I purchased this unit at Wmart about a week ago. I primarily will be using it to archive my old vacation, wedding, etc. videos. Heck, I've already made $60 burning weddings of some of my friends. At a purchase price of $248 I'll be able to get my money back quickly....
Anyway, before using the unit I downloaded the 2 current updates off of the mfg's website and applied them to the recorder. Overall, I am pleased with the performance. The picture quality on the 1hr and 2hr settings is fabulous, I have not tried the other 3 settings. Setup was fairly easy and straight forward, except for the fact that it defaults to a video output setting for Composite hookup. I first hooked it up to my HDTV Toshiba with my Componant cables and did not receive a picture. After reading the manual, I hooked it up with my old cables and received an OK picture, changed the video setting to Componant and all was good.
When watching DVD movie's in progressive mode the picture is very good, but I have to say my 1.5yr old progressive Toshiba player produces a much better picture. The Cyberhome's picture was not as crisp or vibrant in color, but I probably would not know any differance if I didn't have another player to compare it to....
A few other minor issues are the 24 Hr time clock, I can't image why they would not have the option for both, I don't have a major problem with it, but my wife is still trying to understand it. The other issue is that I wish it had a Firewire port for downloading from the newer digital camcorders. I also looked at LiteOn and Gateway's 230 (rebadged LiteOn) which had this feature for about $50 more, but based on the reviews I've found on problems with those models, I settled with CyberHome/Walmart combination.
Again, I would recommend this model for folks wanting to archive old vhs tapes and to occasionally tape Survivor. Dang, I wish Rudy would have one.
Randy