Pioneer DV-333: Improvements Noted, Even Better for <$300
Written: Nov 28 '00 (Updated Nov 29 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Improved from previous model, fast startup, search and resume, plays CDR and CDRW
Cons: Ugly duckling, bad remote
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| NYCattitude's Full Review: Pioneer DV-333 DVD Player |
My sister bought this DVD player per my recommendation of the discontinued older model I own and reviewed, the DV-525. She wanted a DVD player and the local electronics store was having a good deal on this model ($250) so, I urged her to buy it. I was at her house baking a Turkey this Thanksgiving so I had an opportunity to sample her Pioneer DV-333. I wanted to see if Pioneer listened to my gripes about their older unit, and made some refinements to their new unit. I brought over my newly purchased copy of Gladiator - whatta flick! and popped it into the DVD player.
So this is a third or fourth generation DVD player from Pioneer. They should have gotten it right by now, don't you think? Well? they did. From an operations standpoint, they fixed the slow startup problem. You still lay down the disc onto a wobbly tray but the start time is on par now with other current generation DVDs. It's got fast startup, fast search and fast resume. Resume is a feature standard on most DVD players that allows you to stop, not just pause, a movie to get a beverage, check the scores on ESPN and resume play from the exact same spot you left off (minus a couple of frames). The resume on this player is almost instantaneous.
They fixed the remote too, although it's not even close to perfect. This new remote is slightly contoured at the menu navigation buttons and you can feel your way around in the dark. Unfortunately, they did not make any major changes to the layout and all navigation is still cramped near the top of the remote. It's still not as intuitive or as ergonomic as Sony's (Sony DVP-S560D) remote control. Keep in mind that you will need to use the menu navigation buttons, especially more so nowadays with DVDs getting more packed and packed with special features, interactivity and audio and video options. Comfort with remote control design is even more important now, forget about clutter.
So with those two important fixes in a DVD player for under $300, you can't go wrong with the Pioneer. Things that have not changed that I could easily observe at my sister's place: same looks, same chassis, same wobbly disc tray, same rear panel hookups. For video, you can do component video out and s-video out, as well as composite (old school). For digital audio, you can do coax or optical as well as composite (analog). There are no redundant outputs, as on the previous model. My sister had it hooked-up old school video / digital audio, but picture clarity and sound were fine on her 20" TV and digital receiver. The Gladiator DVD came with some kind of new surround sound encoding- DTS/ES, Dolby digital 6.1. I'm not sure if the Pioneer or the receiver didn't know what to do with it. Maybe I didn't have it set up correctly in the Pioneer menu. There was no sound until I switched the DVD sound option back to Dolby 5.1. I'll have to figure that one out one day.
It's still plays CDRs and CDRWs without any major screw ups. I have a couple of ripped CDs that are a bit scratched from my Case Logic and the tracking jumped around a little bit when I tried to play them. In general, I find that the cheaper the DVD or CD player, the less likely the player is to be able to handle scratches gracefully. You get what you pay for.
For this particular new DVD player, you get a little more for your money than for the previous one. Don't get me wrong on this one, I'm not becoming a Pioneer-whore. If you don't like the chassis' looks, don't buy it. If you don't like the amber-clock-radio-display, don't buy it. If you don't like the cheesy remote, don't buy it? If you don't like Pioneer because you hated that nifty Pioneer Karaoke Laser Disc Player that your dad bought, don't buy it.
I still recommend this product for people looking for a low-priced DVD with all the basic functions. Would I buy this model now? No, I'd wait until the Sony Playstation 2 (PS2) becomes more available. The PS2 is under $300 comes with a more-than-passable DVD player and plays CDs (and games, duh) although you have to purchase the remote control separately or use the wired game controller. You can also look into the Sony DVD player (Sony DVP-S560D), still the current model and still my current fave, that I mentioned in my review:
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-6DE5-20279259-39EC5EC5-prod3
Also in the below $300 price range, the Toshiba is very popular. I bought the SD2109 for my mom for Christmas 1999, and it's still working well (although it has another horrible remote). I believe that it has been replaced by the SD1200.
You can also check out my review of the older Pioneer model DV-525:
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-EBD-41F8C96-39B03E8F-prod1
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
NYCattitude
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Member: Jackson Ning II
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Want a little a-t-t-i-t-u-d-e thrown your way? Just ask.
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