Beautiful video and strong audio when conected to my XBR 250 Wega. Great menu system for easy setup. Produces below video black information. Even sounds better than most mid-priced cd players.

Build quality ok, but a little on the flimsy side. Wish all video outputs were active all the time.

I ordered this unit from onecall for the great price of $199.99 after rebate. Originaly was suposed to be gift for my parents, but after hooking this baby up to my Wega, I was amazed at how good this unit was. Excellent video and great sound for $200 bucks, oooh yes! This little unit has no problem hanging with my Sony 7000 player that I payed $1000 for a year ago. Sure it isn't built as solid as the Sony, but hell how much abuse is a DVD player goint to get. The performance is equal, yes I said EQUAL to my Sony in every respect. I'm amazed by the shadow detail this thing puts out. This I'm sure is due to the fact that it can produce below black information, something that the $2500 Denon 2500, and the new Sony 7700 can't do. I personaly believe this to be crucial for proper calibration. Be sure to use the component video cables with this player to see it really shine. Alot of people think that component cables don't add much over s-video, but thats because they use shit brand Monster brand. I heard about a place that was selling some Canare True 75ohm component cables and ordered some. My LORD! The difference these cables made was truly significant. I highly reccomend these cables. I got mine from Custom Audio/Video for $70 bucks and upon hooking them up took my $200 Monster component cables back to the store. These cables are so good, I felt stupid for buying the Monsters to begin with. Oh well, I really like this little gem of a player, see ya! Ps. The ph# for Custom Audio/Video is (830)625-6745 I think. Give em a call, these cables kick ass!

Similar Products Used:

Sony 7000 DVD player.

good quality video output, has component outputs

noisy when playing, lame remote, won't play the odd disk properly

I chose this model about a year ago with the idea
that I needed only the essentials -- good video quality,
S-video and components outputs (component for future
use). Other than that, minimal features were necessary.

The video quality is excellent. This was recently
reinforced when I bought a newer, larger screen TV
and was shocked at the level of detail I'd been
missing out all along.

That said, I will be replacing this unit before too long.
Mechanical noise during playback is enough to
be distracting. Also
the remote is pathetic - it's not backlit so you can't
do much while watching a film in darkness..and the buttons
are all the same size and arranged such that you have
no reference point to navigate by tactile means.

I have a universal remote but the number of features
on the original remote makes it difficult to program.

I have to say I was mistaken in thinking that
I wouldn't want additional features. As soon as I
experienced the improvement compared to sequential-access
VHS, I wanted more and more. Strongly desired now are:
smooth and fast shuttle/scan, fast and responsive
menu navigation, zoom, ability to skip opening menus,
better resume and memory features. Also a
better backlit remote with a good layout and jog/shuttle
control.

I use this player for watching films and for exercise
videos. The former has been generally quite good.
The audio drops out on Alien IV, but that's only disturbing
because now I wonder if a GOOD film might break on this
player. So far that's not been the case. All other DVD
play quite well (except for a slight pause when changing
layers). Output is excellent.

The exercise videos would benefit from better navigation
and memory/resume features. The existing features are
cumbersome for this purpose.

good quality video output, has component outputs

noisy when playing, lame remote, won't play the odd disk properly

I chose this model about a year ago with the idea
that I needed only the essentials -- good video quality,
S-video and components outputs (component for future
use). Other than that, minimal features were necessary.

The video quality is excellent. This was recently
reinforced when I bought a newer, larger screen TV
and was shocked at the level of detail I'd been
missing out all along.

That said, I will be replacing this unit before too long.
Mechanical noise during playback is enough to
be distracting. Also
the remote is pathetic - it's not backlit so you can't
do much while watching a film in darkness..and the buttons
are all the same size and arranged such that you have
no reference point to navigate by tactile means.

I have a universal remote but the number of features
on the original remote makes it difficult to program.

I have to say I was mistaken in thinking that
I wouldn't want additional features. As soon as I
experienced the improvement compared to sequential-access
VHS, I wanted more and more. Strongly desired now are:
smooth and fast shuttle/scan, fast and responsive
menu navigation, zoom, ability to skip opening menus,
better resume and memory features. Also a
better backlit remote with a good layout and jog/shuttle
control.

