CyberHome 300 claims to play PAL but it doesnt!

[bmcclenathan]

I bought a CyberHome 300 DVD Player from Radio Shack because on the box, it claims to play PAL DVDs but when i got it home and tried it, it did NOT play PAL DVDs. i am furious about this. Luckily Radio Shack gave me a refund. The salesman at Radio Shack even hooked it up to an expensive TV in the store and tested it to see if it would play PAL DVDs and it did NOT work there either.

I have gone to Sears, Best Buy, Walmart, Sams Club, Tweeters, Kmart, J and R music, Circuit City, etc and no one carries a DVD player that plays PAL DVDs.

I dont want to buy one off eBay because if it doesnt work, I am stuck with it and out all that money.

Someone, please help me!

[lordsmurf]

My Cyberhome 300 plays anything I give it, including PAL DVD, VCD, SVCD and XVCD. All PAL. In fact, ALL I really use it for is PAL DVD and SVCD.

[jtoolman2000]

Many DVD players will play Pal diska. I have three that will playe them with out a problem yet my son's will not.

[bmcclenathan]

Can someone please tell me of a store in Birmingham AL that sells a DVD player that plays PAL? I need a brand and model number and store name. Thanks.

Signed,
frustrated cause i have a PAL DVD that i cant watch...
bmcclenathan

[bugster]

You say the player would not play PAL DVD's. In what way did this manifest itself. Did the player refuse to do anything or did it appear to play but no picture showed on the TV?

I as this because most DVD players that will play PAL disks output a PAL signal. Many TV's sold in the US (even 'expensive' ones) will not accept a PAL signal.

Some US DVD players will read a PAL disk and output an NTSC signal bit with 50 fields per second (instead of the usual 60) and it seems many US TV's are happy with this. This is known as NTSC-50.
I would guess you need a player that performs like this, or a new TV!

[boroda]

Cyberhome 300 plays PAL just fine. I've given it PAL DVDs to play a bunch of times without any problem. You can select (through the menu) the format of the TV output to be in PAL or NTSC.

Obviously, there is no problem with the player (maybe with the particular unit which you brought from the store, but not with the Cyberhome 300 in general). But it is possible that the DVD is in the region code other than 1 (U.S.). By default (unless you change it via the remote hack) the player only plays Region One DVDs.

Most if not all modern DVD players (even the very cheap ones) play both PAL and NTSC. Look out for the region though.

[bmcclenathan]

all you good people out there who say you have no trouble getting your CyberHome 300 DVD player to play PAL DVDs, please tell me what TV you are using (brand and model number).

bmcclenathan
birmingham al usa

[lordsmurf]

all you good people out there who say you have no trouble getting your CyberHome 300 DVD player to play PAL DVDs, please tell me what TV you are using (brand and model number).

bmcclenathan
birmingham al usa

I've used this thing on at least 10 tv's .. use it when I travel too. I think the problem is you've not done the region remote hack yet. Or your PAL disc has issues. Or that one unit was defective.

[FulciLives]

I have the Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 which is the BEST stand alone DVD player that Cyberhome makes and I bought it for the PAL to NTSC conversion which is super great quality.

This unit (with a remote control trick) can be made region free and will convert PAL to NTSC or vice versa.

You can order it direct from CYBERHOME for $79.95 otherwise I think some on-line stores such as AMAZON.COM still carry this model. I haven't seen this model in a retail store since BESTY BUY stopped carrying it well over a year ago. Cyberhome still makes this model and it is still the best one they make with superior PAL to NTSC over the other models.

The 300 model is a door stopper compared to the 500 model.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
For more info on Cyberhome including the remote control "tricks" check out the Cyberhome forum on the NERD-OUT website.

[bmcclenathan]

What is the remote control trick? I want to know! I need the DVD player to be Region Free!

bmcclenathan
birmingham al usa

the frustrated one who cant watch his PAL DVD

[FulciLives]

What is the remote control trick? I want to know! I need the DVD player to be Region Free!

bmcclenathan
birmingham al usa

the frustrated one who cant watch his PAL DVD

This info is at the NERD-OUT website which I linked too in my last post.

How do I go region-free?

CH-DVD 300
1. Switch player on with no disc in the tray.
2. Close tray.
3. Press Menu, 1, 9.
4. A menu should appear with the region option.
5. Press enter and enter the region you want.
6. Press open/close tray putton and put in movie.

CH-DVD 500
1. Open the player's tray.
2. Press STOP on the remote control.
3. Press 1, 9, 9, 9 on the remote control.
4. A new menu should appear.
5. Choose ALL in the region code menu.
6. Turn the player off by using the remote control.

Newer CH DVD-500 S/W or UK CH DVD-505
1. Open the player's tray
2. Press STOP on the remote control.
3. Enter 3, 3, 5, 8 on the remote control.
4. Press fast forward button on remote for region free setting

Again I advise you to get the CH-DVD 500 model and at $79.95 USD I don't see why you would want to go cheaper for less quality.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Poppa_Meth]

can the region hack be done with the units remote or do you need a special remote to do it?

[FulciLives]

can the region hack be done with the units remote or do you need a special remote to do it?

The region hack does NOT require anything other than the remote that comes with the DVD player. No additional hardware and/or firmware "upgrade" is needed.

Please note that there is also a trick that will disable both MACROVISION and CGMS/A but this only works on the CH-DVD 500 model.

Again that info is on the NERD-OUT website.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lordsmurf]

My parents have a 500 and I have the 300. The 500 does less things (DVD-MP3 and good with SVCD), I don't see it as a better player. Both of them required the remote hack.

[bmcclenathan]

i appreciate your help. i have an idea. instead of buying a Cyberhome DVD player and making it region-free with 'hakcing' it, why dont i just 'hack' the DVD player i already own?! i have an Apex AD-1200 DVD player and i would like you to list the steps to 'hack' it to make it region-free. i am awaiting your help...

bmcclenathan
birmingham al usa

frustrated cause i have a pal dvd that i cant even watch...

[lordsmurf]

http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=26
http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25625

But I see you've already been there.

[bmcclenathan]

Okay - now i am really upset. by the way, i appreciate the help i am getting from lordsmurf and lives. here is what i did with my Apex AD-1200 dvd player just now: i opened the tray and pressed 'display'. it said V213. then i pressed 8, 4, 1, 2 to view the secret menu. the secret menu never appeared. does this mean i dont have a secret menu? does this mean i have NO way of making my Apex region-free? ugh!!!!

bmcclenathan
birmingham al usa

frustrated!

[FulciLives]

My parents have a 500 and I have the 300. The 500 does less things (DVD-MP3 and good with SVCD), I don't see it as a better player. Both of them required the remote hack.

The CH-DVD 500 has an extra option (since it is progressive scan) that is needed to be adjusted by the user for proper PAL to NTSC with some PAL DVD discs though admittingly few PAL DVD discs need this extra measure of control BUT some do and it is not possible to do this "trick" with the other Cyberhome DVD players.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman