Dvd player skips

 

Hi I am having a problem with my DVD player skipping. This happens on different DVDs and it is usually in the same spot. I looked but I cant see any scratches on the disk. Sometimes it will skip whole chapters. If this helps it is a GE1106P player.

thanks for any advice you can give
 

Judi Coats
Seems like you have a simular problem as I do. My 5 disk Sony DVD player Skips alot on Audio CDs. All including Converstions from MP3, Store bought prerecorded CDs. But My Sony PlayStation, PS2, TDK PC Burner and PC DVD drive play is all perfect.
 

Flicks
My dad's Pioneer DVD player has a similar problem. On rental dvd movies, there are a few scratches but not that bad, and somtimes the movie will skip. When I bring the same movie home and play it on my Samsung DVD player, I don't have any problems. His DVD player is about a year or two older than mine, if that has any significance.

By the way, I've heard that playing audio CDs on your DVD player is bad for the DVD player. Is this true? Something about misaligning the laser? Could this be a cause for skipping during movies?
 

I have a Yelo 800 DVD and i've just watched the Dead Zone. Brand New DVD and it skips. Any ideas?
 

Anonymous
Try a CD/DVD cleaner available at most electronics stores... They recommend it after every 10 hours of play. i have a GE1106P, and it seems to really do the trick on getting that skip to stop.
 

BOught one and ran it through twice and it's still doing the same.
 

Lord Beavis
I have a GE DGE100N that skips on movies. I had two Sylvania DVL100A's that would do that then quit reading any disc. I think there is a common factor here and I bet that both brands use the same hardware just by looking at the model numbers. Maybe I just need to quit buying "inexpensive" players.
 

Flicks
I'm thinking that it doesn't matter if it's an "inexpensive" dvd player, because my father has the skipping problem on his Pioneer dvd, although it's about three years old. I don't think he's tried a cd/dvd cleaner yet.
 

Oliver Klowsoff
I have a Sony DVP-S360 that is 2 years old and has similar problems. It will skip on certain DVDs and usually in the same spot. However, my XBox will play those DVDs just fine and sometimes they are brand new so I know it's the player. I've tried a DVD cleaner with no luck. If anyone has any ideas please reply!
 

I am having similar problems as you all. This thing is driving me nuts. I have a Panasonic DVD RV30. Only had it for about a year. It used to play great. Now all it does is, Skip, Wont even read a disc says" No play" or "incorrect type of disc" when it's a dvd. I just tried to watch the "program" ..keep skipping....The dvd player won't even touch "gladiator" Driving me nuts, It used to play these movies fine. Yet for some odd reason it plays "the band of brothers" Perfect. Weird.....Any ideas? Havent tried the lens cleaner yet. Gonna buy one tomorrow. Thx
 

Jimbob
I just bought a brand new sony 315B. Played a brand new dvd onit and it halted twice on the last two chapters. The Phillips I replaced it with would do the same thing. I'll go buy a cleaner and try but it seems to me to be an imperfect technology that should be corrected by now. Quite annoying.
 

DBJ
I am having similar problems as you all. I have a Panasonic DVD RV30. I have had the DVD player for almost 2 years now .I noticed that lately it has started with these " No play" or "incorrect type of disc" messages when it's a dvd. It keeps skipping and does not recognize some DVDs but plays others perfectly. Any ideas? Should I try the lens cleaner.
 

BairyHastard
I have a samsung DVD player and get a similar problem to most of you. It skips and usually after about and hour will stop altogether, I keep taking back the DVDs to the shop and getting credits but since I spoke to a friend he says his PS2 does the same thing. I reckon it is either running out of memory or some dodgy hardware. Would a lens cleaner help? worht a try I suppose.
 

Hi there. Problems with skipping as well I'm afraid. My dvd player is a CyberHome AD-L 528 and when it skips during movies, it also sometimes 'hangs' and it takes a minute or so to start again. It also sometimes 'rolls' when playing a film. Anybody any ideas, PLEASE. (Before I throw the thing out of the window.....)
 

Trevor
Same problems here, skips on most every DVD, however i dont think anyone (as far as ive seen) had problems with philips yet..but i am..

too bad no one has any solutions...anyone try asking an electic repair shop?
 

Flicks
I rented "Reign of Fire" a few weeks back and my dad had problems playing it on his Pioneer DVD; skipped badly in the middle of the movie and he said he couldn't finish watching the movie. I was able to play it without problem on my Samsung DVD.

One thing I noticed about the "Reign of Fire" DVD is that if you hold it up to the light, it's translucent; you could see through it. Whereas some DVDs have the label side thick enough where light won't pass through. So my bonehead theory is that different DVDs might cause the laser to reflect off their surface differently.

I haven't had a chance to test out my dumb theory on other DVDs yet.
 

i have a toshibia dvd player ,about a year old and it skips on used dvds,i think its a lens cleaning problem , seems len cleaners not cleaning as welll as they should or say they should,
 

A Wong
Try avoid cleaning the head , may cause damage to the player head.
The skipping could be caused by the following:
- DVD not flat i.e. it cure up at the outer edge therefore it will skipp especially at the last one or two chapters
- disc with oily finger print or sticky material , try to clean the disc with clean cloth (of course using the correct cleaning direction from centre to edge)
 

Yup almost every DVD I've seen has exactly 1 annoying skip!! I've tried Star Wars II, Lord of The Rings, One Hour Photo, About a Boy etc. an I've watched them on 3 different players[Kenwood.Samsung.JVC] and all have a skip. It occurs at the same spot for each DVD. That it if i rewind ti and watch it again the skip occurs at the same time index. What gives??? It this something inherent in the way DVD's are encoded? Is there some sort of seek time issue with how DVD's are read? If all DVD's are like this, this is gonna really piss me off!.
 

A Wong
If DVD are recorded under DVD-9, there will be a very sort skip half way because the disc has finished the first layer and has to go to the next leyer for reading.
 

Well I bought the Cheapest DVD player I could find from Apex for $54.99. It runs fine but the remote interacts with my TV. I go to play the DVD and the TV Turns off, or I hit pause and it mutes the TV. Which isn't bad sense I use a suround system but it flashes Mute on the screen. I had to finally tape a peice of heavy paper over my TV's sensor.
But you may try putting the DVD players in a cooler, dryer, more level place and seeing it that does it. I know with CD players they are antzie about where they are placed.
 

I HAVE A YELO800 DVD PLAYER IT IS MULTI REGION BUT WILL NOT PLAY HOLLOW MAN(REGION 1)CAN ANY ONE WHO HAS GOT THE CODE PLEASE HELP THANK YOU BARRY.
 

I have a Toshiba SD-2715 DVD player and I get skips when it plays certain audio CD titles. I have returned a few CDs, thinking they came damaged, but the replacement ones skip in the exact same places (meaning the problem isn't a dirty or scratched CD). It also plays DVDs and the vast majority of audio CDs perfectly - it's only certain titles that skip (therefore it can't be that the player isn't level).

If anyone has an ideas on what the cause and solutions might be, I'd appreciate it.
 

Anonymous
I have a Sony DVP-S360 and it skips so much that I think I am going to have to throw it out. This is enough to really make me mad.
 

can you help i have a dvd and when it plays some dvd a red fog comes up. what courses this? please help?
 

My Playstation 2 always skips when playing DVDS. It also has another problem and that is that the pictiure does not stretch to the edge of the screen. Its the same on all Tv's. Should i try a lens cleaner.

Anyone with a PS2 who has the same problem or knows how to fix it please tell me.
 

I have a Philips 622, had it about 2 years. About 6 months ago it started to pause once per DVD, then it froze, now it wont even run a DVD including a cleaning disc, just tries to read and then says "no disc".

Maybe I should have cleaned it before.

