Customer Reviews

RCA DRD480RE DIRECTV PLUS Second-Room Receiver

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

 

 

I got tired of the poor signal and service from my cable company as the cost kept rising. I finally looked into the possibilities of a satellite dish even though the local cable is running a hard ad campaign against satellites! I purchased this second receiver along with the RCA DirectTV Plus 4440 eliptical dish. Although I live alone, I wanted to be able to be recording one show on one TV while watching something else in another room. Although this set is more expensive than many single LNB systems, I will not have to buy a new system to handle HDTV in a few years. Both receivers and the dish were installed free of charge by a local company who contacted me before the items even arrived.

I can't be happier with my purchases. The receiver units are very small, the remote is ergonomically friendly to my hand and easy to operate. I was easily able to program the remote for my TV also. The one drawback is that is is limited in the non-RCA Proscan devices that it will operate. True universality and a lighted keypad would make it near perfect in my opinion. The system is Dolby digital compatible so I can watch on-the-air movies the way they are meant to be heard through my home theatre system. A real plus.

I have found that I get more channels for less money than I paid for cable and the signal is a better quality. All-in-all I am very pleased with my choice after a several week investigation into systems!

My RCA reciever did not last a year, the charge for replacement was $75--I decided to buy another brand.

We bought this RCA receiver when we got satellite 16 months ago. Its features were adequate but not intuitive. After 4 months of minimal use as a second-room receiver the unit stopped receiving 2/3 of all channels. Tech support offered very little information, aside from the fact that the warranty expired after 3 months, and would cost [$$$] plus shipping to repair - we paid [$$$] as a new unit. I would look elsewhere for this price range. You are likely to find better support away from RCA.

not bad, but the RF remote function does not work! I can't set one foot outside of the room my receiver is in and use the remote. The RF antenna included is supposed to allow you to operate the receiver from basically anywhere in the house. I have found postings by professional DSS installers that say they have not been able to get the RF function to work. Called support, and they say you have to go through and try changing the RF code until you get one to work, but this is only supposed to be changed IF it conflicts with another RF remote! And there are 256 possible codes! I am not impressed with this option on this particular receiver!

We got the RCA receiver (for 2nd room) and I was shocked at how much easier it is to use than the Hughes one we got from Direct TV!! The on-screen menu (you have a choice of several)...is so much better and easier to read -for one thing. And while you're surfing the channels, it lets you stay on the channel you're watching...it puts up that channel in a box (like picture in picture-and it's large enough to easily see, too.)- while you're finding what you want to watch next. It also has an "inter-active" program you can use to shop & do other things with. It is really pretty neat!! I think basically I like everything about it better than the 1st receiver we got. I was really very pleasantly surprised!! The remote is easier to use, too. Yes, it is larger than the other one, but still, MUCH easier to navigate!! You won't regret getting this!! I thought having two different style receivers might not be too good, but I was mistaken. I really am happy we got this one. I wish we had gotten this one first!!

This RCA receiver has a small, cool running chassis with every feature you can dream of. Caller ID which works 95% of the time. Alpha guide searchs. WINK. Audio anyway you want it. DirecTV-Plus capability. The only two weaknesses that I've noticed are 1. I've never seen my message light come on and 2. the RF remote has virtually no RF power. As far as messages go DirecTV always sends messages to my other DirecTV receiver so no matter. The RF remote is RF impaired due to FCC restrictions, not RCA restrictions. I use the RCA IR pyramids for remote room use. They work well for me as long as the pyramid is keep away from my PC. One little known fact about WINK is that DirecTV is said to be using WINK help try to slow down the signal hackers. I fully expect this receiver to provide me years of trouble free service.

I made the mistake of upgrading to this model. There is a "lag" time of 1-2 seconds between the time you push a button on the remote or on the unit itself to when you get a response on the screen. I have been with Directv since they started service and this is my 4th upgrade and I have never come acrosss such a slow receiver. I called RCA Tech Support and after 3 different techs, I was told that the delay response is normal because of the Dolby Digital feature(?). I don't really buy that but there's nothing I can do because RCA said my unit is fine and there is no repair for the problem. You won't believe how irritating this problem is until you actually have to use the receiver every day. You overshoot everything on the menu because you think the remote signal didn't get through because of the non-response and you push the button again and then you get the response and you have gone too far. Amazing that they can actually sell a unit like this!