Customer Reviews

RCA DRC240N DivX-Capable Progressive-Scan Single Disc DVD Player

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I purchased this DVD player from my employer, CompUSA the day it came off the truck about 10 days ago. It has some perks against the Philips 642 which I also own. The fast forward/rewind is MUCH smoother and doesn't just skip frames as the philips player seems to do. Also is the much missed (at least in my case) support for motion compensation from the Philips player. I also like the remote layout much more, find it more ergonmical and naturally laid out and less likely to hit the wrong button by accident. Also while the philips limited file names to 9 characters, the rca scrolls longer file names showing their entire length. I also prefer the aethestics of the RCA with its slot loading front and hidden lcd screen. Unfortunately things seem to fall apart when one starts to actually use the player. Some movies and videos play fine, but many that I have tried fail to maintain sync with audio often dropping in and out, or the video increasing pace to catch back up to the audio. Often corrected with a quick fw or rewind jogging it happens all to regularly. I can not track so far if its limited to certain bit rates, or codec (i.e. one divx or xvid version). Between the two players its a tough call... For now the RCA will stay hoping for a firmware update but for the time being, buyer beware.. I see ZERO support on RCA's website though the product is still very infantile!

As some of the other reviewers have noted, the plusses:

- Sleek Design
- Innovative way to load disks through a slot vs. a caddy.
- Digital display is really cool.
- Plays almost any kind of disk you have, DVD, VCD, mp3/wma CD and so on.
- Affordable price.

the minuses:
- The biggest one is that it freezes while trying to load disks, or it just plain shuts itself off outright, while trying to load a disk.
- Sometimes while trying to play a disk it emits a scary ticking noise asif the hardware is going haywire.

I had bought this from Bestbuy website and after seeing the spontaneous shutoff issue, I took it back to my local store and they said to send it directly to the manufacturer. When I got this problem initially, I followed the instructions in the guide to completely reset the hardware, but the problem still persisted.

The manufacturer didn't actually take back the player, but instead replaced the one I sent back with another one of the same kind.

This replacement player worked for a while but its also giving me noises now as if the hardware is going crazy inside.

Bad idea.. Don't buy it, you'll regret it.

Or if you want.. try it out but make sure you have a good refund poicy, because it will come around and bite you ( in the you know where )..

I bought this player reading reviews from here, however it was a big mistake. Probably some reviews written by biased people.
What's good:
1. Sleek design
2. Eject from remote
3. Displays long file names in a scrolling line
What's bad
1. Too long time to recognize DIVX disks
2. Freezing and lips sync problem almost for every disk I tried including regular DVDs
3. No support from RCA and firmware updates
The player should be returned.

This is going to be a bad review, but I just wanted to add to the previous reviewer's points on the failings of this player:
1) only plays the first layer of dual layer dvd's
2) software is buggy in a way such that you have to actually power cycle it on some occasions in order to recover from a failure
3) this dvd player makes me sad

I have tried over 20 divx and xvid movies with this player, and it plays them all, including ones that don't play on the Philips 642.

In particular it supports the advanced features of Divx: GMC and Qpel. It was these features that where stopping some movies from playing on the Philips.

Like the previous reviewer I have also notices a slight audio/video sync problem on a couple of files, this can be fixed by a quick FF then Play.

My experience with this player is much the same as previous reviewers. The player forces you to reload a DVD multiple times before it will accept it (it locks up and won't play) and freezes up in the middle of movies. I received this unit as a gift and didn't want to take it back. That was a big mistake. Any DVD player that can't play all DVDs without flaws, is nearly worthless. I have and have had multiple DVD players in my house - one which I purchased seven years ago, one which I got free, etc. Every single one is better than this one.

Do NOT buy this player, at any price.

If all you want is a cheap player that will playback divx files this DVD player is fine. Unfortunately it does not play store bought DVDs very good at all. On my unit I have to insert some discs several times for it to even start playing, and most discs will stop playing half way through. I called and emailed RCA for help and their customer service is horrible. They suggested I clean the BRAND new DVD player and brand new DVD, and would not suggest anything else. As far as I can tell they have no plans for firmware upgrades. Buy one of the other divx players on the market.

I compared both dvd players. I am not pleased with RCA, there are no firmware updates for this unit. BUY THE AVAYON DXP1000. I am happy to say I returned my RCA DRC240N to BEST BUY. The AVAYON DXP1000 can be set to play DVDs from any or all 6 Regions, and future updates can be downloaded from the Avayon website when new updates are available for the divx codes, unfortunately the RCA divx DVD player lack these two crucial features, leaving you to purchase a new player with the latest updates.

This dvd player has been working good. I have not had a problem that the other reviewers here have mentioned. All my dvds play the first time, except pal format dvds. I do not have to reload them over and over. I have been very satisfied with this player and I have had it for a while now. Plays divx,xvid. I just wish it played PAL, but if I use ifoedit I can make it play the pal movies. Overall I recommend it.

I have had the problem several other reviewers have had (i.e. - some DVD's not being recognized)...but for the most part it works way better than the RCA DVD Recorder that I have which constantly stops in the middle of DVD's and can never finish a movie without a skip or a problem. So in turn I take it to my bedroom and pop it in this machine and it always works. So I guess it's the lesser of two evils in my household. I'm not an RCA fan but my Dad works for RadioShack and we get alot of this stuff pretty cheap. You get what you pay for I suppose.