Beautiful picture, loads of outputs, ease of setup

Haven't found any yet!

I finally decided to buy a DVD player, and after reading MANY reviews on this site, I went with the Pioneer DV-C302D, and so far I am thrilled with it. Let me start buy saying that I am not an audio/videophile...but only because I can't AFFORD to be! I bought this player at Best Buy for $399 today, and I added a 4 yr warranty for $70. Also bought The Matrix, and Armageddon: The Criterion Edition, as well as some Monster Cables to hook this bad boy up...and that part was VERY easy. I don't have a fancy, high tech TV (yet!). I own a 25in. Samsung. It is a nice TV, but only has RCA inputs. As for the sound output, this player has a feature I was pleasantly surprised to find. 2 sets of RCA, 2-channel audio outs...meaning I could hook one to my receiver and the other to my TV...very nice! My receiver is a Harmon Kardon AVR 40. Not DTS or Dolby Digital, but a nice unit nonetheless. After hooking everything up, I went through the setup mode (the manual suggests doing this first), and then popped in the DVD's!
Wow! Even on MY tv, with RCA hookups, the picture looked GREAT! MUCH better than VHS. If you are trying to justify spending the money on a DVD player, take my word...it is worth it! I didn't care too much about the 3-disc tray as a motivator to buy this unit, but now I'm very glad I have it. I put in the Matrix and the 2 Armageddon DVD's, and was able to just switch disc-to-disc from the couch...Sweet!
As for the sound, I was floored. I popped in my VHS copy of Armageddon just for comparison sake, and there is none! I have Polk RT-5's as my Front speakers, an AudioSource Sub, and 2 cheapy surround speakers, so I'm definitely not running high end, here, but the sound was marvelous! Actually, as I was writing this I decided to go pop in a normal CD and check the sound. I popped in The Matrix soundtrack, hit #4, and kicked back..whoa! Everything was very distinct an clear..much more so than my Sony. This will definitely take over for CD duties, as well. Next, I hope to either go with a 16:9 TV, or upgrade to a 5.1 reciever (although I LOVE the sound from my AVR-40! I hate to get rid of it!) I hope this review helps anyone out there who doesn't have the high-end video/audio equipment and is wondering if DVD is actually for them....the answer is a resounding "YES!" ...and this machine will do nicely!

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None

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO AN EARLIER POSTING

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO AN EARLIER POSTING

Well I am having to take my player back to the store for an exchange, I hope that the player I have is just defective and I will not experience anymore problems. I noted in my earlier review that the audio cut out on the Tarzan (Disney) DVD. The player was stopped and then started again and the problem did not come up again. WELL, the problem has resurfaced. I was watching Double Jeopardy about a week ago, (brand new) and the audio went out in two seperate places in the movie. The movie played fine after stopping and restarting, but the whole point of watching the movie uninterrupted has now been effectively put into the hands of the quality control section at Pioneer. I am lucky to be getting an even exchange because of the 30 day exchange policy where I bought the player. The store where I bought it did not have any in stock so they are going to let me exchange it when they get them in stock again. The service center for this player, (Turbo Tech Elec.) didn't make me feel any better about what they would do to troubleshoot it except to play movies on it until the player repeats the problem. No board testing, diode checks or fancy electronic diagnosis. Wow, technology has really gotten us far when all we can do to fix a problem is to get Billy Bob and a bowl of popcorn and just sit and watch movies on someone's DVD player until the problem resurfaces. Movie play mileage notwithstanding. If anyone at Pioneer is reading this, I want you to know I am pissed and not feeling to good as a new Pioneer consumer. I am lowering my rating overall, and the value rating. I am giving Pioneer another shot as I believe this may be an isolated incident. Disconnecting the player, rearranging my entertainment center, repackaging the player, driving across the island of Oahu, explaining to the customer return rep that I am exempt from the 30 day policy because I am in the customer convenience book, discovering that it isn't in stock like they said and having to go back across the island and putting things back together and repeating this whole process another day are just some of the things I may encounter in the next few weeks. So, there is something to be said about build quality, attention to detail, quality control, and as a consumer how much of my time I have to waste when manufacturers rush their products to make a buck. So if I have anymore problems with the new player I will post an update.

