Cyberhome CH-DVD 300 DVD Player

Cyberhome CH-DVD 300 DVD Player
MSRP: $40

----- Why a $40 DVD player? -----

For starters I'm not one that likes to buy cheap no-name components in the electronics area. I already own an excellent low-end Sony DVP-NS725P DVD Player which is the main unit for movie playing and other DVD duties. SInce I don't like setting up my exercise equipment in the main living area I decided to pick up another DVD player to watch movies or fitness programs. Naturally when I wandered the aisles of Best Buy looking for lower priced DVD players I was drawn to the cheaper units. I figured it couldn't hurt to have a slightly junky unit for my minimal usage and the small TV it would be on.

Most low-end DVD players from big companies are still full-size (or close to it) units that fit right into a home theater style entertainment center. Their prices ranged from $80 to $100 and up. I found a small corner devoted to the extreme low end of the market, and was quite astonished to find a DVD player for $19.00! I can't image it worked very well, but I wasn't about to find out. Further down the row I found the Cyberhome 300 priced at $40 and decided to give it a shot as my exer-movie player.

This unit was acceptable for use as a push-play-and-forget style player, but sadly as with most things in life circumstances change. I was coerced into placing this unit in another room for DVD player duty when I wasn't using it. Soon it became a fixture and it pretty much stays there at this point. As an actual DVD player for movies the Cyberhome DVD-300 is a complete failure in my opinion.

----- User comments and complaints -----

Setting up the unit is easy enough, it's barely larger than a small box of Grape Nuts cereal. There are outputs for standard A/V jacks, S-Video, and Component Video cables. I used the standard A/V outputs and also tried the S-Video on my Sony Wega. After you plug the unit in there's a power switch located behind the unit that must be turned on before you can turn on the unit from the front. It took me a minute or two to figure this out, maybe I'm an idiot sometimes... I'm not sure. I guess I don't see the need for redundant power switches on a unit this small. Little did I know this switch actually activates the elderly chipmunks that power this unit. I couldn't find proof on the box anywhere, but I'm sure there must be chippies in there somewhere, it's the only explanation for the slow response of just about every function.

Unit Detail

Once you have the switch on and the unit's plugged in you'll become acquainted with the ridiculously small buttons on the front control panel. These are about the tiniest buttons I've ever seen on a home DVD player and make the buttons on my Motorola flip-phone seem huge by comparison. Available buttons on the unit are Track forward/backward, play/pause, stop, power on/off, and eject. Once you turn on the unit and wait about 20 seconds for it to process your request you'll see the red standby light change to green.

To load a DVD you press the eject button on either the control panel or remote and wait another 15-20 seconds for the chipmunks running inside to generate enough energy to power the disc tray out. Once the tray is out and the chipmunks run for awhile it slides back in and loads the blue Cyberhome main screen or the movie main menu screen depending on the disc. Now is when things go from tolerable to hair-rending… the remote control comes into play during normal movie operation, read on to find my impressions of this little grey rectangle from hades.

Remote Control

To get this off my chest I'll come out and say it right way… this is the worst remote control I've ever used, bar none. Its size is on the small side for an adult's hand, especially a big guy's hand. Each and every button is exactly the same size, the same shape, the same spacing from all the other identical buttons, creating an unbroken field of anthracite colored buttons on a dull grey background featuring silver letters. The only break from the grey theme is the orange power button and the five green menu control buttons. To make things worse the buttons are spaced nearly the same distance from the top and bottom of the remote making it very hard to tell which end is up.

I'm going to make a blanket statement here and say that most folks sitting at home tend to enjoy their movies with the lights off, I know I do. This makes it very hard to actually SEE the buttons on their remote control. Almost all manufacturers realize this and create 'safe-zone' near the center of the remote for all the two-thumbed alpha-males hogging the remote. This 'safe-zone' usually includes the play, stop, FF/RW, menu, and volume buttons in an easily located spot surrounded by empty space. Hey, we might be big, strong, guys on the outside but we don't to well with public humiliation on movie night. Now picture me sitting in a dark room midway through Red Eye in a particularly tense spot. Someone on the right asks me to pause the movie for a bit and I pick up the innocent looking grey remote and search in vain for the pause button. Tilting the remote to see in the light of the TV screen I see what I think looks like pause only to find nothing happens. I remember then that pause is near the edge of the remote, so I stab again at the button where pause should be. Nothing happens except for the viewer to my right muttering "I said can you pause it until I get back"? Clenching the remote in a grip certain to crush a coconut I flick on a table lamp to get a better look. I notice with chagrin I've been holding it upside down. Rearranging for correct orientation I aim again and fire with the correct button this time. Still no result from the chipmunks inside the unit, it continues to play on. I move closer to the unit and stand right in front and press the pause button oh I don't know, 325 times or so. Finally the movie pauses and I turn to find the pause-requester already absent… in his wake I hear "you'd better have that rewound when I get back, I don't want to miss anything."

This looks pretty silly written down like that, but it's so frustrating when the only user interface between you and the unit was designed by a pharmaceutical company. (Let's see how many drugs it takes to allow our test subjects to operate this remote.) The side-to-side range on this remote is very poor, even in a standard sized den you can be beyond range just sitting off the end of a wide couch. Another beef I have is with the slow response of the unit to all remote inputs. There's a 2 second or more delay when fast-forwarding or rewinding that makes hitting the right spot in the film very annoying.

----- Bottom Line -----

One thing I haven't discussed is the picture quality of this unit, overall I can't say it's all that bad. It looks fine in A/V mode and I'd say at least as good as my Sony player. S-Video looks slightly better although it displays a level of graininess that takes away from the quality of images. As stated before I haven't tried the component video. In my opinion if you have a display with component video inputs and you plan to use the Cyberhome DVD-300 as your player you should have your driver's license revoked. Anyone making choices like that isn't someone I want to be on the road with!

I don't know what I expected in a $40 DVD player, maybe I was spoiled by my old Sanyo $30 VHS player with a real, quality remote and instant response times. My Sony DVP-NS725P only cost $130 four years ago and has been a great player all these years. You can find quality full-size player for under $100 in all the big box electronics stores, please… save a few bucks a week and get a quality DVD player you'll enjoy using. Sometimes cheaper is a good deal; sometimes it's just cheaper. Unless you have a love for chipmunk-powered electronics don't settle for less.

Related Links:

Sony DVP-NS725P DVD Player

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!
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