Cyber Home CH-DVR 1600 - DVD recorder with TV tuner
By: Cyberhome Average Rating: 1.5 Total Reviews: 19
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 On: 2007-07-14
I had a myriad of problems with this unit, including things as basic as setting the clock(easy? try and find it without the manual). It would not accept DVD Rw disks if they had ever been "touched" by another recorder(even if blank). It would not always replay the very recorded disks that it itself had made. It would occasionally miss a recording date and have the next day scheduled, as if today(for some odd reason) just didnt warrant a recording. Most of all, it had a strange logic to its controls and internal commands, neither logical nor similar to the rest of the industry, which has pretty much standardized procedures.
On: 2007-05-31
Have you ever had the worst day of your life? This one is 10 times worser.
I got this DVD recorder during the holidays. I thought I was excited, Turn out I wasnt. The DVD player itself was made quickly and cheaply. The remote was puny and has rubber keys. and the recorder itself wouldnt take all of the blank DVDs I put in (It would only take the sample disc that came with it). Just one advice for you, DONT BUY THIS RECORDER! Cyber-Home went out of business last year, so dont expect any more news out of them.
On: 2007-04-21
This was a gifted to me a year ago. It will record in decent quality (I used it to record kids shows, not really trying to get great recording) but its tricky and hard to figure out. The remote is small and the buttons are small. Not very easy to use.
My big beef with this is that I cant play half the movies I buy. I have bought at least 3 dvds that I cant play. The machine reads "no disk". I keep thinking maybe I need to find some sort of code, but havent found anything yet. None of the dvds Ive purchased are bootlegs, so I dont get it. My playstation 2 will play it, but this wont.
If I had paid for it, Id have returned it.
by: markofcain On: 2007-04-09
This awful product is proof that, when it comes to electronics, the cheapest model usually isnt the best model. Its also proof that its best to get products from a reputable company, like Panasonic, instead of an outfit like CyberHome thats hardly big-name. I got mine in late November of 2005, and it worked great until September of 2006. So far I had only used it to record directly from the tv instead of trying timed recordings or burning copies of things on VHS, though, so I cant speak to any problems that might have cropped up there. Well, after those ten months or so of beautifully recording, it just suddenly began giving me problems. Every 5 or 10 minutes, it would pause recording, even though I hadnt even pushed that button on the remote, or any buttons on the remote, and I would have to push record again. Or it would go straight from pause to stopping the recording, when I never pushed that button either. And of course, that big rectangle was in the middle of the screen while this is happening, blocking my view of the show. It repeated this again several days later when I tried again to tape something. At first I thought I was going to have a disc full of junk, something cuts to ribbons by this constant stopping and starting, but then I found out that nothing had recorded at all.
Strangely enough, it still recorded DVD-RW discs perfectly, even though it suddenly claimed a disc error on all of the DVD-R discs I tried to use. But that didnt last very long either, and suddenly even DVD-RWs are starting to have problems. Im frankly afraid to finalise any of the discs I have to be able to watch them on real players, hearing how a lot of discs have been lost when this awful machine finalises. And since they can only play on that error-ridden machine, I basically have a lot of discs full of garbage, all of that effort and money for nothing. This machine has even been having problems playing normal DVDs, constantly skipping the picture or making loud noises. Its really a shame, since a lot of the films Ive taped are only available on out of print videos or have never been released at all. Im so glad to find out that other consumers have had these same sorts of problems and that it wasnt just my crappy machine breaking down. I knew it was really suspicious how suddenly all of these discs, from different brands, had errors and couldnt record. Additionally, it also has a rather cumbersome menu and an impossibly small remote.
Im thrilled to find out that this crappy company has gone out of business and that this crappy recorder is no longer on the market. Ive learnt my lesson about cheap electronics from companies youve never heard of before.
On: 2007-02-28
I can only give you the tip of the ineptitude iceberg:
* DVD glitches at all quality levels
* DVD total failures (you thought you had a month or two of your favorite show - SURPRISE! No you dont!)
* CONSTANTLY puts up a large blue rectangle that blocks all viewing for no GOOD reason: formatting disc; alerting that recording event will be taking place in about 15 minutes; Disc error (always the best); the list goes on and on....
* Incredibly finicky DVD playback - disks must be perfect, which means the ones you record are a crap-shoot as to whether they will play
* I record on this recorder, and then try to watch on my CYBERHOME BRAND DVD player (also an excremental piece of work!) and it RARELY works!
* Your DVDs have an UGLY and inefficient menu that puts 3, maybe 4 thumbnails and short customisable text (not large enough to really read) with huge ugly Cyberhome logo everywhere... you have to go through page after page of these to find what you recorded (IF it bothered to record)
* You have to finalise all DVDs before they have a CHANCE at playing on anything else - and that finalising procedure (takes forever and you cant see or hear ANY television meantime) is where 70% or the total failures happen. Coaster. No explanation.
