Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is hot. And Pioneer's DV-525 player is a popular choice. With good reasons. For one, the 96KHz/24 bit digital output delivers superior-fidelity from DVD discs. For another, the DTS digital output means the ultimate in theater sound, along with a Resume Function that lets you stop a movie and then resume playback where you left off. You also have a Component Video Output that brings you enhanced picture quality on component-compatible TVs. An auto-gain level adjustment cuts the disc-jitters. And it has a good memory - the DV-525 recalls set-up conditions (language, subtitle, aspect ratio and mode) for up to 15 discs. When connected to a receiver or amplifier with a Dolby Digital or DTS decoder through either the optical or coaxial digital outputs, you can enjoy the phenomenal experience of video through five discrete full range channels, whether for stunning sound effects or crystal clear dialogue. 10-bit Video D/A Converter delivers faster video signal processing than conventional methods, minimizing digital artifacts for enhanced digital video quality. Twin-Wave Laser Pickup Equipped with a 650nm laser diode for playing DVDs and 780nm diode for playing CDs, Video CDs and CD-Rs. Bit-Rate Meter provides a display of the average bit-rate being used to decode the video from scene to scene, giving you an quantifiable indication of the effort put into the mastering process. Serious moviephiles will enjoy using it to compare transfers of various films. Multiple Viewing Angle Capability gives you the ability to select viewing from various camera angles on DVDs encoded with the feature. Currently it is seen mostly on informational productions. DVD A-B Repeat allows you to program a "start" and "end" to a DVD segment that you choose, and continuously repeat as you determine. It's great for trying to learn those old Clapton licks, or using with instructional videos.
Pioneer has long been the leading force behind laser discs and is now a strong contender in DVD players. The DV-525's picture quality is whistle clean and palpable, in part due to Pioneer's own Twin Wave Laser and Viter-Bi RF Decoding Process that reads past and corrects signal encoding errors. This deck passed the problematic "Matrix" test with aplomb, and also glided perfectly through a finger-smudged and scratched-up rental disc that did not play on another DVD machine.
This DVD player also deploys jitter-minimizing digital server circuitry to smooth audio CDs as well as video discs. If you desire a buttery sound, lacking in metallic digital brightness, this is your ideal playback partner. It's also one of the few DVD players that can properly play CD-R discs made on a home burner (another product category where Pioneer is very active).
Given its modest price, we can't expect the DV-525 to be the most feature laden of DVD machines. For example, there's no visual fast-scan option, and the remote control is not backlit. You get just one pair of composite video/audio outputs in the jackpack--along with component and S-video, digital coax, and optical audio outputs, but no headphone jack.
Still, the basic performance needs for movie and music playback are all well met, and the deck does offer some cute special touches, including picture black-level adjustments to compensate for your specific viewing situation. The dynamic audio adjustment is especially useful for late-night screenings of discs heavy with explosive sound effects--so you can damp down the blasts without wiping out the dialogue track as well.
If you're looking to jump into DVD, this Pioneer will gladly show you the way.
Pros:
Rock-solid video reproduction Audio performance free of digital edginess 480i component video outputs Both coaxial and optical audio jacks Bitstream data monitor capability Cons:
- Nonglow, non-universal remote control
- No headphone jack
- Limited trick play options
Using Pioneer's exclusive Twin Wave Laser pickup, the Pioneer DV525 DVD player reads DVD, VCD, CD, or CD-R discs. This player offers 10-bit video processing, a 96 kHz sampling frequency, and a 24-bit resolution audio converter with 96 kHz, 24-bit digital output. The Pioneer DV525 DVD player also features Pioneer's exclusive Viter-Bi RF Decoding Process for improved DVD error correcting capability. A digital servo provides precise data reading, while automatic gain level adjustment minimizes jitter of individual discs.The Pioneer D525 design include a resume function that lets you stop a movie and resume playback from where you left off; an onscreen display in English, Spanish, and French; and an ergonomic remote control. A memory function recalls setup conditions such as language, subtitle, aspect ratio, and mode for up to 15 discs. Other options include selectable background color and the choice of 48 kHz or 96 kHz output.
1 STILL THE ONE FOR ME
I know not many people may be after this little beauty because its at least 3 years old now. But I have to say mine still has the best interlaced picture I have ever seen. I recently upgraded to a Sony for the SACD capabitlities but, in a head to head picture face off in interlaced mode the little Pioneer roared ahead. It plays any DVD I throw in it. and the sound piped thru my Outlaw 1050 is great. It has a little noise at first then it fades away, layer changes are as fast as any DVD player Ive owned and the picture thru the componet connections to my 32" Phillips tv is stunning. Many people have asked me about the DV-525 when I first got it and Im so glad I did. If one is around somewhere you may still want to get it. It is alot more basic than todys units but it does what it does so well. Im also very pleased with CD playback. It seems to pick up very subtle sounds on yhe disc and relays them quite smoothly. I have used it as my CD player as well now for the 3 years I have owned it. All I can say is Highly Recommened.
