Thomson SA DRC8335 DVD recorder/ VCR combo

jdaich

By JamesH  Nov 8, 2008

Pros: good when it works

Cons: 2 defective

I returned the second defective unit for replacement and was billed for repair service after I was informed that a replacement would be sent by the end of the month. Still hassling with the off-shore voice!

Please see my instructional film-

By Joshua  Nov 2, 2008

Pros: on how to get a CD out of-

Cons: this stupid piece of motherfucking shit-

http:/
/
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=WSr0HnSkGJg

Run Around Rip Off

By B  Oct 2, 2008

Pros: None

Cons: THOMPSON (RCA)

Have spent many hours on the phone, promised replacemnts, refunds. You call the Phillipines. Get the run around. They have my unit, and cannot order a replacement until the warehouse tells them they have stock. They do not know when they will get stock - so it may never get ordered. So after more pushing I got a name and a committment to get doubel my purchase price back if I faxed my reciept. I woudl be hearing back from a buy-back specialist in 3-5 days of faxing my receipt. Then it is supposed to be 6-8 weeks to cut me my check.

I called the offices in Indiana (US) and got to the legal department. We'll se where it goes.

RCA DRC 8335 Poor DVD/VCR/ATSC tuner quality

By MG  Sep 16, 2008

Pros: All 3 things in 1 unit (VCR/DVD recorder/DTV tuner

Cons: Many; read below

The RCA DRC 8335 DVD/VCR/DTV tuner is a good concept, for those who do not have room in their entertainment centers, for several units. But that's exactly where the pro's end.

With my DRC 8335, in noticed that DTV signals are not coming very clearly, with the DTV tuner. I then noticed that the tuner did not rank a good score in "Consumer Reports" for sensitivity. Being in my pown metro, 13 miles or less, I cannot get DTV adequately, to watch it. I'm tied to Analog, until I get a new box, more sensitive, that is.

The VCR never worked correctly. To record onto DVD's, I had to utilize another HIFI VCR and patch it in. Therefore, "dubbing with it's own VCR, is not recommended, unless you like squeals in the DVD recording.

As for the DVD recorder, I was recording something on TV, the disk had errors on it. I could not watch the disk. This had been happening alot lately. NOw I just use prof equipment for the station to record onto the PC.

As for DVD viewing, The picture is pixelated, skips, blacks out, green screens, etc. in other words, a whole lotta artifacts, like a poor DTV (or HDTV) signal.

As for the unit, it will lock up, when powered on. You get stuck in "hello" mode for several minutes... and it keeps going.Then you must reset it.

Customer service... poor...also Asian Indian.

No, I don't recommend this product. It was purchased 1 year ago, and failed me many times... Save your money.

Mikel Grenier
WTLX-T^V/DT
Toledo, Ohio

vhs/dvd model 8335

By frank  Sep 4, 2008

Pros: none

Cons: worst piece of junk

Purchased from WalMart December 2008. Vhs side would not record. Returned to RCA/Thomson June 21, 2008 for a replacement. Still waiting for that replacement. Constant excuses . Told 4 times it had been sent. What a ripoff. I will never purchase RCA again.

I'm with Spawnmod

By Mary  Aug 21, 2008

Pros: Was able to burn a couple of dvds

Cons: everything else

I'm with spawnmod. Purchased early 08 and was able to watch and burn a couple of DVDs of old movies, but has been flashing "hello" for about 4 months. I think I could have taken the movies to professional copiers for less than the cost of this unit. After a move I finally found the owners manual and under trouble shooting, it said to hold the on/standby button down for 10 seconds and it did give me the "time of day," but when I tried to open the dvd drawer it locked up again. Wish I'd seen the reviews before I bought it,

Buyer Beware

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Aug 6, 2008

Pros: Can't think of any

Cons: Defective unit/ replacement unit defective as well

We returned our first defective unit only to have yet another defective unit sent in its place. When we then asked for a refund, we were told that they do not refund purchase price, but can continue to send replacement units. Looks like a scam to me.

By Cole  Jul 5, 2008

Died after 5 months with "hello"

By Spawn  Jun 21, 2008

Pros: None

Cons: Slow, Lousy Quality, Tape playback loses sync with sound

Purchased product having had prior satisfaction with RCA products. This unit is making me question that decision.
Tape playback after a period of time loses sync with sound for the picture - something I have never seen before with a VCR.
DVD recording/playback is extremely painful when trying to fast forward through commercials or scenes - the 'preview' screen seems to trail behind where it actually is by far.
After 5 months of use started getting the "Hello" message resulting in the unit being completely inop - just like MANY postings for this same POS. I would recommend against anyone buying this garbage. I will buy a different brand of product the next time.

