great entry level player, nice on screen set up, plays everything thrown at it, DTS and DD ready, fast load times

none for this price

I have had no complaints with this player. It plays CD-R and CD-RW flawlessly. I have also played a multitude of discs at it, the most recent is The Patriot with Mel Gibson. Some of the scenes have a lot of colors and even with a composite video hook up looks good. I have had no problems with this player freezing or skipping on almost all discs. The only thing it has skipped on was a very scratched CD that I played on it. DTS and DD discs play flawlessly through a coax connection to my receiver. Perfect fot college kids on a budget like me, and for those who are stepping into HT for the first time.

Similar Products Used:

first DVD player

Good picture, optical and RCA digital out

Cheap feel

This machine is connected to Yamaha RX-V595a receiver using an optical audio cable and an S-video cable. The receiver is connected to a 27" Sony Trinitron (through S-video) and a set of 5 Paradigm speakers.

A lot of people are complaining about this machine freezing up or having strange video problems. I have watched at least 50 DVDs on this machine and the only problems I've ever had with the picture or with DVDs freezing up were caused by filthy DVDs, i.e., rentals that were encrusted dirt. My recommendations is that people inspect DVDs before putting them in the player and wash them (with cold water and a soft cloth) if they are dirty.

Overall this player performs very well and plays everything I put in it, including CD-Rs and VCDs. In my case, it performs double duty as a CD player and DVD player. Picture quality is as good as my TV can reproduce and audio quality is also very good (although my receiver is doing the decoding).

Overall, this is an inexpensive high quality product that I would recommend to anyone looking for an entry level DVD player.

Good downconversion, good picture quality in general, 96/24 DACs, CD-R/CD-RW support

Cheesy, flimsy remote. Poor on-screen menus.

The DV-333 has wide support for video/audio disc formats. It'll play standard DVDs, audio CDs, Video CDs, and Super Video CDs. It also is compatible with both CD-R and CD-RW discs, allowing you to play VideoCDs or Super VideoCDs that you've created on your computer. It can even play Video CDs with non-standard resolutions, or in the European PAL format.

Picture quality is very good, and matches any other non-progressive scan DVD player that I've seen or used. Downconversion (conversion of anamorphic video to non-anamorphic for non-16x9 TVs) is quite good, and is better than many other players.

The player is very lightweight, and does feel somewhat flimsy (cheap). But that hasn't affected the use or performance of the unit. The disc tray is also rather flimsy -- be careful not to put too much pressure on it while loading or removing discs!

The remote control is very cheaply manufactured, although the button layout is fine. This wasn't a concern for me, since I use a different ("universal") remote.

It's apparent that this player was designed to be very inexpensive to manufacture, but nonetheless it's a very good budget player. If you don't mind the cheap remote and don't require MP3 capability, seriously consider the Pioneer DV-333 or the newer DV-343!

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic DVD-A300, ProScan 8680Z, Toshiba SD6200

i take them all back. Doesnt matter much abou cd playback, its a DVD PLAYER

BRIGHT...dim...BRIGHT...dim...BRIGHT...dim...you get the idea. I thought my eyes were going bad but its the player. Oh yeah, did I mention it doesnt get power any more?

Look for my DVD collection for sale on eBay. 2 seperate g0d damned players bit the dust on me. To the others about picture fading bright and dim on this player...its not just you. And no, its not hooked up to a VCR either...its directly S-Video on my tv. (Im not THAT stupid-well actually I must be a retard for buying this thing) Apparently this fading is a trademark of the 333. I didnt waste my time calling customer support, the POS went right back to Sears. Also, it seemed to not like to be turned on either. Wont power up 8 of 10 times. Thats ok...wouldnt want to disturb its nap on the way to the junkyard. Im sticking with VHS. This DVD thing is really pissing me off. Never had one problem my entire life with a vcr. no firmware upgrades, freezing, picture fades...this technology is not perfected for mass production. No wonder spielberg and lucas dont want their films on DVD. Its a crappy technology!

