Customer Reviews

Pioneer DV C503 - DVD changer - black

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I selected the DVC503 because I wanted a multi-disk DVD player with excellent image and sound quality, Dolby and DTS support (but no decoder built in), but also as a replacement for my 3-disc CD player. So CD and CD-R support was critical. CD-video support is an added bonus, but I can't see myself using it much.

The DVD image quality is superb -- it is definitely worth using the component video outputs if you have a TV that supports them. I have seen other DVD players run into problems with scratched DVDs and/or highly compressed scenes giving poor picture quality. No such problems with the Pioneer. The player loads DVDs quickly and starts playing them quickly, and I have yet to come across a DVD that doesn't work -- even with a wide variety of DVD's of varying quality from netflix.com.

Regular analog stereo sound is great, and the unit performs very well with regular CDs -- sounding just as good as my old NAD CD player. Digital audio outputs go to your external Dolby and DTS decoder via coax or optical interconnect.

I took off one star for the fact that the unit often does not recognize audio CDs. You have to open the sliding tray, re-seat the CD and try again. Reading the Amazon reviews, this seems to be a problem for lots of DVD players, but it is still irksome. On the other hand, the Pioneer does have a CD-only mode which makes the unit behave more like a regular CD player for those times when you just want to listen, and this goes a long way to compensating for the CD recognition problems.

The Pioneer remote is logically laid out and easy to use. The on-screen menus are simple to understand, and once you have the unit set up it's unlikely you'll need to use them again. The Pioneer remebers where you were on a DVD if you push the Stop button, so that you can pick up exactly where you left off. Some other DVD players don't seem to have this option.

The price of the unit seems very competitive to me, especially when I compare it to single DVD units that often don't have component video output. I have no need for a built-in Dolby digital or DTS decoder, as any recent surround-sound receiver contains those functions already. There's no point paying for extras you already own.

I am glad I bought my Pioneer DVC503, consider it good value and would recommend it to anyone.

I did a lot of research before buying this player. And it paid off. If you want a good 5 disc player that plays CDR's or VCD's flawlessly? Look no further. I primarily bought this to replace my CD Player which was dying and this full 24bit DAC sounds amazing. The bass defintion compaered to my old Technics is like comparing apples to oranges.

THe Video is just as good for a player in this price range. Good features, fast loading, great sound and a good picture. A bit thin on scanning features but so what. The only con I have found, is the drive is a bit loud when playing DVD's. So if your placing it very close to your viewing seat it could be annoying. Remote is fair, could be better. But it's more than usable.

I'd buy it again!

I wish I could have found more info on the various changers available prior to buying this unit. I was down to comparing two specific units: the Pioneer 503 and the Sony 660. If I had better information on how the Sony handled CDs and CDRs, I'd probably have bought it, as I think the DVD replay is superior in that unit versus the Pioneer. Since Sony doesn't claim the 660 will play CDR's but Pioneer does claim it for this unit, and since I only have space for a single changer for both CDs and DVD I went with Pioneer.

What I Like: The 503 plays DVDs fine, CDs fine and CDRs fine (individually).

What I don't like: The 503 only has one speed scan forward or reverse on DVDs, and it does this in a "step" fashion showing a short frozen snip of a next scene 30 seconds or so further ahead or behind on the track. Versus multiple speeds (fast and faster forward/reverse) and a smooth continuous picture. A bit hard to find an exact scene your looking for and to stop at the point you want. Next dislike: The 503 doesn't recognise some CDs or CDRs right off the bat. Here is the test I used: I loaded the unit with one DVD, 3 CDs and one CDR, then played back using random all discs. The unit doesn't try to play the DVD (good), but only goes between two of the CDs randomly selecting tracks, skipping the 3rd CD and the CDR all together (bad). I could force the unit to "see" the other discs by manually skipping on the remote (it then would stop on all CDs and CDRs) -- go figure...

All-in-all this is an ok combo unit for the price, however I wish someone would do a thorough review of the Sony DVP660 and reveal if it can play CDRs. Maybe I'll buy one and keep the one that can "do it all"!

Initially I had no intention of buying a regular DVD player, but when my Playstation 2 wouldn't play some of my favorite DVDs I started shopping around.

I mainly focused on this player and a 5 disc Sony DVD. While the Sony player was a comparable and nice piece of equipment the Pioneer model had everything I wanted in a DVD player and more. It plays CD's so I was able to take out my CD player when I got it home, and I could also watch VCD's on it as well. The last selling point over the Sony model was it was much more inexpensive [..at the time].

