RCA means Really Crappy Appliance

THISGUY2007 wrote:RCA means Really Crappy Appliance

Did you make that up yourself?

THISGUY2007 wrote:RCA means Really Crappy Appliance

bluebledthesea wrote:

Did you make that up yourself?

Must have cause I heard it was "really crappy audio". BTW this has to be a record low number of comments on any woot in history.

Benz145 wrote:Tell me again why you would want a DVD player (keep in mind, NOT HD DVD) that has HDMI out, the highest quality HD connection? Most HDTV's have one, maybe two HDMI inputs, and you are going to take one of them up with a non HD DVD player? Someone please explain why you would ever do that?

Why wouldn't one do it? Considering that I would imagine standard DVDs occupy a large majority of the typical person's non-cable television viewing, why wouldn't they want the best quality for that? Heck, one of the reasons people love the Oppo 981 so much is that it outputs 480i over HDMI, so that their television/video processor has the best signal to work with in terms of de-interlacing and scaling.

bluebledthesea wrote:

Did you make that up yourself?

Haha no I cant take credit, I heard it on a prank phone call on the Bob and Tom show... those guys are a riot!

MrXpress wrote:

Why wouldn't one do it? Considering that I would imagine standard DVDs occupy a large majority of the typical person's non-cable television viewing, why wouldn't they want the best quality for that? Heck, one of the reasons people love the Oppo 981 so much is that it outputs 480i over HDMI, so that their television/video processor has the best signal to work with in terms of de-interlacing and scaling.

If it was an HD DVD player, I would totally understand, however whats the point of trying to get the best possible quality out of something that is 420p and just being upconverted to, that doesn't actually increase quality, it just duplicates pixels to make it display at an HD resolution . Again, most HDTV's don't have many HDMI inputs, one or two on average, you would probably use those ports up for something thats actually outputting true HD quality video, such as your Xbox360 Elite, PS3, HD DVD Player, Blu-Ray Player, or possibly even your computer with equipped HDMI video card. Are you honoestly trying to say that the difference between a 420p video being upressed to 1080p is going to look better through HDMI then component or another input which is more readily available? Not to mention HDMI cables are more expensive.

wakeboarderal05 wrote:

That's what warranties are for...seems that if and when it works, it's actually quite nice.

Got mine refurbed from Woot just like this one and yes I did consider sending it back before the 90 warranty expired. Probably I should have. I'm not saying it doesn't play and record but the hassle you have to go through to get it into that delicate functioning state is unbelievable. For a long time I kept wondering, what am I doing wrong? I've fiddle with electronics all my life and this is the most frustrating thing I've ever bought. I was ASSUMING it would lock up now and then, but I never imagined it would be THIS BAD. Also, I didn't want to deal with the hassle of packaging it up and shipping it back.

Same unit I had to return to Wal Mart 3 weeks ago. My unit would play recorded discs but would not play ANY pressed discs with any type of encryption. (Rental Movies) RCA tech support was totally useless. Tech didn't even know what HDMI was. Picture on hi def TV with the HDMI was no better than you get with a progressive scan unit using componenent cables.. Sound was quite good though. I didn't wish to test another unit ,so I picked up a Philips without record feature or HDMI for $40.

Mescalero wrote:BTW this has to be a record low number of comments on any woot in history.

If you look, there are no posts between roughly 1am and 8:30am. Don't know why, but clicking on this thread just took you to the main forum page and there was no way to post.

Beware....I had a top of the line Model from RCA and it was a P O S!!! Lockups, slow, incompatibilty in other DVD players.....steer clear....I have a Panasonic now and it is flawless!

Never mind the Woot for sale

...mmmmm....Dixie.

There aren't many good pix of her online it seems, but there are a few pix of Johann Carlo, the actress.

