help for n00b - Cyberhome CH400 vs Pioneer DV-360

[blinky]

Hi guys,

long time no post... (early this year last time when my parent's wanted to capture their Hi8 videos to computer - although they've never used the card).

Anyway back to topic, it's about time I joined the DVD revolution.

I'm not looking to spend a fortune on a DVD player as I can't see meusing it a fantastic amount. Good playback and compatibility for VCD, SVCD, DVD-R(W) and DVD+R(W) are important though.

I'm in the UK, and the twp players which seem appealing to me are the Cyberhome CH 400 (£50 WHSmith) and Pioneer DV-360 (£60 Richer Sounds). Region free on both doesn't seem too difficult, although for the Pioneer I would need to use my Handspring Visor Pro.

Video playback would be via a Sony Trinitron Portable and sound would mainly be via headphones (from DVD player - TV is mono) with some playback through my Hi-Fi separates - Cyrus TWO + PSX Amplifier and Cyrus 780 Speakers. (no room for 5.1).

As Far as I can see the pro's and con's are as follows:

Cyberhome CH 400
Pro: Price (extra £10 towards DVD-writer)
Supports KSVCD (does the Pioneer?)
Compact size

Cons: No Macrovision disable (but I can't see myself taping from the DVD player)
Unknown make

Pioneer DV-460
Pro: Recognised brand name with good reputation

Cons: Compatibility ? (Some complaints about error correction).
Larger size
Costs extra £10.

As I alluded to earlier playback of non-commercial DVD's would be important. I intend to add a TV capture and DVD writer to my PC, that way I can record TV programs to DVD to watch later. (I think my machine should be up to the task P4 2.4@2.9, 512Mb DDR dual channel, MSI 865PE mobo, WD 80Jb 8mb cache IDE HD and Fujistu MAJ3182 U2 SCSI 10k rpm 8mb cache, Radeon 9600Pro).

As far as DVD-writers I was looking at Pioneer 106, Liteon 411s/451s or Liteon 811/851s. It seems fron what I have read that Liteon have solved most of the compatibility issues and I'm tending to pay the little extra for the 811/851, particularly if they release a firmware that will do 8x DVD-R..

I know this is a bit of a monster post with lots of questions but all advice and comments are greatfully appreciated.

[evilwarmaster]

I have a Pioneer DV-250 and I am fairly happy with it. However, you might want to go for the Cyberhome CH400 since it is cheaper. I have seen many people on this forum as well as I have some minor annoyances with Pioneer DVD Players. Most of them have a bug where you have to set the player to 16:9 in order for it to play SVCDs properly on 4:3 televisions. It also takes an insane amount of time to load anything but DVDs. For example, my DV-250 plays MP3s, but it takes about 10 seconds for the player to load each MP3. I've heard that the JPEG support on the DV-360 is very slow. I'm not really sure about KVCDs, but I've seen people make them for Pioneers. Pioneer DVD Players, though, are generally very reliable and one of the "cheaper" high-end brands.

I don't know much about Cyberhomes, although I know they have become extremely sought after here in the United States, selling for as little as $30 for Christmas.

If you haven't already, check you the DVD player reviews on this site. Both Cyberhome CH400 and the Pioneer DV-360 are on here. This may help you make a decision.

[FulciLives]

The Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 is the top of the line model from Cyberhome and typically only goes for now more than maybe $20.00 above the 400 model.

The 500 is an all around better DVD player and features superior NTSC to PAL (and vice versa) conversions than the 400

The 500 is easy to make region free (with simple remote control codes) and can even be made to ignore ALL forms of copy protection including MACROVISION and CGMS/A which means you can make a copy to a stand alone DVD recorder for instance.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[jason7761]

I purchased a Cyberhome 400 from WH Smiths and i am as happy as dog with two c**ks with it. I to spent a lot of time looking and in the end ended up with a Cyberhome and i to had the same reservations as yourself. Apparently the Cyberhomes are flying out of the door (acording the lady that sold me mine), so don't delay to long or they may not have any left!

[energy80s]

I have both a Cyberhome 528 and the newer 400. They are both great. They are a German company but the machines are made in China. They will play anything you throw at them - even raw MPEG files on a CD-ROM. Also the 400 is such a cute little item, every home should have one.

Also handy to have a dedicated "hack" site available too ... www.cyberhome-help.de