$99.99 Cyberhome DVR 1600 DVD recorder. What do you think of it?

[waltchan]

.

[Jay Davis]

Fantastic price. But what about , features, picture quality and reliability?

[Fiero]

Originally Posted by waltchan

Playback picture quality is not as good as I expected at first. The video is very blury and is not very detailed. The color is a little washed out.

Is it just the playback quality of the DVR-1600 which is no good, or is the encoding quality lousy as well? In other words, how do the discs encoded and burned on the DVR-1600 look when played back on a decent DVD player?

[tom81]

I have $38. cyberhome 300 player. The picture quality I think is excellent, in fact , I remember one online revue of 50 players ( $30 - $150) listed it among the top 10.

[Fiero]

Any response to my earlier questions?

[Jay Davis]

Remember that old adage- you get what you paid for.

[Fiero]

Originally Posted by waltchan

Here's the link to view the manual online of the Cyberhome DVR 1600 if anybody is interested...

I'd be more interested in a response to my earlier questions.

[Fiero]

Originally Posted by waltchan

I wonder if this is a good chip?

You might be able to shed some light on the answer if you'd care to respond to my earlier questions.

[Robert Spalding]

You know, I have recorded a few tings today off the Hidef Tivo I have in 4hour mode and it's pretty good! I used a DVD+RW and recorded the same part of Shrek 2 off HBO HD in all 5 different recording modes and the 4hour and better is pretty acceptable. recording on the 1 hour and 2 hour is about as good as SD quality off an SD channel. (regular HBO for instance)

I used the 10 percent off coupon at BB and got it for $88 (no tax in Oregon baby!)

For that kind of money, I have to say I am really impressed.

[Spiky]

Originally Posted by waltchan

I played two DVD video movie discs (Garden State and Matchbox Men), and the picture quality is not as good as I thought. Maybe DVD recorders are known for slightly poorer picture quality than DVD players. I think this Cyberhome DVR 1600 is more suitable for recording than for playback. This is not the DVD recorder you want for your personal home theater entertainment.



Walter Chan

I see you've responded to your own assertion from the first post about not needing a player anymore.

Yes, there clearly is a reason to purchase a DVDp, not just a recorder. Nobody bothers putting as much into the recorders as they do the players. Only a couple have had anything even approaching decent playback ability, from what I've seen and read.

[mattack]

Originally Posted by waltchan

According to the owner's manual book, there are some unique features that the Cyberhome DVR 1600 has that is not found in a more expensive DVD recorder between the price range of $200 and $400:
...
2. DV input for digital camcorders (IEEE 1394)
3. Digital coaxial audio output
4. Six recording speed modes: HQ (1 HR), SP (2 HRs), LP (3 HRs), EP (4 HRs), EP+ (7 HRs), and SLP (8HRs)

I'm not sure about #2, but I thought others do.

I think a LOT have #3.

#4 is my main complaint. Other recorders, especially hard drive/DVD recorders, have way more modes than that -- i.e. they have more discrete choices, and being able to set the audio and video record quality separately. (And yes, mine was below $400).

[atrac]

I bought one of these recorders today (found an open box one at Best Buy and used the 30% off coupon to get it for $69.99 plus tax). Being the curious and experimental type, the *first* thing I did when I got home was to stick in a DVD-RW disc (even though this unit supports DVD+R/W). Walter Chan had posted a link to the Zoran Chipset for this unit and it says it supports both DVD-R/W and DVD+R/W. I figured I'd try see if it was "true" (and not disabled in software).

Sure enough, the DVD-RW was recognized. It let me format it (in Video only mode, NOT VR), and let me record. When I ejected it the machine asked me if I wanted to finalize it. That worked too.

So the box and unit state my recorder was Manufactured April 2005 with a Bios 05.56/090N. It is also a CH-DVR1600ZU. I noticed that Target also sells this player and it is Manufactured in May with a different Bios version listed (didn't take a note of it though). So I'm not sure if all DVR 1600 players are "Dual Format" or not. But I can attest that mine 100% is.

