Rating: 
Summary: remove the davfc7 from the market
Review: In nov 2003 i bought this so called wet dream machine to replace my 10 year old great system. I have had nothing but trouble with this cool looking junk. It wouldnt shut off it wouldnt have the ready sign come on to put c.d or d.v.d. in it.I would always have to shut it off and put it back on. I called sony numerous times and to no avail,they new it was a manufacturers defect, and covered it up. I returned it to circuit city and before they took it, i hope everybody out there does the same as we did. Have them check the defect reports on there computer and find out its been a yugo for so sony that from nov 2003 to now there lemons the store manager told us. If you have to buy anything from circuit city please do it they were great. lets get together and take this crap off the market now.
Rating:
Summary: defective design
Review: It should be obvious to anyone that is reading these posts that this unit design is defective. Around a month into ownership, my unit became unresponsive, no stopping, pausing, ff or ejecting DVD's. The remedy was to unplug for a few minutes, reset and try again. Finally returned for a different product.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Quality for its price
Review: Many reviews have been slamming this system, but I have had this for 2 years now and not one problem. Let's be honest, this isn't a top of the line system but you're not paying for one either. For the price, the picture and sound quality is excellent. It make watching movies a great experience. For the people that have defective ones, that sucks, but for those who complain about the picture and sound quality, maybe you should get a better TV, or spend more that $400 buck if you want perfection. Don't complain if you buy a car for $500 bucks and expect it to run like a $30,000 car.
Downfalls - set length on speaker wire. Slow disc ejects/changes.
Rating:
Summary: Very Pleased: Just Right
Review: My new Sony DAV-FC7 system is working just fine after I set it up 3 weeks ago. The installation was easy -- it has those new, handy, plug-in speaker wires that have ends like a telephone outlet: just plug the green one into the green socket. Easy! They even give you a reasonable amount of speaker cord, which is generous. The remote is very nice, and easy to use. SACD's sound awesome. This is my first experience and I am impressed. The system even played some home-burnt DVD's that my previous Sanyo player had big-time problems handling. The Sony was a snap. I also enjoy the "sound field" option, where you can scroll through the sound settings you'd like: i.e. "concert hall", "2-speaker stereo", "Sony Studio A-B- or C". My only complaint is that the 5 disc player is tricky to use. For instance, when disc 1 is finished, it proceeds to play disc 2. But I don't want it to play disc 2. Then you have to re-shuffle back to disc 1 in order to eject it, and that takes a few minutes. So, my suggestion is that you pre-load your favorite 5 discs and leave it that way. It's not made for easy switching. I wouldn't throw out your old cd player! One more item: I live in a small apartment in the city. This system is perfect for my space. I have a nice entertainment "bubble" in my apartment. The system even has a "night mode" setting so I can watch my movie in surround at night but not freak out the neighbors. I can't comment on how the system would play in a larger space, but for my needs it is perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: It's perfect for the price
Review: My wife and I picked this one out after looking and listening to a lot of comparables. The sound has a fullness and depth that I just didn't hear in any other compact home theater system under $500. Hookup took less time than I expected; however, you will need to purchase additional speaker wire... the supplied wires are just too short. (you do NOT necessarily need to buy Monster cable) The plus side of the sound quality outweighs the negative of a rather slow disc changer/reader. And watching a DVD in Dolby ProLogicII is an excellent experience. The SACD format is also fantastic whether you're listening to Dark Side of the Moon (an absolute must with SACD) or the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra (try Mahler's Resurrection Symphony). Again, it's a perfect home theater system for the price.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this product. Then fill your Xanax prescription.
Review: Need another source of stress and anxiety in your life? Like the challenge of taming an uncontrollable electronic appliance? Has it been too long since you last payed astronomical late fees to Blockbuster because your DVD player refused to eject a long-overdue disc? Well, have I got a system for you!