What sold me even more on this player when I got it home is it's features. I was able to set the screen color when I change DVDs, it has adjustable letterbox and widescreen modes (a necessity for any big movie buff). Last of all is that I am a huge anime Otaku and it has a feature that enhances all of the colors in animated DVDs, making them seem more vibrant and thrilling.

With all those features, great picture and sound quality, I don't see how you can go wrong. I've had this player for 6 months and have never been disappointed by it.

I like this DVD player. At first i picked up a Sony 660, which I like very much but it didnt play my cdr's. Which is pointless. So I returned it for the Pioneer DVC503, which I have had no problems with at all. I have it loaded with 3 movies and 2 cdr's. The Video and Audio quality are class A and the setup was easy.

My only gripe is the remote. The buttons are kinda small and its not lit up, but I can live with it. Its worth the money and it will play your cdr's. I have never encountered a problem where the player didnt recognize a disk, ever. I give it a thumbs up, you cant go wrong with the Pioneer DVC503 DVD...

Here's the story behind why I got this player and why I would again:

* If you're like me and don't have an HDTV you can first off rule out the need for progressive scan. This player doesn't have it = "so what?" * I don't have the space for lots and lots of components, so I really wanted a multidisc player that had CD-R recognition. This enabled me to get rid of my old cd player. * Had to have component output. Wouldn't want to start out with something obsolete.

If you've got the same wishlist and criteria, this is the one. I'd have no qualms buying it again. Look around .. you can probably get it for ~$.. if you're patient and look through all of the online electronics vendors. I got it through Amazon because I wanted to redeem some gift certificates.

one final plug: if you want to research and compare electronics you ABSOLUTELY MUST check out..

you're welcome

This is a fabulous DVD player! I have had it for about 9 months now, and I have had no problems whatsoever! The sound is great. The picture quality is fantastic! It's easy to set up the first time out of the box and has more advanced settings for the hard-core entertainment system lover.

A huge plus for me is the ability to program across chapters between DVDs. For those of you who are scratching your heads, wondering why anyone would want to do such a thing, let me explain: For those of us who choose to exercise at home,the DVD medium offers the opportunity to mix and match sections of various DVDs to customize our workouts. When you do the same videos day in and day out, you can get tired of them. Or there may be times when what you want in that day's workout just doesn't exist on a single video. Mixing and matching allows you to get exactly the workout you want each and every time, assuming what you want is available on DVD. Want to do abs at the end of your cardio but the workout doesn't have them? No problem! You can tack the abs from another workout on without any tiresome fast forwarding or rewinding. Short on time? Why not program a workout where you do the warm up, 1 of the 3 sections, and then the cooldown? Can't decide who you're in the mood to workout with? Do a section or 2 from each of your favorites! Again, so FF or REW required. Having this feature available is a huge plus, and is the reason I ultimately chose this particular machine.

I did want to correct a previous reviewer who said that the 503 only has 1 FF speed, and it requires a 30 second jump. There actually are 3 FF speeds. None of them are a nice, smooth, frame-by-frame FF, it's true, but certainly enough so that you CAN find the spot you're looking for.

My one and only complaint about this machine is the remote. The buttons are small and the layout is not intuitive for me. It did take me a little bit of time to learn the positioning. But that's a small price to pay for such a great DVD player! :-)

This DVD player was a bargain! I got it at [retail sotre] in the summer of 2000. I was looking at a nearby Pioneer single-disc player, and when I noticed that this one was only about $25 more I immediately became interested.

Picture quality is great! I have not had any problems with any DVD's and it works beautifully with my Sony KV27FS12 27" Trinitron WEGA Stereo TV or my Pioneer VSX-D409 Surround Receiver.

Bit of advice: Although CD's sound just fine on this DVD player, I found that it's just not the same when you don't have a dedicated CD player. Somehow it just doesn't replace it!

GREAT DVD PLAYER

Just like the person from Wisconsin, I bought a Sony 660 DVD/CD player, hooked it up, and found out it didn't play CD-R. (The book says this as well.) That makes it worthless. I returned it and bought the 503 from Pioneer. I like it. It is simple to use and lacks some of the more advanced features of the Sony which I would never use anyway. It does exactly what I ask of it and was ... cheaper with the current ... rebate from Pioneer.

Along with this set-up I also bought the Philips 980 home theater system. I looked at more expense models but this one sounded the best.

I've had this player for four months now and have been very impressed by it. Initially bought it on the strength of pioneers reputation and once again, have not been dissapointed. Didn't plan on getting a 5 disc, but saw the price and jumped on it.
CD/DVD button switch is a little annoying but a very minor inconvenience. Over all, this player rocks.