Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:

I upgraded to this player from the newer but cheaper Elite DV-46av. Not much diff in pix and sound quality between two players so if you are in budget, I highly recomend the 46; however, this 79 model is a nice player as well. It has more funtions than the 46. It has two seperate lazer heads, one to read CDs, and one for DVDs. Jog funtion is one of my fav. It is so cool when I can view the explosion clearly frame by frame ffw or rw mode. This unit is one step closer to high end players. I have compared it with $700 Samsung Blueray (when played regular dvd disks), $3K Arcam-27 player, $300 Elite-46, a high dollar old timer Sony DVP-NS999ES (no Hdmi), and my Panasonic $150 player (no Hdmi). As a result, the Elite stands out quite obvious in both sound and video quality. VERY colorful, and crystal clear. It plays SACD. At 19 lbs, it is heavy. It has a "pure" CD button for improving sound. Onscreen menu is friendly user.It can read pretty much anything I throw at it from burn CD's and DVD's.

Strengths:
Pros: Picture and sound are near high end player world. Great Remote controller's reception.

Weaknesses:

Cons: Sound engine is noisy when play DVD's.

Price Paid:  $950.00 from Magnolia Audio and V

Summary:
I had purchased the Denon 2910, which is also a very acclaimed brand for DVD players and receivers, from recommendation for a high quality DVD player for under $1000. A month or so later the Pioneer Elite DVD 79 AVi came out for $1000 and I exchanged my Denon for it. I noticed the difference right away. I have a Sony HD tube television which are supposed to be the best picture tv on the market. I took advantage of the HDMI cable to have the best possible near HD experience. The black scale comes out very well in movies where with other DVD players the black seems to be dark green. The Pioneer Elite's picture on my tv comes out beautiful in near HD quality with birght crisp images and the resolution can be set to 1920x1280 which is HD quality. I also have a Pioneer Elite receiver which works perfectly with the Pioneer Elite DVD 79AVi becuase it has an i-Link which is supposed to be better than digital coaxil and fiber optic. I highly recommend this product if you're looking for a DVD player under $1000 that brings you the best picture for your money.

Strengths:
Great black color scake on screen with HDMI, can choose many options for speaker settings i.e distance and dB's. Plays burned CD's and upconverts all DVD's. I love the i-Link feature. I like to watch my Super-Bit DVD's in DTS and this DVD player really increaes the clearity of the picture. 2 year Elite warranty and also a very detailed instruction booklet.

Weaknesses:
Can be complicated to set up with so many color options and custom coloring. The price is high since most people would only spend 300$ at the most on a high quality DVD player.

Similar Products Used:
Denon 2910