It seems a bit pointless to a have a so called lens cleaner taht relies on the lens working to clean. Anybody know of any other way of cleaning , spray etc?

CONSPIRACY THEORY!

I think that all DVD manafacture's including the big ones know that DVD's will be out within 10 years, hey recordable DVD's will be affordable within 3 so they build in a defect which means replacing the machine every couple of years.
 

Anonymous
Nathan,

I suggest you should have the machine repaired. It should be due to unstable spin mechanism, rather than dirty head. If the disc spin unstable in the tray, then the head won't reconize it as a DVD disc and reply with NO Disc.

Regards,
 

Anonymous
Folks,

I just bought a brand new Sony SLV-D300P DVD/VCR combo, and it skipped on the first DVD (also a brand new disk) it played. After about 12 minutes of play, it froze and the screen pixellated. It did this again, nearly two hours into the movie. Alas, I never got to watch the ending because the disk wouldn't scroll back. The VCR mode works great, but the DVD is a problem even on a new unit right out of the box! Any suggestions?
 

Anonymous
RE Sony Slv-D300P, have you tried other Disk to see whether it works? I suspect it is due to the quality of the disk. I found about 1% of disk with this problem. If it applies to all disk, have it returned or repaired.

Regards,
 

Anonymous and all

I too had the exact same problem with a new Sony SLV-D300P. I loved the unit but I played eight CD's, three were rentals, three were in perfect condition, another was brand new and one had been played once or twice each. EVERY ONE paused at some point in time during playback. I called Sony and they of course had nothing to say. I know they are having problems with the unit because the first sentence of the addendum says the unit will freeze if there are scratches. Well, it freezes no matter what. They are going to have real problems with this POS. Sony doesn't make thing like they use to, they are competing with everyone else to hit price points and the equipment is nothing but garbage.
 

Anonymous
Stephen and all,

I got the same system too a few days back. Fortunately i dont have the same problem, but I do see diagonal lines on the display while using either DVD or VCR mode. Does anyone have a similar problem? The lines are much more presistant in dark background.
 

Bought an apex, pauses and freezes, pixels.
Bought a GE, stops half way through the movie.
Bought a Pioneer. Stops half way through the movie. Used brand new movies, never been played.

It's so frustrating. I wish someone could tell me
what to buy next!!!! Maybe a new vcr... :)
 

Hello All, I just found this forum after trying to play yet another DVD, but having it skip, then pause altogether. I get DVD's from NETFLIX, so in the past I've figured that they were damaged due to being passed from customer to customer. The DVD I tried watching tonight has no scratches, finger prints, dust, etc. It apears to be brand new. This is really, really frustrating. The DVD player is a Kenwood DV-505. I'm going to try a lens cleaner. Hopefully that will work. If not, I'll have to bring the unit to a repair shop and see what they can do. I'd really hate to have to replace the whole player since it's part of one of those complete home theater setups. I'll keep everyone posted on how the lens cleaner works out.

**Frustrated**
 

Hey All - sounds like we're all having the same frustration - it seems in the last few months, all of my dvd's are bad? I don't think so, as I'm sure you all take of yours as I do mine - one note, these instability events did seem to become more frequent over time and zero problems of this nature playing music cd's.

I've just purchased the new Led Zeppelin dvd froze, pixellated about 3/4's through, skipped to the 2nd chapter - not cool.

From what I've also read above, lens cleaning not the answer?

Has anyone had any answers to this aside from buying a new player? If so, let us all in on it!

I have the Sony DVP-S530D - very nice machine (aside from the last few months), and have had it for ~4 years.
 

Dav C
Well, I will just add some of my experience here. Maybe it will help some of the folks. I bought a HK DVD50 from HK on eBay sold as remanufactured unit. After I made the purchase, before I received the shipment, I read a review thread regarding this player. It seems it has a lot of complain about playback skip. It got me worried and thinking that I should return it before warranty expire. However, after reading more complains about other model/brand of DVD players. I decide to give it a try since it seems it is a common problem. After playback over 100 DVD movies (out of 300 in my collection). There is only two disc had playback skip problem. One was Enemy At Gate, bought new and the other was Catch Me If You Can, bought as previous viewed from rental place. The later had finger prints on surface. I wipe them both with absolute alcohol and tried again. The disc playback skip did not happen again. One of them, I drop back into the tray before the alcohol evaporate, the player then display an error message saying "read error" then "no disc". After I pull it out and let it air dry another second or two. No problem after that.
My thinking is that higher density of data were packed into DVD, and it probably has less tolerance for error. If it is not clean between lens and disc surface, then it has the potential for trouble. Even for the brand new disc. It may has very thin film of something not visible by human eye, such as solvent evaporated from cheap printing ink (packaging materials), or platicizer out of plastic wrapping, that might distorted the laser beam. Dirty particles e.g. pet hairs, may attach themselves to the lens surface through static. I have a white English Setter dog shed like crazy. Very often, the optical mouse cursor will behave funny, skipping and jumping. All I have to do is pick the dog hair out the recess where red light been projected out and read back. The problem will go away.
When cleaning, you should use the 200 proof, absolute alcohol. Do not use those denatured or diluted kinds because they have additive and may left more residue on the surface and make thing worse. I don't know if regular people can buy such laboratory analytical grade alcohol other than try to ask friends working in the chem. lab. But it is worth to try. All commercial cleaner for disc or lens are basically alcohol. I think the absolute alcohol is the best because it is a mild solvent for oily substance and will evaporated quickly and leave nothing behind.
 

Hello Everyone. I posted last night after yet another frustrating attempt to watch a DVD. This afternoon I went to Radio Shack and picked up a CD/DVD lens cleaner. They had two ones available, and I got the more expensive one ($19.95) because the cleaper one did not say it was also for DVDs. The cleaning process took maybe 3 seconds. The lens cleaning DVD has all kinds of other stuff to help configure and optimize your system, yadda, yadda. I turned it off after the cleaning was done and popped in the same DVD that I was unable to watch last night. I watched the first 15 minutes of the movie, and NO SKIPPING, JUMPING, ANYTHING!!! It played flawlessly. When I tried to watch last night, it started skipping within the first 5 min, pixelated, paused a few times, then jumed a few minutes ahead with each skip. So it looks like a lens cleaner worked for me. I suggest everyone that is having a similar problem give it a shot.

I opted for the more expensive of the two lens cleaners that Radio Shack had, but I'm sure any one will work just fine. This particular one says the cleaning fibers are made of carbon or some nonsense, which is supposed to reduce static buildup. I think it costs more for all the configuration tests that are packed onto the disk which I won't even use.

So I hope this helps some of you out. I know I was getting pretty frustrated, and the thought of having to spend money on either replacing the optics or getting a new player were not very appealing to me.

Cheers everyone! Happy DVDing!
 

Yes, I have recently purchased a brand new car dvd player and after I insert the disk it says disk not read. I have tried brand new cds dvds and even burned cds Iam going to try using a dvd cleaner but please let me know with other alternatives.

Thanks, Jesse
 

Angas Rose
I have an LG DA-3530 bought new two years ago. No Problems until about six weeks ago when it skipped a few times, then pixilated and froze. Some DVD's now play while others that did play won't. Brand new DVD's also skip chapters and then won't let you review.

