Customer Reviews

RCA DRC8060N DVD Recorder with Commercial Advance

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

 

 

I have been using the RCA DRC8060N for about 8 months. After hundreds of hours of recording (including the entire 2006 FIFA World Cup), I am convinced that the overall quality, versatility and value of this DVD recorder are very good. The following are the pros and cons of purchasing it:

PROS:
- Excellent quality of recording on the 1-, 2- and 4-hour settings. The 6- and 8-hour recordings are a bit fuzzy but this is understandable. The manual gives a list of disk brands that RCA recommends. Stick with Philips or Sony for best quality.
- Ability to record on double-layer disks, which essentially doubles the recording capacity.
- Full complement of connectivity options - HDMI, component, S-video, composite, coaxial. I use S-video from the satellite receiver to the DVD recorder and again S-video from the DVD recorder to the TV. As an option, the S-video is below HDMI and component, yet the picture from DVDs or live TV is perfect. The unit also has both analog and digital audio outs.
- A typical RCA product in the sense that it can be used as the centerpiece of a home entertainment system, all components of which can be interconnected.
- Also a typical RCA product for its clean and utilitarian styling. If you want a DVD recorder that is lit like a Christmas tree, you are better off with a Sony, Panasonic or Toshiba at a 30% premium. The better quality myths are just that since all electronics companies manufacture their products in the same cheap labour markets.
- Straightforward controls and overall ease of use. If you know how to use a VCR then you already know how to use it.
- Comprehensive but not technically overwhelming manual.
- Uncluttered remote, which has been truly universal for my entire system, down to the punch-through control of the surround sound receiver/amplifier.
- Upconverts 480p input (i.e. DVD) to a choice of 720p or 1080i output. Late-model TVs can do that but my preference is that the upconversion to the native resolution of the television set is done by the DVD player.

CONS:
- The DVD recorder emits some noise and heat, a lot like a DVD drive of a PC. The levels, however, are too low to cause an inconvenience.
- Cannot delete a chapter (or some of the chapters) of a recorded title. Such a feature would have been very helpful in deleting commercials from a recording, in order to save some space on +RW disks.

What a rip off. Unreliable:schedule a program to be recorded and don't count on it; moreover, when that happens the DVD becomes unusable for future recording. The so-called commercial advance NEVER worked on any of the recordings that I was able to make; and, yes, it was properly set up to do that. The whole unit "seized up" 2 or 3 times, when I had to unplug and then set up again (fortunately their were instructions for that "possibility"). Consequently, I have a machine that effectively functions only as a DVD player

+ Commercial advance works great

+ Had no problems with DVD+R media

- Was able to record only once on +RW, but would not finalize nor playback.

- Fast forward if painfully slow. Maybe 4x max. or you can manually skip forward 30 seconds with a button. But press the button very often.

As an owner of an earlier RCA DVD Recorder (DRC8040), I had high hopes for this one. RCA gets points for supporting Divx, commercial skip and HDMI out.

However, this model is missing features and has a couple bugs. My biggest gripe is that RCA removed the "Split Title" feature which is a useful way to perform basic edits and to free up disc space. Also, the title screen doesn't always display correctly when playing finalized discs in other DVD players. Lastly, it seems to prefer +RW discs as I constantly got errors trying to record to plain +R DVDs.

I would suggest looking at LG's line of recorders, or last year's Sony GX315.

RCA sent me this model after the previous unit I purchased, DRC8040N, never worked, even after time away with a designated RCA tech as per the warrantee.

This unit recorded only twice successfully-- once directly from my camcorder (but with many freezes, wasted DVDs and incidents when the unit suddenly stopped "recognizing" my attached camcorder). The only other successful recording was off the tivo, but didn't include chapter headings as programmed, had titling problems, and had to be babysat throughout the process. Playback quality is bad.

The unit has not successfully recorded since, wasting another half dozen discs and over 16 lost hours of recording that ended up unsuccessful.

Bad freezing (requiring both regular and hard resets), sudden refusal to "finalize", inability to play or recognize media just recorded on disc still inside machine, and outside, slow command response, and SHAMEFULLY poor RCA/Thompson customer service.

I can understand one lemon, but two in a row?

After all this, RCA absolutely refuses to refund the cost of the original unit, and wouldn't even exchange the DRC8060N without going through the pointless exercise of sending this second unit out to a designated RCA tech center. Based on hours of research and over six months of experience trying to find a solution for this problem, I have come to believe RCA knows these units are faulty. Most RCA designated repair centers in my area refuse even to accept a repair order on this and the DRC8040N unit, even though they risk their official "RCA" designation in so doing.

Based on RCA's supervisor level customer service reps (called "Escalation Specialists"-- not because you're furious at the time, but because talking to one of these condescending double-talk con artists will make you want to slit your own wrists, ultimately causing "escalation" even in the most reasonable consumer), I believe RCA is knowingly conning exhausted and frustrated consumers until we give up or the warrantee runs out. They refused to give me a name to whom I could address a written complaint. These units shouldn't even be on the market. I will never purchase an RCA/Thompson product of any kind again.

