NONE

DOESNT WORK

I bought some RCA CD-r's turns out many CD RW drives wont regognise the assed cd tech RCA is using.. thanks alot! whata complete waste!!

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vcr

Great picture, optical out, DD and DTS 5.1, interchangable with my RCA tv remote

large for a dvd player

I got this as a gift for Christmas in 1999, and have used it heavily ever since. I have not had a single problem with this player, as the picture is great and the sound, through my JVC RX-7000V receiver, is top notch. Never had a problem with player locking up, not reading disks, etc. I use it as my music cd player as well, sound is fantastic. Great player.

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none

Ease of setup, great output no matter what receiver is decoding. Universal Remote.

No Component Outputs, RCA Video or S-Video Video output. Occasional "hard reboots".

I used audioreview in 1999 to research this unit and for the most part this was a really good buy at the time. It was orignally for a "budget" system that I was just starting to assemble. Old Onkyo TX-80 Receiver with two speakers then onto a a JVC Digital Reciever with assorted speakers to my current Yamaha RX-V800 with Acoustic Research Speakers and Pinnacle Sub. I've used all of the functions and all outputs at one time or the other depending on the setup at the time. It has for the most part performed at a 99.999% uptime rate and done so with beautiful sound in CD playback and great picture and sound in DVD playback.

I've seen lots of complaints about the not reading disks and it does occur somewhat with certain disks (Disney's The Kid is a really bad one), but for the most part the DVD's are just "dirty" and once cleaned play just fine. I've had the unit for over 2 years now and have only had to "Hard reboot" three times to clear the following:

Hard Boot 1: wouldn't read disks (about early 2000)
Hard Boot 2: wouldn't open or power off stuck on weird message on the display(late 2000)
Hard Boot 3: AC3 TOSLINK connection just stopped working, on reboot started back just fine.

On each hard reboot I pulled the unit out and removed the power cable from the back of the unit for 15 seconds and then plugged it in. It is always fine after that.

There can be a slight delay in switching to layer 2 of certain DVD disks, but I've seen a Pioneer Progressive Scan $499 unit do the same thing.

So far I'm very happy with the unit, it'll follow the JVC when the HDTV and Progressive Scan + DVD-Audio units get to lower price point.

I do know that within six months of purchasing this particular unit in November of 1999 that RCA stopped building it and replaced it with two other units that had more media capabilities. Anyone that is buying them now are probably purchasing Refurbished Units or Closeout Stock from somewhere else.

Current Setup:
DVD - RCA RC5220P
TV - Toshiba 27" Cinema Series FST
Receiver - Yamaha RX-V800
Main Speakers - Acoustic Research Stratus S50's
Center - Cerwin Vega E-76c
L/R Surrounds - Acoustic Research 215PS
Subwoofer - Pinnacle CT-80

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Pioneer, JVC

Nothing good to say about the product, other than it was the cheapest I could find

Does not play DVDs. Always says NO DISC when putting any DVD into it.

As many other reviewers have said, this unit has major, major problems.

It has some screwed up logic that doesn't look very carefully for a DVD when you close the drawer, so it always thinks there is NO DISC in the unit.

The first three movies I played would work within 4-6 times of opening and shutting the disc drawer, but from then on they wouldn't work at all.

As one other reviewer said, hitting the top got it to work once or twice, but not reliably. Powering off between viewings (even for 24+ hours) didn't help solve the problem.

I am sending it back to Amazon, but of course Amazon won't pay the return shipping "because the problem wasn't their fault". Of course, if amazon didn't sell crappy products, this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

I went for this player because it was cheap ($160 plus $20 discount coupon from Amazon) and I paid for it in the end. I used to trust the RCA name, but no more. Even their website which gives instructions on how to soft-reset the machine doesn't work.

Don't buy this one. Spend a few bucks more and get one that might actually play discs.

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I will never use a similar RCA - that is for sure.