* especially on the low quality setting - any music on the film or show is nauseating ... sounds like an old school stretched and damaged reel-to-reel or a science class film from way way back in the day
* setting up for recording events is seriously user-hostile
I could go on and on. I curse this thing several times a day (cant afford to replace it yet, but when i do - im going to go OFFICE SPACE on this piece of garbage!)
I do NOT work for a competitor, i just have two Cyberhome DVD and DVDr units (they are goldstar-cheap, without dollar-store quality) and neither one is worth the space it takes up.
Please - for sanitys sake - move along to a better item, and boycott this company forever, like i will!
On: 2007-02-15
Ive owned this unit for over a year and a half and it is junk. The DVDs it records all freeze momentarily during playback in other high-quality DVD players. It has also started freezing up during playback of store bought DVD movies. Im talking a complete freeze. Even the clock on my unit GAINS 5 minutes each MONTH! Always having to reset it. Im going to purchase a Sony RDR-GX330 DVD Recorder!
On: 2007-01-14
I had this unit for 1.5 years. Worked for a while then started to "eat" my DVD RW disks........they would only record for 20-30 recordings. First thought it was the disks I bought but happened with all brands. Then it wouldnt play DVD movies from Blockbuster........that was the final straw...........I threw it out. Not worth it at any price! Agree totally with other negative reviews listed here.
On: 2006-12-18
0 Stars for ratings. About 7 or 8 months ago they sent first a DVD with firmweare upgrade. Then, they changed the unit. Only worked 3 more times. Now Does not even play a full prerecorded DVD. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY.
 On: 2006-11-12
I have owned my unit for three years now and never had a problem with either recording from tv,vhs tapes or dvds. I do have a problem with the reomote control. It has stopped working. Since you have no use for yours would anyone be willing to give up there remote for a small price to me. Thank you!
On: 2006-11-08
I have had nothing but problems, I have update the firmware twice, and still it messes up. Do not but, no support, no help. I guess in this case I really got what I paid for.
On: 2006-10-18
Heres a good example of why NOT to buy the lowest priced product in the store. Timed recording of shows inexplicably stops a part of the way through the programmed time. During playback, the taped show runs for 20 minutes and stops then begins playing a different show on the DVD EVEN THOUGH the DVD was re-fortmatted prior to taping! Operation Guide does not even have contact information for support. I wont be purchasing anything from this company again.
On: 2006-10-14
Its horrible. Dont buy. All it does is eat DVD-R/RWs. It doesnt close when it ends a reording so its a waste of money. Stay away from it.
On: 2006-10-10
The end result of having a DVD Recorder is you have a DVD at the end to watch correct? Wrong. At the end of recording maybe 80% of the time youll have a disk you can watch. 80% of the time isnt good enough for me. I can get an ulcer worrying whether what Im recording off the TV tuner will work or not!!! I bought a DVD Recorder as a step up from a VCR.
This company was raided because they refused to pay copyright to Panasonic---NOT because they are selling junk that doesnt work. Guess no one cares about them selling junk to consumers.
There are so many different reviews out there. I have no idea which model to try next. I guess Ill try the Toshiba RD-XS35 and let you know.
On: 2006-10-02
The recorder continually destroys the DVDs. Youd be lucky to ever get to the end of the recording without getting a bad disc or disc error message, which means you have to dump your dvd and start from scratch. Ive tried many different brands of DVDs and still the same problem each time. Not much support from the website either.
On: 2006-09-24
Dont buy ANYTHING from this company, not even for $1!! Nothing works! There is no support, web site does not allow to contact anyone at the company. No phone numbers. Unit stopped working very shortly after I got it. Worse piece of junk I ever bought in my entire life!!
On: 2006-09-19
Company will not answer phone, website does not
work, Police raided them for unlicensed products.
My unit died 2 days after Warranty expired.
Product CANNOT be repaired..
 On: 2006-09-09
Too upset to comment. Just brought this product this afternoon and I am returning it first thing tomorrow morning. Its respone to the remote is slow. The TV turner doesnt work and the list continues . . . If I could give this no stars, I would!
On: 2006-09-04
The remote control that comes with this unit is the only one that we can get to work with the unit. Since there are only play/pause, eject, record, and standby/on controls on the front of the unit, if you lose the OEM remote you can no longer navigate menus or skip ahead/back. This is constantly a real pain in our family since we habitually lose the small remote that came with the unit and cannot use the other three universal remotes to control it.
Also, we have had problems recording DVDs - sometimes it messes up during formatting the disk and leaves in unusable -- sometimes we record a disc-full of programs only to find that they are unplayable later.
On: 2006-08-28
Bottom line - dont waste your money or your time.
This is the worst item I have purchased. The remote layout should be warning enough. Even though mine worked out of the box (which according to many reviews means I was lucky) my DVR 1600 soon stopped recognizing the same brand of DVD+RW that worked initially. Changing DVD+RW brands didnt help. Updating the firmware (front & back end) didnt work. This was $100 + a lot of aggravation wasted.
Just do a web search and you will see the number of frustrated customers.
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