I use this player for watching films and for exercise
videos. The former has been generally quite good.
The audio drops out on Alien IV, but that's only disturbing
because now I wonder if a GOOD film might break on this
player. So far that's not been the case. All other DVD
play quite well (except for a slight pause when changing
layers). Output is excellent.

The exercise videos would benefit from better navigation
and memory/resume features. The existing features are
cumbersome for this purpose.

Good video quality, can play "homemade" CD-R's. Component video output.

Noisy, cheap build quality.

I bought this unit primarily because of it's ability to play music I'd burned to CD-R. My 2nd generation Toshiba player couldn't play CD-R's and had problems recognizing some DVD's too. But this Pioneer played everything I put in it. It has excellent video quality through the S-Video output (I never tried the component outputs). Also features both coaxial and optical digital audio outputs which is nice. Does'nt play MP3-encoded discs however.

Now to the negatives. This unit is relatively loud when playing discs, and the disc tray is also noisy when opening and closing, if this sort of thing bothers you. Also, it does not do smooth layer transitions on dual-layered discs. There is almost always a slight pause, which can be distracting. My new Sampo DVE-620 is much smoother in this regard. Another thing, and this is a biggie -- my unit started to develop the dreaded "sync" problem. The actor's voices would sometimes not match their lips on-screen. I had this problem with a number of discs. Anyone else experience this? Anyway, I have since sold the Pioneer in favor of the Sampo, which has great features...

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba, Sampo

Picture quality is good.

Remote control is terrible. Tray is loud during playback.

I use this with an 8 year old Pioneer Dolby Pro Logic receiver. The sound of this player is good and improves the picture a great deal over vhs. While the remote sucks, I really don't use it anyway (opting for a learning remote substitute). For the price I figure it was a good deal, based on the other reviews of products in this category. I would recommend this for a 1st time buyer, but not for someone with a mid to high range system.

It plays Matrix, Shakespeare in Love, 5th Element, Dune and a bunch of others without a hitch. The noise during playback, as others have stated, is a pain during some of the dialogue.

That is it right now.

Similar Products Used:

1st DVD player.

no show all go

no 5.1 output for my european VSX 409 receiver

I have bought the player at same time as my Pioneer VSX409 receiver. I just wanted a good cd player and I knew that this player handles CD-rw (very well actually). Playing DVD's is flawless. It is a bit noisy and that can be irritating during silent parts in movies. To bad that the european VSX409 has no DTS. It only has a 5.1 input and the 525 has no 5.1 output.
The player is very plastic and very light, but hey ... so what. I prefer to watch movies and lift popcorn!

Similar Products Used:

none

Clear, easy to use remote, Clean Front panel

Just getting use to the remote layout for going through DVD Menus.

This unit stands above the rest. It has many handy features and has many upgradable functions. Dollar for dollar you won't find a better unit. It has all the outs that you'll need to grow into a great home theatre. It is very easy to use and the clarity never seems to amaze me

picture and sound

fairly solid component

The picture and sound is excellent. Comparing the play quality to dvd players that cost 300 dollars, such as sony and toshiba, the pioneer will win out. I had no problem player the matrix. The only problem that occured wasthe picture sceme in an intense action scene messed up for one second. Most cheaper players can either barely handle, or can not handle the information load from dvds such as the matrix or saving privite ryan. The pioneer does not have some of the features that the other players have, like zoom. Instead, it seems that pioneer invested the research money where it counted, picture and sound. I have to admit the remote could be better, but it has not broke so far (after droping over a dozen times). For the price, it will be hard to beat the performance to price ratio of the pioneer 525 (If you can not find this model the newer model pioneer 333 is just as good, but slightly more expensive).

Similar Products Used:

many models tested from toshiba-denon-pioneer elite

Quality sound and video. Plays CD-RW. It supports COMPONENT output.

Busy remote. Confusing fast foward.

Excellent value. I bought it based on the reviews in this website. I highly recommend it. This is my first DVD. Very pleased so far.

Works and works for me

Remote as well as on unit control.

I have had it for almost a year. Still functions as expected. Works with anything thrown at it: CDR, CDRW, DVD, VCD, from Asia or USA. DD, DTS, it works well with my Yamaha receiver, I have a 6-year old Pioneer LaserDisc Karaoke, also a 5-year-old Pioneer Prologic, they still work, so I trust Pioneer player at least for its durability.

Similar Products Used:

SamSung 611