Customer Reviews

RCA DRC8300N DVD Player/Recorder and VCR Combo

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

In my orignal review I was in love with this unit. Last week however the unit started freezing up while recording. I would unplug the unit and reset it and it would work fine and then for some reason it would lock up again. Finally, it locked up completely just because I tried to open the dvd door while in the TV mode. Not a good sign. I am returning the unit. May look at the new Sony combo.


Original review below:

I could not imagine a more straightforward way to record from VHS, Satelite or even your camcorder. I use the one remote to operate everything, including my TV, Direct TV and of course the DVD/VCR. So far it plays my home made and purchased DVD's as well as my photo cd's. And it has recorded wonderfully from my Direct TV. I am using S-video cables for my connections so the picture is clear and bright. My only regret is that I can not plug in my digital camcorder using a firewire port and will have to rely on S-Video only.

The manual is clear and concise and the onscreen menu is a breeze. I was up and running in about an hour and that was only because my unit was in an entertainment cabinet which does not make things easy to connect.

It is funny to me how these reviews can vary so much from one reviewer to the next. I would recommend this to even the most electronically handicapped. You are guided every step of the way by the manual, or by the onscreen instructions.

A dvd recorder is a great idea and I would like to say this RCA is a great recorder but the truth is somewhat different. I purchased mine from a local dealer about a month ago. It records fine, the picture is great and the vcr in the same unit is handy. Now for the bad news. After the disk is recorded it needs to be finalized to be able to play in other dvd players. I am experiencing a failure rate as high as 3 out of 4. This is a big waste of time, and disks, as I have to try, try again and hope for the best. My dealer tried to help me but didn't have much experience with the dvd recorders. RCA is no help! Their website is a disaster and out of date, it doesn't even list this model and they have been selling them since June. They doesn't have a 800 number for contact and as for emailing them remember keep the message short. They don't give you room to explain the problem. If I knew then what I know now I would have researched a lot more brands and would probably brought something else. BUYER BEWARE.

This will teach me to read the amazon.com reviews before buying anything. This unit refuses to read discs (commercial and handmade) literally nine times out of ten. I am a West Wing addict like one of the previous reviewers; I bought this because my old DVD player didn't want to read my West Wing DVDs and I figured it was time for an upgrade. I also test-drove it with The Ten Commandments and several other discs that I know for a fact are the right format and in good working order. Repeatedly, they digitized and froze up.

Using the DVD-RW disc that comes with the unit, I made a test recording last night by transferring a couple hours' worth of material from a homebrewed VHS tape. It played back fine; imagine my surprise tonight when I put the disc in and was first told there was a "disc problem", then that it was formatting the disc and erasing everything I'd put on it the previous day! Imagine if that had been something irreplaceable instead of a mere test recording.

I haven't even gotten started. I'm fairly tech-savvy and I do not expect to be spoonfed; however, I do insist that things work with a minimum of fuss. That there is no one-touch record feature for making DVD-R recordings straight from television, I can (sort of) understand; you have to take time to program in how long you want the recording to be, at what speed, &c., &c., &c. Maybe this is normal for DVDs. But you also have to do this for the VHS, because on this unit, everything is run from the menu. You can't just sit there watching television and make spontaneous, impromptu recordings (say, of historical moments such as a major newsflash) in which you decide where a recording begins and ends. You are not in control.

Did I mention the freezes? I've lost track; enough, perhaps, to start a new ice age. Take the disc out, wipe it carefully, put it back in, and after a bit of stammering the screen turns a gorgeous shade of green. Pull out the plug, put it back in, how many times do I have to do this? Fortunately, I still have my receipt.

Please, save your money and buy something that works.

I have to concur with the above review of this product while it does have many, many connection options the risks far out weight the benefits I too am returning this item.


I did not even have it out of the box for a day and already one of my disc for the second season of The West Wing failed during
playback I decide after that experience that it was not worth taking the risk of trying out a dvd recording or vise versa.


Take my advise if you are looking for good dvd recorder/ vcr combo do your research and buy a brand that is reliable and performs well no matter what types of disc you are using whether they be pre-recorded dvds or blank dvd+ r disc I have learned my lesson with this unit.

