Features, connectability, versatility, top-notch recordings. Very good manual.

CD changer seems flimsy.

I found my Pioneer as an open box buy at Best Buy for $219. After checking outthe Pioneer through very good reviews on ecoustics.com--HI FI Choice magazine and another publication--as well as here, I felt comfortable making the purchase. The Pioneer is a very good to excellent recorder and for the $219 I paid, I couldn't be happier. What I found amazing was the CD copies I have made of tapes--clarity and dynamics--these recordings sound more alive now that they are on CD. CD's are copied bit-perfect and HDCD coding is preserved. 2X recording is available. Another asset is the great manual that came with the recorder.

When I record tapes, I first record on CDRW's to make sure I have a good copy, and then copy the CDRW to the permanent CDR. It's a great quality control.

The CD changer on the Pioneer is questionable. It has some kind of pulley system to operate the three drawers, but I'm not too concerned as it will be used only occasionally. I won't be using the changer to make compilations and will use my main Denon DCM 370 as the primary source for CD copies. So no problem.

The remote is responsive, though perhaps a bit cramped. But it is very good.

I am glad I walked into Best Buy that day. At $219 it was a no-brainer.

2x recording, programmable 3-CD tray great for mix CD recording, fade in/out function allows you to 'remove' undesired portions of tracks (ie. skits that bleed into tracks)

Noisy 3-CD tray operation(durability issues?)

As this is my first CD recorder, you'll have to take my review as strictly my impression of this unit and not as a comparison to another recorder. Having said that, I must say that I am very impressed with it so far.The main function the PDR-W739 serves for me is to record 'mix CDs',which it does beautifully.All my recorded Cds have turned as programmed and I have not been able to detect any deterioration in the audio quality.
The PDR-W739 is extremely user friendly-if you can operate & program a traditional CD player,you'll be able to record your first CD within 15 minutes of opening the box.All controls are both obvious and easy to use and the display offers all the information you need-the remote can scroll through all 3 display modes with one buton.
Lastly, I must mention that my favorite feature has become the adjustable recording level and the ease with which it is done-necessary for the various levels that commercial CDs are recorded at.*A beautiful machine*

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Excellent copies, 2x recording

switch on 'bbot up' time, drawer mechanism seems a bit dodgy

Overall, like many people have said here, this unit seems a bit flaky with the drawer mechanism (I'd have preferred it if they had made a simpler twin tray design (1 x CD, 1 x CDR). And when you switch it on it goes through some bizarre iitialisation routine. However, once on, stick in a CD and a blank CDR, press the big red button in the middle and away you go.

So, not a unit to use for your main CD player (A Sony does that for me), but as an easy way (without a PC) to copy CD's, or to record vinyl, tapes and radio its a good unit.

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too many to list

This has to be one of the most poorly "designed" pieces of audio gear on the planet. The trays are flimsy, plastic as are the gears that operate them. Sometimes the door to the trays refused to open. cds got stuck in the trays. After numerous trips to the service center I returned the unit to Pioneer. They refunded part of the money I had paid for the machine. I bought an Onkyo R 511. Great recorder and player.

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Read

Read

SOME OF THE BEST ADVICE YOU WILL EVER GET IS RIGHT HERE.
DON'T BUY THIS RECORDER BECAUSE THEY HAVE MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THERE TRAYS AND THIS MODEL IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE 509 OR 555.I HAVE MANY FRIENDS IN AUDIO AND HAVE BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK AND THIS MACHINE IS RIDICULOUS.
THE PIONEER BUILD QUILTY IS A LAUGHING MATTER AND THE SOUND QUALITY IS DECENT IF IT WAS $125 AND IT IS SO OVERPRICED AND IF THEY CAN'T GET THE DRAWERS TO WORK PROPERLY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET INSIDE THE MACHINE???? AND WHEN YOU HAVE A PROBLEM GOOD LUCK WITH THE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

So you say what else?Go to Costco and get the Teac RW-D250 for $400 Canadian ($250 US) and it is a great CD Player and also the best bang for the buck for a Recorder.If you ever have any problems with it you can exchange it within 1-3 years or return it even(I talked with a friend that works at Costco and he said people return stuff that is 5 years old and get thier money back no problem) wow eh.Teac was also the first one around and they make very high quality recording equipment and have done so for a very long time and have a very good reputation.My father actually has a tape deck that is 25 years old and works like a charm.
The Teac is the only recorder that I would recommend and you can compare it to much more $$$ designs from other Manufacturers like H/K and so on and I am not bashing because I do own a H/K reciever(AVR 310) and also a Teac.

Anyways please take my advice and also check out the Axiom M3Ti's.Their is a review at goodsound.com and soundstage.com and they are somewhat comparing the $300 canadian M3's to $20,000 speakers and these are professionals and not salesman and I am VERY SERIOUS.Thanks for your time and email me if you need any help and Axiom is listed right over there>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

2.4 IN SOUND QUALITY BUT A JOKE AT THIS PRICE.

None that I will ever Know of.

