Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First, I'd like to say that after I got it working, it looks and sounds great. I don't even have the annoying lip-sync problem with some of my movies, now that I am running only HDMI for video and sound. BUT, the main negative I have for this receiver is that you cannot assign the BD or DVD or Video1 as HDMI video and sound. It can only do HDMI video. If you want sound, you have to connect the optical or coax. However, if you use the buttons HDMI1, HDMI2, HDMI3 and HDMI4 then it all works fine and the HDMI will carry video and sound. You can rename the LCD display to say Blu-Ray if you use HDMI1 but when using the remote, it just doesn't make sense! Why would you want to press HDMI1 when you see a button called BD on the remote? Other posters on other forums have raised this issue and sadly, some users actually think there is a problem with HDMI video/audio and have resorted to using HDMI for video and optical/coax for sound. There is actually NO technical problem, you just have to use HDMI1, HDMI2 etc. to get the video/audio via HDMI. There is another small problem which is no biggie, I tried to run either DVI-HDMI, or component from my cable box to the receiver, and it briefly shows the picture on the TV, but then a message says there is digital protection and the picture blanks out. That's fine, I've experienced that before, so I just run component straight to the TV and only use the receiver for sound (via optical). The highlights? Too many to mention. The sound is great (no dropouts or lip-sync). The video is great (no dropouts). I actually bought the receiver for its av lip-sync feature but I haven't had a need for it yet because everything works. I've reduced all my cable/wiring clutter (optical cables, splitters, red/white cables etc.) significantly since I moved to mostly HDMI. I have connected: 1) PS3 via HDMI (video and sound) 2) HD DVD via HDMI (video and sound) 3) xbox 360 via HDMI (video and sound) 4) Motorola Cable Box (TimeWarner) (sound only via optical) The manual is terribly written with some very poor English sentence structures. Sony should really invest in a couple of good technical writers. ** edit 7/22/10 ** The receiver broke down in less than two months. Similar to another reviewer, the receiver started hissing and crackling. I tried possible solutions and I will now have to return the receiver with shipping costs and the trouble of using my AV components without a receiver. Quality control seems to be lacking. ** edit 8/9/10 ** Received the unit back and reconnected. They sent me the original unit back so that means they replaced the defective component. Speakers no longer hiss and crackle, so hopefully this is the end of the problem.