Customer Reviews

Pioneer DV-F727 301 Disc DVD / CD / CD-R/ and RW Player

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I first purchased a Toshiba 3109 and then a Panasonic 220. Both units had typical dvd sound and picture quality and were fairly easy to use. But some of the features that I wanted were either missing or difficult to use. Also, I am very lazy, and when I had an occaisonal whim to see a portion of of a movie that was not already loaded, I usually did not bother. The Pioneer more than satisfied any disatisfaction that I had with the other players. With 300 + 1 discs available, a quick touch of the shuttle made any disc immediately available. The display menues are incredibly versatile and easy to use compared to other DVD players. And finally the picture was equal to the others, but the sound quality was MUCH, MUCH SUPERIOR. The price may be higher, but dollar for disc and overall quality and features make purchasing this Pioneer DVD a no brainer.

This is a nice changer with some interesting features, but the user interfaces is lacking.

Pros: The "Best" feature allows you to save a chapter to a last-in, first-out list. Press the "Best" button the remote to save the current chapter. When not playing, pressing "Best" plays back the chapters saved. Great for storing those awesome scenes. Pressing next chapter takes you to the next saved disk/chapter.

Digital Noise Reduction. Very nice and highly customizable for those DVD's with lousy transfers.

Single-Loader: Easy to pop in a rental DVD and play.

Cons: Size of Title/Artist fields are tiny and very difficult to fit text into.

Difficult to create play lists

Only displays title on unit display - which is horrible when looking for a CD named "Greatest Hits" and you have several stored in the unit.

Over all a good unit, but comparsion shop and see if there are better user interfaces available. I have no qualms about the display or audio quality.

I purchased both the Sony DVPCX995V and the Pioneer and compared them side by side. I took the Sony back and kept the Pionneer. This was to simplify the kids life (load all their DVD's and not have to worry about finger prints, scratches etc). The menu is fast and easy and compared the Sony, this thing quickly rotates the the chosen disc. Having to constantly re-enter titles on the Sony was what did it in for me. I haven't had any issues at all with the Pioneer. Remembers all the disc titles even when I am shuffling the discs around for better organization. Well worth the money!

Pros: Quick and easy menu, remembers DVD titles, quick searching for DVD titles.

Cons: Only enter 12 characters for titles, no HDMI, or other High Def output.

I'm not going to talk about the convenience of 300 disks in one vault. That's obvious. My complaint is that complex scenes with motion, particular motion in the vertical direction, degenerate badly. It's truly embarrassing given that my kids' Playstation 2 offers better video from DVDs.

Specifically, complex textures look as if they have not been antialiased. They shimmer and stutter as they scroll past. Since this is something that will irk me every time I use the device, regrettably I'll be returning it and getting something else.

I have several DVD players and the picture quality and sound on the DV-F727 is very good. The lack of usability actually comes with loading and maintaining the disc inventory.

It is NOT STATE OF THE ART, that for the TITLE as well as for ONE ARTIST there are just 12 characters, despite the GUI interface and the mouse and keyboard. I do like this product, but it obviously never went through some USABILITY testing. I can only hope that there will be some software upgrade available. I seriously recommend the product, but be aware that the nice part - the disc database is MORE THAN LIMITED.

I bought this unit to hold my entire library, which it does, but won't in a very short while! The machine has never had any malfunctions such as jammed discs and it gets a very good workout. sound and picture quality are excellent. My number one complaint is that the settings spontaneously change, indicating that the machine is plugged into a widescreen TV. I have a 4:3 TV, but all my movies are widescreen. For some aggravating reason, the player will spontaneously start showing the widescreen movie in FULL screen because it thinks the TV is a WIDE screen unit, even though i have set it numerous times to 4:3!! then i have to stop the movie and change the setting back (for the 30th time) so it will play properly. also, they could have allowed more characters for title input, but that is a minor gripe. the user interface can also be a little clumsy, but i can't complain too much about that either. I would recommend this machine even with its comparitively high price tag.

I got this DVD player just a couple of days ago and watched a few movies and played hours of music already. I am very pleased with the sound and picture quality it offers (I use S-video and Monster co-axial cables). This is my first DVD player. The setup is quite easy and straight forward. The keyboard input for titles is nice, but the information you can input is more than limited. Nice search functions though. The remote control is a very good one, very easy to use and convenient. One thing I would ask for is the display turn-off like the Pioneer 704 laser disc player's Film Mode. I can turn off my receiver's display too. So the bright blue light and big amber display is somewhat distractive during the movie. I don't have digital input on my TV, so I could not compare that with the S-video. But as far as compare to the laser disc, it's very close unless you pay good attention to it or play at lower speed (laser disc is better). Overall, it's a well built player, but there is definitely room to improve.

I found that the best feature on this unit was the ability to plug in a computer keyboard to edit the DVD/CD's. The only problem was the amount of letters aloud for each name (had to abbreviate alot). The sound quality is excellent and the picture second to none. The Pioneer F727 also fit in the same amount of space as my old CD player that held only 61 disks. Very glad to have purchased this model dvd/cd player.

I bought this unit and set it up with component video cables, most movies play well although some movies with dim scenes are blacked out losing many details. Adjusting the gamma, brightness, and other settings did not help. I contacted Pioneer email support I was referred to their M-F 8-5 phone support, called the tech and he stated 'it's broke, send it back' with the perceived intent of finishing the call as soon as possible. I called back and got the same tech who seemed put out that I called back and putting me on hold for a few minutes the stated 'it's broke' again and wouldn't diagnose further. Working with email tech support after this I got much better support and more detailed diagnostics steps to take (has helped some). Aside from darkened imaged and poor phone support this is a nice product.

Pros: easy of setup and use, good quality image with component video
Cons: darkened images on some movies, no HDMI output, and poor phone support.
Overall a good product that has reached end of production cycle. I'd advise waiting until Pioneer released the new version of this unit before purchasing so that you get the HDMI abilities. Many poor reviews of the Sony models steered me away from that manufacturer.

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.