I bought this DVD VCR combo recently to convert my old VHS tapes to DVD. The VCR part of this combo does not work too well. The quality of VCR play back of old tapes (10/15 years) is poor. However, the same old tapes play quite well in another stand alone old RCA VCR. So I am using my old VCR to play the old tapes and using the DVD part of the combo to record it. The manual is neither well written nor well organized. RCA could do a lot better job than that.

This item is a POS <-that acronym, in this instance, does not refer to Point of Sale, (which, thankfully, was Wal-Mart,with its liberal return policy) but means Piece of Shinola. I so wish I had read the reviews here before purchase.
Or before all those futile "on-hold" phone calls to Thompson (no service "Customer Service" 800# )
Or before I dismantled, re-packaged, drove back to WM (the Thompson folks had directed me to their local "authorized repair," telling me it was not eligible for replacement, local repair declined involvement, WM was happy to give me replacement,) go home, connect Unit #2. Same "Freeze Up!" I played this frustrating game because I wanted to go get a 2d recording device, so that I could immediately take in 3 programs at a time. Never Mind!
DANGER WILL ROBINSON! The RCA dog and puppy laid a big doo-doo this time. Better choice:
Buy another one like my main unit - wait for order of Go Video VR 2940 from QVC. Sure, one must wait for delivery, but at least it will work when you get it!
/TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

On my second day of use I started having problems with this RCA device, "National Treasure " would not play but my other dvds would, since my TV has only 1 set of video input jacks I connected my XBOX to the RCA's input jacks , the xbox controllers now have a 1 - 2 second response lag time so it's useless trying to record my online gaming to dvd or vcr with this unit or using the xbox offline connected to it. Hopefully RCA will respond to this flaw or Sony's unit doesn't have it.

I previously reviewed this item in August of 2004,so here is an update:
I bought this unit several months ago and there was a $50 rebate, so for under $400 I think it was a good deal. This recorder is not for those who can't figure out how to program a VCR or are not electronically inclined. It takes some trial and error to figure out exactly how to operate the many features, and the manual can be confusing. Since DVD recording is still pretty much in its infancy, I would imagine that most, if not all, DVD recorders in this price range on the market today have issues with compatibility (with blank DVDs)and other technical problems.
Like other reviewers, I had some issues with freezing and things like that. I've learned that I have to be patient with this recorder and not try to press different buttons on the remote too quickly (you know how some people click the computer mouse too much before the computer has a chance to respond which causes the computer to freeze or act up? This recorder is sorta like that). But I have recorded nearly 70 DVDs and I've had few problems.
I like the idea that I can finalize DVDs when I want to. For instance, I recorded some camcorder tape footage onto a DVD but there was still space left on the DVD so I can add more later until I finalize it. Each time you stop a recording, the recorder will add a new title (which you can delete if you want)to the DVD when you start recording again, so you can have a DVD with say, "kid's party", "baseball game", and "backyard BBQ" which will be separated on the disc so you can playback only those parts you'd like to see or show your friends.
I've recorded many movies off the Satellite onto DVDs and they come out as good as what you'd see on the TV--and much better than a VCR tape. I have about 50 movies in my collection now that I recorded onto DVDs which more than makes up for the cost of the recorder. Overall I have to give the RCA recorder 4 stars instead of the previous 3 just because of that.

9/5/06

Thomson/RCA Unbelievable customer support!

I got a RCA DVD Recorder/VCR combo for Christmas 2005 from my girlfriend. By April 2006 it was not playing or recording half as good as it should. Around May I decided that I would try and get it fixed. Guess what. Thompson/RCA now requires the customer to deliver the unit to a qualified service center.

I called RCA and they gave me 2 service centers. Both were 50 miles from my home, the closest. I decided since gas was so high I would mail it to the center. I cost around $10 to ship it. I waited around a week and called the "service" center. They asked why I sent it to them. I told them Thomson had directed me to send it to them. They agreed to work on it because I said Thomson told me to send it. I waited another week and had no response from the "service" center. I called again and was told that the service center got an email that day from their head office to not work on any more RCA equipment, and that I needed to come get it.

