1 Good product
This is a great cd player for the price. Good sound, and good quality. To the people that complain about this and other cd players skipping, read the packaging better. Some cd players sold still have little or no non-skip ability. If it doesn't say it on the package it doesn't have it. In addition regular, heavy duty, and some of the cheaper akaline batteries won't last long. You have to get a good name brand battery or rechargeable batteries with a high mah(1300 or better). You can get 2 rechargeable batteries and the charger for under 20 dollars most places, including Target.
2 Doesn't work
Received the player, and can't get it to work. Shows picture in the screen that is not shown in the instruction book. Contacted RCA customer support - takes up to 3 days for a response!
3 RCA Personal CD/MP3 Player RP2410
I bought that about a year ago and it seemes like its pretty good. The only bad thing about it that i think it has short battery life.
4 Not a good buy!
This player works extremely well when plugged in and sitting on a stable surface. When you attempt to use it as an actual "walk"man it completely malfunctions. It skips continuously, freezes, won't turn off, and [drains] batteries dry in a matter of hours.
5 Quite pathetic, really...
I bought this in a shop, not on Amazon. I tried it in the shop, and was fooled. It seemed to work fine with the mp3 CD I tried it with, didn't skip even though I shook it. What a fool I was.
Two things are awful with this player: the skipping and the battery life. This thing takes FOUR AA BATTERIES!!! Does it last long for that price? NO! It sucks the life out of rechargeable AA batteries like nothing, with about 8 hours of playback max (that's on FOUR batteries, where most other players offer 12+ on 2!!!). Because of the four batteries it is pretty big: most of the player is of reasonable thickness but there's a big bulge at the back where you put the batteries.
The other deadly flaw is the skipping. Yeah, I tried it in the shop, but the 100 seconds anti-skip is really literal. Start walking with this thing, and (if your CD is clean and well burnt) you'll have 100 seconds of good playback. Then it will start skipping unless you stop walking. Holding it in your hands and trying to compensate the shocks/oscillations of walking is not enough, you actually have to STOP and let it fill its buffer again. And once you've done that, you've got another 100 seconds, then rinse and repeat. Not just that, but (generally especially on the songs where you just really pray for it not to skip cause you like them), it skips back and forth, sometimes giving up and going to the next song.
The only good sides of this player are that the display/seeking (once you've gotten use to the unintuitive interface, eg using the volume buttons, hidden on the side, to go up and down a listing...) actually works. This is better than the NAPA DAV310 I had before (which was by far even worse). And it doesn't skip much in the car, either, so long as your CDs are clean.
I would not recommend buying this to anyone.
Daniel
6 this cd player [is not good]
it skips it does all this things and it also takes a very long time to load. It also jumps to the next song just buy itself. This was the worst purchase I've ever made.
7 Worst purchase ever
I didn't buy this item from Amazon, but I thought it was important for me to add to the reviews listed here. I wish I had read them before I bought this CD player. The first thing I noticed about this item was the poor sound quality and the lack of continuous play between audio CD tracks (gaps between tracks are nuisance on live recordings). The mp3 playback is terrible; it skips and jumps even when stationary. Sometimes it jumps to the middle of a completely different mp3! The sound quality is unlistenable. It often cannot determine the bitrate correctly or read the ID3 tags. I give this item one star (reluctantly) for the large user-friendly display. This was my worst purchase ever. Don't buy this item.
8 I Will Never Sell One Again
While it appears to be well made, and the interface is wonderful, MP3 playback is horrible. It skips, it pops, it jumps-all without external jostling, despite the claims of high skip protection. At one point I observed it listing a different song than the one playing! After a period of 'warm-up' much of this difficulty disappeared, however, these problems, coupled with the unusual power requirements (4 AA batteries or an 8-volt power adapter-this is a difficulty because car power adapters do NOT come in 8-volt, rather they jump from 7.5 to 9, following the standard 1.5v battery progression), make this a horrid purchase. Of course, the age of this model may be a factor. I hope RCA makes a new one and learns from this mistake of a model.
9 Half and half...
My main problem with this player is that it's not consistent...
Half the time when I turn it on it is awesome and plays every song with great quality and no skipping.
But sometimes (on its bad days?) it completely messes up while trying to read the disc, skips a ton, or just stops altogether.
Note that I am using the SAME discs...and they are not scratched or anything. I have tried to figure out some pattern in its behavior, but to no avail (though it does seem to skip less when in a vertical position...go figure.)
Besides its quirky behavior, it is otherwise a good piece of equipment. Basically, if you can get it to turn on and read a disc, you'll probably be satisfied. Overall though, I would recommend spending a little more money to get a little more consistency...you get what you pay for, and this thing's at least twice as cheap as the competition.