I am goig to try the head cleaner, but I am also going to move the unit out of the TV unit - perhaps its just getting too hot in there!
 

have sanyo DWM-370. The #$%^ thing skips on all 20th century fox movies and some of the others as well. worked great for about 6 mo.s then started skipping. called sanyo and -get this-they won't even admit that they make that unit!!!
hmmm.
anywhoes...tried cleaner system, didn't work, tried setting adjustments, didn't work. nothing works.
DVD player in my computer works just fine, but only 17" screen compared to 33"TV which is prefferable for more than 5 people.
Any suggestions for cleaners/settings don't fix and mfr doesn't admit culpability or existance?
TY-angel
 

Anonymous
I also like DVD movies and my Sony player skips and freezes. I hope the fact that it has gotten worse over time is a good signal. Like others I plan on using a cleaning product. Wife is upset says she wants to go back to VHS. Make her stop talking such nonsense. I can't ever go back to "formatted to fit my screen" Oh cleaner GOD please fix my pain.
 

sam
hi i also bought the Sony SLV-D300P, i didn't have any problems with watching dvds though, they were rentals and i don't recall any pausing or skipping. but a problem i found was that when watching vcds, when you fast forward and then press play, it jumps right back to the beginning of the movie, and that really annoys me cause i have to watch the whole thing again. this didn't happen to my older sony dvd player, which is about 2 years old (but it's starting to skip on some disks). btw. does anyone know if the Sony SLV-D300P is a region 1 player? i couldn't find it on the box. the reason is because i want to get this movie that stated that it can only be played on PAL formatted video players only, so would the Sony SLV-D300P be able to view this? is there a code that i need to insert? thx.
 

Hello all, Maybe this info will help..
I just got a home surround sound system with a panasonic 5 DVD player, I have watched about 18 movies since I got it and it freezes on every movie about 1 hour into the movie. I Contacted panasonic and this is what they told me...
Panasonics reply does not explain why the movies play fine on my Xbox...
Hope this helps

Re:
Thank you for your inquiry. The pause you are experiencing is normal. It
will occur on all DVD players depending on the DVD being played. DVD's
have layers. When the movie needs to change layers you have a pause while
the DVD player changes layers.

Thank You,
Panasonic Consumer Support
 

Anonymous
Hmmm...same f*cking problem....

I had a philips 5 disk, replaced it with a one disk. Seems that DVD isn't what it is cracked up to be.....

I am going to have my DVD player replaced (for a damn fee) and the new one I will clean and setup in a place with more airflow. For those of you on the forum, do you all have adequate air flow?
 

Anonymous
You may purchase 190 proof alcohol for cleaning
at most liquor stores. Dangerous to consume at that strength. Might kill you.
 

Anonymous
Maybe DVD Player's too hot?

We have a Samsung unit that was skipping on a DVD rental. Returned the DVD--but the less scratched and cleaner replacement still skipped. Noticing that the disks from the player were very hot to the touch we cooled off the DVD player (by moving the heat generating cable box off the DVD player, setting up some circulation in the form of a small fan, and even temporarily putting some ice in a plastic bag on the player). I don't recommend the ice part because you have to watch condensation and water (I'm thinking water damage isn't covered in any warranty). The rental is playing fine now. We're crossing our fingers that this works.
 

dave
for playstation problems, try dusting out your ps2 with a can of air.

also i just got my dvd player to work with a little dusting and making sure it was level. made allt he difference
 

Ed G
I have the same problem with my DVP530. I opened it up and the problem appears to be an impacting head. For some reason the the system can not focus when it gets to the outter 1/4 of the disk. This causes the controller to adjust the head height and impact the disk. When you get enough impact the disk will slow and the controller will pause or skip. You can hear the sound on the impact if you listen carefully. BTW, Panasonics reply above is BS, you can watch the layers being accessed on most high end players. This problem happens while still on the same layer.
 

I recently purchased a SLV-D300P (DVD/VCR combo). I connected it to my RCA tv, but the unit still doesn't play tapes or dvds.

I exchanged it for another unit, connected it according to the manual, and it still doesn't work. My TV has a GuidePlus+ feature that downloads through the cable box, the latest tv programs. Could it be that my VCR is not compatible with this feature GuidePlus+ feature that was preinstalled on my TV?

The VCR unit has an auto feature that is supposed to set the proper channels for the TV, cable box, and the VCR unit. The auto feature has not resoloved my problem.

I hook up everything in this order: (1) cable from the wall goes to input of cable box, (2)output from the cable box goes to input of the VCR unit, (3) output from the VCR goes to the TV. Still, when I turn on the VCR, I get nothing but static.

Another possibility...maybe I haven't done the TV settings properly???? I program the TV for VCR output on Channel 4, I program the TV for DVD output on Channel 4, I set the VCR on Channel 4, and I set the TV on channel 4. Still, it doesn't work. Heeeelllllppppp!
 

I've noticed that no one ever mentioned a problem with sony dvd save-d900. It's my five dvd player and it hangs on most of my dvd movies. I've tried cleaning it but it does the same thing. In some movies, it hangs on the same spot. Others varies. Also, when it hangs, it sometimes kicks back to an earlier part of the movie. I don't experience the same thing when i am playing music. And NO, it is not the dvd itself because I will try to re-create the same problem in my playstation 2 and it works fine. Hopefully there's a solution out there. Thanks in advance.
 

Defi something strange -

Dvd's have always played fine on my toshiba player (older at this point) and I started watching a series - the first disk played fine, the second one went beserk, always in the same spots. I cleaned the disk and check it over and over and it's fine. My logical conclusion is that it was the disk and not the player - but when I play it on my computer, the dvd plays just peachy without any pausing, jumping, pixelation, or sound goofiness at all. So it may be my player. I'm still hunting for the answer.... but it seems rather strange to me that dvd would work on computer/playstations and not as well on home DVD players. Anyway...
 

Stacy T
My doesnt skip. its wont even play. i get a "No Disc" and i dont know why. it worked fine one day and then the next it doenst even work. can en one help me?
 

I have a theory on all this,,, I have gon thru 3 players trying to find one that will last more than a few months before locking up/skipping on new disks. Just the same as all you are explaining.

I have a strong, very strong suspiscion that the wiring in my and your house is improper. I believe that, either ther is not enough power or the phase is off or something. Several of my more sensative electronics seem to act strangly.

I think maybe the machine is malfunctioning due to a very long term power issue that is effecting the motor speed, laser frequency or the processor's reading of the motor speed.

Any science nuts help me out on this?
 

Anonymous
Try this one...technosonic ht-206 plays audio cd fine and a vcd fine but skips and frezzes on DVD this happens right from the begining. this is a new machine
 

I hate DVD's. Life was far simpler with VHS. I think what someone said is true, the technology leaves a lot to be desired. What is the point in having expensive equipment which cannot handle dust? Isnt there dust everywhere? Surely they can build a machine which tolerates normal conditions? It's really RIDICULOUS. This is the fourth CD player which I've owned and all of them have given trouble. This last one, (a Pioneer DVD player) I've had for less than a year and the audio is skipping like mad. Strangely enough, the DVD's play fine. I know it's pointless giving it for repairs because it will work for a little while and then start skipping again. I expected better from Pioneer. Thumbs down to DVD players...AND CD players in general! :(
 

I am not sure if anyone has posted a solution for you or not, but most of your problems can be fixed by a simple method.
*********You must be VERY gentle with this*******
Unplug the DVD player, open it so that you can see the lens on the laser. Wetten a Q-Tip with some isopropynol alcohol. Not soaking wet just damp, touch the tray a few times to make sure that the excess alcohol is off of the Q-Tip, now gently in an up and down fashion clean the lens, it should tend to move a little, so be very careful. Make sure it is completely dry and make sure there is no other debris or hairs around the lens, blow the area with some canned air. Be VERY careful around the lens. Put it all back together and fire it up.
 

Thanks Jay -- will try it out !
 

vidman
any ideas on my problem??


