The Pioneer DV-626D is a great DVD player – and it should be in the top 5 list at the top of the page. Unfortunately, it isn’t but that doesn’t stop it from being an excellent piece of hardware.
I don’t personally own this player, but I have a friend who does and I’ve seen enough of it to be impressed. I own a Toshiba 2109B and can easily make comparisons between the two.
Picture: -------- The picture quality is outstanding – this machine really does show how good DVD really is. I’ve seen pretty much everything on the 626 – from Toy Story to The Matrix to LA Confidential. Very sharp, very clear, very nice – about equal to the 2109. At the price you’ll be paying, this is nothing short of what you’d expect.
Sound: ------ The sound is the best part of the 626 in my opinion. This player features a built in surround sound decoder – but not just a Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder, but a DTS decoder as well, excellent! All you need is a 6 channelamp with a decent set of speakers and you’re in audio heaven. It really is breathless – The Matrix’s lobby scene made my jaw drop, and I’m used to the crystal clear sound from the 2109.
Looks/Build: ------------ The 626 is black with plenty of buttons and plastic. This may make it sound tacky but it actually looks quite nice. It is quite chunky looking compared to other players but this just reinforces the belief that this is a top quality player. There are quite a few buttons on the front – handy if you lose your remote but I’d stick to using the remote. The display on the front is not distracting and easy to read.
Remote: ------- The one area that I hate about the 626 is the remote. Maybe I’m just used to the 2109 remote but the Pioneer remote seems to have buttons that are too small. Still, the important buttons (Enter, Play, Directional buttons etc) seem to be well placed. It could have been a lot worse.
Outputs: -------- The 626 has a quite nice set of outputs around the back – loads more than the 2109. It features two SCART sockets, two S-Video outputs, two Composite video outputs, one optical and one coaxial digital output, two sets of analogue audio outputs and one set of 5.1 outputs. A pretty healthy collection I’m sure you’ll agree.
Misc: ----- The 626 also has the ability to read DVDs, CDs, VCDs as well as CD-Rs and CD-RWs. It does not however, read mp3s on CD-Rs – a bit of a shame really. You also can’t “hack” the player to make it multi-regional; you’ll need to get it chipped with an interior or exterior chip. Somewhere like Techtronics will do a good job. Shop around for a decent price also.
Overall: -------- What can I say, except this is a very, very good player. Most people think it is an alternative to the Sony 535 but I think it belongs with the Sony 725. Excellent picture and sound quality with a built-in DD5.1/DTS decoder. If you have the money, then this player comes highly recommended.
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