DVD's... make me mad.

[seedspreader]

Do you remember when DVD's (cd's originally) came out they were said to be "virtually indestructable" and "far superior" in life and performance to VHS?


They have a clearer picture... I'll give them that, but I have probably 20 dvd's or game cube games that just do that "digitial jitter" in certain parts of the movie.

It ticks me off. We try to take care of the movies, etc., but we do have little kids, and any slight scuff and the stupid thing doesn't play worth a hoot.


I bought one of those "repair and cleaning" power buffers. Didn't work on ONE SINGLE disc. And these disc's don't have big gouges in them or anything....


ok, done ranting... Give me an 8 track back.

[PineRidge]

I feel your pain. We have a very nice collection of movies that are scratched. Thanks kids!

[silentcrow]

I found that out ages ago. My music cd's get the slightest scuff and they won't play right. DVD's either skip, freeze or refuse to play at all. You're right about the repair kits...don't work at all! LP's, cassettes and VHS held up better than these things! I'm still using/watching VHS tapes that were recorded in the late 70's!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RockyGlen]

our local video rental store repairs discs, $3 each or 3 for $5. They can fix anything unless the scratch is so deep that when you hold the disc up to the light you can see through it. I have spent so much money there, and never rented a single movie, LOL.

[patnewmex]

It is a myth that DVD's, and CD's are "indestructible". It is a widely misunderstood communication regarding the new technology. Let me see if I can explain below.

The point manufacturers were trying to make when they came out was there is no RECORD NEEDLE to scratch the item, as there is with Records and diamond needles. The "indestrucible" non-scratching part is there is a laser beam of light (not a had substance) that reads the tracks, as opposed to the older vinyl/needle technology. So, you could play the CD or DVD as many times as you want and the beam of light won't hurt the item.

Any time you scratch a CD or DVD of any type, you are literally erasing (taking off) the recorded part that is printed/part of the disc. I believe those are generally part of the instructions in handling and care. Grasp by the edges and never ever touch any other part of the disc.

Why are the kids allowed to touch them is my question?


Pat

[Labrat407]

The legality of this is debatable, but I keep the original safe and make a backup of the movie. many different applications will assist you with that.
Sometimes you can use regular (not gel) toothpaste to fix it. Use google to find the exact method. This has worked for me on some. You might try it in another machine.

It burns me, when you look at the quality of a disc made years ago and todays it is a lot more cheaply made.

[Oggie]

They're difficult to get centered on our old turntable.

And it doesn't matter if the shiny side is up or down; we just get a sort of "skitch skitch" noise when we play them.

[radiofish]

It is even worse, when you rent a couple of movies on DVD, drive home and then find out that they do not play at all (Error on DVD display and "incompatiable disc" on the TV screen). I have a newer DVD player, and the local movie rental place has lost my business after about the 4th time of this. They want me to make a 20 mile round trip to swap movies?? Then when I do, the swapped movies won't play. They will give me a store credit, for more unwatchable movies?? I find that this is very prevelant with the newer releases. I have DVD-R's, and store bought DVD's which play just fine in my DVD player.

Luckily, I have hundreds of VHS tapes (6 hours each at least) from when I lived down the hill and full cable. So that is what I tend to watch, besides the two TV channels that I receive up here (no cable is available/ and I don't want satellite TV). I am in the shadow of the hill from the transmitter sites, so TV reception is pretty bad. I bought off of Ebay a vehicle type - 12V DC VHS player/ and 5" LCD monitor combination, designed before the DVD's became so popular in vehicles. Hey it does the job for me, when I loose power up here in the winter. I can still watch the movie "Bad Santa" anytime I want to!!!!!!

[Peacock]

I've seen these clear plastic protective covers for them - you keep them on at all times, and the player is supposed to read through them - anyone tried those? I wonder if they work.

[Dec429]

Zeal,

I feel your pain! Give me back my albums! Black and Shiny Vinyl.
No matter how deep the scratch on an album, if it skipped once, put a little tooth paste in the groove, and a couple minutes later you were playing Frampton Comes Alive on the turn table! Again!