What a piece of !@#$

By Shane R  Jun 3, 2008

Pros: none

Cons: This is the biggest piece of junk RCA put their name on

I'm currently waiting for my 3rd replacement because rca refuses to refund my money so i could buy a real dvd recorder. Ipurchased this thing in sept 07 and have yet to receive one that works properly. Iwould not waste my money on anything rca any longer!!!!!!!!

Shane R
Pennsylvania

Never worked

By Yahoo! Shopping User  May 29, 2008

Pros: None

Cons: Everything

We built a new house and purchased several DVD players. This was the only model like this one we bought, thankfully. It was several months after it was hooked up that we actually attempted to use it. It simply flashed "hello"- wouldn't turn on...wouldn't do anything. We've already thrown away the box, so I doubt it could be returned to Wal-Mart. Money thrown away.

Terrible disappointment

By Danny  Apr 10, 2008

Pros: Digital tuner, onscreen directions, many features, price

Cons: poor workmanship,

Bought this from Walmart on 3/8/08 returned it 4/9/08. I used it in my home office. In the month that I had it I recorded several DVDs all succesfully. I never had a problem playing factory DVDs or ones I had recorded myself. I also tranfered video from my camcorder to DVD. I had never used the VCR at all. The first time I put a tape in it the transport was completely dead. It would not pull the tape into position or eject it. I had to remove the cover to gently lift the tape up and out of the machine. I would have written the best review ever...but the VCR was a main reason for the purchase (transferring old home movies etc). I wanted to exchange the unit but I found Walmart has pulled the model from their shelves (too many returns??) Now I'm having a problem finding a replacement with all the features of this model. Reading all the reviews here and elsewhere you should make certain your dealer has a good return policy...you may well need it.

By TRENT  Mar 17, 2008

Only gave it 4 days...

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Mar 12, 2008

Pros: Price, features, good picture, good tuner.

Cons: Could never record a dvd.

Bought this item Friday, wanted to give myself time to try it out during my 15 day-return period with WalMart.
Tuner found channels. Good picture and sound. Never tried the VCR not sure if it worked. Never got a disc successfully burned. Thought it was a problem with the brand of disc (memorex, a good brand I thought) so I went and bought new ones on day 3 (sony, also good brand). No new results. It said it was having scanning errors during recording with both brands of discs.
It had to be the unit.
I wasted 5 discs and never got a viewable DVD burned.
I LOVE that this unit plays many of my old discs that I burned on my computer. It plays avi files, jpg photos, and cds, and mps and wma audio.
I HATED that I could never burn a disc is what I bought the unit for.
Unit would freeze up. I called customer support they would have be do the resets holding the stop button and power button, but the second they mentioned mailing it in under the warranty. I knew I was going back to Wal-Mart with this one.
It's going back to the store today.
I can NOT recommend this product.

Good example of what NOT to buy!

By David  Feb 1, 2008

Pros: good features

Cons: major hardware / software problems, very bright front display (annoying)

Bought DRC 8320 in 2006 and kept trying to talk myself into liking it even though my wife thought it was a piece of junk from the start! VHS to DVD recording worked okay but everything else was either complicated to use or just didn't work well. DVD recording (timed program) did not always work... missed a lot of shows that we thought were being recorded... abandoned DVD and figured good old VHS would work. It always recorded but did not always play back at the right speed! After losing hope I decided to revert back to my Panasonic VCR whose head is so noisy it's a wonder it still works (but still works better than the RCA!). The 8320 finally died right at the end of the 1 year warranty and would not even power up.

My wife spent at least 20 minutes on the phone with a customer service rep who was obviously reading the troubleshooting guide and was obviously not listening to my wife. Finally we were told to return the 8320 and were then shipped a brand new (?) DRC 8335.

At first I was pretty happy with the DRC 8335 features and performance... at least for the first 20 minutes after which the front display went nuts and the unit's output shut off. Nothing responded so I unplugged it and tried again... same thing happened. The customer service call was a little shorter this time and we are on our way to our 3rd unit... hopefully if it breaks as I expect it too it will do so before the 3 month warranty is up! I guess I know why RCA has a dedicated customer service number specifically for the DRC 8335! No more RCA for me!

