Home > Consumer Reviews > Pioneer DV-350K Black Multi-region DVD Player

I have spent some time perusing websites looking at different DVD's and reading feedback on this website from other users on different models, which I found most helpful. I had set myself the task of buying a multi-regional DVD player.

I settled on the Pioneer DV-350K as its listed specification was good and it was black and matched my television equipment, this is not common these days.

The delivery was in excellent time and the packaging was very secure. In no time at all I had it connected to my set with the enclosed standard video connectors.

Setup was simplicity itself with the Graphical User Interface and I was soon watching a Region 2 disc. The ease of use and clarity was amazing and the handset was also clear and robust. So far so good.

I next used a Region 1 disc. I had some initial difficulties with what was an NTSC disc. Having tried all the options which were well explained in the instruction manual, I can now report that to watch Region 2 discs, I had to purchase a good scart lead and set the VIDEO OUT setting to RGB. As if by magic it worked perfectly on AUTO, which is an alternative setting to PAL or NTSC.

The ZOOM setting is 2x or 4x, easy to use and has no distracting labels on the screen during viewing.

I can happily say after trying hard to get the right choice first time, I believe that I have succeeded.

Firstly, I was considering this against the Toshiba SD220. As far as I know, the only difference is the Toshiba supports Component out, and optical out (the Pioneer DV-454 has optical out), whereas the Pioneer supports 5.1 out (with a compatible AMP).

The player is extremely easy to set up and use. I still haven't opened the instruction manual!

Sound quality is spot on through my Kenwood Amp, and picture quality crisp and rich through a S-Video connection.

It supports everything the specs say (CD-R,RW,DVD,VCD,MP3 etc.)
The Zoom function is quite entertaining (it zooms on still and moving video). Fast forwarding leaves a little to be desired.

This model is also available in Silver, which seems to sell better? I've got a black set-up at home, so I opted for this one...

I have been looking for a good low-entry DVD-player as a substitute for my pc-DVD player. I have a good TV, yet almost 10 years old and therefore did not want to splash out on a great DVD player when the picture output is partly dependend on the output device - the TV.
It also needed to be black to fit the rest of the appliances and it needed to be multiregion so I can still play have my -region 1- DVD collection.
The installation was a piece of cake: attach the (not included) scart cable to the TV and the digital (coaxial) output to my audio setup. Switch the player on and follow some easy steps on the nicely designed menus and presto, DVD's were playing.
The only additional configuration was to change the TV-system setting from auto to PAL (see page 53 of the manual) so I could actually play the region 1 discs with normal picture. I guess this was down to the somewhat aged TV-set.
It plays everything I asked it to - DVD, CD-audio and MP3's. Note that it doesn't play DVD-Audio discs.
One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to make the audio signal that is send through the SCART cable to be muted automatically, so I can enjoy proper 5.1 surroud sound through my external setup. Once that is working the way I'd like it, I'll give the full 5 stars. But hey - I could be asking for a little to much for this price.
Great value for a nice slim-line box.

I purchased this as a cheap upgrade to a first generation DVD player which has seen better days and has a rather dodgy multi region modification. Although this looks sleek and is half the size of my old Panasonic player I must confess I think my older player with far less functions still gives a slightly sharper picture quality. Though for the price I don't think you can complain and I am happy enough with my purchase. I would have to say good value for money as you get everything you would expect from a budget player..but for this money I now note you can buy the Toshiba SD220!

Like many people, I agonised for a long time over the DVD player I was going to buy. I spent two years living in the USA so built up a collection of region 1 disks that I wanted to be able to play in the UK.

I also needed the ability to play DVD+RW disks, as I now create home movies and put them onto DVD via a HP 200i DVD writer. This player offered me all the options I could want, it plays region 2 disks of course, all the region 1 disks I own and the DVD+RW disks I create on the computer.

I�m using a 10 year old Sony TV, and to watch NTSC (region 1) disks you need to set the player to PAL output mode, which is a 30 second job by holding down a combination of keys on the front panel and powering on the device, this is all described in detail in the user manual on page 53.

It is a pleasure to use the drive, it�s responsive when placing a disk in the tray, easy to setup via the onscreen menus and the remote control is the simplest and most tactile I have used in a long time.

As an entry level player, I have no problem in giving this 5 stars for the wide compatibility of disks it supports, the features it offers and the price you can get it for.

In the box I got, the player, a 3-way phono to phono connector, remote control with batteries, user manual and a BBC - 2 hour test disk.