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THIS IS AN UPDATE TO AN EARLIER POSTING

DVD/CD changer, easy to use, good amount of out/inputs, plays cdrs and cdrws, great price - $330.00 AAFES BXtra

loud tray, no display dimmer, remote is crappy, see below

I have had this DVD player for about two months and have watched about 23 movies, (some rented and some brand new). I do not use the internal decoder, I have it hooked up to a Pioneer VSXD608 via the coax digital output (Monster cable). This is better than my last setup which was 5.1 channel analog out from player to receiver. It saves on the clutter of wires. I enjoy the DD and DTS modes, they are clear and bassy. I like the fact that I can play home burned CDs and they seem to sound just as good as if in a normal cd player. The remote is a piece of c*ap. There is no backlighting for dark hours - when most movie watching occurs for me. Also there is a small popping when selecting between menus on the actual dvds with the remote. The sound is very minute but it is there and it pisses me off.
During a recent playing of Tarzan (Disney), the audio cut out completely. The player was turned off/then on - and the problem went away. That is the only time it happened and I hope the last.
The picture is clear and and colors are rich, I use a Monster s-video cable from player to tv. The actual player itself looks good and is very light, I had to check the box to make sure it was in there before I left the store.
With an MSRP of 545.00, the 330.00 I paid cannot be beat. This is a great player for a beginner or intermediate user. It has it's small share of problems, but other than those, it is a great player and the value is incredible. There is a decent review in Audio Video Interiors Mag/Oct99 issue. A quote from that article, "Wow, something cheap that isn't too good to be true."
You can also get 5 DVD movies free if you buy one before May. (Analyze This, Get Shorty, Fools Rush In, The Mask, The Jackal). Some kind of promotion with Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, etc - just look through an Entertainment Weekly and you'll see the ad.
This was a replacement for my Panasonic DVDA300 and it is an improvement. The screensaver on the Pioneer is good because I once left my Panasonic DVD player on pause too long and had to get a burned out diode replaced on my projection tv. (You can't leave a stationary picture on for more than 10 min. on a proj. tv)

My equipment :
Mitsubishi 50" RPTV VS50501
Infinity SM115 L/R
Infinity SM85 Lr/Rr
Cerwin Vega CC250 CC
Technics pwrd sub
Pioneer VSXD608 recvr
Pioneer DVC302D DVD plyr
Magnavox HIFI VHS
Monster audio, video cables

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My third DVD player, first changer

3 disk changer, built in decoder, ability to play CD-R's

Remote buttons are small

Welcome to the world of DVD. I needed a DVD player as a crowning touch to my home theatre system. After doing much research on web sites like this one, I became a little confused with the variety of models & problems inherent with each unit.
I have a Sony STR-DE725 reciever & figured if I went with a Sony DVD player I would have 1 less remote to contend with. I am up to 3 remotes now. I was quickly disapointed to read that so many people were having trouble with lip-syncing problems with most of the Sony models. I would not enjoy my home theatre experiance looking for problems with while watching movies. After talking to the sales reps at Circuit City & Best Buy, they never heard of the lip syncing issue associated with the Sony models.
I went with the Pioneer DV-C302D because of reviews on this site, & the convienance of the 3 disk changer. I also bought the Matrix as my evaluation DVD, because reviews from this site suggest if you have problems with your player it will show up while using this software.
I want you to know that my system really came to life after popping in the Matrix. I could not believe how incredible the sound separation & picture quality was. It was truly what I was looking for in performace. I did buy a monster cable package including the optical & s-video cables for $76.00. I figured using 1 glass cable would be more convienant than using 3 additional cables using the 5.1 outputs.
I did experiance a problem with a copy of Lost in Space borrowed from the library. Halfway through the movie it just stopped. I figured the disk was trashed. I have experianced no other problems with other DVD's.
As far as sound quality of playing back music CD's I can't tell any differece from my old CD player. I would have to agree with the other reviewers, the remote is lacking. The buttons are extremly tiny and is not backlit. It takes a little getting used to. I would not consider that a reason to opt for another player though.
I would recommend this unit to anyone, for the price & features alone. This unit will give you the biggest bang for the buck.

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My first DVD player

price, features

none for this price

This is my first DVD player and I shopped around for quite a bit before I bought it. I got it for $250 at best buy (I think it was priced wrong for a while.) I wanted a changer so I could replace my cd player which did not have a digital output. This so far has played flawlessly in my system. I have not been able to compare quality of sound and picture with a whole lot of other players, but I do know that I am very pleased with this player in that area. I have not had any problems with sound going out and it has played every recorded cd-rom I have put in it. I have to say I dont understand why they only made it a 3-disk changer but at this price I really cant complain too much. I would buy it again even at $350.

Quick track access, Easy operation, True 24/96 output

Possible disk tracking problem developing

This is an update to a previous review as I have now had the unit for 7 months.

Up until recently the unit has operated flawlessly and I have been very happy with it. I'm using it mainly as a CD transport into an EVS Millenium DAC using an Apogee Wydeye digital cable, and although I know this is by no means a high-end transport it certainly is doing the job until DVD-Audio/SACD combi-players become available. I've gotten hooked on the carousel convenience factor, and what few 24/96 disks are out there sound incredibly smooth--can't wait for the new formats and software to fully hit the market. Hats off to Pioneer for being one of the few to take the high road and enabling this unit pass the full 24/96 signal through its digital outs.

