CH-DVD 300S Progressive-Scan DVD Player Silver

My husband and I put DVD players through their paces as our TV is used almost exclusively for DVD viewing since we have no cable or satellite service. In the past four or five years we've gone through three mid-priced players; when they were subjected to our rigorous (and disc-after-disc) viewing they soon developed issues with skipping, not reading, humming, and overheating. We also are fans of foreign films and rare editions, but have never been able to afford an all-region player. We heard tale of a great all-region player that could be found on Amazon for well under $75 and thought it was too good to be true. But as our DVD player at the time sounded like a mini helicopter every time we watched a movie, we were willing to try anything! It arrived super fast and we were pleasantly surprised at how compact the unit is (not as thick as a Harry Potter book, but wider). The first thing we did was set it up for all-region coding (instructions were included) and gave it a test run with a European disc -and it worked! So did a disc from Japan! Wonderful! Bottom line, it is a great little basic DVD player with a fantastic all-region perk. It doesn't record or have a clock to set (but we haven't missed that), but has held up to our rigorous routine for over a month now and we couldn't be more pleased. Even the remote is nice; simple, not too thin, and all the buttons are clearly labeled. If you've always wanted a basic player and the ability to watch foreign discs but couldn't plunk down the extra cash, this could be the perfect player for you! Read more

I bought one of these units to have a backup to my Cyberhome 320, which has served me very well. The three things I like most about the Cyberhome units are: 1) The audio playback volume can be controlled globally from the remote. This is helpful if you have the sound output of the player connected to a reciever/ amplifier and a TV simultaneously- the volume of the TV sound and the reciever sound can be adjusted in tandem - or, if the minimum volume setting on your TV is still too loud for watching DVD's or playing mp3's late at night (my plasma TV is like that, believe it or not) you can lower the volume to a level that won't disturb others. 2)Cyberhomes seem to be able to play any DVD that I can create on my PC. This was not so for a Sony unit I have that cost three times as much. 3)the region code of the units can be reset to zero. However, when I attempted to use the hack that worked on my 320 (the same hack described here in other reviews of this player) on the 300 it did not work. If you are getting the same results try this proceedure instead (it worked for me): 1) Close the disc tray with no disc inside. (This proceedure will not work with the disc drawer open.) 2) On the remote press "menu" then "1" and then "9". When I tried this no "no" symbol appeared as on my 320. A highlighted box should appear with the players current region setting displayed. 3) On the remote, press the green up or down buttons to change the code. I set mine to "0" - all regions. 4) On the remote, press "enter". You're done! I tested this with region 1, 2, and 4 discs and they all played fine. I just got my 300 so I haven't had time to experience any of the problems (unit failres) that others have reported, but I've had my 320 for about two years and other than having to clean the lens once it has worked just fine. As far as I can tell the 300 and the 320 are identical except that the power indictor on the 300 is larger than the one on the 320, the screensaver looks slightly different and the region hacks are slightly different. I'm hoping that the 300 will perform as well as the 320 since these players have all the features I need. Read more

I was a little nervous about purchasing this item because of all the bad reviews, but in my experience, the product works fine. The reason why I bought this is that I knew that my sister wanted a DVD player, but I knew she wouldn't be using it every day. If you're looking for something that's going to constantly be used, you may want to consider doing more DVD player hunting before you purchase this one. My sister has had no problems with it overheating or eating her DVDs (if it does this, there is an emergency slot I believe to retrieve the DVD); you just have to keep the room it's in well-ventilated like you'd do for any of your electronic devices. Also, if you accidentally lose or break the remote control, just go to the website to order a new one or if you have any problems with your DVD player go there as well ([...] If you're giving this to somebody as a gift, make sure you test it out first; that way if it's dead on arrival as some some people in the reviews have stated, you can easily return it and get refunded. Overall, my sister is completely satisfied with how the DVD player works. Only once did the DVD pause a little bit, but it wasn't even that bad and to be honest with you, I have a DVD/VHS player by Panasonic and once in a while it does the same thing. Read more

I think this is a great little machine. It is small enough to be portable, has component video out as well as other options. Works great since I bought it in 2003, no problems. Nice small remote. Don't understand why other customers had problems, could be the newer models or maybe they just happen to be a few lemons. Best bang for your buck! Only minor negative is that there is a slight pause on the audio sound when you remove it from "pause" mode. Otherwise, love it, love it, love it. However, it does only lasts maybe a couple of years. A rental dvd finally broke as it kept trying to access. It eventually died, however, after trying access a scratched disk. It lasted about 2-3 years. I wouldn't give it 5 stars in hind sight but perhaps 3 to 4 for longevity. Read more