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Pioneer DV414 DVD Player Performance Rating: A Super crisp, with just the right amount of brightness, the Toshiba DV-414 really packs a visual punch. The sound isn't half bad either. Ease Of Use Rating: A What it gives in performance it takes away in ease of use. If you could swap out remotes, the DV-414's would go right into the junk drawer. Value/Overall Rating: A/A It's a killer player, and it has its minor faults. If you're one to overlook negative points for the positives, this just might be the player for you, especially at below $399. Pioneer DV414 DVD Player Specs and Features:
DVD Player Review The first thing you need to know about the 414 is, it's not broken. Loads of consumers think it is, because it does the ol' "shrink and show". You know -- compresses its visuals. The reason? Well, it's pre-programmed to be played on an anamorphic television. Most of us don't have one, so the first thing we need to do is, reprogram the sucker. To do this, you have to have a disc loaded and stopped. Then press menu and follow the instructions. The screens are a bit confusing, with a lot of scrolling that gets to be a major pain. Look through the well written instruction manual to see exactly how to do this. The 414 is a pretty complicated toy, and the manual is going to be your best friend for a few days while you introduce you self to it. Once you learned what the 414 offers, you'll see that it's a great player. The colors that this thing can pull off of a disc is extraordinary. If you have a well calibrated television, you'll sit agape at how good some discs look as compared to other players you might have owned. If this is your first player, you will get spoiled very quickly. The 414 is a DVD player all right, right down to it's looks. The front of the player is futuristic and square. It also features a glowing blue light on the front that lets you know a disc's in play. It adds to the futuristic element nicely. Most of the standard play buttons are right there on the front piece. This comes in handy when you get frustrated with the remote and chuck it out the window Okay, fine -- let's get that out of the way now. I hate the remote on this thing. It's really a CD player remote. First off the buttons are tiny and hard to locate by touch. This would be forgivable if the thing was back lit, but it's not. The scan forward has to be held down in order to fast forward, but watch out -- if you hold it down too long, it will go continuous and when you get to the place you want to go, it'll skip right over it. The remote won't let you chapter forward fast, either. You actually have to wait for each chapter to load in order to move forward. You want to get to chapter 12, when you'll wait 11 times to get there. It really is awkward. So fine, I'll get off the remote. The 414 is pretty damn quick. It loads discs like lightning. From the second you press play, the screen lights up and the disc is in motion. These visuals will knock you on your butt as well. For the video purists, the 414 player has component out, but for the rest of us -- there's S-Video. The S-Video gives great picture, by the way -- so good, you'll be hard pressed to tell a real difference, unless you're Super Videophile. This player's real ability is it's dazzling colors. I literally sat with my mouth hanging as I watched some of the grand colors that were pulled off by this player. Boogie Nights for one, has such a range of color, that and Out Of Sight -- these two discs alone will blow your mind by what this player can do with them. The sound is just as vibrant. It was on par with any other player I've toyed with, but that's still pretty good. It's filled with the standard Dolby Digital out, with a DTS out as well. It sounds great -- all of it. Be warned though, the 414 doesn't automatically detect whether or not there's a 5.1 Dolby Digital track on your disc, so you have to set-up from the get go, no biggie, thought you should know. Bottom Line: The Pioneer DV-414 is a very nice player, even if it's a bit awkward. For it's price tag, it's a sure bet, especially with it's high-end extras and brilliant sound and video. I still don't like the remote, but would suggest to anyone that if they are thinking of buying a DVD player to start their addiction off, this would be as good a choice as any out there. Todd Doogan January 1999 If you have any questions regarding this review please e-mail todd.doogan@dvdbuyingguide.com. For sales enquiries please visit http://www.dvdcity.com 
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