Picture clarity, VERY clean sound (Dolby Digital/DTS or music CDs or CD-Rs), speed of getting to menus or chapter search

None that I have encountered yet.

This machine is a steal at $249! The picture clarity on movies is astonishing. The sound is clean and full. I have this hooked up through component video to my Toshiba 32" TV and the picture is much clearer than the Sony 360 which was a bit soft even when viewed through component.

There was no noise from the machine when I played movies that I could really hear. (Of course, I've been to a lot of 80's heavy metal concerts)

The loading of the disc and menu loading has also been speeded up drastically from my old DVL-919.

Fast forwarding isn't smooth like the Sony, but I don't watch movies that way, so I really don't care. Still, picture or slow-mo is excellent.

The sound is much better than the 360. Cleaner and fuller. I have it hooked up to a yamaha 2095 with Polk Audio speakers through the optical output and it rocks on movies or CDs or CD-Rs. The Sony didn't play CD-Rs plus the sound was cutting out constantly on The Matrix DVD.

The remote wasn't color coded like the 919 but it's easy to use and the menus and manual are easy to follow.

This player replaces the 525, so if you don't mind spending the extra to get it, I highly recommend this player. The Sony was nice, I'm not knocking it, but this one, in my opinion, is a better player and an absolute steal for the money. It's not a fancy machine, but it delivers and then some - BIG TIME.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A-110, Pioneer DVL-919, Sony DVPS-360

The picture quality is AWESOME. I have mine hooked up to a 38" Mitsubishi TV using S-Video.

Tray is a little noisy. But to eliminate the noise I placed my DVD in a wall unit with a glass door.

This is an amazing unit. I have played several DVDs (new & rented) & the unit performed flawlessly. My DVD is hooked up to the Pioneer VSX-D509S (100W x 5) A/V receiver and connected to Bose surrond speakers. With this system my family now enjoys watching movies at home more than at the theatre. I have also tried CD-R and CD-RW with this unit and again it performed flawlessly. I would definitely recommend the Pioneer DV-333!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-S360, Marantz DV-3100, Toshiba SD-1200.

Picture

Tray noise, Freezes

This player is UGLY!

The picture is nice and crisp but it doesn't matter when is can't play through the movie. I played MI-2 and it kept freezing completely. I took this player back and bought the Sony 360 which plays through MI-2 fine.

I would not recommend this player to anyone searching for a quality entry-level dvd, get the Sony instead.

Similar Products Used:

Sony

Great picture, adequate for my purposes.

Cheesy build, cannot change monitor settings (pan&scan vs. letterbox) while DVD is in player. Somewhat limited options regarding output format (DTS, DD). Supremely annoying slow tracking and fast forward.

Let me qualify this by saying that I bought this DVD for its adequacy and not for progressive output or DVD-audio or HDCD capabilities. I simply wanted a DVD player that plays DVDs and CDs. Having said this, this player is ideal and it's very inexpensive. It is built cheap, flimsy and hollow, but the picture quality is excellent. Loading CDs and DVDs is fast and easy. I love the eject button on the remote.

These are the annoying things I have to deal with:

1. The slow tracking and fast scan features are abysmally jerky. Like the Fight Club "subliminal shots", and I don't mean the pornographic ones, I can't scan back to them to see what it is. Also, if I want to fastforward to a scene, it sometimes skips different lengths, such that I often have to go back and forth to get to an exact point. Is that a problem with other DVD players?

2. I cannot change between video modes once the DVD is in the player. It is not an option. Is it an option with other players?

3. The player defaults to Dolby Digital, and options for output DTS are limited compared to Dolby Digital.

Similar Products Used:

Some GE piece of garbage...

Awesome picture and sound quality! The remote is far better than the one that comes with Pioneer 525!

only the noise from the reader (not that high, you can live with it...)

This is a very nice player, perhaps the best in this pricerange...

I had it for 2months and i can't find anything i don't like with it, it's the best player i've had...
I personally like the remote, hey it's not perfect but then again what is?

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 525
Panasonic
Samsung 611

Picture quality, Audio quality, ease of set-up.

None so far.

This is my first DVD player purchase. I did a lot of research right on this site and read quit a few magazine reviews before I decided on this unit. To make a long story short I was truly impressed! I am used to Laserdiscs so I was a little apprehensive to begin with. The quality of the picture and sound was as good or better. I do not have a Dolby Digital port on my Pioneer reciever. The reviever is an older model (VSX-9500S) which has only Dolby ProLogic. I was concerned at this point what sound quality I would get. The setup menu made it easy to setup for Dolby ProLgic and the audio quality is terrific. There appears to be a concern with the remote. I had no problem with it at all. If you are used to Pioneer remotes you are used to the small buttons. It does what it is supposed to do very well. All in all I found this DVD player to be an excellent unit.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer MCLD301 Laser disc player

Excellent performance with cd-r's (vcd + music), even the compusa ones that are $30 for 100. Also good picture and sound quality. No tray noise audible while watching movies.

A Backlit remote would be nice. Buttons are kinda small.

I bought this DVD player for $150, and I have to say that so far, it is worth all that I paid for it and more. The video quality is good, but not as good as I hoped it would be. Although, I have not tried any "good" discs to test it. So far, only American History X, Next Friday, Patriot, and Seven. The audio quality is excellent. Running through an old Kenwood Pro-Logic receiver (only in stereo right now)
For connects, i am using low end component video cables (msrp = $50) made by Solutions(recoton) and Monster cable 100 series for audio. No surround sound yet. Planning to go with either Technics sa-dx940 or Pioneer vsx-409 or whatever the model # is. If u have an opinion please e-mail me. Thanks.

Great Picture, Great Sound

Cheap remote

I purchased the DV-333 at Best Buy after returning a Samsung 711. I was going to purchase a Sony DVD, but the Sony's were all sold out. I asked for a player with the fiber optic sound port, and the salesman pointed out the Pioneer. I wanted a DVD player that day because I was having a 53" Hitachi delivered later that afternoon. I thought I would try it out over the weekend, and then return it for a Sony. After I used the DV-333 for the weekend it's staying put. It work's great, and it doesn't have any of the playback problems I had with the Samsung. I have it hooked up to a JVC RX8000VBK reciever with Jamo Apollo 3 surround speakers and the before mentioned Hitachi 53" projection TV. That cheap DVD player has gotten a lot of use, and has given me no problems.

Similar Products Used:

Samsung 711

Stunning Image quality, great sound, fast loading menus, looks cool with the gold display on the LCD screen, breeze to set up.

Fast forward and rewinding takes a bit to get used to otherwise its fine

My friend has the Sony 560D and the image is too soft, I bought the Toshiba SD-2300 and it was horrible, it pixelated and had lots of artifacts, I was gonna get the Toshiba SD-1600 becuase it was supposly better image quality then the SD-2300 and was only 200 bucks, Then I saw the pioneer 333 for 200 bucks also. This player has the best sound and image then any other player under 500 bucks in my opinion and the loading on menus is the fastest yet. Also the layer changes are so fast you dotn notice them. Forget Toshiba, Forget Sony, GO PIONEER. I tried so many dvd players and this one is by far is the absolute best. Go buy it NOW!

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-2300, Sony 560D, Toshiba SD-1600

plays multiple types of discs

looks, remote is not too bad

Great entry level player