Price Paid:  $450.00 from mail order

Summary:
I don't use it very often, because the carousel does not want to stay open. I have to press the open button and then catch the carousel and hold it open, while I am trying to change a DVD. So, it is somewhat of a headache to change a DVD. It broke after a few months of light usage. The picture is okay, and I cannot say it is better than any other DVD player. Don't be tricked by the Elite name. The Elite name only makes it more expensive.

Strengths:
Nothing.

Weaknesses:
Too expensive and low quality.

Similar Products Used:
Sony RDR-GX3000

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Borrowed

Summary:
I borrowed this player from a friend to try it out. It gives a nice picture in interlaced, the menus are easy to use and chapter changes are quick. I wouldn't recommend this as a Progressive Scan Player. Once I switched it to progressive in the menu, the screen started shaking. This was noticeable in the FBI warning screen also. People have remaked negatively about the progressive scan on this unit. They're telling the truth! A much better choice for a 5-disk changer would be the Panasonic RP-72, the picture in interlaced and especially progressive in Awesome!

Strengths:
Fast chapter changes, easy menu system, nice interlaced picture, black level is good.

Weaknesses:
If you want a progressive scan player, don't buy this!

Similar Products Used:
Denon DVD900(yuk), Sony DVP715P, 7000, 9000ES, 999ES, Panasonic DVD RP-62(short money awesome picture).

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I borrowed this player from a friend for a while. I can say the picture is very colorful and life like. I didn't use the progressive scan, so I can't comment on it, but standard interlaced gives a nice clear picture. Also, I really didn't notice any artifacts in the movies. The manual chapter changes are fairly fast, about the same as a Sony.

Strengths:
5 disk carousel, Video color/clarity.

Weaknesses:
None that I can see.

Similar Products Used:
Sony DVP-7000, Sony DVP-9000ES, Sony DVP-999ES, Sony DVP-NS715P, Panasonic RP-62, Denon DVD-900

Price Paid:  $350.00 from audio king

Summary:
There are much better choices for less money. Don't be fooled by the Elite name, this is a horrible progressive scan player. I have a 65" TV, and it easily reveals its deinterlacing artifiacts and color fidelity problems. I switched to a Panasonic RP91, and the improvement was immediately noticable, no side by side comparison necessary.

I would buy this only if you absolutely have to have a 5 disc changer.

Strengths:
5 disc changer.

Weaknesses:
Video performance

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic RP91

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Soundtrack

Summary:
I bought this player after trying two previous ones which turned out to be less than good. Before I rave about this player let me tell which players I tried before this one. The first player we tried was a Samsung model P401. It was a cheap progressive scan player that we got for free with our new hdtv big screen tv. The player sucked. The progressive scan was worse than our old dvd player's interlaced picture. There was vertical striping on the screen. The next player was the sony nvs700 something. It cost around $250 at the time. The picture was much better-more colorful and crisp. But we soon noticed that there were artifacts all over the background picture. Once we saw that it was hard to ignore. We could not adjust the players settings enough to compensate for the artifacting. Our final attempt was with this pioneer elite. We had asked for a product that would give us a good picture no matter what the cost! The salesman said the pioneer would hands down. He was right! The picture we saw was like a night and day difference! We put in the movie "The Beach" to use as a reference. It was like looking through a window at the scenery and actors! We didn't expect it to be that good. The colors were as good as we could have asked for. Stunning! We are happy with player for the progressive scan picture alone. Lots of other features to boot.

Strengths:
Incredible picture w/ progressive scan on a hdtv. Five disc tray is always nice for demo's or music. Sound is good.

Weaknesses:
Not the best cd player-a little bright. But I didn't want a cd player I wanted a DVD player-it does that perfectly.

Similar Products Used:
Samsung P401, Toshiba (cheap model) and Sony nsv700...something