Try this one...technosonic ht-206 plays audio cd fine and a vcd fine but skips and frezzes on DVD this happens right from the begining. this is a new machine

do you think it is a cleaning matter or something a bit trickier
 

Bo
Good Post Jay,
This is the same cleaning method that Electronic Repair Stores use!! And charge you an arm and a leg! Just make sure the things unplugged and follow Jay's guidance. (beware though, you might violate the warrenty; if you still have one) Also, all DVD players have memory processors and sometimes these chips hang. To reset it, just unplug the player for at least 60 seconds.
Beware, some players (even the expensive ones) have cheap parts that go bad over time or little time.
 

Bo
If attempting the Jay's do it u'r self cleaning method.
It might be necessary to have the DVD tray extended out before the lense will be exposed. Also some units have heat/dust shields that will have to be removed to get to the lense. To get the tray out, just touch the open tray button while power is on and as soon as it is fully extended unplug the player. I don't recomend manualy forcing the tray out as this could damage the tray gears.
P.S. I have used this cleaning method on all of my players with complete success.
 

vidman
re my problem. I think I found it.
there is a plastic ribbon cable coming from the lens, it has a blotch of the same material used in the cable to conduct, it crosses each of the four wires in the cable across middle of it. looks like a very badlymad cable.
dosent look like I can replace only the cable.can I replace the lens unit?? if so will any one do?? it is a twin laser..unit is a technosonic ht-206 "home threatre in a box"
I got it from my work brand newcoz it wasntworking properly


thanks
 

Anonymous
We have a Samsung DVD player that is two years old and it will play some movies without flaw and then there are some that only make it through half way and start skipping. Should I buy a cleaner for it or what? My husband is ready to throw it out the window if I don't get any help. THanks so much
 

dave
what about audio skips? i have no problem with video (never have) but now i've started to notice audio skips when watching either brand new or previewed. happens a few times during the films, only though for a split second. irrating as hell though. have had the dvd player just over a year hooked up to a nice reciever. i have a "dvd cleaner" and have used it with little success.

not sure if the issue if reciever oriented or dvd player.

PLEASE SOMEONE OFFER AN OPINION
 

Rosey
Same problem here...I have a 2 year old Sony DVP S720D...worked fine for about a year and a half. Lately about 30% of the DVDs I buy work fine right up until the very end...maybe last 3 chapters then skip relentlessly. I'll take that same brand new DVD to my computer and it will play flawlessly. Very frustrating. I have also cleaned the unit multiple times as well as the DVD in question. My advice is to keep your receipt when you buy the DVD and watch it within the company you bought it from's return policy. (Best Buy and Walmart are really good about exchanges). If it doesn't work I exchange it for a brand new one at the store and the replacement will usually work. It just becomes a pain in the a$$ when you invest 85 mintues into a movie only to have it crap out at the climax. My symphathies and best wishes to all---electronics truely are a double edged sword.
 

I have a Sony DVP-N500V player only about 16 months old. On certain DVDs the picture breaks up cutting to blue screen. It only happens a few times during a movie for a few seconds,but it is annoying. It happens at the excact spot on the DVD as well leading me to think I was getting bad DVDs, but they play fine in other players. I even exchanged a store bought DVD thinking it was defective and the replacement did the same thing at the excact same spot in the movie.

Ive already cleaned the lens with no results. Is it possible that some dvd players are just not as good at playing DVDs with minor manufacturing flaws? I paid about $180 for this player so I figured it should be pretty good.

I cant determine for sure if its the player or the DVDs that are defective.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions to solve my problem.

Thanks. Have a great day.
 

installguy
this should not happen. take it back if you can. sounds like the optical pickup is going bad or is mis-aligned. cost too much to fix. dvd players are throw away technology. if it don't work right, get rid of it! sell it to someone you don't like,take it back,throw it away,garage sale,i got a dvd player for my kids room. i went through 3 differant brands before i found one that worked. apex,ge,philips,then finaly got a pioneer for a little more money. and it works great.
 

I just found this site and am glad to know that I am not alone. I want to burn all of our DVDs -- at least after I somehow transfer them onto VHS!

It seems to me like this is a technology that was brought to market too early. Anything that requires us to do all of the things that have been suggested on this site (levelling, checking air flow and temperature, cleaning the optical reader in the player, and the DVDs themselves) is not yet ready for market. We are not technicians -- we are consumers.

Our old dvd player started skipping a lot -- I forget the model. Bought a Philips DVD/VCR combo -- skipped a ton. Bought a Sony DVD/VCR combo -- also skipped a ton. Finally bought a Sony DVD player -- doesn't skip as much.

Now that I found this page I will do the following:
1) buy a cleaning set, for both the DVDs and the player
2) double-check the temperature and airflow around the player
3) check how level the surface is, etc...

What amazes me is how maddening this experience has been. How many times do we have to buy, repair, return, etc... our DVD players? And this is the new and improved technology?

This has been a source of tension in our household -- there is nothing like the response of a toddler when her Dora the Explorer or Blue's Clues DVDs screw up. And I don't want to buy any more DVDs, but my wife loves the convenience of the program selection, which is really nice with kid's DVDs.

This really sucks. I wish there were something we could do to fix the problem once and for all.

I'll let y'all know if the problem solving works, but, in all honesty, I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks,

G
 

I have just acquired a Home Theater 3530DA. It played fine the first time but now whenever i try to turn on the CD/DVD function it doesn't come on, giving DISC ERROR, and when it does it takes forever to load the CD/DVD. If by luck it starts playing, it develops some kind of static in the bakground.
 

Flicks
I just recently bought a used DVD movie which was in very bad condition. The surface is covered in scratches, as if the previous owner dragged it across the floor. About half way through playing, it started freezing and pixelating. Instead of immediately hurling the crappy DVD back at the retailer, I decided to give it another try.

Looking at the surface of the DVD at an angle to the light, I noticed that there was a bend in its surface, a one inch line where reflections appeared wavy (similar to when you get a door ding on your car). I carefully tried bending it the other way to lessen the dent, and it worked. The DVD played fine after that, even with all the scratches.

I guess the laser was being deflected by the dent in the DVD surface. I probably wouldn't recommend that all of you start bending your DVDs to get them to work, though, since this doesn't account for brand new DVDs that also skip.
 

hi all, i bought a technosonic dvd802c, i have no freezing, skipping or jumping. just a really annoying bright patch that appears from time to time, on all disc formats!. rather like a fuzzy white patch on the screen, but is not always in the same place. i know its a cheapo, and i got 50 free movies with it, but hey, i refuse nothing but blows. any ideas how to get rid of the annoying white bit?. some times appears on ps2 play too!, but i aint got a cheapo t.v.!. my head is in bits cos its spoiling my viewing pleasure!.
any one help???
 

Bought a philips DVD 740VR DVD VCR combo.
DVDs work fine. For VCR, only get audio with blue screen which displays controls when i use the remote. Tried most of the different configurations for hookups - RF CABLE, red white and yellow cables, etc.
TV is Sony Trinitron.
 

V Stewart
I bought a Sony SLV-D300P DVD Player/Video in July from BestBuy---don't buy it and never shop at BestBuy. The player freezes on every DVD and has even locked up for an hour, and the only thing BestBuy will do is send it back to Sony for repair. They won't even discuss an exchange or refund. Both suck!!
 

DKL
For those of you who had already cleaned the laser optic lens and still get the "No Disc" error message, try "resetting" the menu's features back to manufacturer's original setup. Consult your DVD player's manual how to reset or go to the manufacturer's website consumer support and look for your particular model's reset instruction. If not listed, try resetting manually. I had to do mine manually by disabling my DVD player's auto-run feature to OFF status on the menu screen, now it's back to manufacturer's original setup. No more errors after that!
HTH
DKL
 

Anonymous
When playing movies on my GE DVD player, situations in the movie where there is alot of light, ie. an explosion, the screen flashes horizontal lines for up to a few seconds. Audio is not affected, but video is. Any ideas. Seems like I didn't have this problem before I hooked all this up to a KLH receiver. Please help.Thanks
 

soprano
Unregistered guest
From reading all the posts here, i believe this is a recent problem. I think it could be due to the producers or manufactures of the dvd blanks the quality is not the same when they cost 22.00 a blank and now 2.00 a blank.
 

