This BD player is a real quality product.
The finish is in the stylish glossy black, which matches the other Pioneer products in this range.
It is quite large, so not for those looking for skinny products to stick under the TV (12.4cm x 42cm x 36cm).
One thing about this player is, it isn’t BD Live capable, personally I choose it after Live was common place, and because I knew I wasn’t interested in Live, or Bonus View material etc... (even though it does have Bonus View), I wan’t to watch a film and that’s it, so if you can live without that option then it’s a worthy option to choose.
It’s Kuro link enabled, which means you can control it from the TV remote, if you have a Kuro TV.
On the plus side is the build quality and the components used inside it which provide a stunning picture detail and colour depth (36bit)
It supports AVCHD, DivX, MP3, WMA files, and via the latest update, it does now support DTS-HD Master Audio via bitstream to suitable amp.
Considering the price this was, if you can still find it on sale, and they are out there, then it is a bargain (still expensive) but a real bargain, if you can find it, you won’t be dissapointed if you get it.
If you live under the misconception that all DVD/BD players are the same, and it’s the TV/Cables that make a difference, then it’s time to put that idea out of your head and go and see the difference a quality product makes to the viewing experience.
One thing to note about this player is the boot up time is slow, you can’t even start to eject the tray until it has booted, this take about 60-90 secs (not sure exactly how long – I tend to walk away for a few minutes), and then the disc loading time isn’t fast either, but again like with the Live function, if you can live with it, then the wait is worth it, after all for me the real gains are in the picture and sound quality for the 1-2 hours I’m sat watching the film, not the time saved loading, or the minutes wasted afterwards looking at stuff of no real interest to me.