301 Discs, Picture and sound, Ease of use

12 character input

I can't say anything that the previous reviewers haven't already said. For the money this is an awesome machine. And it's extremely easy to manage your disc library once it's setup. It's handled everything I've thrown at it...DVD, CD, CD-R and CD-RW. To the previous poster...if you turn off the power source to the unit it will lose all of your title inputs. You must leave it on stand-by and turn it off only by the remote, not at the source of power. There isn't anything wrong with your player.

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Sony DVD

This unit does almost everything I want a megachanger to do. Everything the Sony 850 doesn't

Would have liked all twenty groups available for CDs, since I have no desire to group my DVDs. But 10 groups is still good.

I purchased a Sony 850D for my wife for Christmas. The reasoning was to get a unit that played DVD, while allowing us to get all of our CD jewel boxes off of the living room floor. Well, the Sony was a major disappoinment. The filing
system on the Sony was very limiting, making it nearly impossible to use with audio CDs. In fact, we had just about
decided to purchase another Sony megachanger (CD only) to handle our CD collection. Then I found this little beauty. It's everything the Sony isn't. First of all, it holds 301 discs instead of just 200. The filing system actually makes sense. For instance, you get 10 audio play groups on the Pioneer, rather than the four you get on the Sony. You also can set the Pioneer up to play your "50 best" tracks. While the Pioneer will hold 301 discs, it will keep up to 330 in memory. In other words, say I set up a disc in slot 50. Then I take it out and use it in my car. Later, I put another disc in slot 50 and set it up. Then I bring the original disc back in the house. I have the choice of putting it back in slot 50, or any other slot. It doesn't matter because the Pioneer will remember it no matter where I put it. Makes sense, doesn't it? Well not to Sony apparently. In the 850, if you program a disc into a slot, then take it out it only remembers it if you put in back in the same slot. And if you put another disc in that slot you lose all of your original
indexing. Speaking of indexing, the Sony limits you to 13 characters, total. The Pioneer will allow 12 characters for the artist, and another 12 for the title. You can search and
sort by artist name, title or disc number on the Pioneer. On the Sony you only have the "genre" and whatever you program in the text field. As far as programming is concerned, the Pioneer wins there, too. You can program with a keyboard on each unit. But on the Pioneer you can also use a PS/2 mouse to point and click the menu for programming. If you are reduced to using the remote to program a disc, you are still better off with the Pioneer. The Sony's shuttle wheel makes programming with the remote a tedious and annoying task. On the Pioneer it's not wonderful to program with the remote, but it is better than the Sony. How about memory? The Sony loses ALL of its programming if you disconnect the power at any time. According to Pioneer, you can unplug the 727 for up to 30 days and still keep your programming, although I'm a little scared to try it. Guess I should have tested it before I programmed all of my discs! Oh well, I'll lose power someday during a thunderstorm and find out then whether it works. The Pioneer will play DVD/CD/CD-R. Also, even though it's not rated to play CD-RW, independent tests have shown them to work. It will also play mini discs, with an adapter. It changes discs faster and quieter than the Sony. It's even smaller, even though it holds 101 more discs! Quality of play? The Pioneer not only matches the Sony, but exceeds it. If you're looking for a megadisk DVD player, the Pioneer DV-F727 is your unit. Forget the Sony 850!!

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Sonny DVP-CX850D

Massive capacity, great picture and audio quality, good title catagorization features, makes a halfway decent CD changer as well.

Remote isn't backlit, occassional quirks in software, most discs don't have DVD or CDText

First, this is a review of the DV-F07, which there isn't a place for in the review list. It has all the basic features of the F727, plus a few extra features and a higher pricetag.

After realizing that a 3 DVD changer was rather pathetic, I decided to switch my C-302D with something with a bit more capacity. I also wanted something that would match the VSX-26TX that I recently purchased, so I went out and found got this unit. Loading this many discs into a changer can be a bit time consuming, especially considering that most do not have the DVD or CDText feature that the unit prominately displays its face. But the keyboard port makes it a bit easier. The custom file system is nicely done, and allows easy catagorization of discs.

The video quality is awesome, although the C-302D was quite good as well (let's face it, except for a small minority of players, DVD quality will always be great), as far as audio - I pipe the digital out into my 26TX so I haven't spent a long time testing out the DAC in the player, nor have I spent time using the virtual surround sound system - a feature I wish would be left off DVD players (perhaps knock fifty or a hundred off the price in the process) because it never sounds as good as real surround and it always screws up the sound, IMHO.

