Pioneer DVL-919 DVD / Laser Disc / CD and CD-R Player

I ordered this product for my Mother & I. It was steep & expensive, but it was worth it! This disc player is for anyone who is into disc-based tech—whether old or new. From Laserdisc, to Video CD, to CD+G, to even Audio CD—this player does it all (even outputting into Component Video)!So, what does this player do? Well... it freezeframes on a dime—like at the VERY frame you pressed pause at on the remote control. The main reason why I bought this player is not necessarily for the added extra perks, but it is to replace my older Dvd player as it’s laser may be going bad after years of usage.If anyone is looking for a better disc player that does it all, just remember that the only discs that it doesn’t take are Blu-Ray. Other than that, this is a wonderful product to use if you have the money to burn.

With this I now have a LD collection that's viewable again

Well spending close to 900 hundred dollars on a used machine that's obselete in this day and age I'd much rather go to ebay and spend 200 dollars and get 20 laserdiscs movies included with the player....just saying.

even its a used item, the packing was good. The player I plugged into my system and played titanic LD. Results were fantastic, this unit was to replace a much older pioneer unit that was on its last legs. well worth the money I paid for this and am well pleased. I hope that this unit will last me with my collection of LDs.tonight I will try it with a R1 DVD, just to see how it plays. But LDs are the reason for purchase.

To all the other wonderful things which have been said about this player (a zillion great features!), I would like to add the following suggestions. Note the number of people saying that their unit got destroyed by power surges (lightning or other). To extend the life of my player, I leave it unplugged from everything. (A hassle, I know, but it can't get fried if it isn't hooked up to anything.) I also run all of my A-V equipment through a Monster HDP 1800 power filter / surge protector during operation.The second comment I wanted to make: As noted here, the best video coming out of the player is the S-Video. Unfortunately, S-Video is being eliminated from modern TV equipment. Our new TV had only HDMI inputs, while several of my older components still have S-Video. Yikes! What to do?! After searching around for a bit, I found a converter box for under $50 that takes S-Video (or Composite Video) plus L-R audio INPUT, and has an HDMI OUTPUT that you can run to your TV (button to choose between 480p or 1080p). Mine was made by Monoprice, as I recall. I looked for a photo, and model number has changed. (I actually like the looks of the newer model better.) But point is that you don't have to give up your older model player(s) due to lack of S-Video on your TV. (The downside is that it does add to the tangle of "spaghetti" wires behind your equipment.)

I purchased a secondhand Pioneer DVL-919 recently. Mine is the champagne coloured one that is made in Japan.When I accidentally damaged my Panasonic LX K700 LD player, I needed a replacement. Although I also have a Blu-Ray and DVD player, I still have a fairly large collection of laser discs which would cost a bomb replace with Blu-rays and DVDs. My first purchase was a Pioneer Laserdisc CD Karaoke CLD-3760KV. The sound was good but the picture quality was not up to my standards so I bought the DVL-919. I am truly happy with it!On the LD side, the picture quality is good. I had also subsequently bought a Pioneer CLD Elite 99 and a HLD X9 laser disc players. In comparison, the DVL-919 picture quality is not as good as these 2 high end players. But the image quality is still good compared to the players that are not the 'Elite' or high end ones.Of course, you cannot compare LD image quality to a DVD or Blu-ray image as there is a 30-year difference in technology. That's like comparing apples and oranges! Side change is very quick. You can 'pause' to a scene and see the picture rather than get a blue screen like other models.DVD picture quality is also good. Despite what you may read on the online reviews that combination players are not that good, this is not the case here. The DVD image is good.In my opinion, sound quality is where the LD is till better than a DVD or Blu-ray due to the compression and size difference between them. The player has the following features which ensures that the sound is great when playing LD or CD:1. Video Noise Reduction2. Virtual Dolby Surround (certified by Dolby Laboratories Inc.)3. DTS (Digital Theater System) Digital Audio Output TerminalI have no problems with the remote. It's big and fits into my large hands. Has a display dimmer if you want to dim or not see the LED display. Has a light switch you can activate if you are watching a movie in the dark. Maybe the arrangement of the buttons could be more user friendly but this is just a minor issue with me.Only other issue is that this model is bigger than most LDs and I have to place it over my amplifier in such a way that the front sticks out a little. Again, just a small issue with me and not a big deal.Also, do not believe the rumours that it can play both NTSC and PAL LDs. I found that out the hard way and now have 3 PAL LDs I cannot play! The DVL-919 can only play the NTSC LDs. The European version, the DVL-919E is the one that can play PAL Laser discs. However, this was my mistake for not doing a bit of research earlier.Overall, A good player and I would recommend it. It can play LD, DVD and CD with a great sound quality. So, what more can you ask for?

I'm surprised to see two different reviews with the misconception that S-video is superior to component video. It's just the other way around. Component video has three signals and S-video only two. The practical result is that component video has higher color resolution than S-video. You can look it up. (And I do own a DVL-919.) But on this player, you get only B&W on the component outputs when playing an LD. (You get color on the component outputs only when playing a DVD.) I connect my S-video and optical digital audio outputs to an A/V receiver, which does the conversion to HDMI for the television internally. I use it exclusively for LDs, so the component outputs aren't much use in my application.A possible workaround would be to use two separate inputs on an A/V receiver, hook one up to the S-video for use with LDs, and hook the second input up to the component outputs for use with DVDs. Then you could switch back and forth from the front panel of the receiver, instead of plugging and unplugging cables, as one commenter reports he does.