Pioneer DV-343 DVD Player
Open the box and plug it in!
What can I say? ... It works great and it comes with cables. You can open the box, have a DVD in the tray and be watching it within 10 minutes.<br />Dogs bark in a movie and my Jack Russell ter...rer... OK! ah... er... We can't atribute that to the DVD player. :-) I'll try again: Dogs bark in a movie and the 14 year old corgi wakes up and sniffs! :-) Yea!<br />If you are going to use this DVD player in the bedroom with just a stereo tv, it will work just fine....<br />If you have a home theater set-up with 5 speakers, a Dolby Digital decoder is needed separate the sound and send it to 5 speakers: left & right, front & back and center. This model does not have a Dolby Digital decoder. I'd sort of consider that a moot point. If you have 5 speakers, most probably you'll have a Dolby Digital stereo receiver sitting there with the speakers.<br />If possible, I'd recommend running any DVD player through your stereo receiver. Unless you have a real high-end tv, there is a good chance your stereo speakers are much better quality than any TV speakers.<br />I have 4 foot high speakers (front, back and sideways) and a Harmon Kardon receiver. Apollo 13 took off in my living room. Just as a test of what it would sound like on an old cheap stereo... I plugged in into an old Panasonic ... yard-sale-stereo and... Apollo 13 still took off in my living room!<br />I have a 13\\" TV. I don't plan to upgrade until I get an HDTV. I refuse to spend $1000 on a TV set unless it cooks dinner. :-) So why get a DVD player now? Even with the great sound...<br />I wanted to buy movies... VHS tape is magnetic and \\"drops out\\" in a few years. DVD's (and CD's) won't change unless you leave them on the dash of the car in July.<br />There is tons of information on DVD's in addition to movies. A narration of Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and his wife. How Carl Sagan's \\"Contact\\" was made. (Jodie Foster saying \\"OK to go\\" billions and billions of times.) Why Meg Ryan wore red in \\"Sleepless....\\" Tibits, gossip, computer animation and special effects techiques. Did you like this movie? Indexes. Other films by the stars and director. Complete documentaries about the subject: On the \\"Saving Private Ryan\\" DVD -- what was the real story about D-day?<br />I haven't had any problems with the Pioneer remote mentioned by others. I am glad it is not the size of a bass. It is the size of a trout. Brown trout. Native.<br />It insisted once on replaying the same segment of special effects footage on \\"Contact\\" -- no matter what I selected off the special effects menu. I think it was a problem with the programming on the DVD -- not a problem with the Pioneer player. It happened again in the same place when I tried again another day. Both times, I went to main menu and was able to start the special effects menu over. I go through all the bonus materials and that was the only \\"funny\\" -- and I have probably watched 60 DVD's with this player.<br />One goodie -- this DVD player will remember where you were at the last time you turned off the movie. If you stop 1/2 way through, a week and 3 movies later it will remember this. My player remembered this even after a 5 hour power outage.<br />Want a spare DVD player for the bedroom or den... Want to justify that HDTV and go digital a few years earlier than planned?  Buy this DVD player now and just look at those pretty pictures! Even on a 13\\" TV, I am<br />Happy watching! Cynthia<br />PS What kind of cables? There are RCA jacks and cables for the audio. Most stereos and stereo TV's have RCA plugs. (2-3 1/4\\" round metal ring, color coded: red, yellow and/or white.)<br />There is a S-video jacks and cable for the picture. Newer TV's and VCR players have s-video jacks. If you have an older TV with just a coaxial plug (round ring, screws on), you'll need to buy an \\"RF Modulator\\" black box. ... Mine came from the mall. A bonus -- the black box acts as a switch between your DVD and your VCR. i.e. you don't have to swap cables on the back of your TV set to go from one player to another.<br />There is a coaxial optical jack on the Pioneer if you have newer equipment. Optical cables are not included -- but, if you have optical, you'd probably want higher-end cables anyway. (And you probably haven't read this far in my review either. :-) Ta! c.your TV set to go from one player to another. <br />There is a coaxial optical jack on the Pioneer if you have newer equipment. Optical cables are not included -- but, if you have optical, you'd probably want higher-end cables anyway. (And you probably haven't read this far in my review either. :-) Ta! c.