Any idea how good the DV-Input w/Camcorder Control is? The one reason I want to get it is to just drop stuff I have taped thru the firewire input. Just thinking it would be easier to have a dedicted machine.

mikey6719 wrote:Beware....I had a top of the line Model from RCA and it was a P O S!!! Lockups, slow, incompatibilty in other DVD players.....steer clear....I have a Panasonic now and it is flawless!

I've owned my RCA DVD for 6+ years and aside from my daughters infamous quarter in the slot incident it's worked flawlessly. I also purchased a refurb (rox0rz!) RCA TV that's celebrating it's 5th birthday with me without any problems. Every user has their own experiences.

Benz145 wrote:

If it was an HD DVD player, I would totally understand, however whats the point of trying to get the best possible quality out of something that is 420p and just being upconverted to, that doesn't actually increase quality, it just duplicates pixels to make it display at an HD resolution . Again, most HDTV's don't have many HDMI inputs, one or two on average, you would probably use those ports up for something thats actually outputting true HD quality video, such as your Xbox360 Elite, PS3, HD DVD Player, Blu-Ray Player, or possibly even your computer with equipped HDMI video card. Are you honoestly trying to say that the difference between a 420p video being upressed to 1080p is going to look better through HDMI then component or another input which is more readily available? Not to mention HDMI cables are more expensive.

Upconverting is far more involved than just duplicating pixels. People wouldn't buy $1000+ Lumagen scalers if it were just a process of essentially zooming in.

Like I said earlier, I feel it's worth it for the digital signal alone; my Sony upconverting player (which I set at 480p regardless) looks noticeably better than when I have it hooked up via component, likely because the TV is being given a better signal to work with and perhaps most importantly, it's not doing unnecessary D/A conversions when it doesn't have to.

On the other hand, when I have my HD STB hooked up via HDMI (and watching almost exclusively 720p/1080i material), I can't tell a difference between that and component. It looks exactly the same to me (although I have it connected via HDMI to free up a component input; imagine that). Why does the DVD look better over HDMI but the STB doesn't? I don't know. Perhaps it's because the TV simply has to do less work with the higher-resolution signals, but I'm not knowledgable enough about the subject to know for sure. I'm just reporting what my eyes tell me.

you must like losing money on things that don't work well.

comments like yours make this discussion interesting. it's nice to hear about the problems BEFORE one puts 80 bucks down then finds out another 40 dollars would have bought them something of better quality.

Just my $.02, DVD-RAM is awesome and totally worth it; it can read/write on the fly, kinda like a Tivo. Absolutely awesome.

If every RCA product I've ever owned...or that of anyone else I know for that matter....didn't break within a year of purchase, this might be nice.

The only RCA product I own is a 27" SDTV CRT that I got open-box at Best Buy. Someone had returned it in perfect condition because it didn't fit in their entertainment system. I was in college and the $75 or $100 they knocked off of it put a 27" TV into my price range and I grabbed it. That being said, it's worked perfectly fine for 3 years with what I think is a great picture. Still, I don't seek out RCA products and I don't doubt the negative comments on this one.

EDIT: I forgot about the 7 year old 10" RCA subwoofer in my basement that seems to be dead. I haven't gotten around to testing if it was the receiver's sub-out or the sub itself, but my hunch is on the later. I never pushed it too hard. It just stopped working one day... Still, I'm not helping to discuss their DVD players. Proceed.

I own this model. Using to "upconvert" standard DVDs. It does a decent job.
Plays everything it says it's suppose to.
Pros: Cheap, does what it says it will do. Firmware cna be updated.
Cons: Really slow to start up. Remote was created without any thought to usability. The remote does not light up, the printing is small and barely legible, and the buttons are not always in logical places. The recording menu is even worse as far as usability. Also having an issue with sound trhough the HDMI cable. Have to have the TV volumne twice as high as normal to hear the DVD sound.

You get what you pay for and in this case the unit is cheap enough that it's probably worth getting considering it willprobably be replace in a year or two.

