"The Ultimate Movie Experience"
Written: Aug 23 '00 (Updated Aug 23 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: "BEST Picture you can get for your TV."
Cons: None
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| surferdude7's Full Review: RCA RC5231Z Player |
We have had our DVD player for almost two years now and have had no problems.
This review is on the RCA RC5230Z, not the RC5231Z under the listing. There is a listing for my DVD player, but it would not let me enter a review.
OK this is one of the "ill-fated" Divx players. (Digital Video Express) Circuit City was the big backer of this project. Divx was set up so you can buy the DVD movie for $4.49 each and once you start to watch it, you can view it as much as you want in a 48-hour period. After that you would have to pay another $2.99 to watch it for another 48-hours. This was set up through a telephone line. You did not have to bring the DVD back, it was yours to keep, and you just had to pay another $2.99 every time you wanted to watch it.
I went bargain shopping for a DVD player and found the cheapest player anywhere at the time was $299 and Circuit City had one for $299 and the RCA Divx was $399, $100 dollars higher. I did not plan on buying the Divx, but it came with 5 Divx movies Free, when you purchased the player. I haggled with then to try to get the price down, but they wouldn't budge. Finally I convinced them to throw in a regular DVD movie of my choice and they agreed. (At that time no one was giving any Free DVDs.) I wasn't done yet, I knew I needed a fiber optic cable to hook to my audio receiver, so I got them to give me the $39 fiber optic cable for $19.
Now I thought $4.49 Divx movies times 5 equals to $22.45, plus the $20 I saved on the fiber Optic cable and the $29 DVD came to $71.45 in savings. That was almost the $100 difference between the regular DVD player and the Divx player. I bought it and about one year later Circuit city announced they were doing away with the Divx and sent me a $100 rebate check because they were getting out of Divx. So I ended up paying only $299 after all plus I got the other things mentioned above.
The RCA DVD Player
It can play Divx movies, (Divx no longer exist.) DVD movies and your Music CDs.
Hookups
You can hookup the player a couple of different ways,
1. The regular hookup has 3-RCA plugs, one for your video and two for the audio.
2. To get the "Best" picture quality possible, you run a S-Video hookup instead of the one for the RCA hookup.
3. To get the "Best" sound is to plug into a 5.1 Digital Dolby receiver with one fiber optic cable. The one fiber optic cable runs 6 hook ups to your receiver, 1-sub woofer and 5-speakers.
4. To get the "Best Picture & Sound" run the S-Video and the fiber optic. If you use this setup, it will feel like you are at the movies. "It Is Great!"
The Remote
The remote is nice in size, easy to handle and feels good. The buttons are not to small, but there are a lot of them. The remote is designed to run a Stereo Receiver, DVD Player, Satellite-Direct TV or Cable, a TV, and 2-VCRs.
The remote takes a little time to learn, because it has so many features.
You can freeze a frame or make them go forward fast of fast backward at different speeds. When you freeze a frame, the picture is almost like a photograph, no lines on the picture at all.
With your remote can pick different languages, jump to different scenes and check out different camera angles. (I have a DVD by Metallica and on the 4 camera angles you can see each one of the 4 members separately throughout the song.)
There is a subtitle button so you can click on it and read the subtitles if you wish. (It is nice when you watch someone like Metallica and want to sing along or just don't understand what they are saying.)
The On-Screen Menu
Here you can use a password if you don't want anyone to use the DVD Player. You can also set "Limit Ratings" if you don't mind the young ones using it. (This will keep it safe from any movies you do not want them to watch.)
There is a subtitle language, here you can change it to a different language for the subtitles.
You can set it up where the menu comes up every time you put in a DVD or set up AutoPlay, here it will start the movie every time you put in a DVD. (You can get to your menu by the remote.)
Display - Here you can setup 3 different screen sizes.
1. 4 x 3 Standard - This is your normal viewing.
2. 4 x3 Letterbox - You can see the entire frame of the movie.
3. 16 x 9 Widescreen - This is the future TV format. (TVs are available now in this format.)
I keep mine in the 4 x 3 Standard, when you put in a Letterbox or Widescreen movie, it will automatically adjust to the size it needs.
There are different sound settings to choose from plus a few other things.
Overall
It has the "Best Picture Quality" that you can view on your television set. Hook it to a 5.1 Digital Dolby Receiver and Speakers and your movie sound will come alive.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
surferdude7
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 - Top 10 |
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Location: Elizabethtown, Ky.
Reviews written: 374
Trusted by: 1166 members
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