Customer Reviews

RCA RC5400P Portable DVD Player

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I kept this player because I needed the ability to play VCD and SVCD (including XSVCD). This is one of the few players that can do this.

However, do not be fooled. The battery does not last remotely 3 hours (maybe for a CD but not for DVD). Maximum battery: 2 hours 15 minutes, not 'over 3 hours.'

Good enough picture, and not too large a unit. Note that you cannot play and recharge the battery at the same time, and that the battery connects to the player via a cable and covers up the video ins and outs when attached.

grab (sorry cats). I love it. I just bought it last week and I use it almost daily. RCA has made a splash into the portable dvd pool. I've tried other brands but for the price this one stood out. First off the matrix screen simply buries its LCD counterparts. Why one would ever want to have a screen that fades with shifting sun/light sources (like on a plane) baffles me. Sure the 5.8 in screen doesn't match up with some competitors 7" version but size doesn't matter. Bottom line for the buck this is the best dvd portable out there. Devils advocate: battery life of 2.25 hours makes iot impossible to watch Braveheart on battery power alone:( I'm willing to bet however that the good people at RCA will come out with a longer lasting version of the battery before Christmas...remember this product is so new, the customer service people were asking me about it. also if I need to spit out another trivial complaint is that the unit can not charge while it plays. Hey life isn't perfect but this little beauty almost is...

This product does deserve a 4 or 5, but I am unable to give it that high of a rating. I actually bought this after buying the Toshiba one (Click my name for that review). I seem to have bad luck with all these DVD players. There are only 2 reasons why I give this DVD player a bad review. Since I bought this to watch on airplanes and trips, this con is not such a big deal. When you attach the battery, the cords end up blocking the video ports. They really need to fix that. The other issue is a big one. Every other time I play a DVD, the DVD gets a rather long circular scratch on it. I have friends who also have this DVD player and it seems that every 1 out of 3 has this defect. So the realy question is, Do you feel lucky?

I bought this unit as a gift for my dad, who travels extensively, and isn't the most technically inclined person. I love it, my dad loves it, and so does my seven year old nephew. I give a nod to the 'cons' that other reviewers bring up, such as sound quality with the built in speakers, the unit heating up, and the inablilty to charge the battery and use the player simultaneously. My only beef is not with the unit itself, but with the manual. On the plus side, it is organized into "How to" sections for setup and for playing each type of disc (DVD, CD, VCD and MP3). My dad found it easy to read and was able to use the player both as a stand alone unit and connected to his TV. What the manual was missing was a section that describes the function of each button, jack and switch on the console. For example, I could find no mention in the manual of one of the biggest buttons on the unit, marked 'Image Display', which changes the display mode of the built-in screen. Setting the proper mode can make all the difference when it comes to image quality. The unit also has a switch on the back that turns the video and audio outputs into inputs, allowing you to use the player as a monitor for some other video source. Somehow, our player's switch got flipped to 'input' mode, which turns off the DVD player entirely, leaving only a black screen. I could not find any documentation of this feature, even in the troubleshooting section. To make matters even worse the switch is on the back, and is completely covered when the battery is attached. Until we figured this out, we thought the player was broken.

Don't get me wrong -- I think this player has great image quality and is easy to use. It was also a great value for the price I paid, and I would buy it again, either as a gift or for myself.

My player failed (stopped playing when hot) after about 45 days. The replacement player from RCA did not work *at all*, so I am waiting for my third player.
Avoid at all costs. Caveat Emptor.

We purchased the player to use in the car for a trip cross-country with our two young children. It worked fine for a while but gradually began to fail and finally stopped working altogether. We had to make a lot of phone calls and argue with RCA to get a replacement unit. When we finally received the replacement unit it did not work at all!! RCA knows the unit has problems and they are in the process of a re-design. We are getting our money back and plan to buy a different brand. Bottom line, the current RCA design is immature. Buyer beware.

Although the rca 5400p has some nice advantages, one major dissadvantage is that there is no adaptor for power other than the battery or the wall plug in. i.e. forget watching more than one movie on trips. Rca at this time doesn't make an a/c adaptor for this unit and doesn't plan to. I've tried 3 different power sources (2 different cigarrette adaptors and 1 power inverter) no luck.
Another problem is that the unit gets extremely hot and starts effecting the movie about 3/4 the way through it. you have to stop the movie and let the unit cool down. If I could return it I would and get something else. There's nothing portable about this unit.

I purchased this unit from another retailer about a month ago and just started using is pretty heavy in the last two weeks. I was watching a brand new DVD yesterday and could not figure out why the disk stopped playing and became distorted. When I examined the disk, I noticed that it was developing wear marks on the edges but I could not figure out how. Then I noticed that the wear marks were in the same position as the white felt pads. I believe these were designed to keep the disk from scratching if it was bounced due the portable nature of the unit. However, either due to the internal heat of the unit or whatever may be the case the pads seem to actually touch the disk and wear off onto it. I could not remove the marks and luckly was able to get a replacement for the disk. I also returned the player in hopes of finding another unit that was designed without these type of pads. It is a shame as overall the unit is pretty good for the price.

Pros:
- plays MP3s and CD-Rs
- AV out/in selectable
- viewable screen (at any angle)

Cons:
- battery heats up too much
- you cannot charge the battery while using the player

Suggestions for improvement:
- multi-region DVD capability (a portable player should have the feature of being useable anywhere)
- auto-voltage power supply
- support for PAL format

I currently own 3 home DVD players, and the RCA RC5400P Portable Player. I was looking for a player that supported DVD/SVCD/MP3 and this model was the one that kept popping up in my searches.

I was worried about purchasing this player due to the negative feedback I read about it, but at the price I was willing to risk it. (after all.. you can return just about anything for a refund if you don't like it) I have to say, I haven't seen any of the negative issues people have posted about this player. It plays DVD's very well, the picture is clear and the sound is great!

While I really like this player, I've noticed a couple little things that people should be aware of. The headphone out sound is really quiet. I have some top of the line headphones, and you can barely hear with them on.. RCA should amplify this output a little more in future models. The player is also picky about VCDs. I've had a 50/50 success rate with Video CD's (home made). All of my store bought VCDs play perfectly. Mixed success with home burned videos.

So.. would I suggest buying this player? Yes. If you're looking for a lower priced unit that looks and sounds good.. this player is as good as any in it's price range.