No Ghostbusters?
Written: Jan 11 '02 (Updated Mar 07 '02)
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Pros: Plays MP3s, Slim design, Component video outs and digital audio out, Nice menuing system
Cons: Doesn't support MP3 ID3 tags, Remote not lighted, Problems playing Ghostbusters (see review)
The Bottom Line: The DV-440 is a great DVD/MP3/VCD and CD player, its many outputs makes it an excellent solution for those who don't have a nice A/V setup now but will upgrade.
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| Spikey's Full Review: Pioneer DV-440 DVD Player |
I purchased the DV-440 because I wanted a "good" DVD player that would last and would play MP3s as well. When I found the Pioneer DV-440 I was astounded at the price, under $200 for a DVD player that plays MP3s!
The DV-440 plays:
- DVDs
- MP3s
- VCDs
- CDs
It will read stamped CDs (the ones you buy with music on them), CDRs, and CDRWs.
The back panel is very easy to understand, I had it working 5-10 minutes after I opened the box. It has outputs for standard A/V (RCA plugs), S-Video, and component video, as well as, Digital Audio Out as both optical and coaxial. I hooked it up using the standard A/V inputs because I don't have a very state-of-the-art home theater system. Even though all the outputs are going through the standard A/V hookups the picture looks very clear, much clearer than our TV stations. The audio seems very crisp (my speakers aren't very good either), I'm sure it would sound much better with some good floor standing speakers and a good receiver using the digital optical out (one day).
The DV-440 has a easily navigable menuing system which allows you to configure it for optimal display (contrast, fine focus, sharpness, choosing your TV type [16:9/4:3], etc) and for optimal audio depending on what you have hooked up to it (using Dolby Digital, or DD/DTS, or PCM, etc).
As stated in the cons section, one of my major complaints of the DV-440 is it's inability to read ID3 tags which are the strings of text you can append to your MP3 files that store the Artist, Song Name, Album, etc. Unfortunately, the player doesn't even recognize long file names, it displays them in the old 8.3 DOS filename format with a ~X on the end. While playing MP3s the player shows nothing on the screen, but you can have it display time left, 8.3 filename, or encoding rate. Hitting "menu" on the remote while an MP3 CD is in the player will give you a menu of what's on the CD. From there you can pick and choose which songs you want to play (a very nice feature). It can browse CDs to one folder deep. From the menu you can also create a playlist very easily using the remote.
The remote is big but fits comfortably in one hand and despite it's largeness, it is easy to operate with the same hand. The DV-440 has a nice Pioneer logo that comes on when nothings in the tray and also if left on or paused for a while (about 10 minutes) it has a screen saver that wipes the screen over and over. It's pretty entertaining. Both of these options are selectable in the setup menu.
Getting to the Ghostbusters title... I bought Ghostbusters (the special edition version) brand new and it doesn't play past the 16th chapter. The last video frame freezes on the screen and the audio becomes very choppy.
UPDATE!!
(March 6, 2002)
We rented the same dvd (Ghostbusters Special Edition) from the library and low and behold, it worked (all the way through)! So it must have been a bad print, nothing wrong with this player! For lack of a better title, I'll leave the one I've got.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 179
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Epinions.com ID:
Spikey
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Member: Greg
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 1 member
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