I run a sound system, and have tried those Disc Cleaners, might as well put 409 on a Brillo pad. It will have the same effect on a disc.

If you download music or movies, do yourself a favor, and go for the higher priced blank discs. Costs more as a start up cost, but saves you money in maintenance and upgrade in the long run.

[seedspreader]

Originally Posted by patnewmex

Why are the kids allowed to touch them is my question?


Pat

What difference does it make to you is my question?




But in the spirit of the Christmas season, I will answer you.


Around my house (and obviously WIHH and CF's and Pineridge's) we don't EAT children. I realize your mileage may vary. :baby04:

P.S. - google "rant" next time you google dvd...

[Oggie]

Originally Posted by patnewmex

Why are the kids allowed to touch them is my question?

Our kids hot glue them to headbands to make those reflector thingies to use when they play "doctor."

[A'sta at Hofstead]

I saw on GMA a couple of weeks ago that there is a plastic coating on top of the information contained and that if the coating gets damaged, it is NOT the information that is damaged, but it makes it harder for the machine to read..... the cure?
Plegde, yes furniture polish will fill in the divots and make them playable again, I haven't tried it but I will next time I get a DOH! DVD.

[Laura]

We have Netflix and a good half of the DVDs we receive are unplayable. They are incredibly scuffed, scratched, cracked....... What is so freakin' difficult about putting them back in their sleeve when you take them out of the player!?!?!? I am convinced most people throw them on a dirty floor and walk on them.

All the disks we own go from package into the player then back into their protective packaging. We have kids and this family has never damaged a disk!

[WindowOrMirror]

clean 'em with a banana (yeah, the fruit).

[Pizza Guy]

I used to have problems with a good portion of the movies from Netflix but I discovered it was the DVD player. The old player was replaced and the new one would play DVD's the old one wouldn't.

Remember when CD's first came out and they were made with metal instead of plastic? Those were more durable. But, of course, the profit margin was probably less with the metal ones.

[highlands]

(rant)

We have no problem keeping our own CD's and DVD's from getting scratched. Even our 4 year old knows how to properly handle them and not set them down except in the player or in the case.

BUT, the DVDs that come from the local general store, NetFlix and BlockBuster are badly scratched 90% of the time. 20% of the time they are unusable even with our very good polishing machine which we got because of this problem with rental disks. It is amazing that people are so irresponsible and thoughtless about taking care of the disks. BlockBuster and NetFlix don't seem to care or check the disks for damage before sending them out. For this reason I don't like renting disks - we have gotten a free gift subscription which is why we have BlockBuster right now.

Part of this problem is created by the advertising by the CD/DVD companies. I have seen ads in magazines where they show a person listening to music with CDs scattered all over the floor around them. That gives people the mistaken impression that disks are tough. They aren't. Disks must be handled very carefully, not unnecessarily touched and protected from damage. If you take care of the disks properly they will last a lifetime, far longer than cassettes or 8-track which flake the media from going through the rollers. Optical disks are a better technology than magnetic media but take care of them.

(/rant)

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

[patnewmex]

Why are children allowed to handle DVD's and CD's in households where it is clear they have been damaged before and you don't like it? It's a simple question. I don't *personally* give a hoot about your answer for your kids. It's a question asked to make you think. I'm sorry I didn't make that more clear. I am not a nosy person.

[Cheribelle]

ZealYouthGuy......
Right on!

[Quint]

Originally Posted by Laura

We have Netflix and a good half of the DVDs we receive are unplayable. They are incredibly scuffed, scratched, cracked....... What is so freakin' difficult about putting them back in their sleeve when you take them out of the player!?!?!? I am convinced most people throw them on a dirty floor and walk on them.

All the disks we own go from package into the player then back into their protective packaging. We have kids and this family has never damaged a disk!

Have you seen the way most people handle discs? It's like they're trying to wreck them. They do everything but handing by the center and edges. They put them face down and slide them around. Toss them on top of the TV or DVD player or the worst is let kids play with them. If their kid isn't able to learn to handle the DVD/CD correctly then it shouldn't be allowed to touch them.

You would be hard pressed to find a scratch on any of my DVDs or CDs. Yes kids do handle them but they don't mistreat them.