With the Sony DAV-FC7 Home Theater System, you too can experience entertainment like never before, with a DVD drive that dies a quick and asymptomatic death after only 4 weeks of moderate use, and the warm glow of an eternally blinking "STANDBY" display of your soon-to-be-non-responsive system. If that's not enough, you have at your disposal hours of fun with the world's most unintuitive voice response system. Just dial 1-800-222-7669, and let the fun begin.
Not recommended if you're pregnant or suffering from a stress-related heart condition. Consult your doctor before purchasing.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Design and Functionality but Technical Difficulties
Review: Nice Design and Functionality but Technical Difficulties
I was tired of separate stereo units for a receiver/dvd/cd players, each with their own remote, wires, etc.
I like the packaging and functionality of the Sony unit (DAV-FC7) I bought but have had two separate problems in less that two years.
The first one was when a CD got stuck in the 5 disk changer. I think it was partially my fault from tipping the unit forward with CDs in it. I took the cover off and was fixed it with a little nudge.
Now, a year later, I have two simultaneous problems- it won't shut down (the "Standby" issue that another reviewer posted on) and it won't accept/eject CD/DVDs.
I just got off the phone with Sony and they gave me two options;
1. Ship it to them and pay $130 for the repair plus shipping
2. Drive it to the nearest service center fifty miles away.
Shipping it is unappealing because I neither have the original shipping box, nor do I have the time to deal with it. I would also be without a system for two weeks.
I would have preferred the drop off option, but there is no way I'm doing a 100 mile round trip for this. I live in San Francisco which you would think would have some type of certified repair centers.
The net is that it's a good product with questionable quality and lame service options if you have a problem. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: J & R music sent us a PAL (multisystem)
Review: Okay, we were so excited to get this new system. We hooked it up to our TV only to find out that the DVDs only play in Black and White with our TV. We were sent a multi system version and unless you have a multisystem TV then DVDs recorded in NTSC format (which is all US DVDs) only play in black and white. We have made repeated attempts to discuss the issue with the Vendor, J & R music and they have not been helpful at all! The Cds sound good but we are so disappointed with the service and DVD quality that we are returning the product and will never buy from this vendor again.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice but too many details wrong
Review: Overall the system is nice: it sounds fine for a low end system and the picture quality is fine. But I hate using it as a CD player. It takes forever to switch between disks, about 30 seconds. Loading or ejecting a disk take even longer. There is no way to tell what disks are loaded in the machine, and you cannot change one disk while it is playing another. These seem like minor things, but when you walk in to the room and turn on the stereo to listen to some music they add up to a 5 minute delay before you are actually listening to anything. Bleh. If I had it to do over I would get a system like my older one that just has a big tray instead of the fancy slot loader. I guess the people at Sony put looks ahead of function on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent value, easy set up, however..........
Review: Set up was a breeze; the speaker cables are color coded and it took almost no time to get the system set up to hear a DVD. But, if one has poor eyesight or large fingers, the very small remote will irritate you. I have two SONY electronic items, and both have a larger remote than for this SONY. Setting up the speakers is rather straightforward, although the distances one can select are fixed multiples. One can, however, increase or decrease the decibels to compensate for each speaker. However, in setting up the speakers, the system hits a tone on each speaker in sequence, and if there is a way to stop the sequence, I have not found it. I have a SONY TV (Wega XBR) and could not figure out how to get the TV sound through the new speakers. A teenage boy (neighbor) gave me the clue as how to do so, and changing settings in the TV menu and the correct hook up solved that easily.
Since I have the TV sound through the new speakers, if one is viewing a DVD and then switches to the TV mode (from DVD mode to Tuner mode on the system), it is the same as stopping the DVD so beware (it is not a pause, it is a stop!) The bottom line is that I am very pleased with the sound and the system is very compact. Having an AM/FM radio also built in will allow for diversity in listening to the system. SONY is offering a lot of value for the money. A slightly larger remote would have allowed me to give this five stars.
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