Cyberhome CH-DVR1600 DVD Recorder
!!! BANG FOR THE BUCK !!!  ... Works with DVD-R too !!
I was looking for a DVD Recorder that I could use to transfer a load of old home movies I have on VHS tape to DVD and this unit looked just right price-wise, i.e. very inexpensive, since I did not envision much further use once I got all the tapes transferred to DVD.  But this baby has proven to be a real versatile unit.  I have it hooked up to my VCR on one line input and my TIVO on the other line input and I can easily transfer materials from either unit to DVD.  I also hooked up the built-in tuner and recorded a couple of programs right off the air to DVD.  Again, no problems ... and in all cases the quality of recording was awesome (I used the default 2 hour mode).  The built-in MP3 player is a real bonus.  I transferred a lot of my MP3's to a DVD Disc with 4.7 Gig capacity (yes, that's a lot of MP3's) and I could easily play them all on this unit.  I have not tried the JPEG viewer but if that works as well as the other functions that I have tested then what is there to complain about?   For a hundred bucks ... how much better can you expect?  I am wondering about all those one star ratings ... this unit is a bit complicated to set up and I can understand someone's frustration if they have a less than satisfactory out-of-box experience.  But if you are not technically challenged or if you are willing to spend some time reading the manual and understanding the setup you will not be disappointed.  I took away one star from my rating because the remote is not very well organized and has very small keys.  But all in all, great product at an unbelievable price!  PS. Someone reported that they were able to burn a DVD-R on this unit even though it is advertised as a DVD+R only.  If that is true then this is truly one outstanding device!   UPDATE 12/21/05 --  Out of curiousity, I went out and got hold of a couple of DVD-R discs to try out with this unit.  They worked just fine.  Upon insertion of the DVD-R I was prompted to format the DVD-R which I did.  Then I proceeded to record a couple of programs off the air, all recorded just fine, each recording in a separate \\"Chapter.\\"  Then I finalized the disc and was able to play the DVD-R on a regular DVD player.  So this unit DOES indeed work with DVD-R even though it is advertised as DVD+R only.  I have not tried DVD-RW so I cannot say for that type of disc.  DVD+RW works just fine.  Lastly, what is truly a wild card is the overall long term reliability of the unit.  In today's age of rapid obsolescence and cheap, cheap prices for consumer electronics the very definition of \\"long term\\" needs to be rethought.  To me long term means 12 months.  So if the unit dies after 12 months I will have gotten my money's worth since I would be looking to upgrade to the next, new thing anyway right about in the 18-24 month time frame.  It is unfortunate that we have come to view consumer electronics items as essentially \\"disposible\\" ... but that is how things are.  So all in all, I am a happy customer with this unit.    The \\"Version\\" information from my unit (obtained from the Setup screen) is as follows:  UI: C00065MCU  Serve: DX043D D 037S  Adap: V08.00.01.46.R0.2  Control: DVR1600CHN1M02540