Unregistered guest
I have had exactly the same problem as all of you out there. I used a cleaning cd which worked well for just a few days. I've pretty much given up on DVD's for now. However, it plays VCD's no problem - so my boys can get their daily dose of ultraman, power rangers, masked rider, .... so on. I know it's not the discs, it has to be the player. From all I've read so far, it looks like Samsung gives less headaches. Jay's suggestion above is interesting, I'll try it tonight. Good forum!!
 

Terence
Unregistered guest
OK so we've all had these problems. Now does anyone know how this technology works. Are some reading mechanisms more robust than others? The laser heads on car CD players are pretty robust. Why can't they have something similar on DVDs? Now the big question is "Is there a DVD player out there that is really, robust, reliable and long lasting, regardless of the price?"
I'm asking this because I want to buy a second one and want to make sure I get it right.
Thanks for your help
 

Ravensfan
Unregistered guest
I have 3 dvd players. The 5 disk changer always has problems loading and sometimes it plays the beginning part for 18 seconds and then goes blank and stops. It doesn't matter what dvd i use.

Lately I bought the new American Wedding dvd. On my 2 good dvd players (for the most part) it doesn't work right. On one player it hesitates with the previews part. I just want to get to the menu screen so bad but i can't fast forward or anything. it just moves slowly. it did the same with both american wedding disks. other movies work fine on my good player.

On the other player that movie plays out with the previews but it doesn't let me fast forward it. It's the same way with 2 different disks of the movie too. For some reason American Wedding is acting screwy.
 

Anonymous
 
hello all -
it seems that there are a lot of us with this problem.... i found a solution to my problem of skipping. SOLUTION: KEEP IT COOL !!! if your dvd player is hot it will skip, so put your hand on it and if it feels hot to the touch, this may be your problem. if your player is in an entertainment center it will get hot, if it has something on top of it or under it (blocking the vent holes) it will het hot. i placed an electric fan pointed directly at it and sure enough it got cooler and did not skip. this may not help everyone but i hope it helps some people.

boo
 

New member
Username: David

JOHOR BARU, JOHOR MALAYSIA

Post Number: 1
Registered: Apr-04
Iread so many skipping problem during playing dvd amoung so many user. i myself am a victim also. but I just solve this problem by buying china-made made dvd player " AMOI" dvd player. if someone want to know more abount this dvd player, please ask me I am david soon
 

Unregistered guest
I am so glad I found this forum and know I'm not alone. I have a Sharp DV-710 (haven't seen this brand mentioned) and experienced the sticking/skipping problem probably within a few months after I bought it. It's now about 3 years old I think. Recently, I bought my daughter a new DVD player (another brand; I think it was Panasonic), and she said she has the same problems!

What I don't understand is why this problem seems to be so common but it's so difficult getting solutions from the manufacturer. You would think that, if it gets too hot if you stack it on top of or underneath other components, there would be the proper warnings about doing this. I only found this forum after doing an extensive Google search. There was nothing on the manufacturer's Web site.
 

New member
Username: David

JOHOR BARU, JOHOR MALAYSIA

Post Number: 8
Registered: Apr-04
To all friend who have skipping problem , this peoblem can not be solved totally, there are no one dvdplayer can play all type of dvd , there are some stronger dvd player can most of problem dvd butn not all, remember this point and you will not be so disppointed.
 

New member
Username: David

JOHOR BARU, JOHOR MALAYSIA

Post Number: 9
Registered: Apr-04
there are two major problem in our dvd forum ; skipping problem and unlock problem , above problem can be solved if you have adequte money,it is not easy to find solution throungh this forum , for example, you can keep on buying dvd player to look for the best dvd player , this mean money can solve money problem , there is nothing free.
 

mbs
Unregistered guest
I have a Philips 704AT DVD player that I bought about 3 years ago for $160 and it also skips/freezes and is generally unreliable. Being new to DVD technology, when these problems first appeared (pretty early in ownership) I figured it was a fluke or the discs had problems. Now I realize that the player is garbage and that DVD seems to be an immature technology. I was one of the first guys around to own a CD player back in the day. I bought a cheap RCA unit with paper route money. That thing lasted for ever and never had any glitches. What's up with DVD?

I thought my problem was confined to Philips players, but now it seems like lots of brands have this problem. Isn't there an a/v component engineer out there who can explain these problems?

I was kinda hoping that someone would have filed a class action suit against Philips over this, but now it seems like DVDs are just really weak in general. WE'VE ALL BEEN SOLD A BILL OF GOODS :-(

P.S. I've also found that CD-RW drives are highly unreliable. GET ME AWAY FROM THESE "ADVANCED" OPTICAL DISKS!
 

John Dallas
Unregistered guest
We have a Sony 5 disk player, now about 3 years old. After the first six months or so, it started skipping or hanging on some DVDs, but not on others. We bought a Maxell CD/DVD lens cleaner, and that helped a litte, but didn't totally solve the problem.

We also used to stack DVDs on top of the player, but since we've stopped doing that, the skipping/hanging problems have improved some...no doubt because of less heat build-up in the unit.

You can't believe how glad I was to find this forum. My wife was convinced our SONY is defective, and wanted to junk it...never to buy SONY again.

After reading this forum, I wonder if the skipping/hanging problem isn't due to a combination of problems, including some DVDs that are manufactured to a higher standard than others. (We have some DVDs that NEVER hang, and some that ALWAYS hang.)

I'd give anything to find a complete solution to this problem, or a brand name player that doesn't experience these problems.
 

New member
Username: Dimoss

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jun-04
Hi,

I have a Philips DVD 762 bought 3 years ago. Till now I had some small skip problems but very rare. However when I tried to play a DVD made by a friend of mine with Pinnacle Studio 8 the the DVD skiped some tracks. I have played several home made DVD's successfully but this one just refuse to play..:-(

This is very annoying because it's the DVD of my daughter's christening..:-(

I bought a DVD cleaner and used it but with no success. Te DVD skips on the same tracks. I tried to rip the disc and write it in DVD+R (the source is DVD-R) but again...with no success.

I am desperate...all the others DVDs play fine except of my daughter's one..

Do you have any idea to solve this problem???

P.S. I played the same DVD in two different DVD players (JVC, PIONEER) with no problem. That means the disk is ok.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Xol

Post Number: 18
Registered: Jun-04
The laser strength of the dvd reader goes down with time so your player can't read this specific disk.Why not to make backup of this DVD?
While it is played good on another DVD player you can convert it to another DVD or at least to VHS.
 

Samuel
Unregistered guest
I agree with Alex.
It is like diskette we use short or long time
and in one day it says to you "Ups" and you lose your data. So you need to copy it.
But you can have another problem if it is under
protection. To decide this problem I found
in the Internet device (if I am not mistaken on www.dimax.com.ua ) and it remove protection.
It is not obligatory fact that you can't copy your disk, check this variant, but if you have protected disk, check link above.
 

Markguest
Unregistered guest
I believe in the heat theory however,
The discs are made far more inexpensively these days and for that reason I nave a new "workable" theory which is that the discs sit in the cover and locate on the spindle. The spindle is very tight on some covers and when removing the disc (tighter when brand new which makes me feel that this is why even some new discs screw up)the disc flexes quite a lot. The layer of recording medium between the silicon discs can be fractured and when subject to the intense light of the laser may show defective sectors.

The other varying factors which hightlight this theory is that with time the dust heat and tray wear (from repetitive opening and closing)combine to reduce the effectiveness of the laser when reading over these defective areas.

