CyberHome CH-DVR 1500 Progressive-Scan DVD+R/+RW Recorder and Player , Silver
cyberhome a solid recorder &amp; player
I bought my unit a couple months ago. It has been reliable but works a bit differently from a VCR and is more complex. <br />It plays every format of CD, DVD and R or RW, and jpegs, etc..  It will only handle the first 250 jpegs or mp3's it finds on a disk you insert.  This is a potential nuisance.  It records only the DVD+R and DVD+RW formats but can also play the &quot;-&quot; formats.  A majority of DVD players and PC's will play the + format but some will only play the - format.  A few older players will only play factory DVDs.  DO NOT BLAME THE RECORDER for an industry with multiple standards.  The RW discs are simpler to use than R discs, but cost more.<br />While recording, the pause contol works very nicely, but plan ahead for STOP.  This results in a long delay while the disc index is written and you cannot resume or anything else until this step is complete.<br />You can choose the compression to record with to yield 1,2,3,4 or 6 hours on a single-layer single-sided disc.  The 1 and 2 hour modes are very very good.  Three hour mode is acceptable VCR quality, but the 4 and 6 hour modes suffer from the high compression.<br />Be sure you let it format the new disk when you first put it in.  This takes about 90 seconds.  Also allow about 20-30 seconds warm up when you program it to record TV broadcasts.  I just set the system clock 30 seconds fast.<BR>Editing takes some practice.  I strongly suggest you practice first with material that can be discarded.  <br />The menus need to be made more user friendly, but there is not much else to criticise.  Recorders will surely become faster and easier to use in the future, but are already much easier than using a PC for recording.<br />I am transferring my 10-20 year old home videos to DVD before they go bad.  The DVDs will also take up less shelf space.