It's weird because there are apparently two versions of the Ilo DVR05 as well ( iLO DVDR05ZU and iLO DVDR05MU). And since we know it's the same player, I guess that makes sense.

What a deal! A Dual-Format Recorder for $99.99 (or $69.99 or less if you find an Open Box one at Best Buy with coupon).

Let's just see how long it lasts.

[HoustonGuy]

altrac- good info- If indeed the cyberhome 1600 plays DVD-RW and DVD-R as well that is a very interesting find.

[bigjazzfan1]

What I'm curious about is how good are the recordings in 1 and 2 hours record speeds.

Is the encoding as good as say on the Sony or Pioneer?

Nice to find a dirt cheap recorder but it has to record close to the $200 Pioneer and Panasonic,etc.

Hopefully someone posts a good test review.

And plays the dvd recording back on a good player when comparing to other recorders.

bjf

[RonDawg]

Originally Posted by bigjazzfan1

What I'm curious about is how good are the recordings in 1 and 2 hours record speeds.

Is the encoding as good as say on the Sony or Pioneer?

Nice to find a dirt cheap recorder but it has to record close to the $200 Pioneer and Panasonic,etc.

Hopefully someone posts a good test review.

And plays the dvd recording back on a good player when comparing to other recorders.

As waltchan has posted above, the playback of even pressed DVD's is pretty crummy, so I wouldn't have high hopes for the encoding portion as well. And if it looked bad on a 20 inch TV, you can imagine what the picture would look like when displayed on something much bigger

As someone else posted above, you get what you pay for. And with prices of "famous name" recorders such as Pioneer and Panasonic dropping all of the time, I see little purpose for this machine. I'd rather spend another $100 (often less) and get something whose quality I trust and I know isn't going to fall apart in 6 months.

[RonDawg]

Originally Posted by HoustonGuy

altrac- good info- If indeed the cyberhome 1600 plays DVD-RW and DVD-R as well that is a very interesting find.

Playback of -RW(Video) and -R isn't all that special...most older players are capable of that. My old Philips 985, a plus format machine, can do that, or at least it used to before it started going on the fritz

Even -RW(VR) playback isn't all that spectacular anymore, since most newer players and recorders are capable of that too.

Recording onto -RW is of course a different story when we're talking about a primarily plus format machine. But by not including VR capability, they've eliminated -RW's biggest advantage over +RW (editing and playlists) while including only a minor advantage (SLIGHTLY more compatibility than +RW).

[Bud-man]

Good find atrac!!, thanks!!
Ive tested that it plays unauthored mpeg-iso dvd's which is a s/vcd burned as a iso, great feature i use and not alot of players do, if this could only play xvid or divx it would of been the bomb!!, but my philips dvp642 does all that.
In the "old" days hackers would make firmware to enhance the players ability and function,hence my old apex ad703, is there a setting to turn off or dim the green clock numbers?

[atrac]

I watched a movie on it in Progressive Scan mode last night and it looked as good as any other Progressive Scan DVD Player I've seen (not including upconverting ones, of course). Maybe "regular" mode isn't as good (I didn't test that since I haven't watched a movie like that in awhile so my opinion may not be warranted).

Recorded video from my Tivo using only RCA Video Input looked quite decent when played back on the Cyberhome. I need to do some more extensive testing on that though (since it's probably the most important factor). I need to pickup another S-Video Cable today as well.

[ztech]

I bought few days ago from BB for $99. This is my first DVD recorder so I don't have anything to compare to. Here is quick rundown so far:

I burned about 8 disks with mixed result. I used Maxwell (4x speed), Memorex(4x) and Phillips(8x) all +R. I also used Fuji RW.

- Out of 8 tries 1 failed initialize the disk for writing. This was on Phillips disk.
- On 2 writes on Maxwell everything seemed ok but would not play back on Samsung 850. I tried playing on DVD player with same result. Disk would play on 1600.
- On Memorex and Phillips DVD+R, it plays ok on other DVD player but would not play on my PC dvd. It would freeze up. Out of four writes all of them would not play on my PC dvd player. All disks were finalized. Maybe I need to configure something.
- On Fuji RW disk, it played on my dvd player and my PC. I tried few times and each time it played fine.
- I Plugged in my camcorder to firewire and it recongized the device and recorded without problems.
- I also plugged in Comcast 6412 and it froze up. I tried different port with same result. No luck there.

