Good Sound,Picture

A zoom button would have been nice.

This is a fantastic DVD player. Trust me, if you are looking for a good quality DVd player this is it. Althoug it looks simple, it's remote has all the features. Very easy to use and fun.
All I can say is that I have had no problems with this DVD player and it is one you should look at. The first movie I watched was Enemy of the state. Very good quailaty. I also watched The Mummy.
Also very good. Well done to Pioneer for this great product!

Similar Products Used:

None.

Good picture, responsive, seamless scene and chapter changes

Flimsy / light (only 3 kgs!), no smooth fast forward, can't change aspect during movie, can't disable macrovision. Bass on CDs a litte light

This is a review of the DV-535 (525 not sold in NZ). Only had it a couple of days - more movies to try.

Compared various Sony, Panasonic and Philips machines around this price (NZD$800). Got this one because its multi-region and came with a 3 year guarantee (from LV Martin's) and plays CDRs. I don't know if its a function of the movie or the player - but you can't change aspect ratios once the movie has loaded - you can however eject the disc via remote, change aspect and re-load it. Manual seems reasonable - but doesn't do a great job explaining the effect of the various audio / video settings. The unit has a plastic front and seems light. It doesn't perform quite as well as my 9 year old Denon CD player. The Denon has far more authority in the Bass (Michael Jackson's Dangerous - track 14) - the 535 seemed somewhat light / empty in that track. People on here complain of the loading noise - yes the tray is a little noisy but you can't hear the drive spin once the disc is loaded. You aren't going to hear the drive whilst watching movies (even at very low volumes). In other words I don't know what they are complaining about. Incase you are wondering, the main differences between the 525 and 535 - the 525 uses multiple lasers & is made in japan (the 535 in malaysia). I'm only using the composite out so bet I am missing out a bit on picture quality. Haven't got an AC3 decoder so only running via 2-channel receiver. Watched Mission Impossible 2 - the soundtrack / music throughout seemed "empty" - again don't know whether its just the movie or player. My older VHS seemed a little more "crisp" and defined playing movie music / soundtracks.

There are cheaper players out there - the Hiteker (aka Apex 600A) and a Teac (for around NZD$500 - $600). The Hiteker does have more features (disable macrovision, MP3 player, zoom, can change aspect on the fly) - but haven't done a side-by-side to compare its video or audio quality or longevity.

On the whole a reasonable DVD player. Wouldn't use as a main CD player (unless your current one is really low end or stuffed).

Value 4 stars - it offers reasonable features for the price and a 3 year guarantee
Overall 3 stars - pay triple the money and you get a DVD player worth 5 stars. I haven't done an exhaustive comparison - so I'll err on the side of a lot of better products being out there.

This product would appeal to those (like me) who have a low to mid-fi system, do not require an excess of features, and would not use it as a main CD player. I've got a few more movies to watch so will post another review in a couple of weeks.

Similar Products Used:

None - just VHS

Everything is very good on this player, very nice picture, sound, and options. A definite A+.

Nothing really. Everyone seems to complain about the remote. IT'S A REMOTE, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY WITH IT THE WHOLE ENTIRE TIME YOU KNOW.

Boy I love this player, great features and picture and sound quality can't be better. I hooked it up to my Yamaha RX-V795a reciever and boy it's good!!! I recommed this to anyone. I just still cant believe that people are still complaining about the remote. The disc tray isn't even noisy, even during playback I mean gosh are you going to listen to the tray during the whole entire movie or something?? No skipping, passed the "Matriz" test without glitches. OUTSTANDING PLAYER!!!

Similar Products Used:

Nothing

It is everything everyone has said it would be. Sound and picture are outstanding.

The only criticism I have is the remote requires my reading glasses. That being said, however, I've quickly learned where the stop/pause buttons are and I have no problem with the way the layout is setup. But, the important buttons could have been made slightly larger.

I must say that I first read about the 525 in September of 1999. I almost bought it then but wanted to wait to do some research and check other models. I also wanted to see if the price would come down. I ended up purchase it just last week at PriceCostco for $225 and am very happy with it. I, too, don't know what the flap about the "noisy" tray is. If I play a movie through my system, I don't hear a thing. I have a complete Pioneer pro-logic system and this piece integrated perfectly. I can't imagine a better picture on my TV and the sound is wonderful. The Pioneer pro-logic system works just perfectly with this unit. And, the 525 has features which will allow me to upgrade my head in the future such as optical and S-video. I'm very pleased with this unit and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a player which provides lots of features for a reasonable price.

