Pioneer DV-578A Code Free Player a good buy or go for another region free player? (1 Viewer)

[Rolando]

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right section for this but:

a friend of mine is considering this:

Pioneer DV-578A Code Free DVD Player

from here:

http://www.zonefreedvd.com/codefreedvd/dv578a.html

he asked my advice but I have not looked into region free since I got my Malata 3-4 years ago.

I am happy with my 996 but I am sure Region free players have evolved since then. Sounds like a good buy to me as he is not a super freak like me who needs the best of the best and is just basiclly looking to get a decent region free player.

I laughed when he told he thought it might be expensive. So that should tell you he is not the type to necessaraly go for a Denon 2910 (which happens to be what I am looking into )

so any thoughts?

Or better put, should he be considering another player?

 

[Rolando]

Sounds cool, thanks for all the input

 

[Ron Boster]

Part of the problem in giving advice is I wouldn't have any idea what type of set up your friend has....

Is his set HD? Then you would want an upconverting player

Is it a digital set w/DVI or HDMI? If so, that narrows the field down somewhat.

How important is price? What is the price range

Will this be his main player or just for other reg discs?

Is he tech savy or just wants a bug free plug and play?

There are a lot of options from the Phillips 642 (quick sub menu code change) for $60 to a Momitsu 880 (buggy but good) for $250 to Modded Pioneer Elite 59avi around a grand (which I assume that's not what he's looking for).

Ron

 

[PaulDA]

He might consider the Cambridge Audio 540D. It is region free right out of the box (no hacks or codes required), does flawless PALNTSC, is a superb audio performer with CDs (I bought it as my CD player, already had a universal player for other duties). It can be set up as 2.1 player with CDs, is solidly built and, (though my ownership reveals my bias) is a steal at its MSRP (489$ CDN).

Caveats:

It doesn't upcovert or have DVI/HDMI.
It is not universal (DVD-A only).
Manual is, to be polite, very thin.

I use an analogue CRT TV, so I can't comment on its prog scan qualities.

Have had it for several months and have no bugs to report.

As to the lack of responses to your initial post, I think we can blame that on Thanksgiving weekend and all the food and football, not a lack of desire to help. HTF members are quite good at helping out. Ron's questions are valid, as well. Budget and display type as well as primary purpose (is this to be the main player, or a supplemental for other region DVDs?) would help us offer suggestions.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

 

[Citizen87645]

I think a few people here would recommend a Yamakawa player for the most inexpensive option. I bought the 238 through eCost and have yet to warm up to it - there seems be an occasional audio dropout, so I'm still testing it. But heck, for $35.00 it's not a bad experiment.

I also have a Toshiba 4900 and still prefer that one and am considering making it my primary player now. The 4900 is a bit hard to find now.

 

[Ron Boster]

I guess Rolando gave up.