RCA RP8078 5-Disc CD changer

1 Okay mp3 player, horrible CD Player
It does in fact play mp3 pretty well, and is pretty neat.

However, it is a horrible cd player. Why? Well, my main beef with it is that if you play a cd, there is a slight pause between tracks. Many cds have songs which flow from one track into the next track, and in fact, most of my cds are like that, being a fan of dance music (and a DJ). But that doesn't happen with this cd player, as you get a half-second pause between tracks.

If you're listening to a mix cd, this is quite jarring. As all my cds (just about) are either mix cds, or stuff like Pink Floyd or the Moody Blues (which have tracks together), this player is completely worthless.

It also doesn't let you fast forward or back, because again, it plays track by track, not the whole disc.

It's also pretty loud when it changes discs, which is generally not a good sign of a long life...

2 RCA MP3 CD Player is OK!
This Player works ok for me! I just want people to know that CDR-W disc's will play. I tried it today. It's how you burn the CD. It is best to use Roxio CD Creator 5. Remember when you burn don't close the disc, only the session. It should work!

3 Design flaws overshadow promising CD changer
I had this machine for about 10 days. Although it plays MP3, its CD changer functions are significantly flawed. This is what I found:

Up Side:
1. It plays MP3, although on some occasions the music blanks out for a few seconds on my mp3 CDs (not too often, so it's tolerable).
2. The programmable playlist function is pretty cool. It allows you to select the songs you want to listen to or skip those that you don't like.

Down Side:
1. Biggest problem that made me return this unit: "shuffle play all discs" function does NOT work properly on my unit. It seems that the machine stops when it randomizes to any one of the last tracks of those discs in changer. You can try to put in some discs and keep skip to the next track, you will find that it stops without playing all tracks.

2. "Shuffle play all discs" means "all discs." You cannot put in 5 discs but select some of them for random play.

3. "Time left" display does not work when using shuffle play.

4. Poor human-factor design:
(a). The open-tray button is at the far right, and skip-disc button is near far left. Use your common sense and put them near each other, RCA engineers!
(b). Tray is placed above the display. When tray is open for loading discs, you cannot see the display.

5. Somewhat flimsy construction.

The Bottomline:
If you just want a low-priced changer that plays mp3 but don't care much for shuffle-playing your CDs, go get it. If you want a solid and well-functioning CD changer, go buy something else.

4 Broke after 45 days of light use
I bought mine at the local Best Buy. Wish I had bought from Amazon instead-read on to find out why.

It played great at first. Then I started to hear an occasional squelching sound, like a giant water ballon bursting. At first it was once every few days, then every song, then constantly. Then it quit reading disks period, both storebought CDs and MP3s. All were scrupulously clean and played fine on my old cd player.

Because it was over 30 days, Best Buy would not refund my money. Swapped unit number two is hooked up to the stereo now.

I hope this one keeps working.

--Vance In Denver

5 MP3 FAILURE!
I'm seriously into MP3 compatible equipment. I have a rock-solid Sony MP3 CD player in the car. I also have a Toshiba MP3 compatible DVD player.

The first thing I noticed about this particular unit was the big 15 character display on the front which clearly shows information about the song file. The track info scrolls across the display showing the name of the disc (if any) and the COMPLETE name of the song file. What's more, there is a button on the unit and the remote which will scroll the entire track name across the display on command. If you want to see what other songs you have on a disc, you can skip through the tracks and display the name of each song on the disc without playing each one.

Unfortunately, the unit does not read CD-RWs consistantly which makes it useless for many MP3 discs. I have already encountered a number of previously recorded MP3 CD-RWs which the RCA simply WIL NOT READ! My Toshiba MP3 compatible DVD player and Sony car unit read the same discs with no problem.

This is totally unacceptable! The old saying is, "You get what you pay for". That is certainly the case here. I ...will wait for a high-quality from a solid brand such as Sony, Kenwood, Technics, or JVC.

Do not be tempted by ... this unit!

6 Bargain
Considering the low price, the cheap plastic construction can be forgiven. That said, when the unit is sitting across the room it looks very handsome. The mp3 function is flawless, my only complaint is the display. I would be willing to pay 20 bucks more for a more usable display. It only displays the first few characters in song titles, which makes selecting tracks very difficult on a cd with 200+ songs. I have found that by creating folders on the disc, it is significantly easier to navigate. Sound quality is suprising. There isn't a good reason for spending more.

7 One of the best
I think this system is awesome! i got it for x-mas and so far so good those people who can get it to read cds are just dumb and can't figure anything out! seriously though if you buy this you can make playlists and everythign out of mp3 cds just as long as they are finalized and everything is awesome from there on! wow! i love it! its almost mesmorizing to play with! totally worth buying!

8 Good product
I ordered my unit directly from RCA's website and it took very long to arrive. It finally did arrive after 10 days. I took it out of the box and thought it appeared cheap in construction.

I hooked it up to my Sony AV receiver using the analog audio connectors and played a disk full of mp3's. It worked great and the sound quality was very good in my oppinion.

The disc directory navigation is usable and the playlist editing is nice.

Be sure to have 2 AAA batteries on hand for the remote, since it does not come with them.

9 I just got my RCA CD/MP3 Player tonight
I was reluctant to buy this cd player (RCA not my favorite), but my girlfriend convinced me to get it. At home I tried an old cd with a large number of mp3s and the device did not recognized them. I then realized that particular cd was not finalized so I tried with a cd that was finalized and it worked great. For a 100 dollars it's worth every penny.

10 Amazing!
I have had my RCA MP3 player for one month, and I am constantly pleased and impressed with its performance! I have recorded my extensive CD music collection onto a handful of MP3 CDs and they play flawlessly and the sound degrade is not at all apparent to me. I recorded all of the MP3 files at 128 Kbps, and I do not experience a sound degrade at all. The truly terrific aspect is that I am able to load approximately 50 hours of music at a time and let 'er go. I highly recommend this CD player!

11 Five disks, no music!
I was very intrigued to see that RCA was offering a CD changer that played MP3. While RCA received mediocre reviews online, and I couldn't find any reviews of this player in specific, I took a gamble and ordered one. It arrived (single boxed), I unpacked it, and immediately noticed its light (cheap?) plastic construction. Plugged it in, popped in some disks, and ... nothing! It recognized the disks, but would not play them. Amazon graciously agreed to send me another unit second day, and paid for the the original's return. The second unit arrived, this time it would not even accept disks. I was wary of RCA's reputation when I ordered this unit. This experience has buried it for good. A definite do not buy.