10 So Disappointing
I wish I would've read the other reviews before buying the RCA RP-2410. I can only assume that "RP" stands somehow for "rip off".
When it suddenly quits playing in the middle of a song you have the memory of an 8-track tape player switching programs. Fortunately with the tape player, the song came back on. The MP3 player just loses its place and that's it!
Other than simply stopping, what other reviewers say is true: obnoxious noises, fast-forward through a track doesn't work (or when it does work, doesn't work good), there are weird skips (the display thinks it's 38 seconds into the track when actually you might be 15-minutes down the road...no rhyme or reason to it unless this is some unwelcome new feature called "Shuffle Within The Track.")
I took it on the road when we travelled recently, thinking I could treat my family to endless music that we like. What I actually treated them to was endless restarting of discs, taking batteries out and putting them back in to reset, etc.
It seems like there should be a law against stealing, which is what taking-your-money and giving-you-a-piece-of-garbage like this reminds me of.
11 Piece O' [junk]
Granted, there were a couple of things I liked about this MP3 CD player, I did like the headphones and the display and the menues. However, considering it ceased functioning less than TWO days after I purchased it, I would not recommend it to anyone! The evening that I bought the RCA RP2410 it worked just fine. The next day, however, it kept freezing in the middle of a song, and yes, like so many others, I had to keep removing the batteries every five minutes to reset it. Then, I dropped it. Yes, I know that that is not the best thing for a CD player, but it wasn't very far, or hard, and it happended while I was trying to reinsert the batteries! Well, after that, it just kept telling me that the lid was open and stopped functioning all together. I returned it the next day and payed to upgrade to a Rio SP100 which is a far superior MP3-CD player (although not without a few glitches). So, please do not waste your time or money on the RCA RP2410!
12 RCA RP2410 CD Player is a piece of crap
... It is a huge piece ... It won't even turn on without having to take out the batteries and putting them back in every single time. And when you do get it to work, and you open the latch to listen to a new CD, it won't work again. ...
13 my few words on this product
this is the worst cd player ever. do not buy, i repeat do not buy.
14 RCA RP2410 Personal CD Player With MP3 Playback
...My biggest two gripes are that it makes a high pitch noise continuously and occassionally snaps. This happened while I listened to many regular store bought audio cd's also. Most of the problem was solved by turning off the ESP, but that didn't help in MP3 playback, only in CD. Even with the ESP off the CD playback had crackling noise which I don't understand at all. Someone at RCA needs to be fired for this, bad quality, but cool grey design. I think I might return the insides and frame the shell. Piece of!
15 Skip & Squeek Player
This hunk-a-junk does alright with audio CDs aside from added pauses between tracks, But MP3 playback bites HARD! Skips forward and backward when the player is sitting perfectly still and makes annoying squeeks. The disk browser is excellent, but what is that worth when you can't enjoy the music. I'll be looking elsewhere for my portable MP3 playing needs...
16 Run away! Run away!
Lotsa problems here...
1. There is easily audible noise/hum in playback. This happened with a variety of CDs... when a friend came over he immediately remarked "god, what a noisy CD player". *I've read several reviews that have stated that this depends on the quality of the CD media. In my experience this happened with all CDs, whether a record company artist release or a home-burned CD-R.
2. There is a fairly loud operational noise (mechanical) that is onmipresent when the unit is operating. On louder pieces it's not noticable but with quiet music it is very irritating. You can hear the unit in the background going "rrrrrr...."
3. There is an odd crackling sound in the playback which is noticable on quiet pieces... sounds like an old record with pops(!?!) As above, with a variety of disks.
More gripes:
When inserting a CD one must hit PLAY to activate the player. Then you need to wait while the player reads the disk and then hit PLAY again. This extra step (and the wait it entails) quickly became annoying.
The bass boost sounds good but the surround mode is just silly and tinny. Buttons are non-responsive and must be pushed fairly hard.
The CD player inserts pauses between tracks where there is none on the disk! On Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" the songs fade into each other, but this player puts a moment of silence between the tracks which is VERY annoying.
CD player would often just stall in the middle of tracks. Required ejecting disk to reset.
Good anti-shock but would just skip at other times for no reason at times of no movement.
Very low sound output, expect to keep the volume cranked!
Requires 4 AA batteries instead of the standard 2.
Digital volume control instead of the standard dial.
Please note that I also have one of those "no-name" brand CD players that I picked up for $32... and it played all the same disks that gave the RCA fits while exhibiting none of the problems stated above. I didn't try the RCA's mp3 capabilities so I can't comment on them.
