9. RCA HDV5000

Alas for poor RCA (and for users, too) the RCA HDV5000 appears to be nothing more than a reworked version of the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player. Reportedly repackaged for RCA/Thomson by Sanyo, the only difference between the HDV5000 and the HD-A1 is round buttons versus square ones, and a reversal of the silver and black front panel (so that's what's silver on the Toshiba model is black on the RCA, and vice-versa).

Figure 6: The RCA HDV5000 is currently the only standalone DVD player available that's not from Toshiba - or is it?

Everything we've already noted about the HD-A1 thus also applies to the RCA unit, which doesn't bode well for those who may ponder this particularly player. And for what it's worth, the Walmart targeted HD-D1 is in exactly the same boat, which is why we didn't review it further here in the Buyer's Guide (except for a couple of mentions elsewhere and here).