Customer Reviews

RCA RTD258 1000 Watts 5-Disc DVD/CD Home Theatre System with HD Multimedia Interface

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I was looking for an 1000W, upconverting, HDMI output, 5 disc DVD theater home system. I was amazed at this price ($180) at one of the local stores in the area. Having seen other home theater systems well in the $400s and not having all the aforementioned features, I took a chance on this system too good to be true. My last experience with RCA was over 10 years ago when I bought a 3 disc desk system. After 2-3 years, it wouldn't play CDs anymore and it had to be shaken upside down to retrieve my "eaten" cds. I haven't bought a RCA system since. I should have known beter...

This system, while compact and having all the features I wanted, didn't have digital (optical) audio input. While the missing "higher end" features didn't bother me initially, I also noticed several peculiar things in the week that I had it. The startup time was incredibly slow. Likewise the ability to switch functions or discs was excruciating slow. The dvd trays were cheap and incredibly flimsy. (Think about thickness of a CD cover.) The tuner was likewise slow. The antennae was weak and the system took a long time finding an appropriate channel. Eventually, it started skipping on new DVDs (not just ones I borrowed or got from the library) and at least two occasions it became "frozen." That was the straw that broke the camel's back! I had to completely unplug the machine and power it back up. I returned this system and got a much nicer Samsung (HT-Q70). What a difference! It was worth the extra money.

The only thing people should buy from RCA are their high-end cables...

This system is so bad, that just looking at it now puts me in a bad mood. The speakers are average, but the DVD player has the strangest balance. The system has scratched more DVDs than I can remember. If you feel like having a $200 dust collector that produces poor sound and destroys your stuff, then this is for you. I will never own anything by RCA again, nor will I wish this poor product on anyone.

The system arrived with a non-functional 5-disc DVD tray. Called the manufacturer who initially wanted me to pay shipping to send it back for repair. Finally the agreed to send me a return shipping label.


Still waiting on return of a "good" unit.

This unit works fine about 70% of the time but has started not recognizing DVD's. I assumed the lens needed cleaning so I bought a Maxell DVD Lens Cleaner. It would not recognize the disk. It showed the message "Bad Disk". Finally, after turning the power on and off several times it recognized the disk. Cleaning the lens didn't seem to help. I e-mailed RCA customer support and received a reply to call customer support to discuss the problem. I called the toll free number and was connected to a customer support center in Manila. They were absolutely no help at all. Their only advice was to clean the lens. Please, save your money. Do not buy this unit. I will NEVER purchase anything made by RCA

piece of junk. Run as fast as you can from this product. Straight out of the box, dvd disc changer sounded as if it was about to take off into outer space. No disc would even open to insert a dvd. Called Thompson customer support and they actually told me to unplug it for thirty minutes. Being in the electrical field, I knew this was from someone who had no idea at customer service on how to fix this. Powering down only resets logic based circuits not mechanical grinding of gears. Run Run Run!

I bought this home theatre system from a Target retailer as a cost effective replacement for a CyberHome HD Upconvert DVD player that broke on me after 10 months of use. This theatre system was also a cheap alternative for me to get the Dolby Digtal 5.1 sound as I had intended on adding 5.1 Digital Audio to my home entertainment system before my old DVD player had died on me. $199.99 price for this Home Theatre system was too irresistible, well folks I bought it and in 2 days the unit stopped working, just a standby light that goes out when you power it on, and nothing else. This being a 5 disc DVD changer, 5 of my DVDs were trapped in this device as well, so I called RCA support service and instructed me to take my theatre system to one of their certified video electronic repairs which was on the east side of town from where I lived. So I eventually drove over to the video repair place and the service technicians there convinced me to return it back to the retailer and claim it defective. They said I would be looking at an extremely long timeframe for my item to get repaired as RCA doesn't supply all the necessary parts to repair these items, and its slow communication with them. I phoned Target and explained my problem, they heard the words the defective, and they said bring it in. The repair shop help my recover my trapped DVDs and I later went and got my refund from Target. Moral of this story, never get an RCA.

We got this system new in Aug-07. It worked reasonably well for about 18 months, tho with minimal use in our vacation home. I had trouble getting it to shuffle CDs reliably which is my favorite mode of music listening, but I thought that was me. Then it wouldn't open a tray, run any function (like sound for the TV), respond to the remote, respond fully to any button command (it put up graphics for opening a tray or loading a DVD or CD, but didn't actually accomplish anything). I left it unplugged for a few months as it was now out of warranty anyway, thinking a good reboot might help. The screen is now stuck flashing Bye Bye, which is either a cruel programmer's joke, or a happenstance prophecy.

I called the service number, got busy signal, repeatedly redialed for 30 minutes always getting busy signal, and finally went to the internet. Obvious from reviews, service is a joke. It would appear that RCA has gone to a get-the-customer's-money-ONCE business model, so if they get you once they know they don't have to be bothered with you as a repeat customer. After enough folks have been burned I suppose they (Thompson Inc.) plan to BK the brand or sell it to someone who thinks they can get one more puff out of this dead cigarette butt of a company. As with many others who have done reviews here on Amazon and elsewhere, that's the end of RCA anything for me. No quality, no service, no value, no integrity.

I have had this product for a year now and haven't noticed many of the problems that some of the other reviewers have mentoned.

Pro's
plays normal store bought DVD's and some high quality DVD+R's well
Very inexpensive
Decent sound (not great though)
5 disc changer
Sound options easy to change even while playing

Con's
Yes it is very slow. (loading, switching discs, functions etc.)
No Audio output except for built in speakers
Remote is very weak and only works standing right in front of the player at no greater than about 10 feet away
Has difficulty playing burned discs. I use only Verbatim Digital Movie DVD+R and it still has trouble sometimes
I did hear a grinding sound but only with one particular DVD.

Summary
It is a small step up from a cheap single DVD player without 5.1 surround, and works decent for the price. I would recommend spending at least twice the money for something better if you are really serious about getting a decent system. If you don't have the money, this might work okay for you.

Pro's
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-Delivers a pretty good suround sound effect for the price.
-Holds 5 CD's of any type (not mini cd's)
-Modern look, and slim design
-Easy to set up
-HDMI
-USB hook up
-Easy to change speaker settings during playback.
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Cons
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-Minor hiss sound when on but not when playing media.
-CD/DVD deck is a little noisy when playing or switching.
-Difficult to use controller to switch CD/DVD's
-Turning off the device sometimes makes a static sound.
-USB Media Bridge is a little slow.
-No sound output (like to TV)
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Personal expiriance with product=
Hooked up to a LG 42 Inch LCD TV.

The HDMI port does not work on mine.
Though HDMI is useless because the port is for video only.
You cannot use your tv speakers with this device.

Overall it's an ok system, but I would get something else.

My husband bought this as a surprise.
It was the highest end at the store
he shopped at. I would not have purchased
another RCA product as the prior two were
returned for being defective.

This product has a fan that moans and
groans real loud for about five minutes
until it warms up. Some of the features
just come and go. The first night it was
just great - but give it a week. It was the
same way with the last two, they should last
longer than a month!? But they don't. Never
again I say.