Two lemons in less than 2 years

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 29, 2008

Pros: played DVDs okay when it worked

Cons: lasted less than a year

I purchased my first one from Walmart in August of 2006. By April of 2007 it totally quit working. Wouldn't play, DVD door wouldn't even stay shut. Called the support and spent a lot of time on the phone and found out I would have to send in the broken unit and then they would sent me a replacement. The replacement arrived in May of 2007 and it broke 8 months after we got. Wouldn't do anything. Found out that you only get a 3 month warranty on units they send you as a replacement for other broken ones.
Will never buy another RCA product again!!

never buy RCA product

By Brent  Jan 29, 2008

Pros: tv guardian

Cons: froze up, customer service in Philippines

This is the 3rd different RCA dvd/vcr recording combo unit I have owned within the last 1.5 years. They have all broken down- the latest has completely frozen up and will not play anything. If you call customer service, plan on carving out at least 30 minutes to talk to someone with a thick accent in Manilla, Philippines (I asked). To their credit, if you talk to them enough times you may be fortunate enough to receive a replacement unit (but count on making numerous frustrating calls) in about a month.

Very Good Buy!!

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 13, 2008

Pros: Lots of useful features

Cons: No Chapter deleting

This was a very worth wild buy. At first we thought we made a mistake because the user manual only explains the basics, but after playing with the DVD editing features we discovered we had many useful editing tools the manual never explained. The only tool I saw missing was a chapter deleting option that I can find. Other than that this was a great buy!!

Problems Right Out of the Box

By Michael  Nov 29, 2007

Pros: TV Guardian, Digital Tuner

Cons: DVD Recorder unreliable. DVD tray won't open with certain DVDs

Bought from Walmart in July 2007. Got it home & found out the second day that it wouldn't play certain store bought DVDs that my old $29 Apex did. I let that slide because I hate the Walmart return line.

When I went to record DVD's, I only had 2 turn out out of 9. Oh, it wrote on the disc, but then it wouldn't recognize it to finalize it.

Some video tapes will not play. One's that do sometimes have intermittently cut out audio (cartoons - not just movies).

When deleting stations from the tuner memory, the deleted one's always come back.

It ruined 2 DVD's because some DVD's just would not eject from the DVD tray even after cycling off then on again and even unplugging the chord when all else failed. I had to manually try to get it open.

I would have returned it to Walmart sooner if all of the problems would have showed up at the beginning. However, I waited until the last straw with my DVD's not ejecting and now that it's the end of November, Walmart said to deal directly with the manufacturer. I dread the whole process to come. I have read reviews of the same problems on other sites. I have also heard of the hassle with RCA (which I will be experiencing shortly).

Do a search on the product if you really are considering buying it. The features can't be beat for the price, however not all of the features work properly. I don't suppose it has anything to do with being made in China.....but it too may contain lead based paint :)

what a rip-off. buyer beware!

By Achunka  Sep 8, 2007 | 3 out of 3 found this Thomson SA DRC8335 review helpful

Pros: tv guardian and digital tuner

Cons: doesn't work for dvds or vhs tapes

OK. I had the same problems that the other reviewer did- but my family went through 3 of these units in just under 3 months, returning the FINAL one last evening. The tv guardian was superb, which is what we bought this for, as was the digital tuner (a nice surprise as I did not even know what that was. LOL). I had wanted to be able to play our Disney VHS tapes and not replace them, as the kids are almost grown. The vcr never worked- not on any of the 3 units I brought home. I called RCA, they were rude and totally not concerned about it, and told me simply to take it back and get another one... that quote "no one else has complained about this defect but you". I don't buy it. (sorry, pun)

The DVD recorder would freeze constantly and I had to actually shut power off by unplugging it from the wall as it would not turn off no matter what. Then I would record a 2 hr show and save it, only to find that it had 'disappeared' after I put it back in to watch it later. It would then say "bad disk". Of 50 DVDs, over 1/3rd were ruined after recording and finalizing, only to see 'bad disc' when put back in. No rhyme or reason for which discs worked and which didn't.
What a nightmare!
AVOID. you will save yourself some frustration and lots of money on ruined DVDs.
RCA does not care and has not helped in any way when notified.

Dont but this

By RichG  Aug 2, 2007

Pros: Had what I wanted

Cons: Defective

I went through 2 of these. First one ate the DVD when tried to record. Second one was even worse. Wouldnt play the tapes in normal speed just fast forward and would shut off duing dvd recording. Contacted RCA they just said it was defective and to take it back. DON'T BUY THIS ONE!!!

hi

By kjh  Jul 7, 2007

Pros: hi

Cons: hi

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