Great movie playback

people think they have to spend alot of $$ to get a great player!

I'm using this player with my CN36X81 Tv, and the image quality of this player is outstanding. I replaced my old Toshiba 3109 and this Pioneer beats it in every way hands down. I am hooking this player up to my tv with the famous Canare component video cables. I first heard of these cables when looking at the Sony XBR250 reviews section on this site. I got these cables from Texas A/V (830)625-6745. These cables are far better than my older, more expensive Monster cables. To anyone that thinks cables don't make a difference, give these cables a try and think again. One thing I like about this player is it's ability to play scratched DVD's. I have 3 children, and scratches happen, if you know what I mean. Color is also a strong point of this player, especially with these cables. If you have a reciever with a direct pass feature, put this player in 24/96 mode and prepare to be amazed. The DAC's in this little sucker are without a doubt, the best I've ever heard in a DVD player. To get the best sound from this player, use the coax digital out, not the toslink. Again, I purchased my coax from Texas A/V and it is wonderful, give it a try and you will hear what I'm talking about.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 3109

Great Player - Good Performance

Slight Whirring noise - barely noticeable

I had originally purchased a Hitachi DVP 305 from future shop's web site. That player arrived and did not meet my expectations. The box it came in was ripped and then taped up with masking tape - this put a bad taste in my mouth right away and it wouldn't play half the discs I put in it including Any Given Sunday and several Indian DVDs I tried. The player especially had problems with scratched discs or discs with fingerprints (i.e., almost every disc you can rent)

Then I returned the hitachi for the pioneer dv 333 and I am very impressed. It has played every disc I've put into it and the performance is excellent. It seems to have no problems playing movies with scratches or fingerprints.

Stylistically, the hitachi looked better. But what good is style when there is no performance.

I would recommend the dv 333 to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Hitachi DVP305U

Great Player - Good Performance

Slight Whirring noise - barely noticeable

I had originally purchased a Hitachi DVP 305 from future shop's web site. That player arrived and did not meet my expectations. The box it came in was ripped and then taped up with masking tape - this put a bad taste in my mouth right away and it wouldn't play half the discs I put in it including Any Given Sunday and several Indian DVDs I tried. The player especially had problems with scratched discs or discs with fingerprints (i.e., almost every disc you can rent)

Then I returned the hitachi for the pioneer dv 333 and I am very impressed. It has played every disc I've put into it and the performance is excellent. It seems to have no problems playing movies with scratches or fingerprints.

Stylistically, the hitachi looked better. But what good is style when there is no performance.

I would recommend the dv 333 to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Hitachi DVP305U

Excellent picture and sound quality, Reading of CD-Rs,CD-RWs

Tray noise, remote control.

This is a continuation to my review from 11/21/00.

Well, for reasons explained below in my review from 11/21/00, I replaced my Pioneer 333 with a Panasonic dv-30.

comparisons between Panasonic dv30 and Pioneer 333
-Panasonic is $50 more expensive than Pioneer
-Panasonic does NOT play CD-Rs and CD-RWs; Pioneer CAN play CD-Rs and CD-RWs which are burned in VCD format (if your CD burner does not come with the software for burning VCDs, than you'll have to buy software that can creat VCDs.
***NOTE*** I read somewhere that Panasonic can play SONY CDRWs, but I cannot guarantee it, because I haven't tested it yet.
-Picture quality is excellent on both DVD players. Panasonic has more picture options that Pioneer though. For example you can adjust the darkness of BLACK colour on Panasonic (2 options - lighter or darker), but you can't do it on Pioneer.
-PANASONIC is much more SILENT than Pioneer (I talked about the tray noise on Pioneer in my first review)
-PANASONIC has much better remote control;
-AUDIO quality is phenomenal on both DVD players. Panasonic has some audio options that Pioneer doesn't have (balancing the levels of music and dialogue - you know how they tend to amplify the level of music and special effects on DVDs, 2 extra base levels)
-Panasonic is much more sensible to scratched DVDs... Pioneer didn't skip as much as Panasonic did on a quite badly scratched DVD (rented from Blockbuster).

So, each player has its strenghts and weaknesses.
If you want a good DVD, for a cheap price, (that can play burned VCDs), and if the little bit of tray noise and quite poorely designed remote control don't bother you, than this DVD player (PIONEER 333) is a player for you.
If you're a perfectionist (as I am), than I'd suggest that you pay $50 more and buy Panasonic dv30 (but beware with dirty and scratched DVDs!).

If you need any more info, don't hesitate to contact me on my email above.

I still give this DVD 3 stars.
(panasonic dv30 would get 4 stars)
and 5 stars will get only the hi-end DVDs which are too expensive for me right now.

I still think that this DVD is good for the price you pay.

See my earlier review.

I have fully tested this player, yes, the picture quality is fine and the audio quality is fine, the features are fine, yadda yadda yadda. Bottom line is that when I purchase something new, I expect it to WORK, not partially work, not work when it feels like it, but WORK all the time. Everyone brings their biases into a rating system such as this. My bias is that things should work and my rating system reflects that. And as I pointed out earlier, I'm hoping this is a one time blip from Pioneer and *when* moreaudiovideo.com sends me a new fully working player, I'll be more than glad to come back in here and tell everybody and rate it appropriately. Until then, it gets a crappy rating because it doesn't WORK they way it's advertised to work. If others have a problem with that, then look at all the glowing reviews of this product and buy accordingly.

