Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)If you are looking for a Blu-Ray player that has the ability to switch between regions A, B and C, then I would marginally recommend this player. However, if you have old PAL dvds in your collection, you may want to invest in another player.
I have an extensive international DVD/BD collection, 30% of which consist of PAL formatted dvds. It seems as if the built in PAL/NTSC converter is of poor quality. All of my PAL dvds will play on the player but have a pulsing/shuddering effect as if frames are being skipped. PAL dvds do have less frames per second than NTSC which is generating this effect but multi-region dvd players do not have this problem where it is difficult to distinguish between PAL or NTSC at all. Please keep this in mind should you be considering the purchase of this player. I have tested region 1, 3, 4 and 5 NTSC dvds in this player and they all play without any issues. I did try all resolution options on both player and TV to see if I could solve the PAL issue but no adjustment successfully solved the problem.
Another small issue is the home menu screen which looks like it was made with an Atari 2600 or Commodore 64 processor. The home icon is a house made up of about 8 large pixels. Do a google image search and you will be able to find a few photos of it. Also, the firmware updater does not work where you will be told that you have the current profile but that will not actually be the case. The only icons you will initially have will be the home and YouTube icons, no Netflix. You will have to go online and download the update onto a flash drive and insert it into the USB slot on the player to get Netflix.
If you have Netflix you will probably find the Netflix interface annoying in that it cannot load cover images for the movies in your queue. You are able to scroll left and right through your queue with a bunch of boxes stating "image unable to load" with the film title at the bottom, underneath each box. Once you choose a film, they will stream like any other player without problems.
As far as Blu-Ray quality is concerned, the video and audio quality is equal to most other 1080p Blu-ray players. My region A and region free Blu-Ray discs play without any problems. I will edit and add a little more to this part of the review soon with regards to region B disc playability as I will have my first true region B disc soon. My other foreign Blu-Ray discs turned out to be region free and they play fine. I have no region C Blu-Ray discs and, after extensive research, have not been able to find a single Blu-Ray disc to be coded with C as of this moment.
Overall, I would give the player 2 1/2 stars but half stars are not an option and will round down as I am more leaning in that direction. Hope this is a helpful review.
2/21/2011 UPDATE
I have had this region free for about 3 months now. I have tested region B Blu-Ray disc on it and they all play fine. HOWEVER, the loading time for a Blu-Ray disc is INCREDIBLY SLOW! The loading time varies from disc to disc. Loading time is roughly, in general terms, 2-3 times longer than newer blu-ray players (I had american samsung and sony players prior to this player). Usually whenever I am about to play a disc I will put the disc in then make breakfast, lunch or dinner and when I am done the movie is ready to go.
Another troubling note. Today I tried to play the sony, region A, release of "Gandhi." The pioneer player, after minutes of struggling, "determined" that it was an "incompatible disc." This disc played perfectly on my previous sony and samsung players without the slightest problems. I am scared to learn what other discs this player will deem as "incompatible."
My summation, after 3 months of use, is that I hate this piece of garbage! As far as the current solution to region free Blu-Ray accessibility, you would need 2-3 items. First, you need an american region A player. Second, you would need to purchase a region B Blu-Ray player from the UK and purchase a converter which would run you close to the price to this player if not less. Again, there is not a single Blu-Ray disc that has been coded region C as of yet so that is not much a concern. Finally, if you have any region 3 dvds (South Korea and China) you would have to go with a region free dvd player or connect your computer to your TV and use any number of free region free dvd programs that exist.
Eventually, once Blu-Ray computer disc drives become more commonplace, you will only need your computer, an HDMI cable and 1-2 region free programs for all format region free capability. I any of you find a reliable region free Blu-Ray option, please let me know. Hope this review is insightful, take care.
Neil
Click Here to see more reviews about: Pioneer BDP-330 Multizone Blu Ray Zone A+B+C All Region Code Free DVD 012345678 PAL/NTSC Blu Ray DVD Player 100~240V 50/60Hz Built in 128Mb Converter PAL to NTSC and NTCS to PAL, works on all NTSC and PAL TVs