As for the small programing quirks, the unit resets itself after you run the update feature (this is why the reviewer below noticed the DVD switching from 4:3 to 16:9 display occassionally), and the program mode clears itself when you hit stop. But nothing that can't be lived with. As for the negatives relayed below concerning using this as a CD changer, Pioneer makes a CD changer that has all of the CD changer features that this model has - including keyboard input and catagorization features, and costs about half the price. If you're going to fill this up with mostly CDs, it isn't worth the extra money. The only reason to get this model is to use it primarily as a DVD changer. The CD changing capablities are an added bonus. I'll be adding a 300 disc CD changer later on down the line.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer C-302D, Panasonic A-120U

Great picture quality, excellent features, 301 disk capacity(ability to link 2 together for 601 disc) Every feature you would ever want or need (besides MP3 playback and Progressive Scan Output) also, handles CDR,CDRW and Mini Disk

Weaknesses: To nitpick: The remote is not back-lit (glows in the dark) Character generator limited to 12 characters. A major drawback, I think, is lack of auto-reverse, but then no other brand offers it either!

What can I add to the other reviews that hasn’t already been said? This is a great product that delivers on it claims and more! This goes equally for the VSX-26TX that I purchased at the same time. However, if I were to make any complaints they would be minor ones with one exception. That is, I would have liked Pioneer to include an auto-reverse function in the 727. Pioneer used the technology in their laser disk players going back at least 15yrs (I know because own one to this day). Even though, no other brand offers this function, I think for the price Pioneer had the opportunity to deliver what would have been the ultimate player for some time to come. Short of that they should have provided an easy way to reverse the disk in such a confine area!
Now for a few minor complaints; firstly, we need more than a 12-character generator. I find this greatly limiting for most of my collection. Lastly, I agree with the other reviewers about the remote controllers lack of illumination.
I love the idea of being able to load my entire CD and DVD collection in one unit and picking my choices from my TV screen anytime I wish. No concern for storage cabinets, no fumbling with jewel cases, no worry about scratches and or finger prints! And as for the blue light, well what can I say, it just doesn’t bother me, as a matter of fact, I kind of like it. It adds an element of class to the unit.
Would I buy it again, yes! especially at the discount prices now being offered. Highly recommend it!!!

300 DVD/CDs, easy-to-use single slot, 20 user-defined catagories for disks, easy search of 200+. Remembers DVD AUDIO selection, eg DTS!! Has "best" for 20 fav cuts, other user friendly goodies.

display should show more info: artitst & title

I use the F727 in an audio-only setup: Marantz AV9000 preamp, two Bryston amps, 5 Magnapan speakers, Vandersteen subwolfer,and a cheap b&w monitor for control. I love that the F727 can remember DVD audio chioce, ie, I select DTS from DVD menu, press Condition Memory button, and the next time I play that DVD, DTS comes up by default! Similarly with Best cuts (favorites) it remembers audio settings.
Has 20 user-definable catagories. You can search by artist, by title, in a catagory or from all. The jog control works well in this mode. It remembers up to 330 disks' info, so if you remove one and later put it back, the info is there. Likewise, you can rearrange them and info is not lost. But, you have to type in the Title and Artist in the first place unless you want blanks. I leave the keyboard plugged in as I'm still adding disks.
The audio is faultless -- I use digital out from the F727 to the Marantz AV9000. The latter does the DAC conversion rather well. The F727 is just a very convenient data storage device.
I like the fact that the player mechanism is in the center of the doughnut, it's more compact. The Sony had it in the back corner, taking a lot more space (for 100 less disks). Also, the sh*t-sorry Sony player held the CD on a long spindle, ie, more than inch from the motor and bearings. How stupid! Wobble-wobble, skip-crash. Any unbalance in the CD caused it to oscillate and become unplayable -- about 10% failed in the Sony 200 Turd-o-matic, while they all would play in any other player I have.
The F727 is quieter, smoother and faster, and I kind of like the blue light. It was the lowest-cost component of my audio system.

I kind of like the blue light.

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Sony 200 CD changer -- unreliable, loud, slow, bulkier than F727

Great sound, "fixable"...see below

May too fixable...see below

This is a follow up review. I recently moved and failed to follow the instructions to remove all the discs before moving the unit. I figured if I made sure it stayed horizontal and still, I wound be fine. Well, not so. When I got it to my new place, the discs were all over the place. Of course this is my fault, so I can't blame pioneer.

Anyway, I thought I got all the discs out and turned it on. Once it had power, I heard a loud snap, you know, like breaking a plastic hanger. Sure enough, it was stuck. A few discs were left and when it reset, it just ran right over one I guess. After opening it up and clearing out the discs, the inside seemed pretty cheap (the mechanics) all plastic, etc. Maybe that's how all players are, but I guess I expected more dramatic materials. A few hours later, I found the arm didn't break, just came off the track. It took another 30 minutes to get it on track and powered up. Again, I thought it should've been more complicated inside, but I'm thankful it wasn't (hey, it's fixed).