2 No VCD or DVD+R support
This is a very dissapointing unit. The error correction is lousy.
If your CD is lightly scratched you are out of luck with this player.
It does not support VCD's (they say they did on the manual).
Also no support for DVD+R.
3 High quality audio & video playback
I bought this player in 2001, about 18 months ago, and I have had no problems so far whatsoever, performance has been very impressive. I have connected it with regular components, a Panasonic widescreen TV, a Sony surround receiver. The Pioneer's been reliable and above all good quality, it shows the expertise of Pioneer in the field of disc players.
4 The importance of being earnest
The most important consideration in buying a DVD player for me is the colour. What you don't want when you have a black Sony television with matching black video player is a silver DVD player sitting underneath it. That is a bummer. When you're facing it in the chair it ruins the whole look. My mum says it's something to do with Feng Shui. But let's leave the Dutch out of this. I know about aesthetics and it just looks plain screwy when you're sitting there and something ruins the whole tech look of the piece. It makes you look like a cheap bastard. Do I look like a cheap bastard? That's a rhetorical question by the way, you don't have to answer it. Anyway, the problem is solved by buying a black DVD player. Now everything matches. Apart from the name 'Pioneer' which I was forced to scratch off. So I was sitting there admiring my new DVD player when my mum comes into the room and points out the gap between the video recorder and the DVD player. A big gap. The gap looks big because the 'Pioneer' DVD player is thin and the video player is fat. It's a disparity that wouldn't be there if the DVD player was fatter and the video thinner. Anyway, she says the gap is so not Feng Shui. I don't want to hear it. I keep her around to buy me DVD's, not go on and on about Holland. It does bother me, though, so there's definately something in this Feng Shui lark. Anyway, I sent her out of the room to iron some of my shirts so I could check out some DVD's on my new player. Now for the picture quality. Well, the trouble with a daylight scene, is it ruins the general blackness of the unit if there's a streak of white in the middle of the television. It's not such a problem with a film like 'Count Yorga, Vampire', which has a lot of nighttime scenes. With 'The Phantom Menace' there are a lot of scenes set in the desert which you know is very bright. So I didn't purchase that particular DVD. I mostly just watch vampire movies. I stick to wide screen DVD's because that cuts down the amount of distracting white ruining your unit because it has black borders. I won't get a widescreen television because it illiminates that extra black. They're called anamorphic DVD's. I originally thought that meant something changing into something else (hopefully black) but it doesn't. It's to do with distortion. I'm getting more technically minded every day and now I know what's important. The film 'Pitch Black', for instance.
I wish in some ways I had bought a Sony DVD player because some models allegedly have a problem with a sign cropping up saying 'No Disk' or 'Dirty Disk' which then causes the player to refuse to play anything. This is great because it solves the problem of white on the screen by leaving you with a totally black screen and hence a totally black unit. But there's a draw back to all new technology and unfortunately mine has no 'No Disk' sign. Well, it does if you genuinely don't have a disk to put in.
The picture is sharp and the owls and bats look good. I've painted some cardboard black and stuck it behind the television thus covering the gap between the video and DVD, thus solving the Feng Shui problem. I'm very happy with this player and I think the whole unit looks very good now. Really cool and black.
But why is the remote grey?
5 BUYERS, BE AWARE.
I had 2 DVD players made by Pioneer. They are nice machines... for a little over a year. Then the warranty expires. The problem these players seem to have has to do with poorly designed dual laser pick up (one - for DVDs, the other one - for CDs and Video CDs). The first player I had stopped playing CDs and Video CDs, I got the other one - this one stopped playing DVDs.
On the positive side - the picture is very good, so if you are after a short-term buy go ahead, otherwise look for another brand.
6 What else could you need?
This is a relatively cheap DVD player with all of the basic options that you need: letterbox V.S. pan-n-scan, Different dolby outputs: DTS v.s. 5.1, and a well thought out remote control. I love this thing.
7 Awesome Sound and Picture Clarity
I bought this amazing player around 12-14 months ago when DVD's were still not that popular and CDRs were also kind of new. This has by far been the best player within my friend circle ecause it could play all kinds of DVDs/VCDs and has played all the DVDs including the rental scratchy one's from Netflix. It has boat coaxial and optical jacks which work well with my home theater system and sound quality is amazing.I can play all the CDRs and I've even tried playing VCDs (burned from Roxio software) and it's just great and works like a charm.