I have been through all the above practices with my LG DA-3530 and have still got the problems. I put it down to wear and tear on machanisms such as the tray and possibly the drive motor slowing down.

You can go to various sites on the net to find reset codes which are entered by using the remote but they will only restet the unit back to factory which is how you got the thing in the first place, not too much to be gained out of that.

Install a fan from a computer to blow air out which may reduce heat and dust ingress.

One more thing from me is that the inbuilt amplifiers produce heat. If you want dolby digital sound get a stand alone sound unit which will take an optical (best results) input from the DVD player and reduce heat generation in the DVD player. Most cheapies that seem to work well do so, I think because they're not running an amp, just output to the TV by RCA A/V cables.
That way when the damn DVD player shits itself you just buy a new player instead of the whole home theatre package AGAIN
 

Richard James
Unregistered guest
Hello,

I just bought an inexpensive DVD Player at Fry's Electronics, it is a COBY 515 Model. I rented my first three movies, all of which had some problems with freezing and or pausing. One of the movies, Mystic River has the most problems during the first 45 minustes or so really bad at the very beginning, skips,freezes up all ways at the same spots,and tried playing Mystic River again and now it reads bad disc and not playing at all. Maybe I'll just return DVD player back to fry's and tell them that it is a piece of junk.
 

New member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 3
Registered: Jul-04
The main problem is most players use a brush motor, DVDs spin much faster than a CD and the vibration from the unbalanced discs gets dust from the magnets on the brushes causing problems. Some players have problems with layer transition too.
 

Unregistered guest
Hi!
I have a Sony DVP-NS305 - worked beautifully for about a year. Since the last 2 DVD's the picture gets pixalated and and te time index keeps fluctuating within a few seconds. Anybody any ideas. I have used a disc cleaner and also opened the player and cleaned it with alcohol.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 25
Registered: Jul-04
Is it one certain place in the movie? Or is it random?
 

TOOTNCOMMON
Unregistered guest
I assumed that my GE DGE100N DVD player not working after 2 years was the result of buying cheap. It sounds like I'm in the same boat as everyone else. How about a class action law suit against the DVD giants? I've tried the cleaner DVD's and resetting my player. Both of which worked for a couple of days. Ended up with the same result. My player goes instantly to the NO DISC error. I took it apart and pulled all the cables and wires and reattached them (hey I was desperate). I still get the same errors. I'm going to try the alcohol on the lens trick. My DVD player on my computer is now not functioning because Macrovision won't play using my graphics card (either that or it was having "relations" with my TV DVD player and caught its virus :>). Could this be affecting our DVD players as well?
 

Unregistered guest
hi BairyHastard - i'm experiencing exactly the same problem, dvd and ps2 freeze for no apparent reason - i thought it was the dvd but the ps2 is brand new and does the same!!! have you solved the riddle? this thing is driving me nuts!
 

friggin
Unregistered guest
we were happily watching "The Bourne Identity" when all of the sudden it started to gurgle and hiccup so we stopped the movie and now we cannot get the disc to load.....but throw in any other disc and it works....for the love of God.....help us in Ontario...'cause we can't figure it out...@#!*&%?????
 

Bronze Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 92
Registered: Jul-04
Is that disc dual layer and the rest single layer? Could be a problem with dual layers.
 

Unregistered guest
HI, I have an APEX AD-500WM DVD Player and it has a problem. I will start it and it will be working perfectly, and then it will start getting fuzzy, and then the sound either goes away or then it will stop and restart. I was just wondering what is causing that, and how can I fix it?
 

Gina P
Unregistered guest
I have a Sanyo DVW5000 that has been skipping since I bought it. Usually does it toward the end of movies, so I came to the conclusion that it's the heat. Can't believe all these other brands have the same problem. ANYONE HAVE ONE THAT WORKS WELL????
 

Silver Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 172
Registered: Jul-04
I have a 5 year old Panasonic that has always and still works fine. Unfortunatly newer DVDs aren't made as good as the older ones. The Panasonic was $300 when I bought it, I guess you get what you pay for.
 

blue eyes
Unregistered guest
China made dvd players (no name) can play all dvd (movies,music video, audio cd etc.).
They are also very cheap.
So price is not the reason.

Does China has a better technology in this dvd arena?

Shame on you all the manufacturers (brand names - Sony,Philips, Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, JVC etc.) !!!

These giant manufacturers made their dvd lens could not read the pirate dvds. But this also effect on the original dvds in some case.
They also manufacture some of their stuff in China but their dvd lens are not the same as China home made product.
Any comments?
 

Toshana Dixon
Unregistered guest
USE A LENS CLEANER IT WORKS MIRACLES!!! My CD/DVD player wasn't playing DVDs only CDs I bought a cheapo cleaner at Radio Shack now my DVD player works like new
 

JohnGuest
Unregistered guest
I'm using a relatively inexpensive Sylvania DVD/VCR. Recently it starting skipping, pixellating, hanging, etc...basically all of the symptoms mentioned in all the posts above...this after a year and a half of flawless operation. It did so mainly on DVD-R's that were pretty well-used, sometimes on newer DVD-R's and once in a while on used rentals.

I cleaned the discs...no effect.
I cleaned the Laser lens...no effect.
I scrubbed the discs 'til they're the most spotless things in my house...no effect.
I reset the player...no effect.

"Markguest"'s comment above got me to look at heat issues. Interesting that I had no problems at all until late summer. I've had my player inside a cabinet in a pretty tight spot. Even with the door open during operation it gets pretty warm in there. I pulled the thing out into open and played the dirtiest, most scratched up DVD I have.

It works perfectly.

I can only surmise that excess heat makes the thing glitchy and more susceptible to malfunctioning as a result of minor surface defects on the disc.




 

Tev Lefra
Unregistered guest
Here's a trick to try if you're watching a movie,
you're getting close to the end, and it starts skipping. As soon as it starts to hang (before the actual skip), push the stop botton. Now wait a few minutes. Then push play. You might have to rewind it a little to catch anything you missed, but now it will play right through where it skipped before. I usually let it play for a minute, stop, and repeat until the movie is over.
Sure it's irritating, but it's a lot better than watching most of a movie and then not getting to see the ending. I've 'saved' five movies this way.
 

Anthony W
Unregistered guest
Just like to say that i have had two Pioneer DVD players, the current one being the 466. Have never had a problem with them as you describe..would not buy any other brand.
 

Raife
Unregistered guest
Our PS2 skips all the time on NetFlix rentals. At first we thought it was NetFlix, but it has even done it on movies we bought new and have only watched once or twice. I think it is an interaction--older DVDs make it worse and our PS2 makes it worse.
Just bought a new Toshiba--still skips (albeit less).
The thing that's so upsetting is that VCR tapes never had this problem. It's ridiculous that every other movie watch, there's some scene we don't see because it skips! Should we switch back to VCR tapes?
 

alan.gorski@faa.gov
Unregistered guest
Have a Panasonic and Sony DVD player. The Sony has a "slow blow fuse" that is designed to fail and not read any media. I pulled the SBF and added solder to the bridge, it's fine now. The Panasonic just freezes and skips. I had this plugged into my Denon rcvr.. Just kept skipping over and over. So I plugged the video/audio cables into the TV inputs and no skipping.

Anyone have any idea why plugging directly to the TV would make a diff? Is there something with the Video on receivers? Could it be a cable issue? Just thought I'd throw this out for input.

 

daniel danes, torquay
Unregistered guest
my GVG player (UK) 'stumbles' and overspins on most official dvd's and all light green and light blue bottomed dvdr's. It loads and eventually says unknown disc or no disc.
ALL dark blue dvdr's seem to work though. I think its because dark blue discs have a more compatible read band.
does this mean the lens is dirty?? or is it just an unstable mechanism? can anyone comment?
 