Plays different formats: VCD/SVCD/CDR/CDRW. Price. Component output.

Jerky FF and Rev. No zoom feature. Backlit remote would be nice.

Got a great deal ($144 shipped) on this unit in early December from 800.com.

This unit has played over 20+ rental DVD's and 30+ VCD's without any problems. Although on couple of the DVD's I did noticed the background color fading (it gets dark and then bright, dark and bright again). This happened only on some of the scenes, not sure if it's the DVD or the DVD player.

The picture and audio is great even on my old Sony TV and aged home theater system. I played couple of the audio CDR's and they all sound pretty good. Overall, I highly recommend this DVD player!

BTW, if you want to buy this unit, find the lowest price online and go to sears store and have them price match it. Good luck.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 2200, Toshiba 6200.

Plays all DVDs I've tried well

Really poor remote, bad key layout, unspeakably bad FF and FR, poor quality control

It plays movies very well and does a fine job on CD's as well. The remote is just plain bad.

This is the second unit I've had. The first made popping noises when switching audio modes (in and out of Dolby Digital). I sent that back and got another that did not make the popping noises...for about a month. Now it makes the popping noises, too. Pioneer has QC problems. I would not buy another.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 1200, Hitachi 305U, Panasonic 30

Crisp sound and picture. Has all features you may possibly need (unless you really wanna get fancy). Resume feature (this is a very cool feature that I have not seen on any other players). 1 YR parts AND labor. Easy setup and usage. Plays CD-R and CD-RW disks. True 96/24 output.

No Zoom (if anybody cares). Feels light and Looks and a little cheesy (but most DVD players are built the same way anyway).

This unit is very quick. Pop the disk in and the picture or sound comes up right away and it plays everything. I mainly chose this player due to the high ratings of it's predecessor, Pioneer model 525 and since they had made improvements on some of the features on this newer model, I thought it was a really good deal. Especially since Pioneer is backing this product for a full 1 year (parts and Labor) as opposed to the 90 days other manufacturers provide. Below are the highlights for this player:

Key Performance Features:

High Speed Loading - Faster by 30%
High Speed Resume -Faster by 50%
10-bit Video Signal DAC for high-quality DVD pictures
96KHz/24-bit Audio DAC for superb sound quality
Twin-Wave Laser Pickup for CD/Video CD/CD-R playback
Dolby® Digital and dts® Digital Outputs
Component Video Output
Pioneer Exclusive Viterbi Error Correction for Superior Reading Accuracy
Personal Modes (Audio and Video Settings)
Still Play (Field or Frame with Auto)
Still Step Play Forward and Reverse
Program Play (CD Track, Video/Chapter, Title)
Slow Motion Playback

Convenience Features:

New Remote Control
Setup Navigator for First Time Setup
Advanced GUI(Graphical User Interface) with Non-Stop operation, Basic/Expert Mode
Program Memory (Chapter/Title) (DVD)
Resume Play (DVD,Video CD)
Condition Memory (DVD)
Continue Play Memory (DVD,Video CD

I highly recommend it. Enjoy!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony 330, Toshiba 2200, Philips 751.

Looks, Plays everything, Optical & Coaxial audio out!, Value, Sound and Video output Fast load times and menu changes.....

Remote .... it does suck, but it works, A little noisy if not in ent. center(not bad though)

Well seeing how I had the DV-525 and loved it, borrowed it out and then sold it to him, I must of had a brain fart and bought the Toshiba 2300(POS!!) So after that little turd was returned to the store, I quickly came to my senses, went with the new model pioneer DV-343(at that time it was new) and I am happier now than before. This model has great picture quality and sound with fast menu changes and scan rates. The pausing that some have described is normal and its JUST LAYER CHANGES!!!! What really is amazing is today you can get so much fidelity for such little cost. Speaking of cost I just saw where this player is "Back to School priced at $419" WHAT?!?!?! I THINK NOT!!! $200 should all you pay for this model and cost is around $150-160. I have this going into a 53" Sony HD and when an anamorphic DVD is played.... W O W!!! Say "Movie Theater quality" just make sure that the DVD menu is on 16:9 and so is the TV.
There are a couple of small negatives, but they are very small. Remote.... as everyone has said before "It sucks", when playing and there is a little noise when there is little sound, and the player does have that "empty" feel to it. These so called "downfalls" have no effect on the picture or sound quality and hey... thats all I am looking for. Great player and recommend it highly.

Similar Products Used:

Creative DVD(comp), Pioneer 525, Toshiba 2300(JUNK!!)

picture, audio and versatility

a little noisy on menu mode

I have owned this dvd player for 6 months now. The unit only gets a little noisy in the menu mode. When I am in play mode the noise is gone (and thats not because I have the volume to high). I have had zero glitches on movies. I have had no freeze frames even on rented flicks and I love this dvd player. My brother has a Denon and his freezes often. Im not knocking Denon because my receiver is Denon and I love it. Im just saying that every line has lemons. If you are worried, buy it at Costco because they will let you return it with absolutley no hassle. I would recomend this product. If you dont believe me, just look up this unit on some home theater web pages( dont remember off hand which ones but if you brouse around, you will find something) and read the budget reviews. I have read a couple of great reviews on this player for budget player of the year. I would say at least audition it.

Similar Products Used:

toshiba, rca