For the price I paid for this recorder I think I'm going to keep it. I probably buy batch of RW disks and used that to record. My needs are simple and it seems to do what I bought the recorder for.

[friar]

I purchased this yesterday and I see an icon on the screen that doesn't make sense to me. It is in the lower right corner ... looks like a blue speaker (side view) with a big red X through it. I presume that this means no sound ... but I do have sound.

Here's how I have it set up:

Video Input is from a D* receiver (S-video to S-video)
Audio input is RCA red/white input jacks

Video Output is out on the component (red, green, blue)
Audio output is on the coaxial audio

I have this run through a yamaha rx-1500, and then from the yamaha the video is then fed to a sony hs-51 projector.

Anyone else seeing this icon? I can't figure out how to get rid of it on the screen when I'm watching through this dvd recorder.

Thanks,
Friar

[cwilkins1]

I currently have a Cyberhome DVR 1500 that locks up on me. Is anyone having this same kind of issue with the 1600?

[NVboy]

Originally Posted by friar

I purchased this yesterday and I see an icon on the screen that doesn't make sense to me. It is in the lower right corner ... looks like a blue speaker (side view) with a big red X through it. I presume that this means no sound ... but I do have sound.

Maybe it just means that you aren't using analog outputs, which may be adjustable in the menu?

Anyone who owns this & one of the other higher end recorders (or at least have access to one), could you please give a comparison on the resulting PQ differences, if any?

[Bud-man]

my 1600 locked up after i switched from recording back to cable input, screen turned blue, had to unplug it and rebooted fine after that.
ztech which input you use with the 6412?, try firewire or s-vid?

[atrac]

Originally Posted by friar

I purchased this yesterday and I see an icon on the screen that doesn't make sense to me. It is in the lower right corner ... looks like a blue speaker (side view) with a big red X through it. I presume that this means no sound ... but I do have sound.


Thanks,
Friar

The icon means you have "mute" on. Push the mute button on the remote and the icon will go away.

It probably mutes the analog output but not the digital output.

[rwestley]

The reason why there are different bios versions of the Cyberhome is that probably different chipsets are used. Z is for the Zoran chip and I am not sure what the other chip they are using. There have been over 10 versions of the cs 300 non recording player.

[stevehof]

Originally Posted by Bud-man

I just bought it today at BB and hooked up the firewire to my motorola dvr 6412 and record!!, no more lengthy conversion to a .ts file using my htpc, imho best deal going!!

Bud-man,
Please clarify. Are you saying that you have successfully recorded programs from your Motorola 6412 over FireWire to this Cyberhome DVD recorder? As far as I know, no other DVD recorder with FireWire can do this, as the FireWire port is always set up specifically for camcorder input.

If you have done this, please post detailed instructions.

[Fiero]

Originally Posted by stevehof

... as the FireWire port is always set up specifically for camcorder input.

Some DVD recorders are able to input DV over firewire from PCs when edited video is "sent to tape". I'd like to hear whether or not this Cyberhome unit is able to do that. Anyone?

[pappascw]

I picked one up at Target tonite.. Its manufactured in May 05, Model CH-DVR 1600ZU, Bios 05.66/097N. I'll let you guys know if -R works on this one or not.

[atrac]

Originally Posted by pappascw

I picked one up at Target tonite.. Its manufactured in May 05, Model CH-DVR 1600ZU, Bios 05.66/097N. I'll let you guys know if -R works on this one or not.

Yes, I'm *definitely* curious to know the results of this. It's still a ZU but has a newer bios AND loader (Bios Version/Loader Version).

[pappascw]

Well loaded a DVD-R, it initialized it and I recorded about 10 minutes off my DVR. Worked like a champ, finalized it and I'm watching it on my computer now. I'm having one issue though. My tray seems to be sporatic when it goes in and out. Sometimes I'll eject and it will go right back in, kinda sounds like the motor is straining. Anyone else have this problem?