Has anyone ever ordered anything from Real Video CD (www.realvcd.com)? If so, what is there service like? Are they a reliable source to order VCD's from? What are the quality of the disks you have purchased from them? I would greatly appreciate any information you have these guys, and thanks in advance.

-- Squire Lee (squirelee@mail.com), January 01, 2000

Answers

I never purchased from this site nor will I ever but I did some investigating. The site is definitely a fake.

1) Star Wars (esp. the Phantom Menace) and Saving Private Ryan were never released on VCD yet and eventually won't be. In addition, 007 The World is Not Enough is still running in theaters. Other reputable retailers such as videocds.com don't seem to have it.

2) They claim to be selling VCDs but look even carefully at the some of the cover pictures and you'll see most of the "VCDs" have the DVD logo.

3) Some of the FAQ info is copied/ripped-off from another pirate Video-CDs.com (note that one with a hyphen). I don't know if this means anything, but it's what I noticed.

4) Testimonials can always be faked.

5) Notice they state they don't have original packaging. Hmm...

So there you have it. "Realvcd.com" looks suspicious as counterfeits. Their domain is truly contradictory. Of course, I could be wrong but it's my observations. Buying VCDs is always a risk. Unless you REALLY want bootlegs, I'd be careful with my money.

Oh, I did a Whois lookup and this was the result:

Registrant: Setia Unik (REALVCD-DOM) 190, Jalan Desa Ampang Satu, Taman Sri Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur 68000 MY

Domain Name: REALVCD.COM

-- Ron Grant (r.grant@mailcity.com), January 01, 2000.

Realvcd.com is 100% pirated.

-- AP (Antipiracy@hotmail.com), January 02, 2000.

Yes they are reliable. 100% pirated and I LOVE IT!!!!

-- Someone (rpl@usa.net), January 05, 2000.

I was a master criminal until you pesky kids found me out! I'll get you, i'll get you all, just you wait, including you Richard Newton.

-- Setia Unik (realvcd.@hotmail.com), February 16, 2001.