Similar Products Used:

Samsung 709

Plays several disc formats; allows component video hook-up; for the price, a great bargain

Poor remote, lightweight and feels cheap

Did a lot of research on inexpensive players before settling on the Pioneer DV-333 and have not been disappointent. Hooked up to a Toshiba Cinema Series 32" television through component video and the picture and sound are excellent. Have not had some of the problems others have described so either they're bullsh*t or we've been lucky.

What I will say on the negative side is that the player has a cheap feel. For example, if you put a disc in and manually close the tray (who doesn't?), depending on how much force you apply to do this, the machine moves up to a half-inch or so before the actuator engages. Also the remote is poorly designed. Very small buttons and even smaller labels... unless you have good eyesight or an excellent prescription, you are going to have trouble using it. However, these are what I consider "minor" negatives... it pales to the performance of the machine.

Overall, I have been very happy with the player. For the price, it is a quality "starter" or second DVD player. Hope that I am still impressed when I eventually hook up through a receiver and a speaker system.

Similar Products Used:

First DVD player

-DTS
-Picture
-Sound
-Price
-Reads CD-R's and CD-RW's

-Remote
-No fancy "Extras"
-Layer Change Pauses

If you are looking for a cheap, but very good DVD player for the money, I would highly recommend this unit. I've never had any problems with any DVD's I've used with this player, it or VCD's. The picture is very nice, as well as the sound. I haven't done side-by-side comparisons, but I do have a critical eye, and have enjoyed this player very much.

The only complaints I have is that on certain discs, there is a momentary pause when it switches layers. Nothing big, but slightly bothersome. The other is the remote, the layout and buttons leave little to be desired... For this price, and the quality of the video/audio, this is an excellent way to venture into DVD territory.

Good Luck, and make sure you're TV has at least an s-video input. The quality jump from standard RCA to S-Video is *much* bigger than the jump from S-Video to component.

Similar Products Used:

-Sony Playstation 2
-This is my first DVD Player

I have no idea!

None that I've seen so far!

Hey guys! Well, so far I've had no problems with this DVD player! But how did I pick it up for $89? Well, it was out of box, had no manual, and no remote. So I'm left with the question, WHAT'S THIS THING CAPABLE OF? I've read (from here) that it plays CD-RWs, is very good at playing every single DVD, and it's a nice little guy. But could someone fill me in on some of it's other features? It would be much apprechiated! Just e-mail me. Thank you!

Flint

P.S. It's value is 5 because I got it for $89, the Overall value though, I put it at four because I don't really know what it can do.

Similar Products Used:

PS2

none

cheap build, noisy, remote too small, will not read sometimes

Before buying my first DVD player i read many reviews on this site for dvd players in the $300-$400cdn range. I chose the 333 based on comments given in these reviews, now i've learned a lesson......very few people who write these reviews know diddly squat about the gear they write about. Do yourself a favor, buy anything else.....this player is a peice of junk. First of all, its so light that pushing a button makes it move backwards, the buttons themselves are cheap, it's noisy as hell, and worst of all it refused to load many of my audio cd's. This thing would groan and grunt and spin a bit and then groan and grunt some more until it would spit my cd back out. At first that happened maybe 1 or 2 out of ten times, by the time i returned it it was refusing my music 7 or 8 times out of 10. Now for a little story.... This summer i bought myself a pair of Paradigm studio 60's and a Nad C350 to go with it. I got my new gear set up using my 333 as a cd player and was really anoyed at the sound i was hearing, there was so much sibilence, not just on the sssssss sounds, f's,t's.....it sounded like sylvester the cat! So i started to do some testing.....my satellite receiver, and my ps2 displayed the same crappy sound hooked up through the Nad....so i was starting to be suspect of the Nad being the culprit, until two days ago. That was the day that Sears sent me a Sony DVD player to replace the Pioneer that obviously had some warranty issues. I hooked it up, put on various CD's and could not beleive what i was hearing, cymbals sounded like cymbals, voices were up front and smooth, there was "space" all the sudden, and detail there never was before....i took a deep breath and was releived that my Studio 60's nor the Nad were responsible for the behaviour previously noted. The sony DVD player is a 5 disc tray and cost only about $100 more that the Pioneer. The lesson i've learned through this is that the source is all important, the pioneer 333, the sat receiver, and the PS2 are not high quality sources for music. A DVD player is probably not the best source for music anyway.....i will be buying a decent cd player soon and expect more improvements in sound, that being said i'm quite impressed with the huge difference the Sony has made in my listening pleasure....i'm not a huge Sony fan..but at least in this case.... Hooray Sony!

