Got a neighbor who has an RCA DRC212 DVD Player that he complained would
not play discs. I found it would play older discs, such as "Air
America", but would not play newer discs such as "Payback". Also, it
won't play the DVD+R discs made by my Philips DVDR985.

Figures.

It's an RCA DVD player. This may sound biased, but my experience has taught me
something about RCA/Thomson products.

To the electronics store I frequent, RCA essentially means "Return Coming
At'cha." Their DVD players are, perhaps, some of the worst pieces of garbage
whose only benefit is that they are arguably better in quality than Apex.

From the symptoms, it sounds like something, most likely the optical pickup, is
being overheated or has become thermal sensitive. If the pickup has become
thermal sensitive, the only way to repair it is to replace it, which will cost
more in parts and labor than what the player is worth.

The DRC-212N is a newer model so I would suggest trying to get the player
exchanged at the place of purchase for a different player, preferrably from a
Japanese brand. Sony, JVC, Pioneer, and Panasonic are the ones I would
recommend. I don't think I can recommend Toshiba players anymore now. -
Reinhart