Pioneer DV-563A-S DVD Player

This is DVD Player to me seems like a dying breed ...

Strengths: Slim design. Built-in Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 decoder for older receivers. Friggin' awesome PureCinema Progressive.

Weaknesses: For what I paid and how it performs, not a gosh-darn thing.

Summary: This is DVD Player to me seems like a dying breed that I see less of at department stores. Pioneer is a magic maker when it comes to home theater components, so I thought I would give this one a try.

I have a 32" Samsung HD TV (TXM3296) and a Sony 5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS Receiver (STR-K840P) and have been using my Xbox as a DVD player. I used it with Component Cables made for Xbox by Monster Cable. So far it did what I wanted it to do until I heard that playing DVDs wears on the drives. And I intend to play Halo 2 non-stop without having to buy another 'Box.

I know I could have picked up a decent Progressive scan player for 60 bucks at Meijer's. (Which is exactly what my friend did at the same time and he now considers all Toshibas to be noisey DVD players.)But I didn't; I wanted something above normal standards. Something that I could be proud of and not have to say: "Oh, yeah. I got one of those, too...."

I love the picture from this player so much it makes me want to watch every DVD I have all over again but in Progressive Scan. Mind you, I'm using top dollar Monster Cables that cost $60. (If you spend $999 on a TV, $60 isn't too much more to get full picture quality.)

The multi-speaker outputs are generic, but the coaxial is a good performer; and the optical is even better, but that port on my receiver is reserved for my Xbox. The extra format SACD-compatibility is nice, but I have none to try it out. All I know is I have watched the Matrix Reloaded car chase scene dozens of times on my Xbox, but when I popped it in the Pioneer I fell deeply in love with this player.

It doesn't get better than this. I feel blessed to have gotten this player. If you have HD-TV and Dolby Digital-capable receiver, then get this player. If not, get a cheap Sony instead.

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In the two days I have had this machine it has pla ...

Strengths: SACD, DVD-Audio, DVDR (-/+) support, VCD and SVCD Support. Excellent quality A/V and a sleek design.

Weaknesses: SACD, DVD-Audio and DTS support only through multi-channel analog outputs not Digital Outputs.

Summary: In the two days I have had this machine it has played everything I have thrown at it! Unfortunately, my receiver does not have multi-channel inputs, so I can't play SACD, DVD-Audio or DTS multi-channel through it. There is an option in the menu to convert DTS to PCM, but this really defeats the purpose of DTS...

Overall I would recommend this unit to anyone that needs a new DVD player over any unit in the same price range.

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I am very impressed with the both the sound and pi ...

Strengths: Great sound and picture

Weaknesses: None that I am aware to date.

Summary: I am very impressed with the both the sound and picture quality, which is what I was seeking from a DVD player. I also am pleased with the variety of optional play back formats it is capable of using. Though I have not used it for SACD playback yet, I did have a couple of electronic stores tell me that this Pioneer DVD player was one of the best and most reasonably priced player for the format.

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I would recommend this unit to anyone looking for ...

Strengths: It does everything a DVD player should. It plays all the formats...has great sound....the video looks first rate....and all, at a reasonable price! What more could ask?!

Weaknesses: The layout of the buttons, on the front of the player, seems a bit odd. They're spread out...not grouped together, as I'd prefer. But, this is a minor complaint.

Summary: I would recommend this unit to anyone looking for a nice upgrade, at a very reasonable price. All around a good deal, and a great player!

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This is the first DVD player I bought for my home ...

Strengths: 1. Cheapest universal DVD player for DVD-Video/Audio & SACD 2. Ultra-quiet operation 3. Nearly all the outputs one will need (component/S-video/composite, digital optical/coaxial/6-ch & 2-ch direct

Weaknesses: 0 for the money you paid.

Summary: 2004-01-05 14:18:08 This is the first DVD player I bought for my home theater system. I bought it because it can play DVD-audio and Super Audio CD, as well as DVD-video disks. For the money you paid, you can't go wrong with this DVD player. It's not a high-end DVD player, but you should be satisfied unless you have a high-end speaker system.

The first thing I noticed about this DVD player is that it's ultra-quiet and never stop playing a disk. It's fairly easy to set up, though you have to connect it to a TV. It has almost all the connections you will need, though it doesn't have a DVI-D output. But this isn't really its weakness, because 99% DVD players in the market now don't have DVD-D output anyway. For the 1% DVD players which do have DVD-D output, they are not universal players.

I watched a few DVD-videos through the component video output and digital optical (both Dobly Digital 5.1 & DTS 5.1)/6-ch direct audio outputs. The videos are crispy and I can't tell any difference from the DVI-D output of my HTPC. The audios for both Dobly Digital 5.1 & DTS 5.1 are crystal-clear and very strong.

I have also tested a few DVD-videos I backuped with Nero Burning Rom on DVD+R and DVD+RW. All of them worked flawlessly and I assume DVD-R and DVD-RW disks will work the same way. Although Pioneer claimed its compatiblity with WMA on its website, it won't actually play WMA disks.

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In its price range, I would consider this player a ...

Strengths: - DVD-Audio AND SACD support - Great Sound and good image quality - Excellent price

Weaknesses: - At this price, none really but ideally, picture quality could be a notch higher

Summary: In its price range, I would consider this player as a well above-average performer.

Now considering it also plays - very well - SACD/DVD-Audio, has an extensive list of features including PAL/NTSC conversion (great when you have family overseas who sends you home-movie DVD's), this DVD player is the ultimate bargain.

Pioneer - CONGRATULATIONS!

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