Unregistered guest
Having all the sames problems with my Philip's DVD player. Only had it Six months when the skipping started... strangley enough every once in a while my volume lowers down too!!
I found for some reason when any DVD starts to skip I take it out and replace it with a Jaws DVD for a minute or so, then put back in the other movie and wahaay! the skipping has stopped!!
 

Anonymous
 
Help! Two of our dvd players get stuck on "loading" and never play the dvd. What's goin on?
 

Denise234
Unregistered guest
Possible fix.

Last night I was trying to watch some DVDs and suddenly my player started halting and skipping. I read this forum and tried a lens cleaner I had sitting around but it didn't seem to help.

I removed the digital cable box off the top of my DVD player and let the DVD player stand alone, turned it off and let it cool down and BAM, it worked perfectly. So I think my skipping problem was caused by heat.

Hope this help someone else.
 

Unregistered guest
I have a JVC TH-A35 Home Theatre set-up and after two years I am having the same problems, pixelation and skipping on everything. The reciever which runs my normal tv sound works fine as long as no disc is spinning.

With a disc spinning the unit gets VERY hot, too hot, and I have noticed the fan is not working. If I let it cool down, its works good again for a bit. You guys likely all have heat issues like I do. I am going to replace the fan in it or have a fan blow on it.

But if your unit skips and gets hot, then you likely need to check the temperature and figure out why it is so hot as that is most likely the culprit.
 

Unregistered guest
My DVD player recently decided to Close the Open/close drawer forever. I cant get the DVD player to work now and the drawer wont even open. The pilot light is on for the DVD and the MP3 and I dont know how to get it to work ..... Any ideas
 

MikeJ
Unregistered guest
Diagonal lines on the monitor when playing DVDs or VHS tapes is most likely due to a bad cable. Try switching your coax or RCA cable for another one, making sure the connection is tight. If you're using coax, try switching the output channel from 3 to 4 or vice versa and see if that makes a difference; if there is a broadcast station close to 3 or 4, that can also cause interference.
No suggestions on the skipping though!
 

John C
Unregistered guest
My Toshiba SD-3755 is doing the same thing. First off it started freezing on many of my DVD's including brand new ones just out of the box. Now I cannot load any DVD's. The drawer just opens back up and I canno load any DVD's. I unplugged from the TV and I still cannot load anything. My brother in law has replaced many of his DVD players because of freezing DVD's. It just seems to me that DVD players are very unreliable. Never had any issues with a VCR.
 

DennisJay
Unregistered guest
Have the same #$%*ing problem w/my Sony skipping and pixelating - One common thread it seems many of us may share is: My Dvd player worked fine for 2-3 years and then all hell broke loose. Cant get it to play a single dvd from start to finish - My theory - dvd players are like car tires, expect to replace them every couple of years...
 

Anonymous
 
could it have to do with the DVD format?
My computer DVD player Skips but not my TV's DVD player. Its not on all DVDs.
 

Anonymous
 
Just to let ya know that there is the actual laser below the lens if you take the little casing off and get something thin to stick under the lens and clean the actual laser. Don't use alcohol it leaves a film. To be honest saliva works well. I would say use a q tip but be very carefull because the 4 little copper wires that controls the motion of the lens are very fragile. Just take the q tip and slowly edge it underneath the lens and rotate it then remove the q tip and repace the little lens casing. I used the method on my ps2 and it works like a charm. I had a problem with my dvd player also but now it doesn't load at all so I am sure it was just poorly made. GE 1105P model.
 

Anonymous
 
Just received our daughter's wedding video a week ago. Frustrated that we cannot make any of the three DVD copies work in any of the four DVD players we have tried! Our DVD players are not in cabinets and do not have electronics on top of them - they're in the open so I doubt it's a heat issue?? Each DVD starts skipping at a different time. Purchased and rented movies work very well. We'd really like to watch our daughter's wedding video, not to mention she's excited to see it too! Any ideas? Thanks.
 

Vern Stagbre
Unregistered guest
I had a problem with DVD skips..I purchased a Scotch brand cleaner and it helped..If you rent a DVD take a look at it before you start..Many have smudges and assorted yuck on them that can be wiped off easily..Still not perfect but my DVD player remains in the house and not in the dumpster..
 

GrahamA
Unregistered guest
Hey everyone, I have also had the same problem. I have an LG DV5822P player and with some dvds it is fine but with others it would skip entire chapters towards the end of the dvd.

Tried a head cleaner and it didn't work. The solution for it is this: Take it into the shop to be fixed. I did and they found some big screw up with it, not sure exactly what. But it is under warranty so getting fixed for free.

If you are having this problem you will probably need to get your player repaired.

Cheers,

Graham.
 

Unregistered guest
argh..my DVD player is making me go crazy..its a Nova DVD player and i just bought it..i put in a DVD but it always says no disc.. anything i can do to actaully make it work?
 

Unregistered guest
I have X player I could found the following issue on x player
While playing DVD (gladiator)Skip chapters, send fast forward and play playback freezing.
 

Unregistered guest
I have X player I could find the following issue on x player
While playing DVD (gladiator)Skip chapters, send fast forward and play playback freezing.
 

Skyjade
Unregistered guest
Hi all, I have a 5 disc Sony DVD/CD player about three years old. Recently it started stopping in the middle of audio CD's and eventually I got the old C 13 00 code flashing. Now it won't even read a CD. It scans all the trays and says "No Disc." However, it still plays DVD's fine. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
 

frustrated person...
Unregistered guest
Hi everyone, most of my DVDs work fine on my computer dvd player, but the two newest ones I got freeze up about 10-15 minutes into the DVD. It freezes up in the same spot every time, but the DVDs have no problem in the TV DVD player. Sounds like the guy from dec 2nd.
 

Ivy
Unregistered guest
I came here looking for a "miracle cure" for the dvd player problem... seems like everyone is in the same boat, but none of the media wants to mention it. My roomate says the player needs to cleaned after every 10 movies or so, but that doesn't work. I will examine the heat issue, as I often leave the dvd player "on" but stopped. If heat is not it, I am going back to VHS until they fix this. I would prefer to watch streaky movies, then just not see the ending of the movies. And VHS tapes keep for 10 years, which works for me, since I mostly rent anyway. Maybe in 10 years they will make a new technology that works. I think we are idiots for having bought dvd's, and I will never buy another. This is pathetic. Never in history has there ever been so much trouble watching the end of a program. Even cavemen usually got to finish their reinactments or whatever. Anyway, I am now doing a personal banning of buying dvd's, hooray for me.
 

New member
Username: Booker21

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jan-05
I`m having the same problem with my Xbox Dvd player. It pause for a while and then keep going. It happend everytime on the same place. So i know the problem is on the DVD, but on the other hand i know if i play that DVD on a "real" dvd player it will be play flawless. It seems my Lens is too picky over the time.

I know it is dirty but i read somewhere does the DVD lens cleaner kit doesn`t work or even can break my Xbox

Any advice?
 

DALE RIO
Unregistered guest
I'm not a techie but it seems to me that the "consumer" has been bamboozled. The auotmoblie equivilent would be tires of the same size not rolling on your vehicle, Texaco gas not running all vehicles. Batteries not being universal. i think that the problem is that in their effort to combat piracy the industry has shied away from a universal format like the multiuseful VHS tape. To record all it needs is that tab in place. Class ACTION MAY NOT BE A BAD IDEA BECAUSE IT BRINGS THE PROBLEM TO THE SURFACE, MOST PEOPLE THINK IT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SAVVY ENOUGH TO OPERATE THE EQUIPMENT.
 

tvdude
Unregistered guest
There is already a class action suit in progress against the almost all the major DVD manufacturers (search for "dvd player class action suit" on Google).

