Woot

Quality posts:

• (12:05 AM) metanoia29 checks it out at Amazon.
• (12:06 AM) sntothemax asks, "I recently purchased an HDTV (hannspree off woot), and i was wondering if this is comparable at all to HDDVD/blu-ray. Is this going to look that much better than a regular dvd? Or do i go out and buy the coolest blu-ray player they call PS3?"
• (12:07 AM) stevesd says, "I bought this in November from Woot for 10 bux more - it has been rock-steady reliable and plays anything I throw at it. The upconversion only works through HDMI though not component - keep in mind if your TV has only one HDMI input and you're already using for your cable box. If I needed another I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Good Woot."
• (7:26 AM) vindawg02 adds, "Haven't used the recorder a whole lot, but this player had been a solid DVD player for me and this is even cheaper than Wal-Mart has it. Definitely not the top of the line recorder but for the money it's a nice DVD player"
• (7:33 AM) sbpetrok questions, "The question is, if I plug the cable into the RF input jack, will it output coherent video thru the S-video output?"
• (7:41 AM) metaphyze warns, "DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP. I own this piece of junk. The WORST AV component I've ever bought in my life. The output from the coax cable flickers or shuts down entirely. The output from the standard video/audio cables is spotty too. Sometimes when I turn it on (THIS MEANS I HAVE UNPLUGED AND PLUGED IT BACK IN) it starts out in some HDMI mode and NOTHING is display one the screen. It took me a while to figure out what was going on and then I went through the various HDMI modes until I got a picture. I've found that the best way to get it to reliably output to the standard video/audio output is to UNPLUG it, plug it back up and turn it on, and insert a DVD AS SOON AS it comes on. If I ever turn it off, it won't come back on again. Not even to eject the DVD. I have to UNPLUG it and plug it back up to get my DVD out. It will often times lock up on start up, so that I have to unplug it and plug it back up repeatedly until I get it working. When I do get it working, I try not to turn it off again."
• (7:42 AM) MrXpress replies, "It all depends on how good the scaler is in your TV. Flat-panel HDTVs have a fixed resolution, so if you feed it say, a 480i signal from a standard DVD player, the TV will have to upconvert it to match its native resolution. The idea behind upconverting DVD players is that the upconversion is performed before it reaches the TV, so that the TV won't have to scale as much. Whether this is an improvement or not depends entirely on which piece of equipment has the better scaler, usually with cheap TVs come cheap chipsets and such, so the RCA might be slightly better at it than the Hannspree. Honestly though, you're probably not going to notice any difference at all. Actually, the biggest improvement in terms of quality might come from the HDMI connection itself, as you're able to feed a digital signal directly to the TV."
• (7:46 AM) stephenhaas55 comments, "I paid $99. plus shipping for this on here a few months ago, and it has mediocre quality and sometimes freezes. I have to either unplug or hold the power button in to manually shut it down....ick"
• (8:42 AM) CanTak adds a warning, "I have one that I got on Woot last time. It's TERRIBLE. The DVD takes at least 60 FULL SECONDS to eject. Even if the player is off and you hit the eject button theres a 60 second delay. The player has no subtitle support for TV shows. The fast forward and reverse speeds for DiVX movies are literally 20x speed. You can only move in blocks of 5 min at a time. You cant rewind over a spot you missed without backing up an extra 4 min and 50 seconds. Also, this player constantly locks up. Once or twice per week it freezes and nothing works. The only solution is to fully unplug it, or hold the power button for 20 seconds."
• (9:31 AM) Benz145 tries to puzzle it out, "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?"
• (10:22 AM) volfann shares, "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."
• (10:30 AM) Lebrule wonders, "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."
• (11:00 AM) jstemper points out some pros and cons.
• (11:43 AM) lgent9 queries, "Will this record over the air,high definition tv off my Hitachi HDTV?"
• (11:49 AM) rzunig1 needs a hand, "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"?"
• (12:03 PM) tw1ggy98 wanted to let us know, "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..."
• (12:15 PM) kiteless comments, "I got one of these babies on Woot a while back. Besides the simple and rather slow menu (especially while viseo is playing). But the recording function is solid, and the quality is great. Also makes for a dandy upscaling DVD player, but it only upscales through HDMI, it will not upscale over component."
• (2:00 PM) melev has a couple questions, "For those of you that have this product, or one that is similar, how do you record a show you've saved (via Dish Network's PVR perhaps) to a DVD without the commercials? Also, the description doesn't say Dual Layer, so that means the quality will go down if you try to save a movie (1.5 to 2 hours) on a DVD, correct?"
• (2:01 PM) PATS-PWR says, "I purchased two of these RCA DVD Recorders for $10 more from Woot back in November and unlike others I have had NO PROBLEMS with either unit. I use these units several times a week to burn High-Def movies and TV shows from my DVR HDD down to DVD disc. Until HD-DVD or Blu-Ray recorders become affordable it is nice to be able to save at least a 4:3 letterbox version of the HD programs I enjoyed. These units have recorded well over 100 DVD discs with no errors or problems yet. My RCA units have also been used to play back many DVD-R/+R and Netflix discs without any stuttering or freeze ups. I have not had any of the problems that others have experienced. My units have never locked up or had to be unplugged since I started using them in November. I also switch the unit output between 480i and 720P frequently without trouble depending whether I am watching on my 27" tube television or my 110" screen video projector. Since there is no Hard Drive in this unit the editing capabilities are limited to setting Chapter Marks and the default DVD menu is crappy, but for only $80 what do you expect."
• (2:43 PM) PATS-PWR replies to melev, "You will have to edit the commercials out first on your DVR. This RCA is only a DVD Recorder so you can not edit the video once it has already been burnt to the disc. If your DVR doesn't allow editing then your only option will be to pause the recorder at ever commercial break. This recorder is not Dual Layer, simply Dual Format (DVD-R/+R). The Standard encoding rate for DVD quality will give you 2 hours to a disc so many movies will fit just fine."

