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RCA RC 5231Z
RCA RC 5231Z
MSRP: $ 499.00

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Rating
Reviewed by:
steve
(Casual Listener)

Review Date
March 3, 2001

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
3 months to 1 year

Rate this review?

Review 1 of 32

Price Paid:  $250.00 from circut city

Summary:
DONT BUY RCA-

The dvd player worked. That's all I wanted I guess...

One thing I could never get to work was the alternate angle feature- Press the info button- & up popped this feature bar on top of screen-it never worked...you could scroll thru it, but the nothing ever worked... weird.

Now, 8 months later- the DVD Player wont read any data from a disc... it wont play dvd's...cd's work, but it is a 8 lb. paperweight on my cd player now...

anyway... I would give it 1 star due to the fact It did work for 8 months... that must be a lifetime for RCA CO. DVD Players... hahaha.... I need a progressive scan dvd anyway...

Strengths:
played dvd's- i guess...for the first 8 months anyway...

Weaknesses:
Tray would continue to rotate disc after it was powered down... wont play dvd's anymore-8 mo.old- used 3Xa week at most...RCA quality super dissapointing. alternate angles never worked with unit-


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Rating
Reviewed by:
Spencer McCroskey
(Casual Listener)

Review Date
July 23, 2000

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

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Review 2 of 32

Summary:
Man this is an awesome system for the price. I had to return the first one however because it would not read the discs which had something to do with the DIVX chip being taken out I believe. The previous post described the problem I found with the first system but my second is just great. It is you average DVD Player, nothing fancy, it does, however, have many more features than others do at the same price. When this player originally debuted I believe it was around 400.00 which explains all the features. Anyway I am very happy with my system and as for the previous post you need to return your unit.

Strengths:
The Price is Nice & it has all the feature I need.

Weaknesses:
None--

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer DVD


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Rating
Reviewed by:
Frank
(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
July 17, 2000

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
3 months to 1 year

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Review 3 of 32

Summary:
After reading outstanding reviews about this product and given the cheap price due to the collapse of DIVX, I purchased the RCA thinking I was getting a bargain for my money.
I was very wrong...
First of all, this piece of junk won't even play all DVDs.
After renting a few DVDs, ie The Matrix, this player wouldn't even read it and once if finally started playing, it would give out. I thought it was because the DVD was a little scratched up, (which it was) but this happened with other movies as well (Run Lola Run & The Mummy).
Granted these DVD's were not in great shape, but this DVD player is WWWWAAAAAAYYYYY too sensitive.
Also, in just about every movie, there is ALWAYS a pause between chapters somewhere, which gets very annoying.
This player has no zoom either!!!
Even though I do enjoy watching movies in Wide Screen, it would be nice to have that option.
Last but certainly not least, when the DVD spins (plays), it makes an outragously loud noise that is extremely irritating.
Please don't buy this player!!!!!
I'll give it a decent value rating because it was cheap, but overall, it simply stinks!!!

Strengths:
Nothing comes to mind...

Weaknesses:
Noisy and frail

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba SD 2200


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Rating
Reviewed by:
Jarvis Cow
(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
July 4, 2000

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

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Review 4 of 32

Summary:
Like i said this is a great beginner dvd system. I am right now getting ready to buy a sony but not becuz the rca is bad its very good but i have almost everything sony and i just want to get everything to one brand pretty much. I would highly suggest the rca to a friend as a beginner

Strengths:
Many strengths, excellent for first time user especially for the price, good load time, good picture, good sound so far

Weaknesses:
Slow mo could be a little better

Similar Products Used:
first dvd but have watched on many others


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Rating
Reviewed by:
mike g
(Audio Enthusiast)

Review Date
June 20, 2000

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Rate this review?

Review 5 of 32

Summary:
This is an excellent DVD for the money. I used to work at a circuit city store and we had a number of these come back in. However, almost all them worked perfectly and I chalk the returns up to technology incompenent customers (I live in a rural area)and lack of proper qualifying by the sales associates. I own one myself and it is excellent for both movies and music. Every once in a while it won't decode a cd or dvd on the first try...it has never taken more than two attempts. This is clearly not an audiophile product, but at the price that it was offered (after DIVX fell)it was certainly a great value.

I also want to clarify the "Cicuit City system." Managers work for both wage and bonuses. Their bonus incentive consist of monster cable sales, open box sales, and most importantly ESP or extended service program sales. They also have the ability to reduce open box items greatly without having it adversely affect their bonuses (new product discounts kills their bonuses). Another point that needs to be made is that monster cable is one of the most marked up items in the store--near 100%.

The point that I am trying to make is that you can haggle down "open box" items fairly easily, especially if you get an ESP plan and/or monster cable. This is particulary true at the end of the month.

Work through the sales counselor when doing this. DO NOT ask to talk to the sales manager directly.

One more item of interest. If Circuit City is pushing a product such as DIVX, it is a certainty that managers and sales people are getting paid bonuses or large commissions. Take everything with a grain of salt.

Strengths:
cheap price

Weaknesses:
no component output
remote doesn't light up

Similar Products Used:
Everything Circuit City sells


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