DVD Defect

Hi I bought a Panasonic DVD player 2 years ago. It seems to work fine for new DVD's but any rented at the video store always froze and I had to return them (played it on a friend's machine and it worked fine!!). A clerk showed me how to clean the DVDs but that does not always work. However, when I purchased a new LOTR DVD if froze as well!! I returned it and the new DVD worked OK - I say that as it sort of skipped a bit. I recently tried to play a pirated disc and it would not play it saying INVALID TITLE and then would stop. I have heard that some players are more "sensitive" than others and that cheaper ones work better. I have tried cleaning the DVD player as well to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions.

Oenogal

Simple cleaning sometimes improves our lasers at work. Otherwise, I would get something CHEAP, after all, HDDVDs are coming soon (to a home theater near you).

The cheap Sony I had at school worked fine for three years of daily use, two hours or so a day of film classes, and to my knowledge is continuing to work fine.

Different players are more sensitive to dust and lint. A lot of times the problem is dust or film on the laser lens. This will cause the beam to lose focus. If the machine is getting older (and two years is NOT old), it might simply need a cleaning. Incidentally, I have a Philips CD player that is almost fifteen years old that works perfectly. And my main Sony 7700 DVD player at home works perfectly after some five years of constant use.

On the other hand, with DVD players so cheap these days (Fry's and Costco and even WalMart has them for $39 and $49), there's little reason not to just replace it unless it's an expensive, top-of-the-line model.

John

Justin,

Panasonic/JVC was great for VHS tapes, but DVDs? :p

Eddie

Hey, back off, I've got a Panasonic and it works marvels. I've had it for three years and it works like a dream. However, their recent models haven't been so great, I had a newer one that stuttered all over the place. You might have a problem with the laser's alignment, which would explain how it deals with the new discs. Bottom line is, time for an upgrade!

Well, if your DVD player has always been sensitive, then there's really not much that you can do beyond replacing it.

Panasonic hasn't been known as a good brand for years now. Try Sony, Philips, Toshiba, and Pioneer.

the pirated disc could have been a VCD. I have tried VCD's before and my player wouldnt play them.

Hi

Thanks for the advice about the piracted discs. We tried it mostly to see if our player is as sensitive as we think it is. It worked in the friend's player but no go in ours. So what you are telling me is that the DVD player is only good for a couple of years!! It was always sensitive. I notice other folks write about these problems too. What do you recommend as a good hardy DVD player so I don't have to replace it every 2 years?? It seems a bit of a rip off. Oh well, they don't make them like they use to.

Oenogal

Well, your DVD player IS two years old. The way technology advances these days, older players simply aren't up to the task.

Plus, you shouldn't be using pirated discs anyway.

"wow thanks I'll try that! Wow, I almost made a really silly mistake again! I'm so glad that all you here can point me in the right direction! Gosh golly, gee willikers!" --Onijay

Onijay, have you ever considered posting in the Rotten Tomatoes forums? I understand they have a very nice group of movie lovers over there, and I'm sure you would enjoy their company.

John

Eddie,

Why you gotta hate the Panasonic? Is it because I didn't drink the beer that looked like it came straight from a commercial for those toilet tablets?

wow thanks I'll try that! Wow, I almost made a really silly mistake again! I'm so glad that all you here can point me in the right direction! Gosh golly, gee willikers!

Depends on the coarseness of the sandpaper used. A number 9 "fine" works best. Otherwise, I recommend isopropyl alcohol and a Q-Tip for the laser lens.

John

My DVD doesn't work after I cleaned it, why? I mean all I did was soak it in soapy water for three hours, then split it open and brushed the insides with sandpaper and then glued the two halves back together before sautering the whole thing shut with metal to keep it dust proof for centuries, why won't it work? Any ideas?

John:
a bit harsh, but thumbs up for being dirrect.

Eddie:
I have Panasonic and it has always played well. I play DVD or VCD or anything that is round and shiny.

Onijay:
what´s with your profile picture? It looks like a dead guy is having surgery.

Sasha

that happens to be the original poster of AVP, back when it was coming out in July. And 'rotten tomatoes' are... well... I dont ask you to go to hell now do I? Harsh Mr P., Harsh, I thought you were accepting!!!!!! ACCEPTING!!! But if I'm just wasting my time (not to mention everyone else's) I will leave, if thats what you all want. Just say the world, cause I feel a lot of hostility towards me all the time and we don't even meet face to face... for shame.

Onijay,

You'll forgive my little tease. Certainly, you are welcome here. But you do tend to get under people's skin. For instance, when I seriously suggested alcohol and a Q-Tip for cleaning the laser lens, you treated the idea as if it were stupidly simplistic, that it was something anybody would know, implying that I was an idiot for even mentioning it. I was trying only to be helpful. I didn't think it deserved that kind of reply.

About the Rotten Tomatoes thing: We have been joking here at our own message board that the posters at RT are very often rude and immature. My tease was a reminder that we should all be civil to one another. Just because we can't physically see one another face-to-face at the message board is no call to demean one another behind the cover of anonymity.

John

Oh no no, sorry, i thought we were still joking! I can see how:"wow thanks I'll try that! Wow, I almost made a really silly mistake again! I'm so glad that all you here can point me in the right direction! Gosh golly, gee willikers!" could seem very rude and stupid coming from the way you put it, but I meant it as a comment on the 'right' selection of sand paper, not about the q-tips, to which I didn't pay much attention to when writing the above statement. But I meant it as like those infomercials where the guy tells them what they did wrong and then they go and and blah blah blah. Cuase see you started with a joke, so I responded to the joke with a joke. Please know that I would never intentionally insult anyone like that. Also, that is the problem with my humour, it relies heavily on the delivery of it, and when writing, you can only hope that you made a large enough emphasis that it is a joke, and that I am not that stupid, or mean, or angry or whatever and hopefully people get that. i can see its getting lost in translation, but I guess if you met me you would get it, it truly does sound funny in person, I swear. Once again, I never mean anything I say as an insulting remark, becuase I would hate it if someone did that to me, so I try not to do it with other people. But that doesn't mean I wont be myself, and not joke about things just becuase someone might misunderstand them (thats what follow-up posts are for), and before I get anymore sentimental, I'll just say again that I did not mean it as an insult. Mixed signals.

See, that's the nice thing about fighting: The making up. Carry on, Mr. Onijay.

John