RCA DRC8060N DVD Recorder with Commercial Advance
$$$ and days of my life I can't get back
RCA sent me this model after the previous unit I purchased, DRC8040N, never worked, even after time away with a designated RCA tech as per the warrantee. <br />This unit recorded only twice successfully-- once directly from my camcorder (but with many freezes, wasted DVDs and incidents when the unit suddenly stopped \\"recognizing\\" my attached camcorder). The only other successful recording was off the tivo, but didn't include chapter headings as programmed, had titling problems, and had to be babysat throughout the process. Playback quality is bad. <br /> <br />The unit has not successfully recorded since, wasting another half dozen discs and over 16 lost hours of recording that ended up unsuccessful. <br /> <br />Bad freezing (requiring both regular and hard resets), sudden refusal to \\"finalize\\", inability to play or recognize media just recorded on disc still inside machine, and outside, slow command response, and SHAMEFULLY poor RCA/Thompson customer service. <br /> <br />I can understand one lemon, but two in a row? <br /> <br />After all this, RCA absolutely refuses to refund the cost of the original unit, and wouldn't even exchange the DRC8060N without going through the pointless exercise of sending this second unit out to a designated RCA tech center. Based on hours of research and over six months of experience trying to find a solution for this problem, I have come to believe RCA knows these units are faulty. Most RCA designated repair centers in my area refuse even to accept a repair order on this and the DRC8040N unit, even though they risk their official \\"RCA\\" designation in so doing. <br /> <br />Based on RCA's supervisor level customer service reps (called \\"Escalation Specialists\\"-- not because you're furious at the time, but because talking to one of these condescending double-talk con artists will make you want to slit your own wrists, ultimately causing \\"escalation\\" even in the most reasonable consumer), I believe RCA is knowingly conning exhausted and frustrated consumers until we give up or the warrantee runs out. They refused to give me a name to whom I could address a written complaint. These units shouldn't even be on the market. I will never purchase an RCA/Thompson product of any kind again.