Picture, sound, connection, look

remote, doesn't play CDRs

I love this machine. No complain at all about the picture. This baby delivers clear, sharp and no artifacts found. I hate artifacts and I'm still wondering why I can't find any with this player. Sure, latest generation of other players have developed good picture processor. Still I sometimes recognize those distortions when i watched my friends player (pioneer) or either my bro's (toshi).
I'm not good at comparing hi quality sound equipment, but in my opinion the sound detail is good. It has no spatializer or other surround processor feature, still the Accoustic Control feature for analogue TV connection helps me enjoy movies by the tv's speaker only. The sound from TV speaker (surprisingly) delivers a surround feel, something that I didn't expected.
It's double pair of analogue audio ouput really gives convenience in connecting parallel analogue audio to both TV and receiver. I like it because sometimes I just want to watch movies without those sound effects, so that i don't have to turning on my receiver.
O yeah, the remote sucks, those tiny buttons took me a long time to be familiar with. Pushing wrong buttons became a habit ...
It doesn't play CDR's, but it's not a problem for me.

Excellent picture AND sound. Plays all the DVDs I've tried.

None...maybe the remote could be improved.

This DVD player is really great especially if you are looking for good CD sound using the players internal DAC (using the analog audio connection). I tried several player and they either had excellent picture and poor sound or vice versa.This one has great sound as well as a very sharp picture.
It's got all the video outputs (composite,s-video and component) it also has Coax and optical audio outs. Good looks, aluminium front panel and isn't huge like the Harman Kardon.Does not play CDR..I've tried several of mine and none of them play.
I got it for $284 delivered from Soundcity. I had to pay tax though as I live in NJ.

All in all a great player for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 1200, Pioneer 525/333 , HK DVD5,Denon 1500

Picture quality, ease of use

Remote

The Onkyo 535 delivers a great picture and fantastic sound without bogging the user down with overly complex menus and useless features. You can tell attention was paid to the things that count. I was tempted to purchase another player, as many in the same price range come loaded with more features (on-board decoding, miscellaneous gadgetry, etc...) but I'm glad I stuck with my decsion to bring home the Onkyo. The unit is built well, with an aluminum faceplate and clean display.

When watching movies, the Onkyo stays out of the way of the programming. Any menus or on screen displays are crisp, informative, and most of all subtle. It's nice that they've avoided the distractions of large, flashing on-screen text.

I was prepared for the poor remote after reading other reviews, but must agree that Onkyo did drop the ball a bit here. Yes, it's solid enough and has all the relevant functions, but the buttons are tiny and difficult to read. Onkyo also made some odd decisions when they chose the colors for the face of the unit. Purple, white and yellow just don't look good sitting on your coffee table. I've been able to overlook this as I plan on upgrading to a Sony universal remote soon, but users who don't wish to do so may feel a bit shafted.

Overall I am very pleased. Onkyo has delivered a solid product that looks and functions great, is straightforward and uncluttered, and produces a stellar image. For the price, a better remote should be provided but I'm willing to overlook this since the unit delivers where it counts.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-S560

Build quality, quieter DVD transport, black level enhancement, menu navigation, sound quality

Remote, noisy CD transport, slight pause with layer change, cannot play any of my CDRs

I had a Pioneer DVD525 for about a year. This was my first DVD player so I had no other experience to compare. I sold the Pioneer because the DVD transport was very loud. However, the CD transport noise was quiet and it played every CDR fine. The Onkyo looked and felt "more expensive". It has an aluminum faceplate. It matches well with my other equipment.

I had the dilusion of getting a DVD player that would also be a good CD player. This is not the unit for two reasons. First, the CD transport noise is very loud. Second, it will not play my CDRs (boo!).

Overall, I enjoy the movies with this unit.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DVD525

Detailed picture quality and incredible sound!

Looks of the player, no cdr support

Well well, what must I say?

This player from Onkyo KICKS ASS!

I've compared this player with lots of other players within the pricerange and I can tell you that this is the best!

The sound was very good with my optical cable, but when I hooked it up with a "Van Den Hull The First Ultimate" cable, the player sounded like THE BOM!

Picture is pure and very detailed when used with a S-VHS cable.

If there is a negative point(not for me specially), then its because it cannot play cdr's and because the front of the player is not so beautifull.

But hey...............................Is it not the thing that is inside what is important and not the outside?

I love this player! ;)
ONKYO, thank you! You made an average man very happy...............because now he can tell everybody that he truly has IMAGINATIVE SIGHT AND SOUND at his best!

Similar Products Used:

None

Price and performance

The remote is horrible. I can't express just how bad it really is.

Great DVD player. S-video and Component outs. Optical digital out. 3 level zoom and multi-angle (I've used the zoom like maybe once or twice and no movie I've ever bought has utilized multi-angle)

Granted, I went straight from an old 2-head VCR on a 14 year old RCA TV to a DVD player on a Wega FD Trinitron, so I'm inclined to really gush about the picture. I just want to express to a person interested in a DVD player that this is really a good unit for the money. I had weighed my options and in the end had narrowed it down to this unit and the Toshiba 1600. This is the better of the two, in my opinion. It has a few more little options to keep the gadget-crazed happy and it just does a fine job in putting up a picture.

