Customer Reviews

RCA DRC8312n DVD Recorder/VCR COMBO

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I originally attempted to purchase this product (RCA's VHS/DVD Recorder DRC8312N) from Amazon but there was an extended delay so I canceled the order and bought the unit from Office Max instead. The unit works remarkably well in all that it does. Using component video cables, DVD playback is amazingly clear and vivid. As a note, the unit's instruction manual says that VHS tapes cannot be played through the component video output but I've found this to be false-so there's no need to hook up a separate S-Video or composite video cable for playing VHS unless you have a progressive scan television. I have used the DVD Recorder several times, all with positive end results. Using blank RW+ disks, I was able to record several TV shows and hide commercials using the chapter editing system. It's very easy to do this but I recommend taking your time, if you rush the system you may have to start over. I've been able to play all of my recorded DVD+R and DVD+RW disks on standard household players.

One thing that I suggest is buying blank DVD+R and DVD+RW disks from reputable manufacturers. Other owners of this unit have remarked on various websites that it's hard to record but I've found that the quality of the DVD+ medium is the cause of most problems. I highly recommend buying your DVD+R and DVD+RW disks from RCA because what disks would be more compatible than the ones made by the recorder's own manufacturer?

I've found that this DVD player is very picky about what pre-recorded DVD's it will play. If your DVD is scuffed up or smudged, the player has a tendency skip around or occasionally freeze up (requiring you to unplug the unit, like a computer). If you notice the sound or picture becoming distorted or jumpy, I highly recommend immediately cleaning the disk or risk having the unit freeze up. I believe that the DVD player is picky about disks because it has a RW lens; the other 3 RCA DVD players in my house play most disks without any problems. Also, I've found that the unit has similar issues with some older DVDs and certain obscure DVD manufacturers. But for the most part, if you clean your disks and keep your unit cool you will not experience problems.

One thing I wanted to note was that the unit gets very warm when it's OFF. There is a cooling fan in the rear of the unit which cools the player completely while it is in use but the fan turns off when the power is turned off. If your unit is in the open, this is fine. But if you place your unit in an enclosed entertainment center, it will get very, very warm. Make sure that you have plenty of room on all sides of the unit, and I recommend only setting it in an entertainment center stand if the back of the stand is open to allow adequate air circulation. I've found that playing a DVD in the unit while it is hot occasionally causes some playback problems normally associated with dirty disks. So if you must place your unit in an enclosed space where it will get hot, remember to let the unit cool down (by turning the unit on and running the fan for a few minutes) before playing a movie. This will ensure that you do not harm the unit or cause playback problems

I definitely recommend this unit to anyone who likes watching DVDs and wants to store their memories and TV shows on the new format rather than VHS. If you follow my instructions about keeping the unit cool and using high quality blank DVDs then you should never have any problems.

Bought a couple of dvd recorder combo's. None were easy to operate, so returned them. Officemax had this one for 199.00 plus a $40 off coupon, so, it was a bargin with free delivery. Got it two days later, plugged it in and recorded several vhs tapes to dvd. Easy as 1,2,3!! Why couldn't other people write their manuals like this! It has a list of blank dvd's you should buy, very large selection though. Well, gotta go, busy recording dvd's.

I have tried every RCA DVD/VCR recorder that has come out & I've had to return them all.

I finally decided to stick to recording on my VCR when this model came out.

It had wonderful reviews when I purchased it.

At first I thought I had found my Dream Machine!

Now,it records 1 movie Great on a DVD+R disc,but when I record a second movie on the same disc it freezes completely up when I try to turn it back on,so far I've been able to unplug it to get it back on, you do lose the clock though.

I gave it 3 stars because the way I see it,the RCA machines lose time & you have to reset the clock on them at least once a week anyway.

I guess I'll keep this one because after Christmas I won't be recording so many movies.

I haven't tried to copy my tapes,you'll hear back if there's any problems.

I think I'll just record 1 movie per disc!

I bought this unit and really liked it. Then after 3 weeks it decided it no longer wanted to play back any DVD movies! The same movies I had been playing all of a sudden would no longer play. Kept getting error messages. Re-set unit as per instructions and still would not work. I returned for another and it worked great for only 2 weeks. This one decided it would no longer record DVDs, I was using the proper DVDs, the same ones I used for 2 weeks and then it just quit recording.

I have returned this one and bought a different brand which is working great.

I needed to transfer many VHS tapes of family onto DVD's to share. I looked into all units available, and, being an electronics engineering consultant who once worked in RCA's color TV research at David Sarnoff Labs, I spotted the feature called "Time base corrector" built-in. This is a "must have" in my opinion, to make a rigid interlace from VHS. Maybe other machines have it de facto but don't tout it. Nevertheless, I bought it IN SPITE of the bad reviews I read about it. To my dismay, the reviews about it being an unreliable TURKEY are all true. When it works it performs exquisitely. The trick is getting it to work. Immediately after unpacking it, the first 5 minutes of recording were interrupted by it turning off its power. I coaxed it to make a recording without shutting down, and got a complete disc. Subsequently, I cannot coax it to work again, and it keeps turning on and shutting down, altering its clock setting, and generally throwing a tantrum. This fidget-widget has me cursing. I am making NEWEGG.com take it back and issue a refund. AVOID THIS FIDGET-WIDGET !!!!!