The main purpose of this update is that recently I had the unit in pause mode for several minutes while I took a phonecall and it apparently reset because when I came back the display said CD instead of PAUSE. When I went to push play the unit began mistracking and eventually couldn't play any tracks at all. I shut the unit down and unplugged it for several minutes, but the problem did not go away. The next day I was going to take it in for service, but just before I left I gave it one more shot and the thing came back to life. It seems to be working fine now, except I think I'm hearing some slight transport noise intermittently, whereas before I don't remember ever hearing the transport at all.

I've still got several months left on the 1-year warranty so I'm not too concerned yet, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience with this or other DVD players? In the meantime I just wanted to share this issue so current and future owners of this unit will be aware.

Other than this I would continue to recommend this player highly after 7 months of fairly heavy use. Only wish it had a zoom feature like Toshiba to help minimize those blasted black bars when playing DVDs on a 4:3 TV. Thanks to all who read/contribute to this site...I rarely come here and not learn something, and I look forward to any thoughts on the tracking issue above.

Tim

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Toshiba, Panasonic, Marantz

Cd-r capability, built in decoder, multi disc

loud tray, issues with sound on a few discs, remote

Not adding much that is new here... The reviews provided on this website have proven to be entirely accurate and informative, it's refreshing to see that we can really pool our resources to make more informed decisions! I love this unit, the quality of the audio and video is great and the feature set is quite complete. The tray is a little loud but I stopped noticing quickly (and 3 discs vs 5 discs is not worth worrying over). The remote has tiny butons which makes it a little difficult to use but nothing serious. I have experienced the same sound glitch as has been mentionned previously (double jeopardy) but I have watched MANY other DVDs without problems. For me, this has been a perfectly reasonable substitute for buying separate DVD palyer and CD changer (for the same money!)

All in all, a very good unit.Now if I only could get a better TV....

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none

3 Disc Changer, Component Out, Built in DD, Optical and Coax Out

Remote, Sound when changing disc

I haven't noticed any of the pixeling others have mentioned. However I haven't looked for it and I didn't notice it on the Matrix.

I also went w/ the Pioneer for it's ability to play CD-Rs.

The 3 disk tray is vary convenient especially if you live w/ someone else. The tray is somewhat loud, but it's tolerable. I don't have anything to compare it to, but the tray isn't moving when your watching a movie so I wouldn't weigh too much into the noisy tray.

Unit is very easy to hook up. The on screen menu is nice and can be quickly completed.

I have the unit hooked up to my Denon 3600. I am not using the on board DD.

Unit did not include an S-Video cable.

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Ease of Use, 3 Discs for the Couch Potatoe, Dolby 5.1

Price, Exspenive next to the Cheaper Signle disc Units available

Very pleased with Product. Had problems with the Sony, brought it back and picked up the Pioneer. I did see Pixelation on the Sony with a copy of the Matrix, Same rented copy also on the Pioneer, but, I Paid for a full price copy of Matrix, along with Apocolypse Now, and both Terminator movies, and have not seen any pixelation. Suspect pirated DVD's in the rental stores.

Great Sound from all modes, works well with old Non-Digatl Stereo along with Brand New Digital Theater System I purchased. A Definte buy. Look around for Pricing.

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Sony 650

Easy to set up, good remote, great w/ CDRs

Loud disc changing, the tray is just klunky, pixelation problems, weird counter issue

Picked this up about a week or so ago @ circuit city for 399
I was too impatiant to do mail order on it (which happened to be a good thing)

First noticed some trouble on a rented copy of Patch Adams, the night i brought it home.. not sure if it was the disc (which looked clean upon inspection), or the player, but towards the end of the movie, the counter started jumping around (ex: 53..54..55..54....56..57), then after a couple of minutes of this, audio just cut out entirely. a simple stop/play took care of it.. strike one.

next morning, watched matrix, saw the pixelation on that
strike two.

went out a week later & bought Austin Powers, and had pretty bad pixelation, during "Original Ending 1 & 2" & "Henchman's Wife"
strike three.

I expected more out of a new DVD player than problems outta the box.

it had Terrific picture, cant really comment on the sound.. just did Optical out to my Sony STRDB930 (sounded great)

its a good one for the price, if you can get it cheap..(no circuit city prices do not count as being cheap)
i talked myself into this one, because it wasnt that much more expensive than the single disc players i was looking at
(sony 330 - lipsinc problems?) & pioneer 525 (mainly cuz of the $50 rebate & reviews from here)

long story short, i returned it & picked up a Sony 650
which (from a mail order company) wont be much more than what i paid for the '302 (course i paid MSRP on that)

just from what i've seen tonight on the 650... not as easy to set up..lotsa tweeks & not as intuitive as the '302 (didnt have to look at the manual to set up the Pioneer) remote's got some girth to it & the display looks cluttered & is hard to read from 10 feet away, havent had any problems w/ CDRs on the 650 (despite claims it doesnt play them)

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sony 650