NTSC tuner = obsolete in 2009

dbdigital wrote:If the unit doesn't work well, consider it simply a purchase of an HDMI cable! I think excess RCA equipment ends up in the "Bag 'O Crap" anyway!

Buying an HDMI cable for anything more than a few bucks is shear lunacy, not to mention a complete waste of money. HDMI is digital, so either the signal goes through or not, there is no difference in picture quality among the cables. Don't get suckered into the "Monster" cable ripoff that applies to analog cables. It is just not the same for digital. Buy very cheap HDMI cables from any of the many different internet vendors and you will be just as happy!

Farid wrote:

Show me a brand new DVD Recorder with HDMI upconversion for $80. I bet you cant, because there's none. Comments like this make this bulletin board a joke.

Its a good piece of equipment for the price, folks.



I am only going to call you a fool, because I am not sure I could say other things here without my post getting deleted. I will say only 2 things. #1 There are plenty of HD up-conversion units for less then this that are ALOT better #2 this is NOT a good unit. RCA may have been decent like 10-15 years ago, but a company from China bought them out and kept their name and ever since that it has been COMPLETE junk. I would buy one MAYBE for $15, only to give it away as a gift haha

Actually there is a difference in cables. Monster uses higher quality inerds depending on what cables it is. Then as the the layers go outward the material used is better also. You really only need them if your insane about getting rid of that small hum from the power outlet. On to the DVD Player. I have one of these. I still havent used the record function just to lazy. The upconvert does work you can see a difference. Im using it on my HDMI port and my cable box on my component. I'd say stick with one of these until Blu-Ray isnt 800 freakin dollars and the discs are cheaper than 30 also.

I have this DVD Recorder and have been very happy with it. Owned it for a few months and it has worked every time. $80 isn't a terrific deal for a refurbished unit though. We bought ours at Walmart brand new for about the same price.

One bad thing...
The unit reads the disc to display information. This can be annoying when you just want it to open and close the tray to get a DVD in or out.

I was JUST starting to shop for a player for the bedroom. This'll be perfect plus let me copy off some TiVo stuff.

Thanks Woot!

dbdigital wrote:If the unit doesn't work well, consider it simply a purchase of an HDMI cable! I think excess RCA equipment ends up in the "Bag 'O Crap" anyway!

$80 for an HDMI cable? Really? Thats about, oh, $70 too much don't you think?

Will this record over the air,high definition tv off my Hitachi HDTV?

Farid wrote:

Show me a brand new DVD Recorder with HDMI upconversion for $80. I bet you cant, because there's none. Comments like this make this bulletin board a joke.

Its a good piece of equipment for the price, folks.

REALLY?! Good Piece of Equipment?! If you Do Not Own this specific model .... DON'T be telling people How Good of an equipment it is...... that's just LIES.... and YES, I had just bought a NEW Lite-On DVD Recorder last month for $80.... just look at all the people on this board that are unhappy about RCA (and it happens Everytime Woot sells RCA products... some even dub it as RCA="Really Crappy Appliances") and you're trying to put on a straight face to tell people that it's a GOOD piece of equipment.... NOW that's a JOKE!!

Benz145 wrote:Tell me again why you would want a DVD player (keep in mind, NOT HD DVD) that has HDMI out, the highest quality HD connection? Most HDTV's have one, maybe two HDMI inputs, and you are going to take one of them up with a non HD DVD player? Someone please explain why you would ever do that?

I wanted an HDMI connection for my dvd player because it was I didn't have any other device that used HDMI. I have a PS2 (component) and a cable box (component), and my TV has two component inputs and one HDMI. Remember, not everybody has XBox 360s or PS3s or HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players.

Can someone explain what HDMI and HD upconversion is? I know what HDMI connectors are and what they're for, but what is meant by "HDMI and HD upconversion"?

I have not had good luck with Refurbished products. It's kind of hit or miss.
I stay away from Rebates, too. It has really gotten bad lately on rebates actually coming through without a hassle.

Why do you all bash RCA .....

