Good basic DVD player

very shoddy quality.

I have never been a fan of Pioneer...now I know why. I've waited 8 months to write this review because I wanted to see how well this machine lasted.

Now 8months later, I find that this is indicative of Pioneer - it worked great new, but really went downhill. I've only used it to play maybe 20 DVDs/VCDs and now it won't play anything else other than DVDs. Everytime I put in a CD or a VCD or a CD-R, it spins up, stops, spins again, then ejects the media.

I really haven't used it that much and I certainly did not expect the quality to be this bad. If you still see these for sale, even if for a great price, move on and buy a better machine - a better brand.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 3109, APEX 7103

great picture and sound!

tiny buttons on remote

I am new to the world of DVD, but I find this unit to have excellent picture and sound. I have not seen any evidence of lip-synch or any other problems. I must agree that the remote has tiny buttons, could be trouble for the large or clumsy handed.

Excellent picture quality (color matching) Unsurpassed audio, quick load times

Noisy drive

Excellent for a 200-300 dollar unit, hell even for a $500. This unit can hang with the best of them and has yet to show any signs of the ugly dv-414. Disk access is kind of loud, but that's what those main speakers are for right? I returned my sony 7000 series for this one (saved 400 bucks) and put it towards a new tv.

Similar Products Used:

product from all major makers: Sony, Denon, Toshiba, Panasonic, etc

Low priced model, quality product w/ AC-3, DTS, and Component out.

"Noisy" drive system, bad FF+RW, minor pixelation found.

I got this unit with a free Pokemon DVD for $251 shipped from Onsale.Com It's a very nice unit, although I did see one pixelation problem in "The Matrix" when Neo tries to do the Jump - you'll see as he runs a "shield" starts to form over him. Other than that, though, it gives excellent picture, and I've experienced no lip-sync problems. Digital can output 96 kHz, and the menus are pretty straightforward - didn't have to read too deeply to figure out how to use it. Remote is functional, albeit a bit confusing at first. A good product for a great price!

Excellent audio and video quality

Remote

Bought this model a few months ago after a lot of comparative shopping. Made special point of checking for noisy disk drive based on comments I've read, but mine runs silently. Using the S-video input into my 50" Hitachi Ultravision tv set, the picture is outstanding. I immediately rented Matrix and it played without a hitch, as have all the other dvd rentals I have had. I'm not sure if all players have the "cinema / animation" option on video set-up, but Bug's Life was amazing.
Everyone else comments on the great audio quality, although I unfortunately have Dolby Surround Sound (bought a Yamaha RV-702 right before 5.1 digital became popular) so am looking forward to upgrading in the future. I love great video and audio, but have no aspirations to being an audiophile or videophile snob. All I can say is that it is hard to imagine a better picture or sound quality, so I an thrilled.
The remote is small and therefore hard to learn. However, I have a universal that handles the start/pause/resume functions, so I only use the Pioneer remote when setting up or going back to the menu for special effects. Overall, this is a great machine.

Great anamorphic downconversion, fast layer change, great overall color rendition, sound, menus and ergonomics

remote

I recently bought this player because my Toshiba culd not read a special edition of Tomorrow Never Dies. I had been wanting to replace my SD3107 because of its problems with downconverting for a 4:3 screen. I auditioned the Toshiba 2109 but found it too suffered (to lesser degree) the same problem. I own a pioneer reciever and have been very pleased for the past two years and decided to give the pioneer player a shot. I believe this player to be among the best values in this price range. After reading the numerous reviews here I can't help but laugh at some of these individuals complaining about the tray noise or the fact that it sounds harsh as a CD player. Maybe it isn't the sweetest sounding, but it only costs $300.00! I personally only use this as a DVD player and I would defy anyone to show me the justification on spending 3 or 4 more times as much for any meaningful improvement. I firmly believe in the law of diminishing returns. All I can say that after much comparison it really was no contest-Pioneer really got it right. Toshiba makes very good players also, but with a 4:3 display, it's weaknesses are just not acceptable. Go see for yourself and you be the judge. By the way, I feel that it sounds decent as a CD player and it delivers spectacular clarity for theater.

