Pioneer Multi Region Code Free DVD Player with HDMI 1080p Upconverting and USB, Black (DV-3032KV)

While not quite the same as Steve McQueen from the film "Love with a Perfect Stranger", the Pioneer DV-430V multi-region player is...#1 Easy to install: If you've only a passing acquaintance with electronic devices, the obligatory setup shouldn't frighten/challenge you. The instructions are easy to read. The print, however, is small enough that if you have a pair of reading glasses I'd suggest you put them on for comfort's sake.#2 Serves my needs: I've loaded some music discs and DVDs from regions 1 and 2 and every single one has played flawlessly. It emits very little noise when I wake it up or issue a command, complies with prompt efficiency, and bookmarks the last scene you watched before ejecting the disc.#3 Let's me push its buttons: I read complaints about the size of the remote's buttons being so small and awkwardly placed they often got mispunched. Maybe my hands are just freakishly small, but I don't have any problem navigating the controls.#4 The box size is larger than the picture suggests,though not so big it wouldn't fit on my entertainment shelf.By the way, I'm a self-professed technological troglodyte, so as I write this I've barely scratched the surface of all the keen dooeywhackers this little gizmo comes with.I got it solely to watch movies, and, right now, I'm really glad I did!<<<< Four Months Later >>>>The honeymoon is over.This once well behaved little machine now periodically GROWLS after I've put a disc in the tray. Sometimes it even refuses to acknowledge there's even a disc IN the tray. Sometimes you have to try loading the disc a half-dozen times before it will play. And if a disc isn't just spotless it won't read the disc at all. And then sometimes it works just fine. Frustrated and disappointed.

Comes without a HDMI cable, just the old-fashioned analog audio-visual cables, so a run to the store to buy an HDMI cable. Runs 120-240 volts (US and European voltages) and came with a US adapter plug on the power cord pre-installed. So I plugged in, and into my HDMI TV, put in a German DVD, and it all plays happily. The design seems to be very lightweight and flimsy, with tiny buttons on the front of the unit -- but I will not be using those buttons, but rather a Harmony universal remote control which plays fine with it. I do worry that the kids in my family might boo-boo and snap the DVD drawer right off, however -- it is that flimsy. Still, I'm willing to take my chances. Previously I had a Region 2 DVD player that output to S-Video, which was more of a pain, because the rest of my stuff is HDMI nowadays, so the rest of my family couldn't figure out how to get the (S-Video) DVD player to work with the TV.

The player we received was not at all plug in ready. It is a zone 3 DVD player and has a plug to match that - no adaptor was included and it was not mentioned in the description that one was needed. We have always had a multi region in the house, so this is an unusual experience for us.Once we had the adaptor, we plugged it in and it would only play in black and white. Then we got color, by wiring it differently, but had no sound.Very long story short, we have managed to get it working and it works just great, but we had to buy 2 other cables and it wasn't easy to set up. My partner is an audio engineer and he managed to sort it for us, but it took quite some time to figure out.None of this would have been an issue had we been prepared, but we weren't because this was sold to us as plug in ready.Don't like writing negative reviews, but this one warrants it.Hopefully it has a long and healthy life, but I can't yet comment on that as we received it on Monday and figured out how to work it on Tuesday. Today is Wednesday.

I purchased this for my Mom so she could play region 2 DVDs. It was well packaged and arrived intact but when I got it out of the box the first sign of trouble was the 4 little square marks on the top of the unit which were obviously from the feet of another component that had once sat on top of it. It looked pretty decent otherwise so I hooked it up. The status display didn't work so I initially had trouble telling if the thing was actually on or if it was just in standby - the front of it was completely dark except for one small red light on the left hand side. The tray would open so i knew it was on and it seemed to play disks ok though they seemed a bit slow to load. I figured that there must be a way to turn the status display on and off or to dim it and that that was why the display was dark but I couldn't find any function in the menus or on the remote or any mention in the manual of being able to dim or disable the status display... so I can only assume it's defective. Will be returning the unit for a refund.

