Home > Consumer Reviews > Pioneer DV-626D DVD Player

I have to say one thing right off. This unit has played everything I've thrown at it without a glitch, and that includes many NetFlix rental DVD's--they show up in all levels of scratchosity. In addition to DVDs, it plays CD-R/CD-RW/VCD.

The picture quality is excellent in RGB mode and has plenty of adjustments and memory facilities - but I tend not to use these after inital setup - unstaturated color can also be adjusted with Gamma correction and sharpness can be adjusted too.

As for the sound, this unit boast both DD (Dobly Digital) and DTS decoding, which means you can save some money when buying a receiver. The Pioneer has had no problems with anything I've seen so far.

The internal DD decoder is as good as any I've heard (although comparisons have been difficult since I've not had other players in my house - only in demo rooms etc...).

On the negative side --the remote weighs about a half-ounce and the wobbly little joystick is a little annoying, and the playe'r looks a bit 'cheap' if I may say so. These are just external design flaws that have no effect on performance, but I though they should be discussed anyway.

Hope this helps

After conducting a lot of research and purchasing the top of the line Philips player (the hard to find 865)and having nothing but problems- despite calls to Philips, etc.- I sent it back for the Pioneer 626. This is just an outstanding player and absolutely loaded with features (having capabilities most probably won't take full avantage of, but it's nice to know your player can handle your setup as it grows and improves). Extraordinarily crisp picture, crystal clear sound, built in Dolby Digital AND DTS ( a rarity), easy to set up and use- and virtually every feature can be handled by the joystick remote. Yes you can buy a cheaper, functional player, but especially considering how much this has come down from its original spendy list price (checking around online retailers pays off), why? A serious machine that'll satisfy the most demanding cinemaphiles. You get what you pay for- do right by yourself and spring for the 626.

I have had my pioneer dv626d for a month know and it is great, both the sound and picture quality are the best i have seen on any dvd player. Before i had the 626d i had the sony dvsp7700, and i had problem after problem with it, yeah the picture was good but the sound was totally rubbish. the movement of the caricters in many films didnt coenside with the sound, the whole thing was out of sink. when i changed to the pioneer 626d i found that, that was no longer a problem. i currently have the 5.1 channel surround set up and, no matter what player you have you will never find one that can deliver the same picture and sound quality that the pioneer dv626d can. If you dont have a dvd player and want one i suggest that you buy this one you will not regret it.

I received the Pioneer DV-626D as a gift. Everything about it is absolutely outstanding. It plays the Matrix (for instance) with no frame loss or distortion as I've seen on some of my friend's "cheaper" players.

Setup was a breeze (I'm not an expert) and I was especially impressed by the almost "over-kill" jack-wise on the back panel. I have a Panasonic TV and a Yamaha receiver/speakers/HT and I've had no compatibility problems.

If I had to say anything negative, it would be on the remote controller. It is rather bulky and cumbersome. Even so, for me it is only a marginal negative because I use the "universal" remote that came with my Yamaha receiver (that controls four of my audio appliances and is about one-third the size of the Pioneer! :-)

Without doubt, at the time of this writing, IMHO this is the best DVD player in Amazon's catalog.

Let me just say that although this is the best DVD player I've seen so far, I've only owned 2. And that included this one. :) But that doesn't mean it's great. My first DVD player was a cheap Sanyo that was on as a WalMart special. Although it seemed to play discs okay, any scenes with a lot of red showed a LOT of color bleeding. And also, when I played the Director's Cut of Robocop (one of the reasons I bought a DVD player in the first place), the player freaked out in the middle of the 12th chapter and wouldn't play the rest of the movie! I think it was the layer change-over.

The Pioneer, however, handled it without a problem. Also, the bleeding red is non-existant. I read a review somewhere where a guy said that the picture from this player is almost TOO sharp! I have to agree, it's crisp as anything. You might want to turn down the sharpness on your television!

When I went shopping for a new player, I didn't really want built in Dolby Digital/DTS decoding because I only have a stereo setup at home. However, as soon as you go above about $300, the players start coming with built-in decoders. I've always been one to believe that you get what you pay for, so I wanted the most expensive player I could get *without* a decoder....! Needless to say, the extra wasn't spent just on the decoder. It's a high-quality player all around, definately worth the price.

There were a few gripes below about the build quality (yes, it's kind of cheap feeling/looking) and the remote, but these aren't the main reason you buy a DVD player, are they? I don't see how you could be disappointed with this player. Better get 'em while they're hot!