d2cheer

Side by side comparisons with the Cyberhome and Malata are not even close(using Progressive-scan component video) . The Cyberhome you do get what you pay for... I have compared both machines as my daugher just purchased one and the colors on the Cyberhome look like crap and as far as the Perfect pal conversion goes it is not as good as you have been led to believe. This mind you on a HD-TV Widescreen. Maybe on a regular TV the picture looks OK, but not on mine. The Malata is worth every cent. Plus without the x-y scaling feature you can't get rid of the overscan that is on almost every TV.

If you truly want to enjoy Pal DVD's the Malata or JVC is the way to go...

That being said those of you that have it and are happy, I am happy for you. Not trying to highjack the thread and make people mad. Just reporting what I have viewd. But after comparing the players I would not purchase one for a second machine(as I was thinking of doing for the bedroom). I do understand if cost is the issue as I am sure it is but when the tax return gets here I will be getting second Malata or a JVC.

dablueguy

Ever seen the movie "Suckers"? It's about car salesmen and what they do to sell their cars. The supervisor tells them about how they can screw people over and then those people feel so cheated that they get friends and family to buy from the same dealership so they aren't the only ones getting ripped off. I don't know why, but your post kind of reminds me of that. Maybe it's the fact that this is the second thread that you posted this in. Seems like you're really pushing the Malata, that and your opinion seems to be in the minority. Maybe it's just me though. Glad you like the Malata.

joelgee

What a sense of power and freedom!
Not because I hit the lottery, but because I just hooked up my CH500 and started playing the region 3 Laputa.

First, I've known about Laputa for at least 10 years and haven't been able to see it, but more than that, I now understand what it's like to be able to view an DVD in the world.

I just put my order in for the HKL Drive, Killer, and Once Upon a Time in China. I now scoff at inferior R1 releases.

I've yet to see how the NTSC-->PAL conversion works, but so far, so good.

Granted I have a mediocre 27" Zenith and a Dolby Pro Onkyo receiver, but everything looks and sounds just fine to me.

As far as I'm concerned, the CH500 is one of the best $70.00 purchases I've made.

I'm holding my breath to see how it fares over the long haul, but the worst that happens is that down the road, if anything screws up, I'll consider the Malata, JVC, or any new offering.

After, the Malata has only been around for what, a year or two?

Who knows what the next generation of conversion DVD players will be like?

FWIW, if you want to be region free, shell out the few bucks and feel the freedom.
J

Tony Block

I've picked up 5 Miyazaki R3 titles and they all play great on my CH 500.

Also have about 25 PAL DVDs (anamorphic, non-anamorphic & full-frame) and all have played fine with the exception of Las Edades de Lulu from Spain. I got a replacement disc for Las Edades and it's also bad, so I think it's the disc not the player.

Last night, I watched a R2 PAL DVD Melville's Le Samourai from France and it was the best I've ever seen this film, including a remastered print I saw theatrically a few years ago.

cheers, Tony Block

d2cheer

I have been a member here for over 3 years I have never "pushed" any product just reporting the findings. The other thread asked fo the informaiton I gave.

Am I pushing the Malata? If you say so, it is the better machine IMHO regardless of cost.

Glad you like your Cyberhome. It did nothing for me...

dablueguy

I meant no offense. It just reminded me of that movie. This is one of those topics where people seem to like one or the other but not both and no one can budge someone the other way. I would say that for the casual R2,3,4 buyer that this is the way to go. If you are going to invest a lot of money into foreign DVDs then maybe the Malata or the JVC? I don't know. None of the lower priced "do-it-all" players are perfect, but the Cyberhome seems to give the best bang for the buck. IMHO....

d2cheer

No problem ... in the other thread I added some information as to what exactly looked off to me. I will add it here also. I was asked what looked off to me and someone did comment that out of the box the colors are bad and you have to adjust your set. That I didn't know, as I should have read this whole thread and I would have found that out. I was also asked about the X & Y scaling. My answer is below....



The PAL conversion playback looks just off... Hard to explaine, like the picture dosen't flow as freely. Almost like the picture is jittery(?). Does that help?? The fast action scenes studder some and when compared to the Malata the actions is a smooth transition. I am not really sure how to say it any better than that.

No I didn't adjust the colors or anything as I have my set where I want it for when I use the Malata. I did mess around with it for a couple of hours when my daughter brought it over, because I wanted to check it out to see if I should invest in it.

As far as the X&Y scaling goes if you don't have it it is hard to notice what is being cropped. Before I got the Malata I had a Toshibia and was playing Starship Troopers and at the end of the movie the some words came on the screen that started with "And..." Practically the whole A was gone! Cropped off the side. When I got the Malata I put the same DVD in and found that I was missing at least an inch of picture on both sides. Now that is a pretty severe case of Overscan, other TV's probably are not as bad but to some extent it does exist on most sets.

