Sony BRAVIA DAV-HDX285 5.1-Channel Theater System (Black)

This is the ultimate in home entertainment. My friend had a company come in and install a home theater system and it cost him over 5 grand [tv included]. for less than 250 my husband hooked the speakers up in one afternoon. and had it set up and working by evening. great sound. When i am watching a move some times i turn arround because i think someone walked into the room because of the surround sound.

great for theater room, living room, family room. better than going to a movie.

bonus the ipod attachment it is like a concert hall.

best sound ever!

I post my experience here to share it with the online community and in hope to find those others who echo my experience.

I ordered a "REFURBISHED" DAV-HDX285 online on 05/25 and received the shipment on 05/28. At the first glance, it was normal except the box was not "glued" together all the way. I guess this is part of the "COST DOWN" efforts from Sony to reduce the usage of glue to save the environment.

Didn't think it was anything serious so I opened up the box. OMG, what is this garbage? The main receiver looks like something I picked up of the e-waste recycle bin. The box was dented and the serial number sticker was peeled and ripped. Angry and in disbelief, I call the customer service and explained the situation and here are the brief summaries of those calls.

1st Call - Duration 15 minutes - explained the story, Operator "I am sorry sir, it sounds like you need to get a replacement, please contact our Tech-Support for warranty replacement." Warranty? I asked, what are you talking about, I JUST received damaged goods a few hours ago. Operator - "Sorry sir, there is nothing I can do here, if you want a replacement, please contact the tech-support for warranty replacement." I hanged up the phone.

2nd Call - Duration 30 minutes - Explain the same story again, basically ordered 3 days ago online, received the shipment today, box was half open due to lack of glue, dented receiver. After about 20 minutes of explaining everything and gave the operator all the ordering information, Operator said, "I am sorry sir, please contact the customer service for a replacement order, there is nothing I can do here for a DAMAGED product. Any physical damage voids the warranty." I was like, are you kidding me? I just called CS, and they refer me to you. Operator " I am sorry sir, please contact the customer service and they will assist to get a replacement order." I hanged up again and called Sony CS's 800 # again.

3rd Call - Duration 30 min - first 20 minutes (refer to 2nd call), last 10 min listening to Operator explaining to me why I shouldn't buy a REFURBISHED unit and how SONY's decision is FINAL, if they determine that I AM FAULT for causing this damaged based on SONY standard, I will be charged for it. WTF, I can't believe it... the fight is not over, yet. I am taking it on facebook. The page name is "REFURBISHED - SONY Beware Club".

Conclusion - Buyer beware, buy SONY at your own risk. Try calling their CS line, they'll tell you why they have every right to determine you are at fault for their problem. I want to see if anyone respond to my review here.

Its a good deal for the price.
I have had other sound systems in the same price range that don't deliver the surround sound in an effective way but this product definetly delivers.

I truly do enjoy this system. It is way better than the similar Samsung system I fought with. The HDMI port works flawlessly, most DVD's upconvert beautifully. I have noticed in my experience it depends on the DVD though. USA TV shows on DVD are all kind of grainy for me and then the first season of House looks grainy too. But then later seasons look great so just don't automatically think all DVD's will be perfect. As for the many people being disappointed with inputs, just plugging an optical cable from the receiver to the TV and setting the sound to Pro Logic on the unit provides excellent sound for me from all devices I have plugged into my TV. So you could do that and not worry about the input on the receiver. Just have everything connected to the TV and use Pro Logic. I can say that for the PS3 and satellite receiver I have connected to my TV. The only issue I have had in the mean time is that the sound has cut out completely 3 or 4 times. I may have a ventilation issue perhaps that is affecting the unit but it feels like a small price to pay for the pain I went through with my other Samsung theater.

This is an OK unit for just listening to the radio, but everything else seems difficult. There is no real shuffle, which is how I listen to the majority of my music. You can only shuffle within a single CD, not among the 5 in the changer. And everything from inserting CD's to programming radio stations cumbersome. Also, I've had this for less than 6 months and it has just stopped working 3 times already. I swore off of Sony 3 years ago after having problems with a surround sound system, 2 radios, a PDA, and a TV, but couldn't pass up the S-Air technology since it's exactly what I was looking for. I'm reinstating my personal ban on Sony products.

Sound is really good though.