I thought I was going to like this device just by looking at the features and specs, however after carefully reading through the entire manual and tinkering with every function, I decided it was not worth keeping.

The Good:

HDMI output

Commercial Advance

480p, 720p, and 1080i capable

The Bad:

- Freezes frequently, requiring unplugging for a moment to reset.

- No chapter forward/back on the remote.

- Remote seems to "forget" correctly programmed TV code.

- 16:9 aspect ratio AVI/DivX movies will always be letterboxed and images distorted wide even though both the DVD recorder and the TV are set to the correct aspect ratios. The only way to not have the black bars on top and below is to set the recorder to 480p resolution (reducing picture quality) AND set the TV to "Zoom" setting to get rid of any black borders. However, doing this workaround makes the DVD recorder's menus invisible (cut off from top, bottom, and sides). I do not have this problem on my other upconverting HDMI DVD players.

- Mediocre picture quality even with HDMI and 1080i.

I've had this machine for a year now, and you know that scene in the movie "Office Space" where the guys take the printer out to a remote location and beat it to smithereens? Well that is exactly what I am doing with this lemon when I replace it.

It does what it wants, when it wants to. Now it has taken to erasing what I've recorded when I try to access the disc or turn off the machine. Sometimes I cannot turn it off and have to unplug it to get it to reset itself and unfreeze. (It's not an Apple product, is it?:-)

Most aggravating of all, (since it is a minor thing that could easily have been made right but was not,) is that the clock does not keep proper time. When you go to your manual to find out why, it tells you that it doesn't keep proper time and basically you can go jump in a lake if you don't like it.

The dumpster for this one.

I bought this unit today hoping to add new zest to my DVDs through the HDMI upscaling to HD quality. I put in a Star Wars DVD that I bought at Target to test it out, only to find that it didn't work! I got an error message that the DVD, which worked fine in my other DVD player, could not be played in this region (i.e. DVD region). I was surprised and disappointed with this problem. Reading other reviews for RCA DVD recorders, I guess I should not have been. RCA does not appear to have a strong product line in DVD players/recorders. Also, this unit only records in DVD+R and DVD+RW and don't use 2.4x blanks either- the manual says they cause problems.

More importantly, perhaps, I don't think the HDMI upscaling feature- now that I have seen it on other DVDs that worked on this machine- really adds to viewing pleasure. Here's why:

1) First, check the features of your HD-TV. Mine is a Sony KV-36HS500. It has a DRC feature which is a kind of upscaling technology built-in. As a result, the picture quality 'improvement' while noticable (see next item) was not the 'wow' I had hoped for.

2) Second, most films (i.e. those made in the 20th century) on DVD do not necessarily benefit from this technology. The reason I say this is because on the DVDs I've watched so far, the HD-quality reveals distractions to the movie. For example, I watched a scene from the beginning of 'Out of Africa' where the HD-quality reveals the actors in front of a studio back-drop which was not so apparent without the HD-quality. I see that as more of a distraction than increased viewing pleasure. I expect issues like this will be the case with many, if not most, DVDs.

3) The HD-quality also reduces screen size by a couple inches, or another couple inches in the case of wide-screen letter-box DVDs. This translates into two-thirds of my 36" 4:3 TV being unused when I watched Lord of the Rings. Incidentally, I expected recent films like Lord of the Rings to show the most improvement in picture-quality as a result of the HDMI upscaling, but while noticable, it was not that big a deal.

4) If you have older, restored movies on DVD from the 30s/40s/50s, I don't think viewing these in HD adds anything to viewing pleasure. They just weren't made for this technology- like most commercial DVDs on the market today.

5) The only possible area where HDMI HD-upscaling could be a benefit is for home movies and pictures. The added quality could be a nice bonus.

Overall, this RCA DVD-recorder, like most other RCA DVD units I've read about, has enough defects to look elsewhere. Also, remember most movies and DVDs were not made for HD-quality.

I purchased this recorder because of its attractive price and RCA name. Also it has some great features (HDMI digital output, HD up-conversion, Progressive Scan, Title split (plusRW), Digital noise reduction, Auto interactive set-up

Disc library, Tile menu with active preview, Time-based correction, Auto clock set, Smart record, Universal remote etc.) that one would have to pay a lot more in other recorders. I have had it only for a small time now but so far it has been great. I regularly record home movies and as I use this recorder the effects have been absolutely fabulous. In short I would not trade this for anything else!

I ordered this unit and Amazon, great as ever, delivered in under 24hrs (shipped from adjacent state) with just super saver free shipping. Unfortunately, the unit was running scorching hot after about an hour of use. I felt behind and found the fan wasn't working. I double checked visually and could see the fan twitching ever so slightly but not actually running. I am currently packing it up to return to Amazon. Shame, the unit seemed like it was solidly built and worked good on the two discs I tried on it (Memorex RW+ 2.4x and Ridata RW+ 4x). Due to other poor reviewes I decided not to exchange and hope for a good unit. Even with the fan not running I think this unit should not have been running so hot; it was uncomfortable to the touch. Heat is the enemy of electronics. I doubt this thing would have lasted more than a few weeks of use.