I immediately called the Thomson toll free number and was given about 5 more "service centers". This time I called the centers first and all of them told me they no longer worked on RCA. I re-called Thomson again and was given 2 more centers to contact. I told the customer support rep that I was a little tired of chasing "service centers" and it seemed to me that RCA should chase the centers down and see which ones of them still worked on RCA and then contact me with the ones that did. They said that's not the way it works.

Luckily one of the two centers above said they did work on RCA and just bring it in. I called the first center and asked since I had been misled by Thomson and spent money shipping it to them, would they just ship to the new "service" center. They agreed.

I waited a week or so with no response so I decided to call the new service center. I called and talked to the owner and explained what was wrong with the unit and he said he would get right on it. I waited about a week and called again. He again said he hasn't had time to look at it but give him a few days and he would check it out. I waited and called the following Saturday. He answered and told me he didn't understand why it was still at his shop, that he had checked it out and placed a sticker on it "to be replaced by RCA. He said the girl that handled the replacement was off on Saturday and he would put a note on it for here to handle it Monday.

I called back Monday and a woman answered the phone with "Hello". I asked if this was Bill's Tv. She said "of course this is Bill's Tv!" I replied with "I wasn't sure, you just said hello, not hello this is Bill's TV, may I help you?" She then replied, "What do you need?". I told her I had a DVD recorder there and that I had talked to the owner Saturday and he said she would get on it Monday. I also told her I had a Case number to look it up but she put me on hold before she heard it.

She returned and asked me what my name was. I told her and was put on hold again. She finally returned and told me there was no units there under my name. I told her I had talked to the owner 2 days ago about it and he said it was to be replaced by RCA. She finally asked me for a Case number. I replied that I had tried to give it to her the first time we talked. She then replied that she didn't have to listen to me talk to her that way. I said let me talk to the owner. She said he was not there. I said can you page him or something because I'm tired of the run-a-round I have been getting in regards to this units repair. She hung up on me!

I called back and asked her name. She replied Serena. I asked for the owner's name. She said Conrad. She then said she didn't want to talk to me anymore. I said I didn't want to talk to her anymore either, but that I wanted my DVD replaced & returned, NOW! She hung up again.

I immediately called RCA again and reported this confrontational "service" center. The RCA rep called her, with me on the line, and she said I hung up on her while she was trying to help me. She said she did find the unit and it was to be replaced and that she had faxed the information needed to RCA that day. He asked her to fax the information again to him, and verified the fax number, to RCA to get the unit replacement started. She said she would fax it again. That was 2 weeks ago. He hung up and said to call him in a few days with the update.

I called in about a week and the RCA customer center rep told me that they were still waiting on the fax from Bill's Tv to replace it. I went over with him all the trouble I was having and he assured me he would get to the bottom of it and as soon as he found out something he would call.

I have heard nothing as of today so I called RCA again. The rep told me they still have not received the Fax. I've had it!! I asked for a Supervisor. She said none were there. I said I couldn't believe that a company as big as Thomson did not have any supervisors available. She said a supervisor wouldn't tell me anything different that she did. I told her that she didn't know what a supervisor might tell me and that if she didn't put me thru to a supervisor that I would call every five minutes today until one answered. She put me on hold for about 10 minutes and a supervisor answered the phone.

I explained to him the problems I was having and guess what? He told me he would look into it and someone would be calling me within 48 hours.

I called today to find out the update, 190 hrs. From the day I last called, with no response from the last call who promised the 48 hour callback. I was put on hold 30 minutes and automatically transferred to IBM for some unknown reason. The IBM rep had no idea why I was calling them. She said they were not associated with Thomson/RCA. I called back to Thomson/RCA and they said that IBM did handle their customer relations problems. This rep put me on hold for a few minutes and then I heard a recording that said " Sorry, Thomson offices are closed right now, please call again during business hours only" and hung up!!

I called on 9-17-06 and was put off a week.
I called today and was told another different story and was put off another week

An RCA "service" center has had my DVD since 6/28/06. I have made dozen's of calls to service centers. I have mad more dozens of calls to the toll free RCA "service" center. I have not spoken to two "customer service" agents that say the same thing. I have NOT been contacted once by RCA. I have to deliver my unit to the center and pick it up from the center, about a 150 mile journey. I have 4 Case numbers on this issue!

