Cyberhome CH-DVR1600 DVD Recorder by CyberHome
|
List Price: Category: Home Theater See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
(Click here)
Digital camera reviews of Cyberhome CH-DVR1600 DVD Recorder
Digital camera Review: Couldn't be better for the price...
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading all the bad reviews this product had, I got concerned about getting one but I decided to give it a shot and also was prepared to buy it in a store that could give me the money back in case the reviews were true. Mine is a MU model and I am extremely happy with it. PROs and CONs are the following:
PROs:
1) Great price.
2) Small size and thin.
3) The image quality even on "EP" mode (4 hours on a regular DVD) is very good. The mode for 6 hours is not bad but it looks more like a Video-CD image which is ok.
4) It has a TV tuner incorporated.
5) You can program the timer and turn off the unit. it will turn on itself, record your TV show and turn off when it's done.
6) You can set it up to record a show just once, daily, weekly or Monday-Friday.
6) It has multiple inputs and outputs.
CONs:
1) The remote is too small and it takes a while to get used to the location of the buttons you usually press or use.
2) The interface could be a little bit more easy-to-use.
3) Not all discs brands will work well for it. I haven't tried that many brands but so far the Memorex didn't work but the Sonys do.
I guess that for some people getting a TIVO could be a better choice if you want to accumulate more than 6 hours of recorded shows per day, but then you will have to pay not only for the unit but for the TIVO service as well. With this DVD recorder you can forget about paying for anything else and with the use of DVD+RW you can use once and again the same disc. At the end and as always, it is your choice! Good luck.
Digital camera Review: CyberHome DVR1600 failed after less than 3 months
Summary: 1 Stars
I would not recommend this product. After 2 1/2 months, this player started rejecting about 40% of my DVD's. I received an error message: "bad disk." I can play these same DVD's on other players, so I know the problem is with this CyberHome player (CyberHome DVR1600). The CyberHome warranty policy is 1 year for parts, 3 months for labor. I still have the expense of paying postage to send it back to the company. The customer service is not good. I spent 25 minutes on hold and nobody picked up. One must go on line to get a case number in order to send the product back, and the normal wait time is 24 to 72 hours for customer service to generate this number. I regret this purchase and if I had it to do over again I would have purchased a different brand.Digital camera Review: CyberJUNK!!!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this because it was either spend $300 or so dollars on what Consumer Reports rates as top brands (Panasonic and Pioneer)or spend $80 at Wal Mart on this thing, i tried the cheaper route only after I made sure I could return it. After my first recording I played back I noticed my recording was missing sound speratically and had digital distortion (squares and rectangles of distorted color throughout the screen). I used RCA cables to connect my camcorder directly to the Cyber@##@ so I can't imagine it was a matter of a bad connection since it would have to be all three plugs having a poor connection, and my VHS recordings from this camcorder are fine. I took it back and told the woman at Wal Mart it isn't worth the box it's packaged in.Digital camera Review: Cyberhome does not support their products!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this for my dad just before Father's Day from Best Buy because he wants to preserve his years of Hi-8 footage to DVD. I bought it because I happened to see it then in the store, Best Buy is a reputable place, it was on sale, and my retired electrical engineer dad always said that if electronics will go bad it will go bad in the first 24 hours of heavy use.
Unfortunately, he didn't try it until he got back from a 3 week vacation. When he tried it, the remote control did not work. Changing batteries didn't help and he checked the battery with a volt meter. Unfortunately I discovered this 2 days after the 30-day return/exchange store policy was in effect. All the major functions can only be accessed through the remote control so the unit had to be repaired.
I thought I'd invoke Cyberhome's 90-day warranty. To take advantage of their warranty you need pre-approval and a shipping number from them. Their website link to tech support does not work, their support email address they advertised bounced my email back saying it was an invalid address, and their toll free number said that their email support and phone support is "not available". I tried back numerous times but was unable to reach a person.
Looking on the internet, other people have this same problem AND the Feds just recently raided one of their warehouses for 2 million dollars of counterfeit merchandise! Google news for "cyberhome raid" and you'll find the news stories. This company is NOT reputable and does NOT care about you or their product! I'm surprised reputable stores like Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart still carry this!
Luckily the manager at Best Buy took pity on my predicament and let me buy something else (a name brand with a service warranty!). I was glad to do so even though I paid twice as much.
I never got the Cyberhome unit to fully function so I can't say if the unit breaks after a few months like other reviewers claim. I've no reason to doubt their claims and I sure wouldn't want to gamble that I'll get the peach among the lemons.
My dad was able to play a DVD successfully, but the unit shakes a great deal (almost as much as a kitchen mixer) while playing a DVD. It also makes a lot of noise as if it's going to take off (and crash and burn).
I've learned my lesson: don't buy unknown, unresearched electronic brands even if it's sold by a reputable company! Don't make the same mistake I did unless you're buying it for youself, like gambling, and don't mind losing.
Digital camera Review: Cyberhome product holds up well
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had the nearly identical Cyberhome CH-DVR1500 for 2 years and it works better than ever. This is because I installed a second set of BIOS-Firmware and Servo software updates from the Cyberhome web site. The updates over the years have improved compatibility with various blank disks, increased formatting speed, and eliminated ocassional bugs in the editing functions.
If anyone can't play a recording, they probably did not Finalize the disk, or their player doesn't support the disk type used. DVD recording can be more complicated than VCRs, and the technology has its own inherent differences.
The manual is above average in quality.
One complaint with the Cyberhome- the cpu could be better shielded as it generates broadcast signal interference on channels 7 - 11. Another compaint is that the audio quality is good, but not as hi-fi as I expect. However, I think this is because of an audio I/O impedance mismatch - The recorder is a low 47/470 ohms rather than the 470/10,000 ohms expected by my equipment.
In summary, a good durable product, a great value.