Slim design, plays MP3s, nice setup menu with a setup "wizard" to walk you through the basic settings. Composite video and coax/optical digital audio outputs are great.

Other reviewers have mentioned that this unit lacks progressive scan; while this is true, progressive scan is a waste unless you have a television that can actually display it -- like HDTV. I would have liked RF output, but I understand that such desires amount to heresy. The MP3 browser is slightly limited in that it only displays the first 8 characters of the file name (see below!).

I purchased this player based upon two things: the reviews at this site, and the fact that it was the only DVD player out-of-stock at the local Circuit City and two local Best Buys. (The logic being, of course, that if one of the other $150 DVD players were better, people would be buying *that* one.)

My purchase prompted a rather dramatic overhaul of my audio-visual set-up. My old entertainment center consisted of an ancient 20" Sharp TV, an el-cheapo VCR from Costco, and my equally ancient JVC Stereo hooked up through the audio-out jacks on my digital cable box. The RF-only limitation for input to the TV spelled its doom; along the way, I decided to upgrade everything.

Anyway: the unit performs superbly. I suppose there exist better DVD players, but I really wouldn't know what you could add to the DV-440 to improve it (beyond items like RF input and progressive scan). Maybe more inputs and outputs would be nice, though it features digital audio ouput in both coax and optical, as well as video output in composite, S-Video, and component jacks.

The DV-440's ability to play MP3s burned on CD-Rs is a pleasant "bonus" feature. I'm not a regular MP3 listener (my entire collection fits onto a single CD with room to spare), so I wasn't sure if it would be something I would use. But I have used it, and it really is a great feature with an easy-to-use GUI for browsing files and even setting up playlists. The bad part of this interface is that it only displays the first eight characters of a file name. Note that this is the first eight characters of the ISO9660-format file names: something like "Bob_the_Rocker_-_Rock_House.mp3" gets truncated to "Bob_0001" in the display. But from what I've read here and elsewhere, this is actually a lot more/better than other DVD players out there.

Also, the unit doesn't play certain MP3 files. I honestly don't know enough about the whole MP3 thing to be certain why, but about one-in-ten of the MP3s I have just don't produce sound. It's not that big of a conern to me, though, becuase (like I said) I'm not really into the whole MP3 culture.

I have played several audio CDs on the unit (from techno to pop to classical) and the sound is at least as good as my old JVC stereo. I know that doesn't really mean much, but to the non-audiophile, the unit seems to produce excellent sound.

I bought the DV-440 about one week ago. Every night I come home from work and put it through its paces with a variety of uses (DVDs, CDs, MP3s). So far, it has performed wonderfully and I have nothing to complain about it. The DV-440 is well worth the $150 price tag.

Similar Products Used:

None. First-time DVD buyer.

Picture, sound, doesn't freeze like the Sony NS300, size, overall quality for the $$$

none yet

I bought the NS300 before I found this site. After buying, I wanted to get some background on what I just bought (ass backward I know). Many, many posts on this site tell of the horrors of the NS300 and I experienced them right off the bat. Watched 5 different DVDs and didn't make it through one of them without a skip or a freeze. Because of what reqad, I ditched it before it was too late.

DV440 has been a great upgrade so far. Don't notice that much difference in picture but sound is clearly better (hooked up to Ensemble IV speakers via a Sony STRDE475 receiver).

I'm not techie but the point of my post is to steer you away from the Sony DVD. This is a MUCH better product for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Sony NS300...blah

cool looks, MP3, great pic quality, smooth FF RW

no Progressive scan in case you upgrade your TV

Well, I started out with a Pioneer DV340 which was good but it was silver and all my components are black...and it also was lacking an optical output (only coaxial). So when a black pioneer DV343 came on sale I took back the DV340 and got the DV343. It was black and had an optical out (although I just use the coaxial). I also didn't have to change the DVD codes I had programmed on my receiver's remote. Then I discovered I could get the DV440 for $20 more....so I ordered it and back went the DV-343. (all were purchased from different stores).

Well, the DV-440 is the definite winner! I didn't even have to change the codes on my receiver remote. It just seems to be a level above the Dv340/343. Firstly it will read MP3's which I hadn't really given much thought to before but it turns out to be a great feature. Normally I convert MP3's to regular audio tracks when burning CD-R's. this time I just popped my whole collection of MP3's on one CD-RW and it works perfectly. The onscreen MP3 menu is great and so is the random feature.

This model also boasts a normal FF and RW. I wasn't too keen on the 4 second skip that the DV340/343 had(kinda like a strobe light effect). The smooth FF is great. The DV440 is also supposed to have 540 lines of resolution and a 24/192 DAC. I don't know if I notice much of an difference here as in using the digital out I think I'm bypassing the internal DAC. The sound may sound better than the 340/343 but without doing a side by side comparison it's difficult to tell. Music CD's do seem to sound much better. As for the picture....perhaps....it's great in any case. The 440 allows for more adjustments of video. I haven't messed with this yet (still have it on standard). One thing I have noticed that seems a little different is the fact that the DVD players display panel is to the right of the tray...due to it's super slim style...however, having it so far off center seems somehow odd....but you get used to it.

So what we have here is a super slim, cool looking, basic DVD player with great picture and sound and cool features like MP3 playability. It looks good even when it's not doing anything. For those looking for a budget DVD player I'd say this is a great bet. The Panasonic RV31 gets plenty of attention but it would have cost more and holds nothing over on the DV440 (except a higher price). Sure progressive scan is not much more (DV444) but for those people (like me) with no real plan on upgrading their TV any time soon why bother. By the time I change my TV I fingure my DVD player (along with current progressive scan players) will be obsolete. Heck...Whatever's current they'll probably throw in with the new TV.