I bought this recorder in early December when my old VCR bit the dust. I needed a replacement, and it made sense to consider a combo unit with dual recorders. At the time, almost all of the online reviews for this unit were very positive, so I took the chance on it. Over all, I'm happy... I guess. It's kind of hard to say.

The unit does work, but it's just not quite perfect. For example, it won't turn off. Well, I mean you can hit the power button, and it powers down. But within 5 minutes it will turn itself back on. And it does lock up. I'm lucky that I've got it plugged into a convenient outlet, because the only way you can reset it is to unplug it for a few seconds.

Others have reported that the lockups happen with store-bought DVDs. I haven't had that problem, but then again, I don't watch purchased DVDs on it. That's what the regular player is for. But it has locked up when doing normal tasks like finalizing a disc or trying to navigate the menus.

It does have personality like someone else said. The menus are for the most part logical, but it does taking some getting used to. Some of the features aren't readily apparent, but a good read-through of the excellent manual points out what you need to know. Once you get used to it, though, it's not hard to operate.

As far as I'm concerned, the single most important feature of the unit is the ability to record onto DVD from various sources. From that aspect, it works as advertised. I've used it to back up old VHS tapes easily, and I've used it to record television programs using the timer. It "forgot" one timer setting that I made once, and I missed the show. So I've never quite trusted it since then. But when it's a non-essential program, it's worked ever since.

I've also used it to back up old laserdiscs. The nice thing is that at top quality, the DVD recorder puts one hour onto a blank DVD. Conveniently, that's also the maximum that one side of a laserdisc will hold. Once the side is recorded onto one DVD, I use free software on my PC to dump the digital video onto the computer and edit out the blank space and other non-essential stuff. I then compress the video down to fit onto one blank DVD-R and create menus including chapter stops. I then author a menu system and burn a final disc onto a DVD-R. Since I use DVD-RWs for the original transfer, I can blank them and reuse them. The process works well, and I've been happy with the results.

I have some specific likes about this unit. First, the one-touch VCR transfer is very handy. And I like the fact that even though I have this hooked up to a DirecTV receiver through an S-video connection, the name of the program being recorded shows up on the DVD recorder. So when I go to watch the recording, it tells me what shows are recorded and the time and date. I could never do this with a VCR! The picture quality is acceptable at either the 1-hour or 2-hour modes (the 3+ hour modes definitely show some artifacts), but I hear there are better ones out there.

I also have some dislikes. For example, the interface takes some getting used to. And, the fact that it won't turn off kind of bugs me.

Bottom line is that I'm not overly sorry I bought the unit. It just seems like it wasn't quite ready to be released, though. When I'm in the market for my next recorder, I don't think I'll buy another one of these.

Like most of the users of this machine, I am not happy. For us, the recording has worked well, but play back of store bought DVDs sucks. I keep the unit cool and I clean the DVDs religiously, and it will constantly lock up. The best we can hope for is that it will only stutter once or twice during a movie. The majority of my discs are unplayable on the machine. Garbage.

I did something really stupid last night. On an impulse (triggered by the ON SALE sign at the local Target) I bought this worthless unit. I was excited and could not wait to copy a videotape to DVD. No such luck. Hours of wasted time. This thing simply does not work. I tried different DVD+R's and none would format. Even the DVD+RW that was supplied with the unit would not work. I will take this back to Target today for a full refund or replacement with a unit from a different manufacturer.

Don't be suckered by the RCA brand name. It used to mean quality but not any more.

it wouldn't play my store bought dvds ..They scrambled and stalled. So I returned the unit .Still shopping.

I see four reviews on this product. All good, which is why I bought one of these. I hate to be the one to break the bad news, but this unit is JUNK!!!

Oh, yeah, it's impressive WHEN it works! The trick is GETTING it to work! When I plugged it and and hooked it up at first I was very impressed with it. The DVD copys I tried of VHS tapes were flawless an exact! Then I tried to play some MP3 music disks in it. It's really cool how the titles float around in a screensaver kind of mode while the music is playing. Then I put in another music disk.......

THEN the SOB froze up! I tried what the manual suggested about unplugging it and holding the DVD Stop and STANDBY/ON button for three seconds. No dice. It won't work and worse, I can't get my disk out! All I can say is that it is fortunate that it wasn't one of my hard-to-find discs or tapes that got stuck. I would've taken a hammer to the thing and still demanded my money back! I also, since saw bad reviews on epinions. Do yourself a favor and avoid this unit like the plague!

John