The transport is a little loud at times, but no more so than any other similarly priced DVD player.

For the price I paid (300 dollars), I'm REALLY happy with this piece of equipment. I'm giving it five stars for value. I'm giving it 4 stars for my overall rating. I've seen some players out there that are just built like tanks and just "feel" better than this Onkyo when you heft them. While this is no slam on the Onkyo's build quality, I think there is always room for improvement. (Maybe not at this price point, but you can always hope. :)

Crisp mids and highs. Excellent picture quality.

The bass output tends to flood the subwoofer. Confusing three way setting on the bass output.

I had been using the Sony DVP-S560 for about a year now, before it suddenly gave up recently - so much for reliability. I have just bought the Onkyo as a replacament. Picture quality is much more vivid than the Sony. For playing CDs, the audio quality might not come up to an excellent dedicated CD player, but for a sub 300 DVD player, it more than meets the mark. Bottom line, would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for not too expensive a DVD player also to be used substantially for playing CDs.

Similar Products Used:

Sony

Everything

ONKYO have no weaknesses!

I will not say that the ONKYO-DV535 is better than the Pioneer 717, and I will not say that the Pioneer is better than the ONKYO-DV535. They both got good qualities.
535 have a great, almost perfect, picture especialy with RGB. The black-level really helpes. All the colors are very natural, not like other DVD-players, where the colors are to harsh.
The sound is also very good. Compared to the Pioneer 717, the sound is better with the 535, especialy in the surround speakers.

Therefore I MUST give this DVD-player 5 stars. 10 if could.
Keep it up ONKYO.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 717

Great picture, sound

Weak remote (not as bad as many say), and could have better connectivity

I am happy with this player - It does what I bought it to do, which is play DVD's and produce a great picture and great sound. I have read the reviews trashing the remote, and I frankly expected it to be worse than it is. It is not a great remote, but I was able to use it without too much difficulty. (Of course, my Pioneer DVD changer had a lousy remote, too.) I have a Harmon Kardon TC1000 universal remote (which I highly recommend, by the way), and consequently, it never made much difference to me how good (or bad) a DVD player's remote was. If you have a halfway decent home theater system, it is really worthwhile to invest a couple of hundred dollars in a good, flexible learning/universal remote like the TC1000 or (I am told) the Phillips Pronto. You'll clear all the other remotes off your coffee table, and you will be able to construct macros to do things (like switch from cable or satellite to DVD, and then back again) with one button push.

Okay, enough of the commercial for learning/universal remotes. My only raps on this machine are the weak (though not awful) remote, and the fact that it does not have 5.1 analog outputs. This was not important to me, as I have an Onkyo TX-DS-787, so I have the decoders I need, which is why I don't detract stars from the player in my rating for this factor. In fact, I'm not even going to deduct a star for the weak remote - if we could vote "half stars" (as in 4.5 stars) I would vote that number because of the remote. However, if you are not going to get a good universal remote, you might want to make my rating 4 stars overall) - I still give it 5 for value. Similarly, if you have an old A/V receiver that does not have built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoders, you need to look for something with 5.1 analog outputs.

Also, this machine does not have progressive output, so if you have a monitor that displays progressive output, or you are anticipating getting one in the next couple of years, you might look for something else. (Let's face it, anything we buy today will probably be obsolete in two years.) Of course, you will probably have to pay a lot more money for real progressive output - see this month's issue of Home Theater magazine for a good article on "real" progressive scan vs. "progressive scam".

Fundamentally, this is a unit with decent features at a good (perhaps VERY good) price that has excellent performance - you get the Burr-Brown delta/sigma D/A converters that you usually have to pay a lot more for. If you aren't entranced by all the NUON gadgets and similar features in other players, and you want to make sure you get good "core" performance, i.e., a great picture and great sound for a reasonable price, this is a very good selection.

Also, I should comment that playing CD's with the digital connection to the receiver, and using the receiver's multi-channel stereo DSP, produces VERY nice CD sound. As for those who say the midrange is faded and the high end is too harsh, well, I have listened to a lot of loud rock music for a lot of years. Thus, my high-end hearing is not too great, which may explain why I really, really like the music this machine produces when playing CD's. Besides, this is why God invented tone controls, equalizers, and Re-EQ.

I just recently wrote a review of the TX-DS787, and now that I have this player paired with it, I am finding that I like it even more (and I already gave it a good review). I feel that Onkyo produces equipment that is, in general, equal in quality to Yamaha (which I have owned in the past) and Denon, but for which you do not have to pay as much in terms of paying for the name.

BTW, I just got this player recently, and if flaws show up, I will come back and write a revised review.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-C302D (3 disk changer)

Connections and quality

remote control

I think the Onkyo DV-S535 player is a very good player, unfortunately, I can't compare with others used by me, but I knew of some others brands that have problems with some DVD discs.

I'm happy with my player, but I want to know if it is multizone or not. I have seen in some places that it is, but on the player documentation say not.