picture

horrible lip sync problem, noisey, starting to skip, Pioneer

Avoid like the plague. A fully authentic piece of crap. Rest assured this unit is both a complete joke (for value)and a complete waste (for overall rating). Pioneer designed, released and sold hundreds of thousands of this unit knowing it has lip sync problems. Yet talk to Pioneer customer service and they act like they have no idea what problem you are talking about. I have bought, literally, thousands and thousands of dollars of Pioneer products over the years, yet due to this experience I will not purchase another.

And we are not talking things being a little out of sync here. Put on John Fogerty's excellent DVD and be amazed how you can watch a drum stick wack a drum skin and not hear it until what seems like half a second later. Very disorienting. Most impressive is that the Pioneer unit manages to screw up nearly every DVD disc - some are better, some worse but an overall an A for consistency.

I also like the gentle and soothing effect of the background noise created as the disc spins away in the unit (especially loud with DVDs). In hindsight this does not surprise me since the unit is built like a tin can ... actually a tin can in sturdier.

CD playback is soft and lifeless. As if my magic, the unit removes all bass slam. 24/96 DVDs (e.g. Chesky) sound no better than CDs because the unit does NOT have the ability to resolve the differences.

And as a topper, my unit, which has been used very little is now starting to not read CDs at all, skipping, distoring, and other cool digital stuff.

All and all, one of the worst, if not THE worst, DVD players ever made.

Partake at your own peril.

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Technics DVD A10

Bought a lemon. Became inoperative playing the first DVD, then repaired twice at factory authorized dealer, with same problem. I'm ready to throw it away.

I bought a lemon. Broke 3 times.

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Toahiba 1200

Component Video Output, Optical Audio Output, DTS output, Blue LED ;)

No Progressive Scan

Have had this unit since June of 1999 and have had absolutely no problems at all. The layer switching could be a little less blatant. Great picture and the digital audio is superb sounding. Remote is not a factor since I use a programmable universal for all my components. I don't know what the complaints below concerning CD-R's and CD-RW's are all about, since I have had no problem playing either.

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Creative DVD (PC), Pioneer DV-314

Excellent player with great output using component video.

Remote Control

Nothing but praise for this product in terms of performance.

A few recent problems playing new DVDs such as 'Me, Myself & Irene' and 'Hollow Man'

Superior picture and sound. Great Price

none

This is by far the best addition to my home theater. I bought it for the reviews I had read previously and the price (also because the matrix was supposed to be the best dvd released to date, which it is).

Then I began to read about the lip synch problem and was worried. Once I purchased the Matrix and watched it in all of its glory I was amazed.

No problems what so ever. All I can say is that this was the best p[urchase I could have made and I will never go to the movies again.

This player read both CD-R and CD-RW disc. Toshiba and Panasonic can not play those disc. This is the more important to me. And the price is very good.

The best out there for the money. Why spend more?

Just pick up one of these units to try them and all I have to say is. It is cheap! The door mechanism sounds like a plastic container being crunch and the whole box(chasis) is not very good either these thing weighs about 2 pounds what is there plastic galour. Now that aside the unit plays well but with the classic pioneer bips and noises when you search. This unit I guess won't be bad for someone on an extremely tight budget. But you wouldn't catch me dead getting one of these I just feel that it won't last , on the other hand at these price it could be a disposable unit. For the price I give it a three overall though a one.

I currently own two DVD players. The first is the Toshiba SD2108, the second is the DV414. The Toshiba offered great picture, reasonably build quality, but suffers from an unacceptable Audio Dropouts. It's now been sent to Toshiba for "refurbishment". I had DVD withdrawals and purchased the DV414. Yes, it's extremely light, although the Toshiba was light too. The picture quality seems a bit grainier than the Toshiba. The UI on the DV414 is eons better than Toshiba's imho. No dreaded audio dropouts. The Toshiba I believe handles the layer switch a bit better, but if I had to do it again, I would have just purchased the DV414. It offers coax/optical, DTS pass through (although no autodetect), Component outs (a non issue with me) and a better remote than the Toshiba. A very good value for the price.

I have to contratict the sentimentsof all others here. Maybe the image quality on this unit isup to par and even that I would consider it average. first the door mechanism is lousy sounds like it is all plastic and the chasistoo these thing weighs with help two pounds the unit might perform good out of the box but give a year or two and you will see its true colors this is a cheap unit marketed for an extremely budget concious buyer. three for the price one overall