My overall review of the Sony DAV-SA30 is that when new i paid a fair price, and it was money well spent, if you find one for sale that works, buy it, you will not be disappointed, as before, the picture quality is mint, the sound quality is spot on, and when its not being a dvd player, or being used to run the sound for my ps2, it make a great stereo and radio.
the speakers are perfect in size, and the machine looks stunning to this day.

I bought the SA30 in April '04 and all was rosy for the first 4 months I owned mine, the sound quality was excellent, etc. However then the problems started. My machine started to randomly click, getting faster and faster until it could be described as a hum (maybe around 600Hz) through the speakers, before the clicking slowed down and stopped again. All in all it took maybe 5 minutes for this clicking to stop. It's a shame because I like this system, and unfortunately the box was lost when my cellar got flooded during the heavy rain of the summer, and the price of a sony repair is going to be almost as much as I paid for it.

I'm a student. I'm on a budget. I know my way around electronics. I want a Surround Sound DVD bundle. Cheap.

And here is the solution : the Sony DAV-SA30. It may be labeled as "an entry-level DVD player" but don't let that put you off - it's got more than enough bang for your buck.

First things first. You want something easy to install - no "hunky monkeys" needed to install it. It's all very DIY, and that's great. The speakers are all color coded, as are the leads and the sockets. There are no fidly plugs, only a scart lead is needed. And by the way - it is needed. They don't give you one. If you want to use it, you need one. Pick up one for about £5, or $9. After that, you're all set. It really is that simple.

Right, moving on. Looks. The speakers are discreet - but not that discreet that they look "dodgy". They're nice and chunky, and have a nice rounded top. Don't worry about them stealing the focus from watching the DVD's, they merge away into the background as soon as the lights are dimmed. The subwoofer is chunky, but once again not too much so. Could do with being a bit less deep though, but it's no biggie. The actual DVD Player and Decoder have the most beautiful frosted glass covering about a mm away from the actual box, and it also has one of those nifty knobs that you can turn to adjust the volume, much easier than buttons. It doesn't crowd the set either, it's nice and thin, but quite deep. It doesn't waste space with too many buttons, just the basic play, pause, stop, rewind (chapter -) and fastforward (chapter +), as well as a function button and a headphone socket. All in all, very nice indeed.

Now here's the big question; "How does it perform?" Well, firstly, it sounds great. You've got the option to put it 2 RGB leads. (You know, the lead that splits into a yellow, red and white head? The ones ya got on PS2's...) Unfortunatly, it lacks a SCART input, but it doesn't matter. Anyway, like I was saying - sound. It converts all 2 channel - Stereo - channels into that lovely 5.1 surround sound that you love. It's really wonderful. TV in Dolby Digital? Yes please. That goes for VCR's and games too.

The image is great, no complaints.

However (and there's always a however) this model has a problem. Occasionally the sound will dissapear. Leaving you with a very annoying discreet white noise, rather than the surround sound. When this happens, it give no sound whatsoever. None. Nada. Nyet. So you've got to turn it off and on again AT THE SOCKET. Very important. I'd was really annoying me...

Other than that though, no complaits, and the remote is nice, though it could have had slightly larger buttons.

Top stuff.