Note: This post contains pricing information for future reference because it is generally not available elsewhere once the next Woot has been offered.

RCA Dual Format DVD Recorder w/ DivX, HDMI and HD Upconversion
$79.99 + $5 shipping
condition: Refurbished
product(s): 1 RCA DRC8052N Dual Format DVD Recorder w/ DivX, HD Upconversion and HDMI cable

modded xbox does this,,


hell xbox 360 does this also,

as far as divx, it does that to thru mce

nice a few years ago..but

hddvd and sony blue ray dvds are where its at..

Amazon link, since no one's posted one yet:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-DRC8052N-DVD-Recorder/dp/B000FCR3O4/

Price of this woot, for future reference.

CA Dual Format DVD Recorder w/ DivX, HDMI and HD Upconversion
$79.99+ $5 shipping

condition:
Refurbished
product(s):
1 RCA DRC8052N Dual Format DVD Recorder w/ DivX, HD Upconversion and HDMI cable

aoviss wrote:Upconverts to what resolution?

I not sure if its 720p or 1080i.

I recently purchased an HDTV (hannspree off woot), and i was wondering if this is comparable at all to HDDVD/blu-ray. Is this going to look that much better than a regular dvd? Or do i go out and buy the coolest blu-ray player they call PS3?

Wal-Mart tends to be a pretty good barometer of in-store pricing. I bought the same recorder there last month for $30 more. All-in-all it's not a bad recorder. The remote even works with my RCA TV.

ick...refurb (rox0rz!)

RCA, Proscan, whatever you want to call it, Just plain bad electronics! :p

....you can easily get a NEW DVD Recorder at the same price... and I'm sure I'll work much better than RCA... with a Full Warranty......

I bought this in November from Woot for 10 bux more - it has been rock-steady reliable and plays anything I throw at it. The upconversion only works through HDMI though not component - keep in mind if your TV has only one HDMI input and you're already using for your cable box. If I needed another I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Good Woot.

Haven't used the recorder a whole lot, but this player had been a solid DVD player for me and this is even cheaper than Wal-Mart has it. Definitely not the top of the line recorder but for the money it's a nice DVD player

stevesd (or anyone else)

I'm wondering if I can also use this as the TV Tuner for my TV Projector.

The question is, if I plug the cable into the RF input jack, will it output coherent video thru the S-video output? (I have a 75-foot S-video cable run to the projector... I know component video is better, but I was told the signal would degrade in that long of a component cable.)

lol...RCA...lol

360 does this? I don't believe the 360 has DVD writing abilities...

Either way refurb (rox0rz!) is probably not the safest with this, but they are a decent product when they work and the price is fair.

DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP. I own this piece of junk. The WORST AV component I've ever bought in my life. The output from the coax cable flickers or shuts down entirely. The output from the standard video/audio cables is spotty too. Sometimes when I turn it on (THIS MEANS I HAVE UNPLUGED AND PLUGED IT BACK IN) it starts out in some HDMI mode and NOTHING is display one the screen. It took me a while to figure out what was going on and then I went through the various HDMI modes until I got a picture. I've found that the best way to get it to reliably output to the standard video/audio output is to UNPLUG it, plug it back up and turn it on, and insert a DVD AS SOON AS it comes on. If I ever turn it off, it won't come back on again. Not even to eject the DVD. I have to UNPLUG it and plug it back up to get my DVD out. It will often times lock up on start up, so that I have to unplug it and plug it back up repeatedly until I get it working. When I do get it working, I try not to turn it off again.

I recently purchased an HDTV (hannspree off woot), and i was wondering if this is comparable at all to HDDVD/blu-ray. Is this going to look that much better than a regular dvd? Or do i go out and buy the coolest blu-ray player they call PS3?

It all depends on how good the scaler is in your TV. Flat-panel HDTVs have a fixed resolution, so if you feed it say, a 480i signal from a standard DVD player, the TV will have to upconvert it to match its native resolution. The idea behind upconverting DVD players is that the upconversion is performed before it reaches the TV, so that the TV won't have to scale as much. Whether this is an improvement or not depends entirely on which piece of equipment has the better scaler; usually with cheap TVs come cheap chipsets and such, so the RCA might be slightly better at it than the Hannspree. Honestly though, you're probably not going to notice any difference at all. Actually, the biggest improvement in terms of quality might come from the HDMI connection itself, as you're able to feed a digital signal directly to the TV.

Upconverted stuff won't even look remotely CLOSE to HD DVD/Blu-Ray.

kycop10 wrote:modded xbox does this,,

hell xbox 360 does this also,

as far as divx, it does that to thru mce

nice a few years ago..but

hddvd and sony blue ray dvds are where its at..

So you're comparing something that's WELL beyond $80? The media alone is $20-50 a disc for Blu-Ray. These are the great comments.

As for the product, I had posted in another area on the forum since we couldn't get here... I think the HDMI is a nice addition to this for the cost. Those aren't cheap and to have it packaged in for the $80 is a very good deal. I'm still considering one if anything for the DivX piece.

I paid $99. plus shipping for this on here a few months ago, and it has mediocre quality and sometimes freezes. I have to either unplug or hold the power button in to manually shut it down....ick

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!

sfdj wrote:
....you can easily get a NEW DVD Recorder at the same price... and I'm sure I'll work much better than RCA... with a Full Warranty......

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.