For the money they have great products. I own a 52" read proj LCD RCA HDTV,
I purchased it new for just under $800 over a year ago.
Is it the best TV in the world ? no, is it better than a lot of shizzle out there, for sure (Visio, Kensington, Sceptre ....)

I love my TV, and certainly would buy other RCA products.
Before you bash stuff, which I see daily !, try it out.

nrfx wrote:

$80 for an HDMI cable? Really? Thats about, oh, $70 too much don't you think?

Yeah, HDMI cables can be had for $25 these days. I paid the $25 for my first HDMI cable, then someone said that those are cheaper versions, so I went and bought a $70 HDMI cable, and there was no difference in the picture quality.

usnis0922 wrote:Actually there is a difference in cables. Monster uses higher quality inerds depending on what cables it is. Then as the the layers go outward the material used is better also.

Actually, there isnt. Car audio, transporting an analogue signal, the "low end" monsters are fine, an applicable. Transporting analogue anywhere else in your home, nice cables are worth a modest investment. Monster digital cables at around $50/ft = darn foolish

usnis0922 wrote:Actually there is a difference in cables. Monster uses higher quality inerds depending on what cables it is. Then as the the layers go outward the material used is better also. You really only need them if your insane about getting rid of that small hum from the power outlet. On to the DVD Player. I have one of these. I still havent used the record function just to lazy. The upconvert does work you can see a difference. Im using it on my HDMI port and my cable box on my component. I'd say stick with one of these until Blu-Ray isnt 800 freakin dollars and the discs are cheaper than 30 also.

There may be a difference in the quality of the cable inerds, but for digital it makes absolutely no differnce in the picture you get at the other end. There is no "hum" or other interference introduced in a digital signal during its trasit across the cable. Stop perpetuating the lie. See the following explaination:
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=828972

958VRM wrote:Why do you all bash RCA .....

For the money they have great products. I own a 52" read proj LCD RCA HDTV,
I purchased it new for just under $800 over a year ago.
Is it the best TV in the world ? no, is it better than a lot of shizzle out there, for sure (Visio, Kensington, Sceptre ....)

I love my TV, and certainly would buy other RCA products.
Before you bash stuff, which I see daily !, try it out.

Oh, we have. I refer you to the many specific examples above.

kickstand wrote:I have not had good luck with Refurbished products. It's kind of hit or miss.
I stay away from Rebates, too. It has really gotten bad lately on rebates actually coming through without a hassle.

I actually like the rebates, the only problem I've had with them, ever, is that they take 2-4 weeks to get to you. I've never had a problem with processing them. It just takes a little patience.
You can then do what a lot of people on ebay do, they buy only new produts (from stores or other on-line places) that have rebates, then they get them, send in the rebate, then sell the item on ebay as new, and it's an easy way to make money. You have to cut out the UPC symbol for a rebate (which can be done without opening the package, so whenever you see a new item for sale on ebay that says (UPC carefully removed), you know what they are doing.

i've owned one of these players for about 6+ months or so...bought it from Walmart and haven't had 1 single problem out of it....it plays when i want it to play...it's ejects when i want it to eject...it records when i tell it to....i haven't seen any issues that you guys are telling here....

I got taken for monster cables at best buy awhile ago when I knew nothing. That will not happen again, for we have deals like this HDMI cable at amazon for $3 (http://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Super-Resolution-Cable-Abacus24-7/dp/B0002L5R78/ref=pd_ts_e_12/104-2438649-9094357?ie=UTF8&s=electronics)

Really thinking about getting in on today's woot, appreciating all the comments, keep it coming.

mikey6719 wrote:Beware....I had a top of the line Model from RCA and it was a P O S!!! Lockups, slow, incompatibilty in other DVD players.....steer clear....I have a Panasonic now and it is flawless!

I havea Panasonic (which is a multiformat DVD-Ram Unit) as well and I love the thing. I love that I can use it like a DVR and pause, rewind and fast forward live tv. Love it!!