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.

I gave up on it, unplugged it, and let it sit for a couple of weeks.
Plugged it in again this morning, and it played everything I threw at
it--except for "I Spit On Your Grave", the last one I tried. When that
happens, it displays a message that essentially says "No Disc
Inserted". After that, it wouldn't play anything, even discs that it
had played only 5 minutes before.

Unplugged it again for a few minutes, and tried "Payback" again--played
like a champ. Then, put in "Independence Day", and it balked. Tried
"Payback" again--just a couple of minutes from previously playing
it--and got the "No Disc" message.

What do all of you think? Is this player destined for the junk heap?
Considering that new players can be had for $50 or so, frankly it's not
worth working on. But, I thought if there just might be something you
guys know of that I don't, I might be able to make it work.

Thanks in advance,

Lakeside

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

Sorry I can't help you with your problem,but I can say I have had
about 3 DVD's brought to me with those symptoms.
The spindle motor doesn't seem to reach full speed for whatever
reason.
The units seemed to play audio discs without any problems.
Would be great to read success stories on this fault.

Cheers Mo.

wrote:

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.

I gave up on it, unplugged it, and let it sit for a couple of weeks.
Plugged it in again this morning, and it played everything I threw at
it--except for "I Spit On Your Grave", the last one I tried. When that
happens, it displays a message that essentially says "No Disc
Inserted". After that, it wouldn't play anything, even discs that it
had played only 5 minutes before.

Unplugged it again for a few minutes, and tried "Payback" again--played
like a champ. Then, put in "Independence Day", and it balked. Tried
"Payback" again--just a couple of minutes from previously playing
it--and got the "No Disc" message.

What do all of you think? Is this player destined for the junk heap?
Considering that new players can be had for $50 or so, frankly it's not
worth working on. But, I thought if there just might be something you
guys know of that I don't, I might be able to make it work.

Thanks in advance,

Lakeside

Thanks, guys,

Yeah, it sounds thermal to me as well. And, I concur that repair would
certainly cost more than a replacement.

I think neighbor has had it too long to exchange.

Many thanks for your suggestions.

Lakeside