CyberHome CH-DVD 500 Progressive-Scan DVD Player
Amazingly Feature Rich
It'a an amazingly feature-rich product for the price. It's based on a new DVD chip (CS98100) developed by Cirrus Logic, which packs all the functions of a DVD player in a single chip. This chip was introduced in the early 2002 and my guess is that the CH-DVD 500 is the first product to use it in the market. The use of this chip is instrumental in bringing down the price of this product. All the features you can ask for in a high-end DVD model including progressive-scan output are offered in this model. Truly amazing how they can undercut the competitor's price almost by half. The picture quality is excellent on a traditional TV, but I haven't tested it on a HDTV for its progressive scan feature. A progressive-scan out would be a must-have if you're considering a HDTV. It basically eliminates the flickering of traditional TVs and improves the smoothness of motions (watching a movie in a movie theater is a good example of a progressive scan; all computer monitors nowadays are in progressive scan, so if you watch a DVD movie through your computer, that's a good example of progressive scan.)<br />Low price doesn't always come without some sacrifice. Build quality is about the same as other bargain brand/product, which is ok at best. Especially the search dial is very flimsy feeling. I was afraid of buying a completely unknown brand here and reviews for this product were almost non-existent, but it's already popular in Europe, so I decided to give it a try. It seems like they rushed the product from the factory to the market because I could smell the unpleasant paint odor on the outside the silver casing for many days. So if you're sensitive to harsh chemical, make sure you air it out before using it.<br />In summary, it has some flaws, but the good features it offers more than make up for its drawbacks.