DVD Player build quality?

[woodruff13]

I have a 2016 2401W, bought last year used (poor folks thought it would be a good idea to go RVing w/ two disconnected teenagers...). We've enjoyed it immensely. Found lots of national forest campgrounds (loved hole in the wall).

But the DVD never worked. Sometimes you just want to chill. The Jensen unit is discontinued, found the Pyle PLRVST400, looked like an equivalent unit. Today, went to do the swap, and read the sticker on the back of the old Jensen unit.

Removed the screw (duh), everything worked fine.

So no problem w/ the Jensen unit. But it is a head scratcher on why they installed the DVD w/o removing the screw, and how no one caught it.

Alls well that ends well?

[Lee Pedrick]

The camper industry is in no way Mayberry. God !!! I wish it was!

[kenandterry]

Woodruff.....

The screw is left in to prevent unnecessary bouncing of the head unit.
These units are built and bought in bulk so they don’t want them bouncing until the RV unit is bought.

Too bad you didn’t find it sooner?

[woodruff13]

Kenandterry,

I understand the logic of only removing the screw after delivery, but not in this context.. The unit was screwed into the wall, and the signage was only visible after the unit was removed.

This is on Forest River's build quality and QA department, along with the dealer that sold the unit.

I've read that 'punch lists' are not uncommon. Just wanted to share my experience in case someone else had a similar problem.

[jimmoore13]

Then there's the small matter of DVD. DVD??? Really?
Blu-Ray has been out for how long? Oh, yes, 17 years!!
DVD is NTSC technology...with 37% the resolution of 720P "hi-def". Meanwhile, many of us are running 4K at home. Furthermore, DVD images fit the old CRT screens and must be letterboxed to fit a newer flat screen TV.
LAME!

DVD is utterly pathetic, and yet it's still being foisted on us as THE thing for RVs. It's more like someone has a massive inventory of DVD gear they are trying to sell any way possible.

I'll confess that the last thing I want to do when camping is watch TV. But the insult of expecting us to pay for such obsolete technology is ridiculous. If one had a library of discs for the grandkids, would they really be DVDs?? Who on Earth has a Blu-Ray at home and still buys DVDs?
And if you have Blu-Ray discs, can you play them on a Jensen DVD? Uh, apparently NOT!

Here's an equivalent quality automotive Blu-Ray player for $180.

So...yup, leaving the transport screw in the installed DVD player is negligent and stupid. But installing DVD to begin with borders on criminal.

OK, I'm done. Glad you got it working. It's a bit like resurrecting an old tube TV.

[camaraderie]

Well said Jim Moore... but at least they kept the composite jacks so I can still play my VCR Tapes! [/sarc]

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Well said Jim Moore... but at least they kept the composite jacks so I can still play my VCR Tapes! [/sarc]

Let's not forget the 8 Tracks.

As an aside, I wonder if any VHS tapes are still playable. They were prone to "print-through"...where the magnetic field on one layer of tape scrambles the signal on the next layer....they eventually erase themselves.

[camaraderie]

Originally Posted by jimmoore13

Let's not forget the 8 Tracks.

As an aside, I wonder if any VHS tapes are still playable. They were prone to "print-through"...where the magnetic field on one layer of tape scrambles the signal on the next layer....they eventually erase themselves.

Oh yeah...mine are still playable but I plan on copying them over to dvd just as soon as I finish copying the 8 tracks to Cassette!

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Oh yeah...mine are still playable but I plan on copying them over to dvd just as soon as I finish copying the 8 tracks to Cassette!

You win!