RCA RTD260 1000 Watts 5-Disc DVD/CD Home Theatre System with HDMI Sirius Ready Customer Reviews

I have had this system for 4 months and I have replaced it three times. The first one had an internal cooling fan so loud that it drowned out the sound of the movies. RCA says "defective." The second one wouldn't play 3/4 of my DVDs--ones that had scratches and ones that were fresh out of the case. Again, "defective unit." The third one has trouble accessing special features and sub-menus. It will freeze in the middle of a film. Sometimes it won't turn off! I have to unplug it. So...when the fourth one gets here, it's off the Craigslist--RCA WILL NOT REFUND YOUR MONEY for a consistently defective product. I couldn't be less happy with this product. What good is surround sound if the player won't play the media? I end up playing movies on my Playstation 2--which NEVER has problems playing DVDs. Too bad the RCA receiver has no suitable audio input for the PS2. PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR GET YOUR HOPES UP WITH THIS EXCREMENTAL PRODUCT.
- R. Clark

This is my first purchase of a home theater system, the RCA RTD260, and I couldn't be more satisfied with its sound and value. I've listened to other more expensive systems belonging to friends and this system's sound quality is very much on par with those. It makes a great stereo system for for listening to 5 CD's loaded at once, and my TV also plays through it quite well. Set up isn't too difficult. I'm very happy with it. The RTD260 rocks!
- Donald Z. Fortney "DZ Music Man Fortney"

We are on our third unit and we still are not satisfied. The first unit etched rings in any disc it tried to play, ruining several before we realized what was happening. Some discs would play, but very few, and only once or twice before they were ruined, and nothing at all on drive 5. After several rounds with customer service, we were sent a second unit. This one's fan made horrible grinding noises about 75% of the time. If you shut the unit off and turned it back on 3 or 4 times, it would finally stop. Other than that, it worked well for about a month and then stopped playing all but completely pristine brand new discs. It wouldn't play rentals or DVD+ or - Rs at all, in any condition. Unit #3 plays very little right out of the box. Sometimes, if you unplug it for 15 minutes or so, it might play a disc, but usually it won't. Bad disc error after bad disc error. Out of the 200+ discs we have, the only one that will play every time is Dora's Fairytale Adventure. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to watch Dora's Fairytale Adventure every time I want to watch a movie.
- Holly Fisher

Well, just as a few other reviews I have read, I'm working on sending my second unit back to the service center for an exchange. The first unit started by randomly telling me that my DVD was a "BAD Disc" after about of minute of trying to load. Then it would lock up or freeze while playing a movie and I had to unplug it to reset the thing. Sent that one in and got a new unit that played fine the first few days and then, you guessed it, right back to the same symptoms once again. This time around I was able to get the service rep to send me a prepaid shipping label to send the unit back so I don't have to fork over another $41 shipping fee to send it back. If you're looking for a home theater system you may want to spend the extra money on one that you won't end up watching your movies on between returns and exchanges. This one is not a good choice at all so far.
- Clovis68

While I'm still not convinced our new HD DVD player is without problems, getting to this point has been a defeating exercise in frustration. First, the DVD player we got didn't work properly. It would make a grinding noise as it tried to load a disc. We almost lost a movie because it refused to open back up, happily grinding away instead. We called customer service and after going through the usual "is it plugged in" questions, they said to mail it back and they would send a replacement because it had a one-year warranty. The instruction manual said they would ship one out and we could return it upon receipt, so we finally got them to agree to that option only after we gave our credit card information (again). They said we'd get our DVD player replacement within 2-5 business days. They expressly indicated that the replacement would arrive with instructions and a pre-paid return shipment label. Weeks later, (granted, there were some holidays involved) we called to find out the status. After giving name, number, address, etc., they were unable to locate any record of our conversation. We started over. After inputting all the necessary information in their system again, they got a duplicate order notice, which allowed them to find our request for replacement. It FINALLY arrived, WITHOUT any instructions or promised shipping label. Now they indicated that they NEVER pay for returns. In addition, instead of only shipping a replacement for the defective player as we wanted, they shipped the entire system, speakers and all. Now the cost of returning this defective system to them obliterates any monetary advantage of going through them in the first place.The player itself is poorly designed and difficult to use. As I mentioned, I'm still not convinced our replacement works properly all the time. It seems to have difficulty reading some discs.Bottom line, save yourself a lot of grief. Go with another product.
- S. Brahm

After reading other reviews I had my reservations to buy the RTD260 system. But, price and the features it offers (every thing including HDMI)with 1000 Watts of power, I would give it a try. I'm not using it with an HDTV yet but will need it in the future if I purchase one. I purchased the unit through Amazon. I could track the unit from when my order was processed to when I received it. I purchased this to install it in my RV 5th wheel (36')Camper. The speakers were small enough to be mounted with speaker mounting brackets I purchased from ShopKo.It took about 4 hours to install and run the wires so they would be hidden. When I fired the system up the Radio (AM/FM)worked very well. The sound had the best quality in the Stereo mode. I think this was because the Radio station transmitted in Stereo. Put in the 1st movie and WOW!!! It was just like being at the theater. Sub-Woofer added so much to the movie. Didn't try the USB input or the (2) external audio inputs yet but bottom line I'm very pleased with this unit.
- William H. Pickett "WHIP1111"

I bought a "refurbished" unit for my mother-in-law. All she wanted was the CD music and Sirius radio - no DVD or anything else. Felt for this "basic functionality" I was OK with a used unit. Well guess again! Unit totally quit working after only 2 weeks. Does power on then just sits there with a blank screen. You cannot even power it off. Only way to power off is to unplug it. Wow! I am just starting to work though the Customer Service nightmare. Oh, and by the way, "Sirius Ready" means you have to buy an additional $50 receiver for it to work with Sirius.
- Thomas Lay

This system was purchased as a gift to replace my father's blown up year old RCA reciever. The first one I recieved did the same strange clicking sound that another reviewer had noted. Perhaps I got the one he sent back. The service on the return was first-rate and the functioning unit performs better than I thought it would. Good sound quality and volume. Swell entry level surround system. My family has had good luck with RCA products in the past. Hopefully the unit Pop has now serves for a long time.
- Jay Sallee "Jay Suh Lee"

The price looks good but after you need to send it back several times it becomes expensive. I had three units and they all had the same problem. CD's skipped between every song and DVD's either wouldn't play or would have a split screen. The customer service is a complete nightmare. The people there specialize in giving you the run-around. I finally got my money back after 7 months of fighting and $95 in shipping that I will not get back. Also, the customer service phone number in the instruction manual and on the RCA website is incorrect. DO NOT BUY THIS STEREO! Do yourself a favor and spend a little more for a better unit.
- laniegogo

I can't beleive people aren't jumping all over this. First of all, it has HDMI. That's right, it upconverts regular DVDs into high def. Second, it has a USB port in the front to just plug in a thumb drive and listen immediately. Try and find a receiver with those features for less than 300 bucks, and this one comes with the speakers, the woofer, and the whole nine yards. At 199 and some change for shipping, I am thinking of buying a second one for the family room downstairs. What do I know? I've been using this for three months with no problems. I could nit pick and say I wish random worked on the USB and I wish this and that, but again, 199 bucks people!!! You do need to tweak the sound. The woofer has settings. Crank ut up and the system literally sounds 10 times bigger than it really is. I really have found a great deal here....
- RB "Richie the Kid"

RCA RTD260 1000 Watts 5-Disc DVD/CD Home Theatre System with HDMI Sirius Ready

RCA RTD260 1000 Watts 5-Disc DVD/CD Home Theatre System with HDMI Sirius Ready