It's existence.

I purchased this unit from Ubid.com, "where you pay more to ship crap back and forth", and after waiting 2 weeks to receive it, it came D.O.A! The unit was supposed to be "factory refurbished" by Pioneer, which should have been warning enough that these things already have problems, but I took a chance because of the reviews left here. I carefully unpacked the item, read the instructions, and then fired it up. Only to discover that there was no way the cd changer was going to open, ever! So now I have to send the p.o.s. back and wait about 4 weeks until my money is returned. This was my first Pioneer and Ubid purchase, and it will be my last. I hope these idiots are getting the message that they need to do more rigorous testing on new technology before leaving it up to the consumer to find all the inherent design flaws.

very easy to operate. quality recordings.

noisy tray operation.

I have been using this CDR for about 7 months and it has performed flawlessly. Every recording has been excellent. i purchased this new on a closeout at Sears and i have not been disappointed with it's performance. It has a singular purpose in our house, and that is to make CDR's. Listening chores are handled by a Denon DCD 3520 with an Adcom GDA 700. So if you are looking for seriuos listening attributes, do not expect to find them on this machine. If you are looking for an easy to use, quality CDR, then you are in the right place.

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my first cdr.

Records in 2x Speed; both digital out puts; better sound quality than a record

recorded cd sounds like junk

To the normal person the sound quality on the recored cd may be as good as one you get from the store, but this is not true. The people who have submitted these previous reviews are not of the greatest experts in the sound field. I brought this unit home, very enthused on hooking it up to my onkyo a/v reciever. Feeling like the master of all sound, I Brian Dukes had a cd recorder for my home entertainment system. I quickly began to dub all of my friends select cd's as i was not going to pay for them. After two weeks and ten 80 min cds I had finshed my recording sesion. And I thougth this was the best thing I had bought since I got my 2000tl's. To me the sound was great, just like the master cd.

Here I am about 5 months later wishing I hadn't of bought this thing. Sure When recording it is so fast and easy but you lose all kinds of sound quality. I began to get into the home theatre scene a lot more, witch ment I was listing to music a lot more. one thing I noticed is when listing to a song such as the Eagles Hotel Calf. There is an amazing amout of distorsion. As the song starts they begin to sing softly and when cranked up you can here it. I cant hear it on the orginal, or on the copy I got of napster, only on the burned edition. And for this reason I would Rather burn a cd on my computer than to save time and burn it on the 739. A total waste of money. If you do want this thing you can get it on etronics.com real cheap. I would not recomend it.

It may be the cd's i was using, i dont know if anyone esle notices this problem great im not the only idiot. If not I am An Idiot and need to stop using maxwell cds

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to be honest this is my first cd recorder

Easy to use

Too many to list!!!!

First of all if you are thinking about buying this recorder, you better think again!!! It is amazing that some of the concerns that some poeple below have expressed have manifested itself as failures in my pioneer. First of all let me tell you that I bought this unit shortly after it hit the market. I paid $599 for this thing. Thank goodness that I bought the extended warranty through Goodguys because I used it. The Changer transport is flimsy at best! After a month or two of use, the changer would open about 1/4" and then slam shut over in a never endeing cycle. I would have to turn the power off to reset the thing. Then at least 50% of the time, it would happen again. I would go through this cycle four or five times before i could load my CD. That is only the begining, soon after the changer transport WILL and i do mean WILL not open. It will hold your CD hostage. After returning this unit for sevice three times, Goodguys finally gave me store credit $399.00 (this is what the unit retails for now). I bought a sony. Stay away from this one, it lacks many of the features of the cheaper pioneer. Stay away from sony unless it is "ES". After burning ONE CD I took the sony back and exchanged it for the Denon which I must say works fine and has many awesome features. Twice the recording speed (4x v 2x)HDCD and text. Very nice unit. Too many features to list. If you want to save yourself the trouble, Dont buy the Pioneer 739!!! you will be sorry. By the way, the pioneer single cdr is a very nice unit. Stay away fro the changer/recorder

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Good quality CD recorder. Easy to use. Provide great sound CD records.

Not find yet

After I bought this CD Recorder, I couldn't go to bed on time for weeks. I couldn't stop recording my favorite songs into a single CD that's why. The quality is as same as the original CD, no matter you use 1x or 2x. I don't hear any differences. I hook this up with the receiver, Denon AVR5800, the sound come out to be just awesome or great. Some of the previous reviewers who don't like this thing because he or she says that it didn't providing a good quality sounds as the original CD are funny, I think. Maybe that person might want to check the quality of the CD in which use to record instead. I plan to get the W839 sometime in the future, too. Overall, I think, this CD recorder is better than many CD recorders on the market. I could say that it is as good as the one I have already had, the Onkyo CD recorder TX511. It looks great, too. So, I am not hesitate to give this system all Five!

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