I don't think I'm a tremendously picky consumer with items like this, I just feel that this unit really falls below the mark in several important categories.
17 Excellent at this price
I have not had the trouble with skipping that some reviewers claim to have experienced. EXCEPT when I tried encoding below the 64Kbps level mentioned in the specs. It is a nice, metal and plastic unit and I have been happy with it except for one problem. The unit takes four (4) AA batteries and requires an 8volt DC adapter. It comes with an AC/DC adapter, but there is really no car kit that would be suitable because of the voltage requirements of this unit.
The 8 levels of folders are really nice. I use Windows XP and simply drag-n-drop whole folders and subfolders onto the CD-R, burn the CD, and have hours of MP3s available already arranged into playlists from the computer. I'm not a techie, so I love the ease of use and the large LCD display. The unit tells me what it is doing (even when it is only reading the folder structure of the CD), what it is playing, etc.
Not the best possible unit available, but for the street price it is quite good.
18 Don't waste your time and money!
I bought this brand new, factory sealed, and I couldn't even get it to play a regular CD bought in the store without skipping like crazy! Trying to play a CD-R was even worse. It would either skip or just lock up. Another piece of junk made in China. The volume settings are not gradual. It's either off or too loud. Since I couldn't even play a regular store bought CD without it skipping constantly, I didn't waste any more time by burning MP3's. I immediately returned this player and put the money towards the Rio SP250 which is completely awesome! You have to pay a lot more for it though. Since the Rio is also made in China, I bought the extended two-year warranty. I just wish I would have read the reviews before I purchased the RCA. Don't make the same mistake I did! Listen to the reviews. Don't waste your time and money on the RCA!
19 Pure Garbage
I bought this unit because of its cool display. And I have to give it that--it has a great display and great sound. It supports surround sound and DBBS. It can also recharge batteries. The problem is that everything else is pure garbage. You can't listen to quiet music--there is no volume setting between "mute" and "too loud." It take about 90 second to read a disc. The hiss while jogging is pretty bad, and there isn't even a belt clip!
After opening the box, it cut off at the end of the first song I played. As it started to play the next song, it froze. Yes froze, just like a Windows computer. I couldn't stop it or anything. I opened the cover, removed the CD, and it still kept spinning. I had to remove the batteries to reset it.
I've been listening to it play three songs as I wrote this review, and it cut off before the end of all of them. This is going back tomorrow. Heck, this one might be going back yet tonight.
20 Totally Unreliable
Skipps arbitrarily. All my tracks were recorded at 2x and at 128 Kbps as recomended. Sometimes it would play them and sometimes it would not. It seemed to work better when warm and with CD-R verses CD-RW. I listen to music to relax and this actually stressed me out. I took it back after a week and exchanged it for another thinking maybe the one I had was defective but this one I think is actually worse. I am taking it back today and getting my money back. My advice is spend the extra money and a get a better one.
21 Buyer Beware!
The RP2410 would not play MP3's without skipping and inserting some strange sounds. Tried CD's burned at 4X and 2X. The RCA has some nice features but I just needed it to work. I returned the unit to Radio Shack and purchased the Sony DCJ01. It plays the same CD's perfectly. Love the Sony!
22 Great Product
I love this player, and have compared it to many others on the market. It has a large display which can show the Artist name and song title. It supports 8 levels of folders, so you can organize your music by genre, album, artist, etc. I burn my cd's at 12x and have no problems with skipping or hissing, even while running (the anti shock works great!). I use this player when I'm traveling. I can store up to twelve hours of music on a cd in MP3 format, which is much better than packing a bunch of CD's. I also use it for audio books, which is great because you can put a very large audio program onto one cd. I'm confused by some of the problems people are having. I'm suspect to attribute them to many of the problems people have when working with computers in general, user error. As with any MP3 player, make sure the tracks sound good before you put them on a CD, and follow the directions. A low quality file like for instance a 32kbs, or 64kbs is not CD quality. You need at least 128kbs to achieve CD quality, and even then a good ear can tell the difference. It has nothing to do with a player, but rather the file itself. All in all I would buy this player again if I didn't already own it.
23 its really cool
i just got this as a christmas gift, and, regardless of what others have been saying, its a great player. its never skipped a beat, the sound quality is great, and its way more affordable than a RioVolt! it comes with an AC adapter, and its own music managment software. its great! the only bad part is the player is slightly heavy, and it takes four AA bateries.
