Pioneer DVD Player DV444S Region 2 Europe in Silver
A Player for All Reasons
Bought this player in September/2001. It has an excellent range of hook-up options including a full range of digital and analog alternatives. This means that it will fit whatever configuration you have and will take advantage of the top end features of your other units (monitor/TV/amplifier/receiver). It also means that it will be able to grow along with your system. The manual is well structured and steps you through the hookup and basic setup quickly. You can then move into the custom setup to mix and match to your preferences and the other components of your system. Once you get used to the on screen menu with navigation through the features and options then finer tuning of your setup is a piece of cake.<BR>The player features are as advertised including the Audio CD (off-the-shelf and burned) and MP3 playback and navigation functions. I was looking primarily for progressive scan DVD features and was not disappointed. The quality of image is excellent and it is able to drive my Hitachii projection TV better than the older Pioneer DVD/LD player that it replaced (being retired to another room with our LD collection). <BR>The slimline features and easy to read display make this unit easy to fit into any setup. If you have a  TV/DVD setup in mind, then the feature of being able to control both the set and player from the one control will come in handy. The unit does a good job of self identifying the features of your components as well as the media that you have fed it. It takes the guesswork out of setup and operations. <br />Bottom Line: I'd highly recommend the Pioneer DVD-444 if you are looking for a first time DVD/CD unit, an extension to your existing setup or an upgrade to a DVD unit that can deliver a higher quality image.