Even though it's an old model from Pioneer, it's stil the best.
8 This is a great machine
I purchased the Pioneer DV-525 at a local Best Buy. A friend had the same unit so I knew of the capabilities of this machine. I basically wanted a DVD player that could play CDR (in addition to professionally made) VCDs. Many DVD players (if they play VCDs at all) will only play professionally made VCDs. This player will play them all. When Best Buy put it on sale and included 5 free DVDs, it was mine. I use it with a Terapin VCD recorder. I play more homemade VCDs than DVDs in this player. The quality of this Pioneer player is awesome !!!
9 I'm very happy with this machine
I purchased this machine a couple of months ago. I have to say that I'm very happy with the machine. Setting it up was simple. The picture is great. Setting up the video preferences is a piece of cake - if the screen looks warped (as it did the 1st time I put in a 4:3 aspect ratio film), you can easily change the setting to fix it. Most video (and some audio) features can be changed on the fly (the menu comes up over the movie), so you can adjust the picture settings easily, a much appreciated feature.I can't really comment on the audio, as I simply have it plugged in through my television. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the audio settings (there is a feature that supposedly allows you to dampen the background noise and bring out the speech, but on the discs I've tried, I can't notice a difference - again, this may be related to the lack of audio equipment). Switching between languages and/or subtitles is a little more cumbersome than switching video, in that you have to actually stop the movie, but still straightforward (and the movie restarts right where you stopped it).
The remote is easy to use. I have a couple of minor complaints. 1. There aren't any buttons on the actual machine - since pretty much everything goes through the menus (the play button is only good for restarting after pausing, it seems), they should put those buttons physically on the machine. This, of course, is a general complaint of all electronic equipment made in the last 10 years. What happens when the dog gets hold of the remote? 2. The slow motion (frame by frame) manipulation is difficult/non-intuitive. You really have to play with the buttons to figure out how to change speed, etc.
I looked at a few machines before purchasing this one, and would make the same choice again. Recommended for the DVD neophyte such as myself.
10 Pioneer DV-525
DVD is hot. And Pioneer's DV-525 player is a popular choice...With good reasons...It has a Resume Function that lets you stop a movie and then resume playback where you left off. You also have a Component Video Output that brings you enhanced picture quality on component-compatible TVs. An auto-gain level adjustment cuts the disc-jitters. And its got a good memory -- recalls set-up conditions language, subtitle, aspect ratio and mode for up to 15 discs. Below are some features that might help. DVD Player Type - Single DVD Player Built-In Digital Decoder - No DTS Compatible - Yes Simulated Surround Sound - Yes Video D/A Conversion - 10 bit Audio D/A Converter - 96kHz Sampling Frequency, 24 bit Resolution Video CD Compatible - Yes DVD Audio Capability - Yes Headphone Input - No Remote Control - Standard Component-Video Outs - 1 Composite-Video Outs - 1 Coaxial Digital Outs - 1 Optical Digital Out - 1 S-Video Outs -1 Karaoke Controls - No Multilingual Display - Yes On/Off Display - Yes Warranty-Parts (years) - 1 Warranty-Labor (years) -1 The DV-525 Is A Good Choice For A 1st Player...With The Standard Features And Pioneer's Good Reputation With Laser Products Make This A Player That Will Last For Years... Chris Prinzivalli
11 Sound better that it looks
This player has advanced picture and sound quality for its price. It out performs JVC and Toshiba in the mid-low price market because it has higher picture resolution and better sound. It is certainly true in this case that a mid-price DVD player can sound better than some pricier CD players (I am comparing it to Nakamichi SS-8b). Only some audio specialist brands like Rotel and NAD have CD players that sounds better than this DVD mechine. The remote is adquate, but not great. I examined the components inside the player and found that the design is very clean and economical, and the quality of this player is better than how it looks from the outside.
12 Glad I bought it.
Very good picture and great sound. I've had it for several months now and no mechanical problems so far. It actually plays my audio CD's better than my normal CD player. It had many standard features compared to the other DVD players I looked at.Only thing I didn't like about it was the awful remote control with it's small, badly organized buttons (although I noticed recently in the store that this model now has a better remote). Also, the spinning of the drive is a bit loud. It was noticable during the quiet parts of a movie. Overall, I still think I made a good decision buying this player.
13 Not Perfect.... But Close Enough
Although the complaints about this player are true, that should not stop you from buying this machine. I investigated, read over 500 reviews, and asked around. I heard about the pros and cons of this particular player and decided to buy it. I am very pleased with the results.PROS- Great picture, Great sound, Dolby Digital ready, Plays damaged discs with ease, and Overall a great player.