Similar Products Used:

Sony dvd player

excellent picture, sound, ease of use

paid to much as it is now available for $200 Canadian.

This is my first DVD player and I'm very satisfied. I also use it as a transport and run the signal through TOS link to an MSB Link DAC III for CD music reproduction. I've played CDs through it without the Link DAC and it sounded very good except that the music sounded a bit veiled and the bass was somewhat fuzzy. Hats off to Pioneer for making a very good affordable product.
There are some people that have stated a disk read problem on some DVDs/CDs. I've found this a few times myself on CDs only and all that needs be done is that the CD needs to be turned a little and then the player reads it OK. Something to do with the different manufacturer encoding methods probably.
I've never had any other problems such as freezing and as far as that is concerned I think that people should stop shopping and cheap discount chains where you can possibly get seconds.
As for DVD Audio, that's the only thing lacking from this player and I'm sure that Pioneer is taking it's time to refine an affordable player to market in the very near future. Since most repair shops can't properly align and install lasers and a laser life span is roughly 5 years it is not worth spending more than $300-500 Canadian on any DVD player with DVD-Audio capability as you will have to throw the unit away anyway. That is IF any parts are available after 5 years.
I hope Pioneer comes out with a player just like this (or a slimline version) with DVD-Audio.

Similar Products Used:

none

EVERYTHING!

I THINK IT IS UGLY

I LIKE THIS I GOT IT FOR $100 IF YOU WANT IT FOR $100 GO TO AMAZON.COM AND TYPE IN PIONEER DV-333... YOU GET A $50 MAIL-IN-REBATE. AND WHEN YOU GO TO ORDER IT IT HAS A SLOT FOR A COUPON TYPE IN "AMZN-ELEC-TRNC" THIS WILL GET YOU $50 OFF A $200 PURCHASE. THE DVD PLAYER IS $199.94, JUST MISSES THE $200 MARK, SO THAT MEANS YOU GOTTA ORDER SOMETHING CHEAP. LOOK AROUND IN ELECTRONICS AND FIND THE CHEAPEST THING, I GOT A $3 SPEAKER WIRE. IF YOU GET IT BEFORE 12/10/2000 THEN SHIPPING IS FREE. THIS IS A GREAT UNIT FOR THE PRICE I PAID AND SOON YOU WILL PAY TOO. $100, THATS LIKE STEALING IT! I ORDERED 3.(ALL AT DIFFERNT TIMES) I SOLD THEM ON AUCTION SITE EBAY.COM(TM) AND GOT I KEEP ONE. I SOLD THE OTHER TWO, ONE FOR $175, AND THE OTHER FOR $125! SO I GOT MINE FOR FREE PLUS A $25 PROFIT! THAT IS JUST AN OPTION. ORDER THREE SO YOU CAN GET YOUR MONEY BACK. IF YOU WANNA CHECK WHAT THEY GO FOR ON EBAY.COM, JUST TYPE IN SEARCH PIONEER DV-333. BYE BYE BYE

Similar Products Used:

TOSHIBA DVD