Editorial Review:Item Description:Built-In Digital (ATSC) & Analog TV Tuner / DV-Input w/Camcorder Control / One-Touch Copy VHS to Disc / Color: Black Front Audio/Video Input Jacks - Allows convenient hook-up of camcorders, MP3 players and other devices Recordable Discs - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW INCLUDED ACCESSORIES - Remote Control /AV Cables /RF Cable INPUTS - Antenna/Cable - 1 / Analog Audio - 2 Pairs / S-Video - 2 / Composite - 2 / IEEE1394 (Firewire) 1 OUTPUTS - Analog Audio (Pair) 1/ Digital Audio (Coaxial) 1 /Antenna 1 /Component 1 /S-Video 1 /Composite 1 Unit Dimensions (WxHxD) - 16.93 x 3.94 x 13.78 inches /Weight - 9.68 lbs
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
* Don't Waste Your Time and Money ...
I brought this unit less than a year ago. It took quite a bit of time to get it set up. Once I got the unit to work, I was able to to record several dvds . However, the unit is now locked up and only displays "hello" and I am unable to eject my VCR tape. After looking at several reviews, it looks like this is a common problem. Now I have the pleasure of sitting on the phone with customer service and/or having to mail the unit back. Don't waste your time or money on the DVD combo.
Rating: -
* Piece of junk ...
I bought RCA's model before this, which died before the warranty expired. I was sent this model to replace it, and it died within 5 months. RCA only recognizes a 90 day warranty on the refurbished junk it sends you after the original junk dies (or 1 year from original purchase date), so now I'm out of warranty and out of luck. RCA Customer service doesn't seem to care that they sent me two lemons, and is sticking by their policies.
Rating: -
* THIS PRODUCT NEVER WORKED RIGHT AND RCA DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY SERVICE ...
I purchased this DVR at Walmart. At the time, it was the most expensive option in the store, but I paid the extra price because I believed in the RCA brand. The product never worked right. The VCR did not play smoothly and often shut off in the middle of the video. The DVD recording, which was advertised as a "one-touch" process, was extremely complicated. We were able to get it to record three DVDs off of television, but were never able to record from VHS to DVD. Three months after we purchased it, the product quit working completely -- there is not even a clock or counter display on the front panel. There is an 800 number right on the recorder, but when you call for service, you get another company "Alto" which is not helpful and requires $120 + two-way shipping to Buffalo, NY, in order to provide any help.
Rating: 
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* DO NOT waste your money on this unit! ...
I purchased this unit at Wal-Mart about 2 months ago for $198.99. Within weeks the price dropped to $148.99. No problem here because I thought a 6-head VCR would provide better picture and sound quality than the standard 4-head so the price was right for me. Within the past week the VCR has been sluggish when it comes to putting in and taking out videos. I didn't think anything of it until I put in a video to copy it to DVD and it wouldn't eject. All I heard was a continual ticking sound whenever I tried to play it, rewind it or press the "Eject" button. The next day without any rhyme or reason, I was able to play and eject the video. I removed it from the unit, put it in to record the following day and the VCR ate it again. The ticking sound started and nothing happened when I tried to play, rewind or press "Eject" (again). Wal-Mart will not accept the unit back. They tell me to call the manufacturer (RCA) - which I did. They want me to incur a pricey shipping cost to send it back and can't guarantee that they can fix the problem. PLUS, they tell me that the video is not returnable when/if they are able to get it out. So, in a nutshell, the video remains stuck in the unit so the VCR is unusable. Thankfully I have a backup that I run through AV2 for recording and playing. Also, on some videos there is a continual humming noise when they are played back. No amount of tracking or adjusting will clear it. It's annoying to hear that all through a film.
Bottom line - don't waste you money on this unit. The VCR portion is notorious for eating tapes and the humming problem is pretty common from what I've read over the past few days.
Buyer beware. :-(
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Well...I'm adding on to my original review of April 2008. Not only did this unit "eat" my video (which I was never able to get out of the VCR), but now the unit "ate" my DVD. I had to dismantle the unit and pry open the DVD holder to get the disc out. This problem came out of the blue. I was recording from TV and could not eject the disc. "Hello" continually scrolled across the display and the unit would not recognize any of the commands from the remote control. I left the unit unplugged for over an hour thinking that would reset the system (according the the user manual) but it did not. I tried this three times. Unable to get the disc to eject, I finally decided to take the unit apart and get it out myself. Still, I could not get either the VCR or the DVD portion to accept or eject anything. So, after having the unit for only about 4 months I finally had to throw it away. It was going to cost more money than it was worth to return it to the manufacturer and there were no guarantees that it would work properly once I got it back. Basically, it was a $200 piece of worthless crap! Never again, RCA. I replaced it with a Magnavox DVD recorder for about half the price. The only disappointment I had with this whole experience is that the RCA was pretty easy to install and use and I became pretty proficient at navigating through the system and could easily copy VHS to DVD in practically no time at all. The new Magnavox is a bit more confusing and requires a bit more time for things like disc labeling and finalzing. I got spoiled with the RCA but not enough so that I'd ever purchase another one. Let's hope I have better luck with my Magnavox.
Rating: -
* Tempermental Piece of Equipment ...
We bought this model but several channels were of poor quality through the unit. We thought it was just faulty and replaced it with the same model. This one still had poor quality on certain channels, but it was better. (It's similar to looking through a screen.) We decided to keep it because DVDs looked fine, some channels were fine, and this was the only model that had the TV Guardian which took out bad language. (The language filter was the reason we kept it.) Like others have mentioned, it is very tempermental. It won't consistently play DVD's that will play in other machines. Recording is a huge gamble because it regularly fails the DVD as bad which is extremely frustrating. I would blame that on the quality of the DVDs, but we bought a Phillips DVD recorder DVDR3505/37 and it has been much better. If it ever fails a DVD, you can see the flaw. I could understand the RCA failing a DVD when there was a power failure during recording, so I put it on a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). However, the Phillips doesn't fail them even for a power failure -- it will recover. Like others have mentioned, we've had to unplug the RCA several times when it hung up which means the clock had to be reset. I'm disappointed because we really wanted to take advantage of the filter, but we paid for a recorder and are getting a not-very-good player.