CONS- (these are really picky) Drawer a little noisy when opened and closed, Dialouge not as loud as music or sound FX, and Remote buttons a little small and not backlit.
The pros far outwiegh the cons in my opinion. If you are looking for a DVD player that is easy on the wallet, look no further than the Pioneer DV-525.
14 Pioneer...THE NAME SAYS IT ALL!
After having owned this DVD player for about a now for 3 1/2 years ...I feel that I made a great choice. (Replaced by the 333 and then improved again with the 434 Progressive Scan model in 2002.) I had been thinking about getting the Pioneer DVL-888. THE reason...Well it was not only a DVD player, but it plays Laser Discs, (Pioneer WAS the Major Player in developing this format!), CD-Video's, and KAROKE DISCS! They are really only the ones to get this type from! (It has a competition mode in it for Karoke: total up the scores of players, and a lot of other neat stuff, like mic imputs and on-screen scoring, etc.) Well, the old cash on hand was practically bare'n, so I said let's go for it and get the 525! I bought it and got "PATTON", Windham Hill: "WINTER SOLTICE ON ICE" (GREAT MULTI-VIEW DVD)and "Mannheim Steamroller LIVE CHRISTMAS CONCERT" (has discription of the songs and the players as an optional feature). Since then "WALKING WITH DINOSAURS (Excellent 3 HOURS with an added 29 minutes of how-did-they-do-it scenes you can option to play at the same time as the whole program! NEAT!) This player comes with S-Video and component RCA outputs, as well as component video outputs. (NO RF or Cable outs, why would you? YUCK!) Component video is something you usually see on expensive players. This player also has two ways to hookup for the audio DIGITAL SIGNAL: 1 each of optical and coaxal (RCA JACK). YES, you should get a DOLBY DIGITAL RECEIVER not just a 'READY' one or a SURROUND SOUND ONLY. It is the only player to have a 15 memory position in it to remember how you like your DVD to play everytime! Can't get that on your bargin basement players or even some of the so called great players! Hookup was easy. With my multi-control link to my Pioneer receiver I have TWO controls to operate my DVD. I didn't have any problems accept staying awake to play with the "New Toy" I had a few problems understanding the directions and finding things like the digital rate info., BUT WOW what a picture on my 14 year old 25" SONY XBR and my Sheffield CD's NEVER SOUNDED SO GOOD. (Direct to vinyl record Co. and for-runner of the BEST recording techniques in the business, does DOUG SAX ring a bell?) ALL my CD's sound much better than my 10 year old cd changer with then the latest 1 bit chip. I'm hooked up to Pioneer VSX-D606S Receiver, THE FIRST DIGITAL RECEIVER ON THE MARKET!, and a complement of JBL SPEAKERS, the mains are RS-52 2 way's 6 1/2" that will take all 105 RMS WATTS PER CHANNEL (4x125 Music Pwr=500 Watts) that the receiver puts out in Dolby DIGITAL SURROUND! The Sub-Woofer is Line Powered. Remember, the sound you get is only as good as the system you've put together! If you've got crappy speakers you'll get crappy sound! I'M GLAD, I'VE GOT A REAL GOOD PLAYER FOR THE MONEY. I've heard nothing but bad reviews for the Toshiba's and "too expensive" for the Sony's, even tho the Sony's are good players. GET one, you'll enjoy it better than buying a "bargin one" at TARGET or K-mart. I'm an ex-stereo salesman and it took me a LONG time to decided. Once I saw the new 525 in action, it didn't take any longer, just the amount of time to get out my credit card! Check out the NEW COMBINATION UNITS> DVD's with Speakers and Amplifiers included! Good values now starting at $[...], what used to be the SALE PRICE THIS DVD 525, I still OWN! See the PIONEER's, THE SONY's, THE PANASONICS', and the more expensive, KENWOOD'S, ONKYO'S, and DENON's for more combos!
(Updated Aug. 11, 2003)
15 VERY IMPRESSED!
FOR ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING A DVD PLAYER, LOOK NO FURTHER. THE PIONEER DV-525 IS VERY IMPRESSIVE; THE TV SCREEN IS CRYSTAL CLEAR AND CRISP AND THE SOUND IS TRULY AWESOME. YES! THE REMOTE IS NOT BACKLIT (BUT I DON'T CARE ANYWAY! ). JUDGE A DVD PLAYER ON HOW IT PERFORMS, AND GUESS WHAT? THIS MACHINE PERFORMS!