I reported this story to several TV stations today, 9-8-2006, to see if they can help. I've E-mailed the RCA website numerous times with no response.

Update 10-16-06

Two weeks ago my father called me and said the unit was at his house, UPS $34 COD. I told him to return it. I had a conversation with Serina @ Bills TV in MT. Pleasant Texas the week earlier. She said it was at their shop and did I want to come get it. I told her that gas being so high and it being a 65 mile round trip that even if I had to pay, I had shipped it for $12 originally and that if I had to pay it send it in the mail. When it arrived it was $34, not the price of the conversation we had had. After it was returned I waited a week and I called, as usual, Bills TV. She answered. I told her I sent it back because it was 3 times shipping as we had agreed and that I would come Saturday to pick it up. She said OK and hung up. About half way to the so called "service center" I called for better directions. Conrad, the owner, answered and said it was there but I would still have to pay the $34 to get it. I was furious. If I didn't want it for the $34 COD at my home, why did he think I wanted to drive 65 miles and pick it up and still pay the $34? Man!!! What are people thinking?
So today I called Thompson so called "customer service" again and told this story. I was told that a "specialist" would be contacting me within 3 days to discuss how to get it and that there were no guarantees that I wouldn't have to pay the COD. I told him that I guarantee that I would NOT be paying the COD. We will see what happens.
10-20-06 I called thomson , because as usual they did not call me as promised in 3 days. I called today and was told or "promised" they would call next Monday. They did call while I was out today and left a message. They determined that they would NOT pay for the shipping to return my DVD that I did NOT ever tell them I would pay. $34 to ship to my home 45 miles away is unbelievable. I shipped it 50 for $13.
10-23-06 I recalled Thomson and talked with a servise agent named Merium. She got all 3 of us, including the so called customer repair center, on a 3 way call. After about 20 minutes we decided that I would pay 14 dollars, Thomson would pay $20 to get MY unit sent back to me.
11-01-06 I called today since my unit was not here yet, 45 miles away. I was told I had to send the $14 to Bills TV in Mt Pleasant Texas first. I asked 10 times why that was not talked about 10 days ago and was told by Merium that it was my fault for not making those arrangements. After asking over and over again with no answer, for an hour, I have finally had it. I still don't have my unit. The service center does. This is it!! It was the last straw. I paid for the unit with a warrantee which is not worth using as toilet paper. I looks like RCA/Thomson just wants to sell to first time customers or something because I will NEVER purchase another RCA/Thomson product for as long as I live, I will tell everyone thru word of mouth about their service and products and at this time, I am sending an email to 20/20 John Stosel and any other media I can think of. I am now "on a Mission" to tell all I can about this incident!!!

This "customer service" is horrific!!. It seems that they are just trying to wear the customer out so that you just give up!!

This is not what "warranty" means to most sane consumers. Thomson's philosophy seems to be "we have a great warranty, we just don't apply it to anyone."

Shame on this company. Seriously, if you buy an RCA Thomson product because you think they are a well know, reputable brand, you are kidding yourself. This is NOT your father's RCA, this is like some dishonest web-based business with no physical address, no phone number, and not way to reach them that actually works.

What is up with customer service these days? It's more like "sell it and forget it! And just wear the customer down and hope they quit before the company has to fix anything.

11-12-06
Bils tv still has my unit. Its been there for weeks. I feel they are holding it ransom until I pay their inflated shipping price. I checked UPS, USPS & Fed Ex and for a #10 box from their zip to mine is from $6 to $9 to ship in 2-3 days.
Seems like something isnt right here. Thomson told me they had authorized over $40 shipping to Bills already.
I will NEVER do any busines with Bills again and others might want to try Walmart, in my opinion.

My recorder has not worked from day one. The VCR will not play many of the things that I have recorded in the past. Also, the unit requires me to input the date and time every time I turn it on. Once this fine piece of electronic equiptment starts to fail, you'll find that the thompson help line operators read directly from the manual. If you already looked in the trouble shooting section of the manual don't waste your time waiting for an operator, just try to return it as soon as possible.