Integra 5.2 AV receiver
Pioneer DV 440 DVD player
Sony 32" trinitron TV
PSB 500 main speakers
Axiom vp150 Center
Axiom EP175 sub
Paradigm Atom rears
Sony hifi VCR
Sony CD player
Star choice 401 satellite

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV340, DV343

-PLAYS DAMAGED DVDS FLAWLESSLY!!!!
-Thin
-DVD last memory.
-Every flavor of outputs.
-Mp3
-Price

None.

This is the player that i've been searching for. I have a couple of dvd's that refused to play without pixelizing and skipping on my Apex and Panasonic 410x. I purchased the Panasonic RV31 because i read that it handled damaged dvds well. WRONG! Not only did it not play the damaged dvds well, it didn't play them at all. so back in the box it went and i returned it. i then decided on the pioneer dv-440. the reviews were good and the specs said it had error correcting technology built in. The dv-440 played those damaged dvds flawlessly. I am very happy. Another big plus of the dv-440 is the ablility to store in memory the position of a dvd. it will hold 20 different dvd positions (combining the last memory and condition memory features). All in all, this is the most robust dvd player i have used. I would recommend it to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic RV31
Apex AD-500-W
Panasonic 410x

picture and sound quality

tried an mp3 disk and did'nt play...only one though

I have a hitachi 55" tv, an onkyo integra av unit infinity speakers and a jbl sub. I bought an apex at circuit city, opened the box and new I'd made a mistake..thank god it didn't work. I took it back and got the dv440 I'm quite frankly blown away the sound on fast and furious is awsome. Unless your a total couch potato who does nothing but sit in front of the box all day I honestly can't see why you'd pay more for anything else.

Similar Products Used:

apex..what a piece of crap

Great picture & outstanding sound quality. Slim design. MP3 features. Pioneer quality & reliablity.

Does not support ID3 tags and multi-session discs. No jog/shuttle dial.

Well, I'm kind of biased anyway because I've always been a Pioneer fan and have had much success with their products for the past 10 years or so I've been using them. But the DV-440 is one outstanding player. I've been a DVD user ever since they came out in '97 and I originally had a Philips player that I replaced with this one and I gave $500 for the Philips player about 4 years ago. So paying $160 for this Pioneer was definitely a real treat for me. I wanted a player that had MP3 function and I also wanted the feature to do random play with MP3 files too. And this player was the only one that had random play which was good because the Pioneer was the one I wanted to begin with. Anyway, to sum it all up..this player is super fast at everything! Whether it be loading discs to navigating menus, or playing MP3's you can't ask for a faster player. The DV-440 is also really really thin compared to most players which is cool. Because most players anyway are mainly just an empty box with a few circuit boards. And last but not least the DV-440 is the best sounding player I have seen. I heard things on just my regular music cd's that I never heard on my Philips player! I suspect the reason for the great sound is because of the Burr-Brown 24 bit/192kHz DAC the DV-440 has. That's definitely the highest spec DAC I have seen. Highly recommended player indeed!

Similar Products Used:

Philips DVD420AT

Thin design, component video inputs

Won't play even slightly scratched cd's

If you have any scratched cd's that you still want to listen to don't buy this dvd player. Also, the dvd player comlpetely froze half way into Gladiator. I had to turn it off and restart. Very annoying.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba,Panasonic

Nice audio and video quality.
Very low-noise transport mechanism.
MP3 support.

None so far

This DVD player is amazing. First of all, audio and video quality is excellent.

You can fine-tune picture quality using video adjust function such as contrast, chroma level, hue, sharpness and fine focus. You can memorize above settings. It has 3 memories for above video setting.

Sound quality is wonderful. It has also SRS TruSurround mode. You can output 96 khz sampling rate PCM stream through digital output jack if you have 96 khz LPCM DVD-Video disc.

High-end manufacturers like Goldmund, Ayre, Wadia and etc. use Pioneer trasport mechanism. Transport operating noise is really low. I haven't find any glitch while playing DVD and CD. It plays all my DVD discs perfectly.

It is a good buy. Thanks Pioneer.

Great Audio; Excellent Picture; very reasonable price

Remote buttons are too small

I bought this for the audio, which is superb. The sound stage with well recorded CDs is 3-D and very detailed. The transients are awsome. For CDs, I use the analog output of the unit to take advantage of its excellent D/A processor, which is far superior to the one in my preamp fed with the optical digital output from the DV 440 (must switch to the digital output for DD and DTS DVD decoding). I can live happily with this unit just as a CD player.

Connected via the component outputs to a wide-screen TV, the DV-440's picture quality with anamorphic squeeze is also excellent but not better than that of the old 3107 Toshiba player I just retired to a lesser duty.

I was close to buying a DVD-Audio player but was troubled by the complexity of bass management in a system like mine with KEF 104/2 mains and small KEF speakers in the back and the center. I am very happy with combination of the DV-440 and the 104/2s for playing music and will stick with the DV-440 at least until better-sounding DVD-Audio players with sensible bass management arrive. The DV-440 is hard to beat!

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD 3107; Philips DVD825

>Bryan Sears wrote :
>The only problem I have found is the navigation of MP3's.
>If you have 200 songs on one cd it takes a while to get
>to song 150 using the up arrow key

Bryan Sears, you do not know Pioneer MP3 navigator feature.
While navigating on a folder, just press & hold remote arrow key. It searches every file very fast just like PC press & repeat. You do not need to press arrow key repeatedly

In addition, press remote "search mode" key for direct selection of a song without using MP3 navigation function. You can directly select a folder & song.

Random play for MP3 operates perfectly.

Pioneer MP3 function is best.
Plz list a model can beat Pioneer MP3 features.