16 GREAT QUALITY @ LOW PRICE
It is good to hear that people in the USA also know a good product when they see one! Here in SA I bought a Samsung DVD-Player and after about a year it let me down, BIG time! After months of browsing I stumbled apon the PIONEER DV525. I'm a Pioneer fan and the look of this player is typical Pioneer design. As for picture and sound you can't beat this. Although the remote is not backlit, it's still user friendly. I found that the sound is best when the optical cable is used. As for brightness in picture.... (I found it perfect), adjust your set just a bit. Sound will always depend on your amplifier. With my setup I'm using a Pioneer amp. in Dolby Digital mode and blasts in "The Rock" and "Con Air" had me jumping in my seat. HAPPY VIEWING ON ANOTHER GREAT PIONEER PRODUCT!
17 It is great, but if I had to do it all over again . .
I compared several DVD Players (Phillips, Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic & RCA) before deciding on the Pioneer. I really thought the Phillips would be a small margin better but bought the Pioneer to go with my new Pioneer Reciever and it was cheaper at Crutchfield. I loved this player when I first hooked it up. Fabulous picture, easy set up, great sound. Heck, I even like the remote. But I have noticed some little things that I do not like. When the DVD moves to the next chapter there is a slight pause (very evident with "The Messenger"). It is only as quick as a blink, but it is there. It also flashes "SEARCHING" on the screen when moving to the next chapter. That is kind of distracting. The dvd drawer and startup are a little loud but once I put it in my entertainment center I couldn't hear it. I have played "The Matrix" on it with no problems. I only had one incident with a movie. The DV525 freaked out when I played "Story of Us". It just stopped mid way and the picture jumped all over the screen. I couldn't get it to do anything but jump around. I finally just shut off the power. But now the DVD will not get past the menu on that movie. All the other movies I have played on it have been fine. I put in all of my DVD's after that incident and they each played great. The DVD "The Story Of Us" was a rental so it may have been scrached or something. I am praying that is what it is. Overall I am pleased with this unit. The problems I mentioned are very picky little things. It wasn't enough to go through the trouble of exchanging it but if I did it again, I would have bought the Phillips DVD825AT.
18 Skips and Glitches
This is a nice DVD player but about 1 out of 5 DVD movies are starting to skip and stutter, this is after these same movies played just fine on my roommates Toshiba player! Cleaning the DVD doesn't help and the discs look fine. Too bad...I hate taking things back to the store, but I've no other choice.
19 Purchase delayed due to research, well worth the wait!
After about two months of reading reviews and asking questions, I had it narrowed down to the DV525 and Toshiba's SD1200. Both were on sale last weekend. The latest issue of Home Theater magazine has a good article on the Pioneer, but was still worried about the dark picture I was reading about, also the artifacts on the Toshiba display. I wrote to the author of the review; he was kind enough to respond and reiterate his thoughts on the Pioneer being a worthy DVD player. He then pointed me to the technical editor of the magazine who had more hands on time with both players. The T.E. also responded (same day!)with what finally swayed me; Both are excellent players, but if it were him purchasing, would take the Pioneer for a 4:3 display, and the Toshiba on a 16:9 display. Sold to the man with the 4:3 set. Took about 10 minutes to connect and setup. 30 minutes to calibrate picture (I'm picky and want a clear, sharp display). Started the first movie (Godzilla 98) and could not stop grinning. Excellent picture, great sound even from Pro-Logic receiver. Heard no transport noise at "low theater" volume. No problems with The Matrix. Why only four stars? Nothing is perfect, but I haven't found anything wrong. Excellent player!
20 Better than Toshiba, Sony or JVC on its price range
I've done some research before I bought this and I think this is better compared to all based on price and performance. If you think the picture is dark , that's easy turn the TV's brightness a notch. Thats what they are for. But personally I dont see much or any difference in picture quality on any DVD players if the decoding method is the same. This Pioneer DVD uses 10 bit D/A converter to decode DVD's 8 bit data. All the latest DVD , has also the same D/A conversion capability. If there is anything that can affect the picture quality is your media or your TV. Your TV is not the same as the one in the showroom. To be sure try several DVD players on the same Showroom, using the same TV, DVD media, TV settings, no picture enhancement, audio enhancement, no nothing. I will guarantee you theyre all the same picture quality wise. On the audio side, if you hear any difference positive or negative compared to other DVD players,..... Just commobn sense, what does it do to degrade the sound quality? Nothing in fact it can even do 96Khz frequency sampling. Twice more than a CD which is 44 Khz. Honestly now, can you hear 96 Khz? You could not even hear more than 20 Khz.... And why would you want to pick up the audio on the DVD itself using its analog stereo output? Pick up the digital signal using the fiber optic or the coaxial output. What you get there is digital data. 0's and 1's representation of the analog signals straight from the DVD, no more, no less. And feed this to a dolby digital or DTS decoder capable A/V receiver. Now thats where the degredatuion happens when its already converted to analog. Digital is not subject to signal interference or noise generated from the equipment itself. So the quality of your A/V receiver and your speakers is what makes a good sound on a home theater system, not your DVD player. So what makes this DVD player head and shoulder above the others, specially compared to Toshiba! Its because it has all the features relevant to a good DVD player. Plus it has all the features of comparable DVD players on the market which is 100 dollars more compared to its price.