I just bought the RCA 5220P for $399 Canadian at Future Shop in Halifax. For a DVD in Canada, this is a good price. This unit has Dolby Digital and DTS out ( no internal processors) which is OK with me because I would rather process the surround in my reciever. It has optical out for this, and has S video out for picture. There is no component out but as far as I am concerned the difference between S video and component is very small, unless you have a high end monitor. I believe this is a third generation unit with Matsuhita (? spelling) origins.It has a rather elegant faceplate, and I am a fan of the RCA/Proscan remote - very ergonomic. As per picture and sound quality, I can detect no differences from similar and higher priced units. I have detected no pixelation or artifacts that others write about in higher priced units. The CD playback is an improvement from my 10 year old CD player and it has added features such as random and bookmarking. Overall I am very happy and would recommend this player. My humble system includes 5 NHT Super Zeroes, Energy sub, Yamaha reciever, RCA TV and Acoustic Research interconnects for the DVD - S video and audio outs (by the way, these AR cables are a great deal!). Does anyone have more info to share on this unit?
Regards! Mike

I just bought this unit for 399 (Canadian) and have been very happy with it. This is a very reasonable price for DVD north of the border. This is a very basic unit but includes Dolby digital and DTS outs. It has S-video and optical out, but no component out, which is OK because my TV has no component in. Besides the fact, reviews have shown very small difference between S video and component inputs on good monitors. Very simple elegant unit with good remote - for those RCA/Proscan fans who favor a large ergonomic remote. Also, very elegant face plate. I believe this is a second or even third generation unit with panisonic transport. In terms of performance on DVDs, it has been excellent. So far, I have not noted any pixelation or artifact. In terms of audio, CD's sound great and there are good features including random and bookmarks. My system includes 5 NHT Super Zeroes, Energy sub, Yahmaha reciever, large RCA TV, AR cables. Overall, I give this unit 4/5 for lack of component outs.

This machine earns a high rating based on value. I see no quality differences between this machine and the high end machines. The lack of a built in decoder keeps it affordable. I opted to purchase a DVD player without the built in decoder and put all my stock in a Digital receiver.

I purchased the 5230 model. Which as far as I can tell is the same thing with DIVX capability. My model was a bargain at $329 (total with S&H). I'm glad I bought a DIVX player since it plays regular DVDs perfectly, I deposited a $100 rebate from DIVX and I bought a bunch of DIVX movies for $1.99 from Circuit City.
I think purchasing a DVD player is like purchasing a CD player. No matter what you buy, you'll get perfect sound and picture. The S video output looks perfect and the dolby digital sounds perfect. The remote is very easy and intuitive to use. The unit is very light and small. The only drawback is that sometimes I have to press the eject button a couple of times in order for a dvd to eject.

I bought this unit about 2 weeks ago, and am now considering returning it. At first I was most pleased when someone mentioned the RCA DVD players are made by Panasonic/Matsushita. I took it home, set it up, and everything worked great! Except for audio CD's. The sound is distorted, like I was overdriving my speakers. But, the volume level is set quite low. I contacted RCA, and the gentleman informed me that I should turn on "Audio Compression" like it says in Page 63 of the manual. Did I mention that both manuals I got with it were in spanish only? Turned on audio compression, and the problem was solved. Or so I thought. This only seems to help with about half my CD's. The other day at work, last year's model 5210P conked out, and out of curiousity I opened it up and was DELIGHTED to find a Panasonic MPEG-2 decoder board inside! I then decided to open up a nice new 5220P player (the same one I bought), and voila: Some crappy Omega DVD Video chip, and the rest of the chipset is Oki (short for Okidata - a company that specializes in photocopiers and lazer printers). What a disappointment.

I purchased this player from Radio Shack for 249 dollars as an open box and the manager doubled the warranty to 180 days on labor and 2 years on parts, free of charge. He also threw in a pair of gold-plated A/V cables. The offer they had also gave me 5 free DVD's and 12 free rentals from Netflicks. I must say that I am quite pleased with this player. The sound is amazing, nothing short of a good quality Cd player and the picture is fairly clear, though I would've liked a blackness control option. The remote is quite busy with blue and red color coded buttons for most options that allow you to set the player to your tastes. I wish the picture would completely encroach the entire viewing field as opposed to 80% when set on 16x9. Other than these minor quirks, I hope to have it a few years before I step up to more advanced models.