You can't beat the Wal-Mart price on this receiver. I had shopped around for a receiver for a while, but had narrowed my search to the Pioneer line. I'd even decided on going "middle of the road", but I based my decision on the Pioneer list price. When I found that Wal-Mart had the next model higher for not much more than I had expected to pay for the model below, I jumped on it.
The iPod integration is an extremely useful "perk" - you simply plug your iPod USB cable into the front of the receiver and you can access the menus and features of the iPod using the Pioneer remote (everything shows up on your television screen).
With three HDMI inputs and one output, I'm able to connect my cable box, PS3 and component-to-be-named-later, and run one HDMI cable to my plasma TV. I leave my TV on HDMI #1 all the time now, no need to keep changing inputs.
I also re-used my Samsung speakers from my last home theater unit and they sound better than ever, thanks to this Pioneer unit. Simple setup, clearly marked jacks on the back, etc.
I have yet to look into the supposed 9-band equalizer that is built in, but I have no complaints on the sound so I haven't had the need to do that yet.
My one complaint about the receiver at this point would be the tuner. When you switch to radio (FM or AM), there is no knob to turn to tune the stations. You have to press buttons repeatedly or hold them down to "scan." Also, setting the presets is not very intuitive, in my opinion. Too many button presses are required, when a simple "hold down the number" method would have sufficed.
But all in all, I'd say purchase with confidence.
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