21 Excellent Player!
I just purchased this DVD Player on the basis of all the reviews I've read here on Amazon.com. I currently have the unit connected to my 32" Mitsubishi TV using the S-Video option (Monster Cables for all connections), and to my Pioneer Dolby Surround receiver(not digital, haven't upgraded yet). The results are truly awesome! Even without an AC-3 receiver, Dolby Surround with DVD still sounds a ton better than my VHS tapes! I've played "The Matrix" and "Blade" without one blip, stutter, or glitch, and believe me, I was watching for them! Even the two lightly scratched DVD rentals I watched spun through without a hitch. I've read that review about the remote...I don't see one problem with it. It has a typical Pioneer design/layout which I am very satisfied with. All in all, I'm glad I stopped at Amazon to read these reviews because they pointed me in the right direction to purchase a quality Pioneer DVD Player that I am VERY satisfied with.
22 Pioneer DV 525 is merely OK
I gave this players every chance before taking it back recently. I have 5 DVD players and have a very good grasp of features and performance. The Pioneer DV525 picture is it's downfall in my opinion. Compared to Toshiba, Sony, Proscan, Philips and Panasonic the picture appears very dark. Even though it offers different setting for cinema, animation and normal there was little change to the picture overall. The audio was adequate but not up to par with other models. The nice features are CD-R,CD-RW, VCD and PAL/NTSC playback which is rare among players. Why did it go back? It simply stopped reading discs after exchanging it TWICE after only a week of playing. The quality is apparently the problem here and may start with it's very cheap design. You can do a lot better with a Toshiba product or the newly released Philips (invented DVD)which have improved dramatically.
23 Smartest Choice
After years of messing around with home audio I finally decided to go the DVD way. I bought the DV-525 because of all the great reviews I read about, I took it home and hooked it up and was literally amazed. I could not believe the picture quality. I thought that the picture I got with normal cable was the best my Panasonic 20 incher would show, but now I feel like I'm at the movies. Hook-up to my Dolby Digi Reciever was easy and I was watching with full Digital surround in minutes. About the remote it really angers me how everyone complains that its too small, I have 9 A/V components, I use ONE remote like all the rest of you SHOULD. The Pioneer remote is just for when the batteries on your universal die, GROW UP..
24 Excellent Machine
I can't see why one would spend alot of money on a high end DVD player when you can get this one for under $300. I did alot of research before buying the Pioneer 525, and you can't get a better machine. Not just good for the money, just a very good machine. You have all three ways to connect this machine to your system. Simple to use, and CD's sound unbelieveable. I have read a few reviews about the tray making a sound when you load a disk, so what. When a disk is playing you can't hear the mechanism unless you put your ear to it. A very good machine by a company that has always produced excellence.
25 Excellent picture and features, and plays CD-Rs!
I have been doing quite a bit of research on what DVD player to get. After looking into a sorts of different brands and I came down to two: the Sony S330 and the Pioneer DV525. For those of you who are not familiar with Pioneer, they were the leaders in developing laser disk players. So DVD is something they know very well. Both have pretty much the same features and picture quality is fantastic (even with RCA connectors). They thing that ended up selling me on the Pioneer is that it will play CR recordable media like audio CD and video CDs. That is a big deal to me because this DVD player doubles as my CD player. I have a lot of CD-Rs with rare music on them. The Pioneer performs flawlessly, no glitches of any kind. I was very pleased. As for the sound quality of the Pioneer I would not be able to say because all the sound is going through my Yamaha receiver. I definitely recomend getting a dedicated audio receiver to do audio decode (DolbyDigital, DTS). It makes all the difference in the world. If you plan on getting a receiver Yamaha is the only way to go. My only gripe is that the buttons on the remote are too small.
26 Pioneer DV525 DVD Player
Top notch for the price. Although I found this for less elsewhere on-line, gave Amazon the order. It arrived in two days. Easy installation. Great picture. Great sound. A little light on the instructions. The on-screen command icons not as intuitive as I'd like. Overall, a good buy.
