Pioneer DV-393

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Excellent
Sound Level	Excellent
Range of Features	Excellent
Durability	Excellent
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	excellent playback, amazing audio, easy to use, good remote control, not expensive to buy
Disadvantages:	none at all

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I like to watch movies but detest having to sit through a screening at my local cinema where invariably I will be tormented, annoyed and general wound up to boiling point by the rudeness of the public who seem to congregate within the cinema to chat, play on their phones or start a food fight so I invested in a home cinema system that would allow me to enjoy my films from the comfort of my own couch. Part of this package included the Pioneer DV 393 – S, the S standing for Silver, not some souped up device capable of launching a rocket for NASA.

The overall package cost 560 Euros (approximately £399) but when broken down into the component parts, the DVD player was only 70 Euros (approximately £50), a reasonable price considering that only a few years ago, DVD players were considered luxury items and were in turn expensive pieces of hardware to purchase.

Setting the machine up is very easy, once plugged in at the wall socket playback is achieved by attaching the SCART cable that comes with the player to the back and into an available SCART port. This took no more than a minute or two and as soon as it is connected to the power, a little red light appears to signal that the player is on standby.

The Pioneer DV 393 is a slim-line player and stands only 50mm high, with enough space for the DVD draw, the manual buttons and a small yet clear LCD display that shows the DVD chapter, time elapsed and whether the current disc has been stopped, fast forwarded or just simply playing. From a distance, the display is easy to see, and it also informs you whether discs are loading, cannot be read or whether the draw is opening or closing. The manual buttons on the unit are all standard, with the open/close button, play, stop and skip chapters. I have never had the need to use these as I always keep the batteries to the remote controller fully charged.

The remote allows access to onscreen menus and also has a very good zoom option that permits the user to zoom into a scene and move around to pick on extra fine detail. The level of zoom ranges from x2 magnification to x10. At x10 the picture does become very bitty, but at x 2 levels it adds a little extra to the viewing experience, especially when viewed on a large flat screen.

The player is multi-region and allows for DVD-R, DVD+R, DL, SVCD, CDR, MP3 and JPEG playback and I have never inserted an undamaged disc that would not play immediately.

Picture playback with the Pioneer DV 393 is amazing and I have had no complaints at all with any form of distortion or jumping which had occurred with my previous player as it started to show its age and sound quality with the surround sound system is very clear and easy to hear. I was impressed by the loud playback of the audio even without additional surround sound speakers attached as it seemed to be magnified. With a surround sound system in place, this is the best sound quality I’ve heard outside of a cinema.

The Pioneer DV 393 is an excellent machine that I would recommend either as a stand alone player or as part of a home cinema system as it is cost effective for those on a budget, has a brilliant playback capability and produces incredible audio effects.