Pioneer DV-393-S Progressive Scan DVD Player with Div-X

• Plays all versions of DivX® video (including DivX® 6) with standard playback of DivX® media files
• PureCinema 2
• 3 Progressive Scan and 12-bit/108MHz DAC (for Progressive Scan Video Output) for high-resolution video
• Advanced GUI and Disc Navigator for ease-of-use and disc browsing
• Virtual Surround and 24-bit/96kHz Audio DAC for Superb Sound Quality

My reason for purchase. Watching Region 2 DVD's encoded with European PAL format on a US NTSC TV. For less than $100 this item saves having to hack your existing region locked DVD player AND purchasing a $250 PAL to NTSC converter.

The unit does EXACTLY what is claimed. NO fuss and NO bother. Wide range of features allows you to fine tune sound and picture very easily which overcomes problems reducing PAL's inherent higher resolution to the lower NTSC resolution. There are almost no artefacts on picture as a result of this process you might equate the result of the conversion to looking like a small amount of film grain but only on large uniform picture areas of tone and colour. In detailed areas there is no discernable loss of quality.

I possibly had LESS difficulty in set up because I was using an HDTV which accepts Progressive Scan signal thru the composite video cables (which potentially gives the best result). If your TV specification is less then it pays to read the well featured manual as to how to set up for your TV. However by default the unit should work for most TV's straight out the box you can tuneup for even better results if your TV allows by following the well written manual.

There is one potential issue in setup regarding playing non-NTSC disks which my Amazon seller bargain offers had made a point of covering with a photocopy of the relevant page of the manual enlarged and attached to the unit I'm sure it saves them support calls but it was a nice touch and my unit was up and running in less than 5 minutes as a result.

Other reviews of this unit on the web state that the unit is prone to breakdown. It is so hard to figure the context of those reviews (hundreds of others perform satisfactorly and so go unsung? Every unit breaks down?) but for less than $100 this is a great buy.

The Amazon listing of this unit is not clear as to model number at time of writing review (May 20, 2005) the actual model number of the unit received was a Pioneer DV373 and not the lesser 272.

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I am in the United States (DVD Region 1 NTSC) and since I have recently become interested in Region 2 PAL DVD's (think the recent Jane Eyre starring Toby Stephens) I ordered the Pioneer DV-393-S Multi-Zone Region Free DVD Player from Amazon. It came new in a sealed box in about 4 days to me here on the West Coast (which surprised me, as I half expected it to have been opened and hacked in some way in order for it to be able to play PAL).

I was worried about this, because I am NOT the technical type and feared lots of button-pushing to make things work (I can barely program my VCR) but when I hooked it up it played BOTH the UK Jane Eyre (which is a PAL Region 2 DVD disk) and another PAL Region 2 DVD disk that I have RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX with no problems whatsoever, no messing about, no hacking -no nothing! Plug it in, put in the PAL DVD and it plays flawlessly on my NTSC television! Heaven!

I really couldn't believe it would be this easy, so, as a test, I re-connected my old Sony DVD player (thinking that the Sony might play it just fine too), put in the PAL disk and the Sony player could NOT play it. Gave an error message that it was the wrong region.

So what this tells me is that the Pioneer not only will play region 2 disks, but that it also must have some kind of internal programming that converts the PAL (UK) to NTSC (US) because the frame rates are different between the two.

I chose the Pioneer over the other (and some quite a bit less expensive region-free players advertised on Amazon) because the Pioneer had all of the bells and whistles I was used to, and then some: Dolby Digital Surround output, DTS Surround output (to my compatible stereo receiver); it plays .avi disks (which my son at film school uses to record his work to send to me), CD's, Video CD's the list goes on and on! The Pioneer has really excellent user-friendly on-screen menus to navigate, which are used to tweak various audio and video settings. These menus work flawlessly with the provided remote.

I am hearing impaired, and I was delighted to find out after I received the player that it has a setting (that I did not read about in the original advertising) that accentuates dialog. This seems to work really well I am now able to listen to my surround system (before I had to always use headphones) without the dialog being lost "behind" the music.

All in all I am COMPLETELY AND ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED with this player!!!

It works *exactly* as advertised.

Well, I must be off now again to Amazon UK to get some more of those wonderful BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)films. Region 2/PAL DVD's are no longer an obstacle for me!!

Ta! :-)

Read Best Reviews of Pioneer DV-393-S Progressive Scan DVD Player with Div-X Here

I love this player. I've only had it a couple of months, so I can't speak to its longevity and reliability, but for a pretty low price you're getting a lot of capabilities. First of all, it plays Video CDs better than any player I've ever had. I've had a lot of problems with skipping and stopping not on this player. Also, I put my first British DVD in it yesterday and it played perfectly with no setting adjustments couldn't even tell there was any special multi-regional functionality involved. It remembers the last several DVDs or VCD you've played, so that if you eject it (accidentally or on purpose), it'll pick right back up where you stopped. It seems to be a great player, and I'm very pleased with it.

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First off, everything that has been said about this DVD player is spot-on. Multi-region code free is a great asset to have. So does the memory playback that automatically resumes from where you left off (watching DVDs). One particular feature is the widescreen setting (which my previous 2 DVD players don't have) that automatically plays a movie in its full screen aspect ration on a widescreen TV.

Unfortunately, I can only delight in this unit for 2 days. It is too sensitive to Progressive setting (when not properly wired to a TV with Progressive scan feature). This causes the DVD player to display a green discoloring on the screen that, despite every step taken per the manual to resolve, cannot go away. Even after setting the unit back to Interlace, the discoloring does not go away. If anything, it got worse. By the next day, discolorings of blue and red become evident. (N.B. According to the unit manual, if the TV does not support Progressive Scan, the screen will not display video. It does not turn green!)

To make matters worse, the DV-383S' warranty does not extend to American consumers. American warranties are only valid for 'Region 1' only products. So for the DV-383-S, the product description's claim that "if your DVD player ever becomes defective we will fix it for free" is false. According to Pionner Customer Service, the only option is to buy a brand-new unit (because the repair costs exceed the price of the DVD player itself; replacement is not even an option). But that's the risk you take when you buy a multi-system DVD player.

I had heard nothing but excellent word-of-mouth of Pioneer products. This is my first Pioneer DVD player. For it to malfunction as it did after two days is a great disappointment. However, it has not shaken my confidence in Pioneer. Just only the DV-383-S models.

Very happy with this DVD player. Sets up in a snap, and played my PAL DVD's without a hitch. Just remember to set it to NTSC for your American TV, and you shouldn't have a problem.