Price Paid:  $600.00 from damark

Summary:
this is a good player. i first bought this player in 1998, before i bought a single dvd. this player works great when , and pioneer is a good name in entertaiment leadershipo, and despite some of the players fault, it is well deserved at best .

Strengths:
well bulit player, and a very nice interface. with built in capabilties.well worth it, if can be found at a low price, since i last bought mine.

Weaknesses:
cant play cd-r. it can play mastered vcds, but can not play home made cd-r vcds.

Similar Products Used:
pioneer dv-333, that can read cd-r media

Price Paid:  $170.00 from Abes of Maine (of Brooklyn)

Summary:
This player was purchased after one of our two VCR's (Panasonic 4 head, HIFI) ended life prematurely due to problems with mechanics. At the same time my trusty Rotel RCD-855 CD player laser decided it had had enough. The 606 arrived double boxed from Abes of Maine (nice job!) and is one of the recent updates of the player. It carries the current Pioneer streamlined logo.

It took some time to find my way using the remote and OSD display mostly because the various functions and options are new to me. The manual was a bit confusing and I sometimes wonder if that isn't a problem of translation from the techies who wrote it into everyday English. I had the same difficulty with a Denon AVR purchased last year. It also could be me managing the switch from analog stereo components to micro-chip AV technologies.

Performance-wise I have been most impressed with the sound quality, since it was purchased equally as a CD player. Instruments, whether acoustic or electric, have incredible presence in the room with this player and there is the sense of hearing the music in the studio. We used to call that musical presence.

In terms of DVD playback I had one instance where it failed to play the sound track of one movie (Bad Boys with Sean Penn) perhaps because it had two laser tracks. This player seems to have a single laser since it will not recognize recorded CD-R's. It does have that second long "hiccup" when changing layers on some DVD's about twenty minutes into the film...things just stall for a moment and then continue. Aside from that and the problem with playback of one DVD, it's been great.

I would recommend it to others on closeout or used who are looking for a low priced, yet technically and musically above average player with lots of output options.

Strengths:
Multiple outputs (component, S-VHS, digital optical and RCA, 5.1 output, etc.); effective OSD setup; memory for settings; exceptional CD playback quality: great musical "presence", soundstaging, especially in reproduction of studio performances involving acoustics (jazz, some rock tracks, etc.)

Weaknesses:
Older machine with no DTS processing; incompatible with recorded CD-R's (as others note); a minor stutter in video playback, occurring once each on certain DVD's

Similar Products Used:
None - first DVD player purchased or auditioned
Considered Phillips, Marantz, Onkyo, Rotel products

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Linkonline, Cambs, England

Summary:
My first, and so far, only DVD player. I can confirm that the picture quality is great and with a Paragon upgrade built in region changing is a doddle. When viewing movies in a darkened room there's a "Pioneer typically" impressive light show. Can't say I'm looking at changing until a reasonably priced MP3, DIVX player hits the market.

Strengths:
Good picture, dolby digital decoder built-in, strong pedigree brand. Good LED display.

Weaknesses:
No SCART output, CD-R playback fails (tested personally on Memorex Silver and Memorex Black).

Summary:
This was my first player and I bought it when it first came out. Although I have been very pleased with it and don't regret my purchase there are now players without the problems above. When it came out I would have rated it 5 stars but my rating now shows it's had its time.

Strengths:
Excelent Picture Quality and Sound Output - Dolby Digital Decoder Built In, Optical Audio and Componant RGB outputs. Superb remote. Macromedia can be disabled easily.

Weaknesses:
I along with other owners can confirm this unit has problems synching audio and video on many DVD's - You can hardly ever notice it but alas the problem is there. Although some CD-R's do work I have found that copied CD-R's with either 1 or no track information cannot be viewed.

Price Paid:  $425.00 from Nationwide Electronics

Summary:
I bought this unit when it first came out and have enjoyed many a movie from it. The sound is first rate as well as the picture, the remote is excellent. i bought a new Sony DVP 650d player with DTS and Dolby Digital built in, but the picture was annoyingg and the setup a pain so I returned it and bought a Pioneer Elite receiver with both decoders built in and have not regretted my decison. Highly recommended. Have it connected to a 36 inch Toshiba Cinema Series TV.

Strengths:
Dolby Digital Decoder, Ease of Use, Excellent Picture

Weaknesses:
CDR Play

Similar Products Used:
Sony DVP 650D 5 Disc DVD PLayer