24 It looks like I'm going RioVolt after all...
I've had this unit for over 2 months now. First problem was the first unit I brought home was defective, brand new in the package. After a swap out, I used this thing on and off until I finally got enough NiMH rechargeables to be able to swap. Now that I'm using it constantly, here's the rundown. This seems to be VERY temperature sensitive. After warming up, it seems to work reasonably well. Until then, it will skip through the first 4 or 5 songs randomly. Then, the volume control is digital, and there is DEFINITELY not enough volume for my use (in car thru cassette). The backlight problem seems trivial until you run into it. I don't believe this is a reasonable alternative to the RioVolt SP250 from what I've read lately, and the prices for all the units seemed to have dropped precipitously recently from when I purchased this. Don't compromise unless you are TRULY strapped for the difference.
25 DON'T buy it
I have the same problems as everyone else mentioned. The machine pops and squeals and cuts off tracks at the end. I was very disappointed, since I had almost purchased the Phillips unit. I've waited too long to return it, so it just goes in the scrap heap. I will be very cautious about buying any RCA products again.
26 Dont Buy This!
I've tried everything I know and still the same problems mentioned.It still skips several minutes ahead
for no reason when you least expect it. Wont play 32 kbps MP3s ..maybe 64 kbps sometimes. Old Time Radio or Audio Book fans look elsewhere.This aint the player for you. Makes awful sounds whenever it feels like it.Im returning mine tomorrow and trying a RioVolt. Dont even bother to waste your time on this player.
27 Too many glitches
The ideal MP3-CD player would have the performance of the Rio SP90/100/250 and the display of the RCA RP2415. I bought this because I was impressed with the screen and figured that the decoder can't be all that different from the Rio. However, all the CDs which played fine on my Rio SP100 and Memorex 8507 popped, skipped and squealed. Needless to say, I returned the unit. Now it is available with car kit included, but I wouldn't buy it until they fix all the problems. If other players are able to play the files, there must be something wrong with the player, not the files.
28 RCA - Not ready for MP3 playback prime time!!
I am on my second unit having returned the first - this one is no better. Problem is with MP-3 playback on burned CD-R's - using two different burners. Awful noises (screeches & squeals) at random intervals (will play file fine - then have problem on later play). This with 650MB CD-R's (different brands), all at 128 bitrate, all at 192 bitrate also. Unit locks up randomly to the point I have to remove & replace batteries to get it back.
This unit is junk for mp3's. Plays music cd's great.
29 A really great mp3 player
I purchased this CD Player with the expectation that I would most likely have to return it. As soon as I brought it home, I tried
a cd-rom which contained mp3 files, and it played the songs perfectly. No skipping, no hissing. I have since burned 4 cd-R's with mp3s at various bit rates, and it has played all of them
between 64kbps and 192kbps.
Here is why I would recommend this model:
-It displays both file names and ID3 tags
-It provides the shuffle/mix option
-It allows a lot of flexibility for setting up your data
in folders/subfolders. Beforehand, you can organize your music in multiple groupings by albums, artists, genres, or just put
all your files in one folder. Keep in mind that you need to set
it up on your before you burn the cd.
-It has DSP modes for DBBS and Surround Sound
-AC adapter is included - Battery Use requires 4 AA batteries
-Option available for NiCad Rechargable batteries (not included)
My one observation which might help make sense of some of the bad reviews is this: If you are having a lot of trouble with skipping
or hissing, or tracks not playing, it is not the fault of the unit. Many mp3s which are downloaded from the internet are not as reliable as the ones ripped from your own cd collection.
- I use fujifilm cd-r's 74 minute. I have burned cd's using cd creator on a Dell PC. I have also burned cd's using Iomega Predator & ibook500. I burn at either 2 speed or 4 speed.
One cd was burned on Kodak cd-r 80min at 8 speed. All worked.
- For MP3 creation, I use realaudio's realjukebox (PC) & itunes (mac).
- Either way, on Mac or PC, the cds play in the unit.
- I usually fit 200 to 230 mp3s on each cd-r.
- This model comes packaged with MusicMatch Jukebox
One caveat: Be sure that your mp3 files play normally on your
computer before burning them on a cd. This reduce most any problems that you may run into.
30 Works Great
This model has worked great. It takes 4 AA's but it also supports recharable batteries. The screen is larger than every other model I have looked at. The best part is the MP3 playback, I was able to fit 200 songs on one CD! And it supports sub folders. As far as some people saying it hisses and skips, I have not seen this. The audio quality is great as long as your MP3s are of the same quality. It doesn't support Direct CD however. I just burn all the mp3s on CDR using EZCD Creator.
31 Returned it
I used this unit for three days. Initially, I thought it was great because I could finally listen to tons of my mp3 files on a single CD. After using it for a short while, the player started to show it's ugly side:
Loud hissing, especially bad when in Surround mode. Randomly skipping from the beginning of a song to near the end, this while sitting perfectly still on my desk. Four batteries???!!! And it played for only approximately 4 hours on a fresh set of Eveready alkalines. This thing eats batteries. An unususal amount of force has to be used to get the buttons to operate.