27 NICE PLAYER
I GOT THIS PLAYER FOR TWO WEEKS NICE VIDEO AND SOUND BUT A LITTLE BIT NOISY WHEN YOU PUT A DISC ON THE TRAY AFTER SPINNING IT WILL GO AWAY.
28 good pictures, good sounds, but a little noisy
I purchased this player two months ago, and i am pleased with it's video quality. The analog audio output is also great (compared to my old Rotel RCD955 CD player). The only defect is that the mechanical noise is quite large when playing DVD or CD and this makes it not so perfect!
29 Looks Good, Sounds Good
I've had mine for a few weeks now and must say that it is a great performer, especially for the price. It plays CD's and DVD's extremely well without making you pay for unnecessary "bells and whistles." The build quality is pretty typical of what you'd expect for an inexpensive player. The buttons feel light but ok, while the tray is a little bit noisier opening and closing than I'd prefer, but tolerable. The remote buttons ARE small and close together, but the player works fine with my universal remote (since I used the DVD remote to set the player up, that is.)
I use the digital output (copper, not fiber) for CD and DVD audio and the component video outputs. The picture is very crisp, and the sound is very clean and dynamic. My CD's have never sounded better.
My only nit is that the Scan feature for DVD's (i.e. scanning forward or back while watching in order to get to a particular scene) is a bit "clunky." It either crawls along, hardly faster than normal play, or else races so fast that you pass the scene you were looking for. This is the only thing that my VCR does better (it's seek speed is adjustable from the remote). Scanning audio CD's works well.
30 Excellent player!
Being fairly critical of electronics, I did go and look this gift horse in mouth. Results: I am so COMPLETELY pleased with this player, both from my experience and what I've found by post-mortem research of the competition! Especially nice: the "resume" feature that mimics the handling of a VHS tape: you can press STOP, power it off, and then come back and pick up where you left off automatically. One MINOR drawback is Pioneer's obsession with tiny remote control buttons which are a bit hard to find and use in the dark. But, I was able to compensate fine by using my All-in-One universal remote, which was the plan anyway. One feature that would have been nice: a pass-through S-Video that toggles between the player or a line-in; I had to buy a selector A-B-C-D switch since my TV only has one S-video input. No other wishes or complaints. Picture and sound on any movie (esp. "Matrix") are rock steady and look and sound fantastic!
31 High Quality at a Low Price
I just purchased the DV525 and found it to be of better quality than my first sub $300 dvd player which I took back because it had a hideous display on the front. The DV525 has all the feature I think I would ever use when playing a movie. Picture quality is very crisp. I like the ability to adjust the picture for Animation or Cinema. It make a huge difference on my older TV. Costco $229 with the Pokemon DVD included.
32 Great Player
I got this player about 2 weeks ago. It's fantastic. It has all the outputs I need (Component video, Svideo, etc.) No problems playing any DVD's even the Matrix. The warranty is even beyond what you get for most players in its price range. Very happy with this player.
33 Stop looking,start buying!
I have had this player for 2 weeks and I can't find a single thing wrong with it including the remote. I have viewed about 10 movies without any picture or sound quality problems including The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan. All discs are superior to a VHS in picture and home theater sound but the discs in THX mode are not to be believed. The price is very reasonable and if you are reading this review you will see dozens just like it. If you spent thousands on a home theater system you may want to look a little more down the road but if you have a little more than a modest system like myself with Dolby Digital or DTS than this one will compliment your home theater. For price, quality and value you could do a lot worse than to buy this player.
34 Great Machine
I think that if you want a DVD player that this is your bet. It has all the options you could ever want. The setup time is abotu five minutes. IF you know how to setup a VCR than you will will have no trouble. If you are still considering buying one it is really great. The picture and sound are really great. If you are one of those people that aren't going to jump into anything with out testing it, then go ahead and rent one for the weekend. I am going to tell you that it is nothing like a 4 head hi-fi VCR. I say you should go out and buy it. The only thing that you should be scared about is, will it fit. They put little 1/2 inch feet on the bottem, so it is a little taller than in the picture
35 Great for the DVD begginer.
Well, I just purchased the DV525 and i must say i am very pleased. The setup was around 5 min, and could not have been easier. I dont know what all the "hub-bub" is about the remote, but i dont see a thing wrong with it. Its a simple design and easy to use. The main features that drew me to this particluar model was the duel laser pick-up, and the simple cosmetic design. I would recommend this player for the begginer or those who want to up-grade their current player. All in all the features compared side by side the higher priced players, and costs roughly $50 less. All in all, I looked high and low and finally decided to get the DV525.