Similar Products Used:

Laser disc players but no other DVD players. This is my first

crystal clear picture....even on a 9 yr old TV using a RF modulator. Audio...audio...audio!

everyone complains about the remote...and I will too, but hell I am so excited about the video and audio results that I would not care if it even came with a remote. My wife would never figure it out....but that is the plan!

My friend had a 414...and he highly recommmended it..I called Crutchfield to order, but the 414 was discontiued for the 525. It was $349...then down to $299..then down to $249...then again to $219. I got for a steal at $219 with $50 in DVD coupons...and no shipping charge. My friend got a $25 credit from Crutchfield for sending me to them...what a deal...It came to my house in 2 business days.

Took 5 minutes to hook up...Picture quality, again on a 9 yr old 27 inch Sharp, was superb. The audio, with my pro logic surround sound and Polk audio home theater system is to die for....I love the audio compression feature...

Easy to operate...even with the remove difficulties...just suck it up and learn how to use it!

If Crutchfield has any left...you better get one now!

Picture Quality, Optical out, DD and DTS compatible

remote, no picture zoom control, noisy drive

I bought this player in January 2000, and played a lot of movies and audio CD. I didnot have any problems with MATRIX and lot of other movies which people said they had problems. But, I got FACE/OFF , it was a dual layer disc with dolby 5.1 audio. The player struggled 3-4 times to catch on the 2nd layer. The movie got stuck when switching to the second layer, but after scanning 2/3 times it was o.k. I am not sure whether it is the problem with the DVD or the player. I also had a problem when I was playing an Audio CD after 4 songs the DVD got stuck on the 5th song and would not play that song atall, the 6th song was ok. I donot know again whether the problem is with the CD or the DVD. Apart from these problems the sound output with optical connection is simply superb!!!. The picture quality is also great!!. It is worth the money. But, if you require perfection you better buy something from sony or toshiba. Have Fun!!

Very good quality at very nice price. Nice features (CDR, VCD)

a bit noisy (Not as bad as some claim)

Bought it locally for $279 before the $50 rebate... First unit was bad, but the replacement has been great. The picture quality is awesome, and you can't beat the features for the price. I do not notice it being noisy at all, but my friend has the same model, and you can hear the disc spinning in his. It must depend on the acoustic charachteristics of the room. I have not had a single problem with any movie.

Similar Products Used:

none... first DVD player

Great player. I haven't had any problems yet with any of the DVD's I've watched. Picture quality seems really good. I've also tried some CD-R's and had no problem. The Last Memory function is pretty useful. There are only couple of little annoyances about the player. The loud tray, the tiny buttons on the remote and the unit does seem kind of flimsy, but overall great product. Great value too, since I got it for $150 at Value America. Hopefully I'll get my free DVD's soon and the $50 rebate.

Jin

Optical out and Coax out

The fact that is doesn't work for me.

This item was a problem right from the time UPS charged me an $80 brokerage fee on it.

It freezes at random times on *ALL* DVDs I Play. Even new ones. I don't see any e-mail on pioneer's site so I guess I'll have to call them.

I go this item new off ebay. The package wasn't open or repackaged and was advertised as new and not a refurb. Just didn't work.

I'm leaning more towards a Toshiba now.

very good sound, good image, not expensive, neutral style.

just a little noisy, has problems reading home made vcds.

I bought this dvd player to watch a lot of vcds, and some rented dvds.
Commercial vcds are playing ok on this player. However, when I tried to make my own vcd with the help of my computer, the sound would stop and resume very quickly all long. The image was ok though. Maybe it's because a home made vcd isn't perfect and that the dvd player has not a good enough error correcting device.

For the dvds I rented, Everything was just perfect. The image was clear and the sound was incredible. I particularly appreciated the image fonction offering better contrast for the "movie" option and brighter colors for the "animation" option. For the "standard" option, the image is.. standard.. :)

It can play very well audio cds as well, and this time it doesn't have problems to read CD-R's from your computer.

So, all in all, this is a very good player. It just gives no more, no less than you expected.

Similar Products Used:

none