After retuning the RCA player, I purchased a Rio Volt. The Rio player is superior in nearly every way:
It runs on two alkaline batteries and plays longer. Doesn't hiss. Starts up faster, moves between traks faster. Supports WMA files. Has a better LCD. Sounds better. It's smaller and lighter. Has an in-line remote control. Better software bundle. Upgradeable firmware. And the Rio is only slightly more expensive. I'm using the same CDs with my Rio that wouldn't play correctly on the RCA, all of which were recorded at 8x on quality media.
As far as I'm concerned, the RCA player has too many thorns to be considered as a serious contender in this market. I really didn't realize how inferior the RCA player was until I compared it to the Rio. Do yourself a favor and buy the Rio Volt, you won't be sorry.
32 Plays MP3s Well, Has trouble with CDA
I purchased one of these a few weeks ago. It plays MP3s very well and is pretty easy to use. The problem that I have with mine is that it seems to chop off the last second of regular CDA CDs. I took it back to the store to exchange for a new one and found that both the store's demo unit and the replacement one did the same thing.
33 Not the best
Doesn't support disk at once! Skips like crazy on most CDR especially with mp3 data! Slight hiss in audio! display needs backlight! I tried all sorts of media to test this device on, sometimes it played ok, (by ok I mean not skipping constantly) and other times it sounded like I was holding down the >> and << at the same time. The player was very slow at starting up especially on mp3 CDR. The hiss in the audio was mainly annoying in between tracks---(a longer wait than normal)---but not as much as some i've tried. The display isn't backlit so you have to hold it just right to see what song is selected. On the good side, the anti skip feature worked well... You can shake the heck out of it and no skips especially with mp3 media, aside from the normal non-shock induced skipping that occurs on most cds that play just fine in a PC CDROM.
34 Not awesome, but works reasonably...
I've had a few problems with this MP3 CD player, like skipping and not reading some CD's. Mostly, the problems occur with audio CD-R's and to a greater extent with CD-RW's. However, with mp3 CD's it seems to work well, as long as you're using a quality media recorded at low speed (2x or less). I would recommend that burned MP3/audio CD's for use on this unit are made with CD-R's instead of CD-RW's, or with a reliable quality RW. With regular audio CD's it works just fine as any portable CD player. Despite of the problems with audio CD-R/RW's, I'm keeping this product because I intend to use it mostly with mp3 CD's, and it is working fine with them. Also, it has the great advantage of a large display where the folders and track names are easily viewable. Overall, I'm satisfied with this product as it supplies my demands for a portable mp3 solution, but certainly there are some aspects to be improved on it, hopefully as this is a new technology we'll be able to see better stuff coming up in the next years.
35 A hint
We'll it's not perfect, but I have found that when the unit can't track (or skips) MP3 correctly, if I remove the batteries for about 30-60 seconds, and try again, I ususally can get all the tracks on the CD to play well. Some sort of hard reboot.
Sometimes I have to so the same on the next CD. Go figure !
At least there's a work around.
36 Works Great for me!
I've tried it with CD-R's that I have made and it plays them fine! I like the unit and I'm a fussy person! I don't know why other people are having trouble. It could be the blanks that they are using (some CD players are fussy about what kind of blanks are used). But the biggest possibility could be that people are recording their CD-R's at a very high speed. I've noticed that some CD players will not play CD-R's if they are recorded above 2 Speed. So my suggestion to everyone making either MP3 or CD-R's is to make them at 2 speed or even 1 Speed so that they will work on just about all CD or CD/MP3 players.
37 Same problem with RCA RP2410
I bought an RCA RP2410 this week and proceeded to try it and found that it only plays pre-manufactured CDs well. Anything I've made either won't play at all, or will play a song, but then refuse to start the next track. I decided to look for reviews of this player online, and found just one here, which, by the way, says the same thing I've encountered. Haven't tried one of my own MP3 discs on it, but will make one and try, but even if it does work, I'm likely to return it, because the product still only delivers half of what it promises, that is it plays MP3s but will not play CD-Rs. Oh well, it's a great concept, and I do hope RCA will iron the bugs out of this.
38 Doesn't Work
After burning a disc full of mp3s I had no luck trying to play music on the RCA RP2410. Several more attempts with different CD R Discs and still no luck. It did play regular CD's just fine. I don't think they've worked the kinks out of this product yes. My opinion is to look elsewhere for a portable MP3 solution.
