Cyberhome AM-512

This Cyberhome AM-512 DVD player is good, plays all formats , but does have a time limited problem.

even the smallest thing like condensation in the home will effect the player.

All in all the Cyberhome AM-512 is one of the best DVD buys there is today. You get it all for near free. DVD CD CD-R CD-RW VCD MP3 and more. I paid about 200 Euros and am so satisfied. Picture is crisp, sound is formidable, and my Yamaha RX-V1000RDS has yet to complain about the signals. The mp3:s sound great and sound great (much thanks to the receiver too).

My three complaints are: 1. The disk slider IS clunky. It is loud and sometimes a bit too noisy for quieter music(!). 2. Sometimes it finds it difficult to center the disk properly, and I have open the slider and close it again. 3. It can be picky with disks. I have found that some 5% of my disks (so far only CDs) cannot be played properly. At times it simply cannot find them...

So, you may ask, why not get a quality DVD player instead when you paid for that Yamaha? Well, money... And, I wait for DVDAudio/SACD. Can't afford them right now. Had it not been for the three issue I have had it would have received 10. Yet, despite the faults, I cannot give it lower because when it does play my CD/DVDs it sounds and looks perfect.

One player for everything which is small round and reflecting - even a mirror would run....

If you're seeking for a cheap DVD-CD-VCD-SVCD-MP3 Player with 5.1-Coax-Fibre-Stereo-Video-SCART-Headphone outputs which supports directories on MP3-CD's for less money than an internal DVD for PC's you might have no choice.

With your DSP in action the noise of the drive won't disturb.

The picture quality is easily good enough for the average DVD watcher. The sound quality could not be faulted on my Yamaha home cinema sound kit. Seperation of the individual sound channels was good, and the use of the optical connection is well worth the extra cost of the lead. Not that it arrives short of the most relevant connection leads. It comes with a fully wired scart lead and a decent phono lead for sound and video, not bad for a budget machine. The menu system is easy to use, just go slowly though! Contrary to other reviews, I have found the MP3 playback functions fine, just make shure you use decent quality CDR's when you encode your music and take the time to assemble the different albums correctly and have at least a 1 second lead inout for each individual track, (2 seconds is better). Poor coding software can probably lead to problems. All in all this is a good entry level machine and is about £60 less than a "branded" machine with an equivelant spec. If you are in the market for a decent "cheap" machine you would have to look a long way to better this machine.

As DVD players go, it would not have been one of my choices as I do tend to go for brand names. But brand name or not, this is definitely a DVD player to consider. Picture, sound quality is great!

Now, I'm not the greatest hi-fi buff in the world, but I know a bargain when I see one. I'd been looking to get a DVD player for ages, but never thought I'd end up getting one in WH Smiths of all places (this model is also available at Richer Sounds), and certainly not such a fully-featured model for only £130.

Many people won't be familiar with CyberHome, and neither was I, but I can now say that they make excellent, if not the most stylish products. When I got my AM-512 out of the box I was at first struck by its size (it is large), but also by the amount of connectors on its back - this thing has built in Dolby Digital decoding as well as S-video out, optical out and digital coax as well as all the standard outputs.

Setting it up was fairly painless and easy thanks to the clear diagrams (if not English) in the manual - this player comes with SCART leads, the lot.

When I watched "Three Kings" on DVD, I was completely blown away by its picture quality - everything is crisp and clear, blacks are well-defined and colours are vivid; I really doubt that you're going to find equivalent picture quality on the equivalent Alba ;)

Sound is equally impressive and immersive with the DD 5.1 working like a dream..great positioning, great bass, the lot. (I don't have a DTS amp (who does??) so I haven't been able to test the pass-thru yet)

The other features on the player all work well, and it is full of great touches such as a glow in the dark remote control buttons and the nice "swiping" menus.

Sadly MP3 playback seems to be a bit buggy but apart from that and the "look" of the player I don't think you could honestly find a better-featured brand new player for under £250.

Obviously it's not for home cinema-bores (although it would be great in a bedroom), but for the average man in the street, you'll find no better DVD player, so look past the brand name that you've never heard of and by this now. Thank you.