Similar Products Used:

toshiba SD3107, 2109

Excellant picture and audio. Last memomory function. Has not had a problem playing any movie. (50 or so.) For the price this is a solid performer.

Everybody has stated the weekness of this player already. Enough said.

I have had this player for a couple of months and it has performed admirably. The remote is not the best, but I can complain about all my remotes from all differant manufactures of equipment. Enought said.. It plays movies beautifully and the sound is good for movies and not a bad performer for music. I haven't used it to repalce my Cal Labs Icon mk2 for music as it lacks the depth and presence my Cal does, but it is a 1/4 the cost and Find that I could easily live with it if not directly comparing the two side by side.
It has played alot of (tough) movies that I have read about on the forums with no problem. The Matrix for example. I have also never experianced the dreaded Lip sync problem Go look at Sony for that. I payed 269.99 at Costco but can be found cheaper with a $ 50.00 rebate right now and is well worth the $200-$250 that people are getting them for. Fine addition to any Home Theater.

Equipment used:
Denon avr 2800
Pioneer 525 DVD
Cal Audio Labs Icon Mkll cd player
Sony 585 Vcr
Dishnetwork model 4000
Fried R4 LR mains
Psb Alpha a/v cc
Psb Ambient 1's rear

Similar Products Used:

none

Picture Quality, Ease of Use

none that I can see

Well.....after reading some negatives about this unit making some extraneous noise in the drive unit, I decided to get it anyway. In fact I bought 2 units. Overall I think this is a great player. I can't really say that the drive noise is anything excessive at all. Unless I had bionic ears, I don't think it's loud at all. My in-laws who got the other unit are similary pleased. So far I've only played about 10 different titles in each with no problems so far. Sound quality seems fine, video quality is excellent, and the unit is very easy to set up and use. I bought my brother a Panasonic A320 for Christmas. I will wait until he sets that up so that I can get a comparison between these units. To reiterate, I am very pleased with this Pioneer. I would recommend it to anyone.

Good cosmetic appearance: Looks and feels like quality.
Sound and picture meet all expectations.
Decent feature set (configurations, options, and such)

The tray IS noisy when opening and closing. Some noise from the disc spinning.

The Pioneer DV-525 has been an excellent purchase thus far. The picture is sharp and clear (with the S-video hook up on a Mitsubishi TV), and the sound is clean (through a Pioneer 498 Dolby Digital receiver and JBL speakers). I looked at my fiend's new Phillips DVD-825 earlier tonight and the picture was obviously not as good, but I strongly attribute this to the Sharp TV without an S-video hookup. Also it could have been the disc.

The noisy tray is an affront to the otherwise excellent quality, but the sound made by the disc spinning is not nearly as bad and I don't notice it once the movie starts.

I gave 4's on value and overall ratings because it is not perfect and I suppose there will be an improved model next year.

VEry few compared to what ive seen nowadays

Alot, Horrible Layer changes, sound dynamics are terrible, Digital Coaxial? Please......

After i bought this January 1998 i thought it was awesome, until about a year later. I noticed at first Layer changes were getting worse. I bought a sony and a RCA in the same week to compare and they blew the pioneer away. i couldnt beleive the sound Quality and Depth of the RCA and Sony compared to this one. And The dual laser pickup on the RCA and Sony made layer changes unoticable. Ive heard many think this is the best in its price range but trust me, one of Sony's low enders beat this one easily,and RCA has some great DVD players for around 300 if you look, In my opinion RCA has the best picture and Sony knows what to do with sound. However Both SOny and RCA's DVDs are quite comparible to each other i deffinetly would go with RCA as there audio quality is quite good and the picture is excellent where sony's audio is excellent but picture is questionable. All in All i would say this Pioneer has too short a life span,too noisy of a tray, and poor audio quality for its price.

Similar Products Used:

RCA,GE,Sony