Here's the fun part. After loading the 240+ discs back in, it occured to me it was going to be a nightmare putting back in the information. However, when I went to the menu, I selected all disc update. Guess what? It hummed around for about an hour and when it was finished, EVERY single disc was back in memory. I tell you what, that kind of convenience is worth the price alone. I'm not sure how other units work (sony, etc), but if it can't do that, you'll surely wish it did one day.

Great buy, and still working perfectly!

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None

- Packed w/ features
- High capacity
- Good DVD title management

- 12 character title
- Needs to rotate platter and count discs everytime I open/close the front door

Does everything I want it to do (except recognize the titles to 90% of DVDs). Keyboard input is great (esp. w/ a wireless Logitech keyboard)

Time from insertion of disc to DVD play start is long because the platter checks all the discs before reading one. (Maybe I'm doing something wrong)

Online purchase price of $580 + shipping (cnet.com filtered prices). Buydig.com was lowest price at time of order - delievered within 1 week w/o incident.

I hope to have all the CDs and DVDs I will ever own in the carousel so that I never have to handle them again. I'm sure by that time, all media will disappear and we will just download movies and songs on the fly.

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Considered Sony 200disc DVD until it got negative reviews on this website

Holds 300 Disks. Will never have to get up and change a disk again!!!

Only 12 Character Input

I traded in my single disk Pioneer DV-414 for this monster 300 disk jukebox. So far I have it loaded with about 155 disks and it has performed well. This was a refurb that I won off of ubid.com. My experience is that manufacturers tend to put better care into refurbs as to ensure that they will not return to the shop again. The unit has a nice remote and although it is not backlit, it does glow in the dark after light exposure! Kinda cool. The other cool thing about this guy is that you can hook up a 2nd one to it and control all from one remote. That's right, 600 disks!! God help me if I ever get that many movies.

In any case, I do notice that the video "stutters" occasionally. Not too much of a show stopper.

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None

300 disk jukebox capacity, great video, random/custom modes.

12 character limit, small remote buttons, unlighted remote.

Building a home theater system, I wanted a CD player to store my 250+ CDs, and a seperate DVD player. Reviews of the Sony CD changers were not good, so I began looking elsewhere. The Pioneers received better marks for quality and durability, so I focused my search there.
I actually picked up the last floor model (out of the box for 2 days) for $200 plus $100 for a 5 year warranty! Though I was not looking for a combined DVD/CD changer, I couldn't pass it up, and so far, I'm glad I bought it! It cost me $25 for the owner's manual from Pioneer. BTW, why is Pioneer the only manufacturer's site I found that won't allow you to download an electronic copy of their manuals? Additional revenue stream, I guess.
My system consists of an Onkyo TX-DS787 receiver, Polk RM-6600 speakers with PSW350 sub, and Toshiba CN-32V71 TV. As this is my first DVD player, I was bowled over by the video and surround audio quality. My wife, quite the 'un-audiophile', even commented on how crisp the picture was.
Loading CDs took quite some time (to be expected), as I cleaned each prior to loading. Once loaded, I attached a keyboard and entered titles and artists. The 12 character limit is annoying, but you can be creative. I would highly recommend using the keyboard...it will cut your entry time by 1/4. I have experienced no loss of data, but did create a reference spreadsheet just in case. I also use it as a cheat sheet to select the disk I want. I recommend following the directions closely when initially loading and setting up the player.
The onscreen search functions and groupings work well once you get used to the interface and remote button use. Speaking of the remote, the buttons are too small and the remote is 'glow in the dark', not lighted, which makes it difficult to see in the dark. Why they didn't throw a light on it I'll never know.
The 10 audio and 10 video custom groups (which you can name) are a great touch. I can categorize our rock, pop, vocal, and christmas music, select random play and not worry about hearing AC/DC between Enya and George Winston!
If not for the 12 character limit and small remote buttons, I would have given this unit an overall 5-star rating. Based on the price I paid, the value rating is easily 5-star.
For you Onkyo fans out there, the latest Crutchfield catalog has an Onkyo player that appears to be identical to the DV-F727, save for some cosmetic changes.

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NA

great sound with DTS, code free works with all languages.

The titles can be all programmed but they can only be a few characters wide.

I ordered the product over the internet. It was delivered in just a couple of days in perfect condition. The DVD player works with my digital audio system (5.1 surround sound).
All of my DVD from around the world PAL and NTSC as well as CD work great. The price is just unbeatable.