36 Amazing! 5 stars for sure
I got this player for Christmas and it Rocks! I will never forget when me and my Cousin put in a copy of the Mummy. When the Menu came up, we both looked at each other in AWE. Picture quality is great and sound is superb. I am a very picky person and have no problems with this player. I compared prices and features for months before buying this player and My preparation payed off. I will save you the time. This is a great Player. The only complaint I might have is with the remote...It is kinda small but You can get a better one if you want. I have had no problems with any disk including the Matrix.
37 Solid Performer
Home video will never be the same. Pioneer delivers a great unit that features stunning video and sound quality. Imagine watching a concert on DVD and being able to see all the fine hairs on the performers arms, yes I've experienced it (it was almost creepy). Home video sound hasn't been this good before either, the player delivers the 5.1 audio without fault to my Dolby Digital reciever (Yamaha). With alot of the manifactures including built it Dolby Digital decoders in the DVD players, it's nice to see that Pioneer has opted to let the 5.1 sound decoding be done by that of the reciever (WHERE IT BELONGS). My only complaints are that the display is somewhat bright, you can turn it off, but their are times when it might be nice to just be able to dim it. My other complaint is that the remote is somewhat small and the buttons are all similar in size (they needed to make some larger or changed their shape), and it needed to have some backlighting or glow in the dark buttons. However it is my belief that the size or shape of the remote shouldn't be what the player is judged on, it should be the player itself. Happy Viewing.
38 Good player
I had the machine for a week now and am very pleased with. Picture is excellent and the sound is very good too. The only problem I have is with the remote control. It is too small and cluttered. Buttons are small and it is not ergonomic at all. I was comparing it with Toshiba 2109 but the built quality of the Toshiba is disappointing. Pioneer is much nicer product with more features for the same price.
39 Pioneer DV525 DVD Player
I purchased this player after reading glowing reviews at Amazon. Although the picture quality is great, I had tremedous tracking problems in the middle of viewing the MATRIX. The sound levels really fluctuate widely with voices low and sound effects and music way too loud. And the remote is terrible. The buttons are so small I have to put on my reading glasses to use it.
40 Great Quality, Great Price, GREAT BUY!
For starters, the TV hookup was very easy using their color-coded audio/video jacks. After some very easy on-screen setup menus, I was ready to watch my DVDs... and WOW! The clarity of the picture, the sharpness of the sound. Really wonderful! I read on other reviews that some players can't handle more recent DVD releases. Well, this one handles them all! I watched Christmas Vacation and then Pleasantville and You've Got Mail with no problems.
41 Good Quality
I've had the player for about a month and its great. I have no complaints, it was a toss up between this player and the panasonic A-120. After i heard about the A-120s hit and miss quality i went with the Pioneer. No regrets, an excellent machine.
42 IT'S GREAT JUST LIKE THE OTHER HIGH PRICED ONES.
THIS THING IS GREAT. IT HAS GREAT PICTURE QUALITY AND GREAT SOUND QUALITY. IT HAS A LOT OF FEATURES AT A GREAT PRICE. ALSO PIONEER IS A GREAT NAME. YOU WONT BE DISSOPOINTED IF YOU BOUGHT THIS DVD PLAYER.
43 one awsome machine
received it for my birthday have not been disatisfied with at all, not only was the price right , the picture quality was great and the sound quality above average,easy hook up . you needed to go out and buy one you won't be disappointed.
44 Great Player on par with higher priced products
After having owned this DVD player for about a month...I feel that I have made a great choice.. This player comes with s-Video and RCA outputs.. as well as Component video outputs.. something you don't see on less expensive players. This player also has a optical digital out for connecting to a digital 5.1 reciever (yes.. you will need a full reciever, not just a 'ready' one).I find that the picture quality is superb, even using my yellow rca vidoe out on an old sharp 25" tv... all the way up to a Proscan 32" tv. Hookup is easy with NO hassles. Sound is excellent when simply hooked up to your tv.. but you will need a decent reciever to hear the 5.1 or DTS audio.. Remember.. the sound is only as good as the speakers / system you hook it up to... most small built in tv speakers just don't do DVD justice.
45 Not so good
This model is probably based on 505/515 - i heard it - sound quality just isn't good enough. It's not deep and detailed enough. Video performance and features are good. But if you're planing to hear CD's on it - forget it and take something else like Toshiba or Yamaha. You can check Pioneer 717, Sony 7700 which are superb or Kenwoods - but all of them are more expensive. Don't try to save 50-70 bucks because you'll regret.
46 Great dvd! replacement for 414! Dolby and DTS outs GREAT!
I have watched this player in a store and in internet I have searched for its features, is amazing, is as good as 414 and maybe better. Right now in this week im going to buy it, then im going to tell you its pros and crons. Remember it is newer than 414, then it must be better!
