Both DVD Players Stopped Working

Hi, I have a problem I was hoping someone here might have some insight into.

Basically, both my DVD players stopped working - they are unable to read discs ("Cannot Read," "Bad Disc"). I find it really peculiar that this happened to both at the same time. I tried 4 different discs in the first player, which I had last used approximately 3 weeks ago. None worked. I then tried the discs in my other player, which I last used about a week ago, and they didn't work either -- not even the movie I had watched with no problem last week. All the DVD's DO work on my computer, so I know it is not a problem with the discs.

Both players are 5 or so years old and on the lower end of the price spectrum - a Sony DVP-NS315 and a Toshiba SD-3990.

Has anyone heard of this happening before? What could the culprit be? It just seems like too much of a coincidence for both to conk out at once.

Quote:
Both players are 5 or so years old

ahh yes. it is the 5 year "self destruct" chip at play again! don't ya know that these company's can't make any money if their products last more than 5 years? yeah, they put these "chips" in cars too. when your warranty is up..KAPOW..something goes wrong. it is what it is friend..time to feed the economy!

moisture?
bad ac outlet?
ghosts?
children?
dust?
poltergiest?
wife wanting to spend more time w/you?
bad porn?

Plus, now you can upgrade (at at great price) to the latest, improved Upconversation model (just released by Toshiba) > INFO HERE. Enjoy!

There's a sales-link in the above article to Amazon.com - FREE shipping & no sales tax (unless you live in New York).

-JOE- (Love Hendrix!)

I do like the Poltergeist theory.

If it is time to feed the economy, I don't know if I'll be able to avoid the lure of the Blu-Ray. If only they could drop that freaking price.

Panasonic has 2 new Blu-ray players coming in October. Perhaps one will be a lower-priced model. I'm sure by January's CES show, there will be many announcements of low-priced BD players coming in 2009, and growth in the format should really start to take off at a greater pace than ever before.

-JOE- (Love Hendrix!)

I strongly recommend the Funai Blu-ray clones (Magnavox at Wal-Mart, Sylvania at Amazon.com, Insignia at Best Buy). They are Profile 1.1, so you can view all the disc-based contents. They play just about anything thrown at them, unlike the Samsung crapolas. Plus, they're available for anywhere between $250 to $300 new. The Sony selling for $250 to $300 new is Profile 1.0, which means that the player can't access a lot of the special features on newer discs.

Unfortunately, Cnet has a new review about the Funai-branded player, indicating the unit has lackluster quality for the 1080p/60 output (the most common for 1080p). > INFO HERE.

-JOE- (Love Hendrix!)

don't hate.

Yeah... the review did say the player is EXCELLENT if you output 1080p/24 (if your TV can accept this signal), and/or 1080i (and then have your TV do the interlacing-to-progressive conversion, either to 1080p, 768p, or 720p). And the price will be down to $199 by Christmas too no doubt.

-JOE- (Love Hendrix!)

joe, the funai clones display 4:3 and non-anamorphic video properly, unlike many of the "major brand" dingdong machines.