This is a very good product from Pioneer. Feature-wise it has probably everything you need to enjoy movies recorded in various formats (including DivX , mp4 etc.).Pros:Many supported video and audio formats and USB inputRegion-freePlays PAL and NTSC DVD's without problemsUpconverts to 1080pDoes not look cheapCons:Reads only Fat32 USB drives (not a big issue)Opening large DivX file (e.g. 3 hour long movie) takes more than 10 seconds - be patientRewinding DivX movies can be sometimes slowIt takes slightly longer than other DVDs to boot (after you turn it on)Despite few minor quirks this is great product and certainly worth 80$

The product was delivered earlier than expected and the packing was very good. It is been more than a month now the player is working fine so far without any issues. I have tried DVDs and VCDs from asia and it working fine with good picture quality. Couple of reasons I did not give five star are 1. The remote is very small ,the buttons are not visible and is very cheap quality. Secondly, $93.00 is too much for this product. Not worth for more than $50.00 that too because of multi-format support. I was in real need of it immediately and so had to pay the premium price.

It works great, no issues. Easy to set up for NTCS, just follow the instructions. Clear image and sound. I recommend it.

First, The Rant.It is beyond belief at this day and age that manufacturers and studios insist on this idiotic region coding be it DVD or BR. I am sure they have well worded and written statements that amount to no more than BS and not worth the paper they printed on. Greed and control rules. People move. Consumers are treated like kids and restricted from choice. The fact that region free players exist is proof enough. Unfortunately we in North America, Canada included are treated like idiots. Region A/1 players only are available at major stores and at very limited selections. Same goes for middle priced A/V receivers, with certain features not available in North America, i.e. phono input, yes, I have one and it sounds great. Small stores are no better. If you ask for something different all you get are blank, vacant looks. Then there is HD. I.e., TCM self professed movie lover network that ‘butchers’ every movie. Each and every programming must be shown in original aspect ratio when it was produced - 4:3 with black pillars on the sides, letterbox (there are different aspect ratios) with black bars on top and bottom and new in 16:9. For those who don’t like the black bars, then, not before, you can use zoom on your HD TV which defeats the purpose of HD. For those who do not understand screen ratios, please, it is simple geometry. But TCM and number of other stations are insisting on showing content ‘windowboxed’. So picture is small and quality is horrible. We are being charged for HD content but getting crap. And what our illustrious governments are doing? Nothing.Now, The Review.It is ‘middle of the road’ region 3 Pioneer DVD player, branded ‘region free’. It is PAL player as they can play NTSC but, there is a kicker, NTSC players cannot play PAL. Player comes with all necessary hardware, save for HDMI cable, you need that for up-converting to higher resolution. Very few DVD players do up-converting outside HDMI. There is a note from seller on how to make small setting adjustments, unnecessary for HD and instruction in, I think, Japanese and small one in English. But come on, if you know how to use a smartphone, DVD player is so much easier, because it is much simpler device. Player On Screen Menus are self explanatory and average consumer should not have any problems navigating it and most likely will not use more than a quarter of features installed on device firmware/OS. Now, straight out of the box, I connected power, HDMI to TV, popped the discs from different regions and ‘voila’ it plays them all. Player has all control on front panel and nice, easy to read display. I have bought this for my Mother-in-Law. She has quite collection on of DVD’s from different parts of the world and likes to watch them on big TV screen as opposed to small computer screen. Old Toshiba died, it did play PAL discs but had region restrictions.Hassle free ordering and fast regular delivery.

Worked perfectly for 5 weeks and then no power and had to return it - its a shame because the player was a perfect purchase and easy to use - disappointed.

It worked so I'm happy but the remote must have been designed for operation by a pygmy. Fortunately I found another Pioneer remote that was better.

plug and play simplicity; good picture and sound; no rattling sounds; my last Panasonic (older version of this player) lasted pushing 5 years so for the price I think this is a great deal.