Doc Moonlight

I am pleased to report that the CH500 plays 2 discs that the Malata N-996 doesn't play. I own two discs from the UK that will not play on the Malata:

Scottish Battles
1746: The Last Highland Charge

They would load on the Malta and the Malata would play the Music video on 1746 but would freeze-up whenever I tried to paly the feature. I set up the CH 500 yesterday and both discs played fine.

I still prefer the picture and features (most notably the XY Scaling) but for $43 I paid the CyberHome makes a great back-up player.

vforvendetta

Anyone else having distortion at the top of the frame playing anamorphic DVDs downconverted to 4:3? On both A Better Tomorrow (Anchor Bay) and Zoolander I noticed some really nasty video-type distortion on bright scenes.

Sartana

It's an incompatibility with your television set. Argus/Cyberhome are doing exchanges for this problem. Go to their homepage or check out the Cyberhom forum at nerd-out.com for all the details.

Max Fischer

I just got mine today where it is hooked up through S-Video to my Toshiba 36A50...the picture keeps going from black and white to color...how do i fix this!??!?

MassaCure

max is sounds like its your setting, go to setup and make sure you video setting are set correctly, make sure your output is on s-video, your aspect 4:3, and system ntsc, and format auto, if that doesnt work check ur cable make sure its not hanging out a lil bit, i had the same problem and it was my cable

joelgee

When I got mine hooked up, I got a b&w picture. After freaking out for a couple seconds, I went into the setup menu and discovered that the default setting is to component. Change it to s-vide. voila!
J

princessducky

Is it my Cyberhome 500 or everyone that it seems to take awhile to load. The tray also seems to open slower than other players.

Max Fischer

Well; I just switched my new Acoustic Research S-Video cable with the Monster S-Video cable that I had my other dvd player hooked up to and it did the trick. Hmm....do you think that the new one is a bad cable or just not fitting right?

renaldow

It is a hair slower than other players I've had, but not long enough to make a difference, IMHO.

Max Fischer

Well...I put th other player on the AR cable it does the same B&W thing! Going to have to exchange that cable I guess....

toucheturtle7

I just got my CH-500 from Best Buy delivered! I can't wait to set it up!

Matt Stevens

Mine stunk. Had the messed up Progressive Scan problems (red push, vertical lines across the screen). Sent it into Cyberhome and they sent me a replacement with the exact same problem! It wasn't my TV because I tried the player on two sets other than mine.

I returned the player for a refund. It's just junk that is just badly designed.

benedict

People coming to this thread for the first time, please don't forget to check out part one for a variety of viewpoints from satisfied, dissatisfied and potential users of the machine in question. And remember that there are other longstanding threads wherein you will find discussions concerning various alternatives machines and the major player(s).



Benedict
Moderator, International DVD Talk

d2cheer

That is sorta like how I felt, I was hoping it would be a cheap alternative to get a second machine that could do PAL... but alas for me it also was not the case.

packaok

Well, in the face of all of this negativity, I guess that I will have to post a positive viewpoint of the CH 500...

I got mine last Wednesday (2/5) and hooked it up via component cables to my Toshiba TheaterWide 40H80. Once I got it set up properly for progressive scan and component inputs, I put in the AVIA DVD to tweak the video settings. I must say that I didn't see the red push that a lot of people are describing and using AVIA's test patterns and red filter confirmed to me that there was none.

After getting the picture tweaked, I inserted several Region 1 DVD's like Star Wars Episode II and The Money Pit. The image was sharp and vibrant and there was no hint of the vertical lines that many people had experienced.

Yesterday (2/8), I got my first international DVD in the mail: National Lampoon's Vacation from R2. I watched the film from start to finish and found no problems at all.

I realize that it has been less than a week, but so far the CH 500 gets high marks in my book. I just hope that it keeps it up...

Bill Geiger

Well, mine has the progressive problem as well... but I don't care! I am gonna pick up a new progressive player, and just keep this around to watch my R2, R3 & R4 DVDS. Just cause I have an HDTV, doesn't mean my other region dvds have to be in progressive! I personally think the player plays GREAT without being in progressive setup. Do you get what you pay for, sure. Complaining about a 60 dollar DVD player is like complaining about a two dollar steak!

Cyberhome works for me in some ways, doesn't in others... I'll live.

Matt Stevens

It doesn't matter what it costs. If it sucks, it sucks. And this player sucks when used with certain TV's.

yxz54

I own both the CyberHome 500 and the Malata 996. The Malata is definately the better unit although I think the CyberHome is a fantastic value and have had none of the problems others have had. The CyberHome has played every disc I've thrown at it flawlessly. I think the color rendition is excellent although it really should be tweaked with an AVIA (or the like) disk.....no red push detected. I will say that the CH tends to overly darken some low lit scenes so I've increased my brightness ~10% to compensate. I don't play any SVCD's or VCD's for that matter so I am not really sure about the jerkiness issue.