds. There is a technical reason behind this, having to do with the laser wavelength required to read a cd-r disc being outside of the range of a laser designed to read both dvds and cds. As a result, a lot of DVD players are equiped with a laser optimized to read cds, and a laser optimized to read dvds. I have the sony PBD-V30 (DVD discman) which has dual discrete optical pickup (the salesperson where I bought it did not know if it had it, but I opened the cover, and saw that there were two lasers) and it has no problems reading vcds off of cd-r discs. I'm haven't looked into what is required to read cd-rw discs, since I no longer have a cd recorder capable of writing to a cd-rw disc.

-- Kevin (lordrainkm2@yahoo.com), November 10, 2000.