Anyway, since DVD's are actually video computers, you now have all of the mechanical things that can go wrong with any laser disc player (heat, cheap plastic components, weak lasers etc.) *plus* you have the spectre of computer compatibility problems that PC users get.

My own early DVD-player (1999 vintage) has no performance problems, just compatibility problems. The feature films I have play as good as always, a couple block out occasionally. But as I have been buying more of those TV season box sets the problem has gotten worse, maybe because they are cramming more video onto one disc. Recently I've bought some modern DVDs that perform so badly on the old Sanyo/Fisher unit that I've started playing them on my PS2 instead.
And luckily, my PS2 is one of the new ones that seems to be good at DVD-playing. Manufacturers are real fond of "silent upgrades" so I have to resist the temptation to buy anything electronic in the first few years that it's available :-|
 

Richard NZ
Unregistered guest
I share everyone's pain. I've got a Sony home theatre DAV S880 Compact AV system; got it mid-2002 as an insurance replacement for a burglary. It's always been what I thought temperamental but like lots of posters I get the impression it's got worse with random skipping, jumping, freezing, sound black-outs, and block pixilation. Generally it seems to be specific parts of specific DVDs, randomly brand new or rentals, but not always. Isn't this completely freaking maddening?

This thread was a lifesaver as it gave me ideas for new things to try. Anyway I got a CRC Air Brush which is 1.1.1.2 terafluoroethane in a spray can. It is old here in New Zealand in electronics stores Dick Smith, like RadioShack in the US I guess, and marketed for safely removing dust. I air cleaned the player with it and then also my latest sticking DVD, a Sex and The City set for my wife, who was yelling with frustration at the damned thing. Sprayed about 20 cm away from DVDs shiny surfaces; left 5 mins; the DVD then played with no glitches. Has worked on a few others too as a test.

I feel this isn't the end of the story. Sony help, retailers, fixers etc. all deny there is a general problem and say get it repaired -- of course it's out of warranty. You've got to think manufacturers have to know there is a serious problem with this technology, and that somewhere some engineers know what the problem really is. I read in The Economist that DVD and home theatre have been propping up their profits in the last couple of years. Yet I can't believe this story hasn't been picked up by the media, or features much more in reviews of kit by magazines. Shame, shame, shame on the makers of players and DVDs: let's pray there is a special section of Dante's Inferno reserved for their eternal torment, just along from the place where the genuises who invented putting tiny stickers on fruit get theirs.
 

Unregistered guest
Heys guys, I think the problem is simple or it was for me. I have a sony slvd201p combo and a couple other brands. All of my players seem not to function well and I mean skip or freeze when the player is warm or hot. It seems that the problem lies in HEAT. Be sure your dvd player is standing alone and is vented properly. Maybe a couple of options... You could take the players apart and install a couple of laptop computer cooling fans. One cooling the processor and the other cooling the lens. Or you could purchase a laptop cooler. The best ones are aluminum and have cooling fans. Check them out on the internet. Depending on the design of your dvd player, you may need this cooler on the top or bottom of your dvd unit. you will have to remove the cover to find out. You may also have too drill holes in the cover to promote the air flow. Hope this helps.
 

DVDjockey
Unregistered guest
I feel That this is a copy protectoon issue. I am having problems with "The grudge" and am in the process of riping out the copy protection and making a "clean" copy right now... Ill post an update in a hour or so.
 

dqn
Unregistered guest
I finally fixed my DVD player problem with skipping and freezing. I have a Sony DVP-S9000ES that is a couple of years old. Lately, it kept skipping and freezing and sometimes wouldn't read the disk at all (C1300 error). I thought it was a heat problem, so I took it out into open air -- still no prevail. I finally took it to the Sony Authorized Repair shop, and they told me it was the laser pickup going bad (this is the actual read mechanism of the DVD player). They replaced the mechanism, and now it works beautifully. No more freezing, skipping. It actually can play some of the heavily scrached disks.

So folks, take your DVD players to the shop and ask them to check out your laser pickup mechanism. The laser mechanism usually has about 3-5 years warranty on them so you may be able to get it fix cheaply. Good lucks.
 

DVDjockey
Unregistered guest
In response to my previous post, it IS a copy protection issue. Not Heat, not a laser failing. The problem is that there are bogus sectors on the disk that the players read through just fine on the first layer, but cant do well on the second layer. If you make a copy of the movie. It plays perfectly.
 

New member
Username: Carbon

Post Number: 1
Registered: Feb-05
Gidday everyone. Seems we all have some sort of issue here with DVD playback and PS2 playback. Well, from researching for hours myself and reading all sorts of Pros and Cons I have come to the conclusion that there is no answer for all.
However, regarding the playback issues we are all having it would be nice to start somewhere.
So, here is a list of `To do things`.
Cut and Paste this Url if it is not active >> www.warnervision.com.au/troubleshooting.asp
Read away.
I agree also with what DAV C had previously said within this forum.
It must be said that there are many manufacturers of DVD players, DVD media, movie creating software, codecs etc. To think all would work together perfectly and always, would be to live in the perfect world. Which this is not.
But damn our problems are frustrating!!!!
For most issues look to your Disc first. Cleaning these things can be a mysterious art at times. Even when it looks clean, it may not be. It IS a strange thing sometimes.
I also agree with some that different DVD`s have heavier content written to them. Content that require precision reading by the player more than other DVD`s. Most likely due the method used to make and develop the movie and the media used combined.
If the issues are regarding copied mivies ;-) then the issue is more likely the media, the software, settings used in the software, combination of software used, system state, cracking method, speed copied, driver files or a combo of all mentioned!!!. Proabably more also that has not been. Fun isn`t it ;-)
Issues regarding the PS2 in particular.
I had skipping issues and freezes/ lock-ups.
With movies and with games.
Keep in mind people, this is a games machine. It was not seriously developed to challange the DVD market. Wouldn`t that kind of make the Sony DVD players obsolete?
Back to the issue at hand. I used the PS2 for games mostly. Most played, but I found the newer, more graphic intensive and speed related games had many issues. In paticular NFS underground. Or any fast moving graphic intensive game for that matter.
What I discovered after pulling the PS2 apart is that there is a spindle inside. Along this spindle is a plastic arm that runs along it. This plastic arm then drives the laser across the disc. Back and Forth.
I found that all is fine apart from the plastic arm.
It was found to be worn from use. Being Plastic I guess this figures. Why they used plastic is any ones guess.
But, rather than buy I do like to try first and fix it myself. Not always recommended to all. But they do charge an arm for this piece. And usually by mail.
So I took a very small round file and within the groove on the small plastic arm, I ground it deeper to fit back into the grooves on the spindle more securely.
You see, to move the laser the Spindle spins and the plastic arm slides through the grooves to move the laser in and out. If the plastic arm does not sit securely it wil jump out and skip the grooves. :-) resulting in Game freeze and lock-ups.
Once finished and satisfied that the little bugger was back in firmly I never had a problem again.
Not, I guess, til it is worn below the fixing range. Then off to the store I go for a newy. ;-) Hope this solution fixes those with PS2 issues.

Anyway. Goodluck to all and if none agree, feel free too say so. This is a forum after all.
 

Nickel Dance
Unregistered guest
Christ!, did you people ever notice the rubber drive wheel on your VHS player(that you cleanend with fluid and cleaning tape)was the biggest source of your problems. Well guess what, same problem only now it's a rubber disc that contacts the DVD from above on the clear plastic ring around the hole on the label side.Clean this area. I haven't as yet invented a way of cleaning the rubber disc, which gets really dirty and slips, giving you all these various and sometimes intermittent problems.
 

Clancy
Unregistered guest
Well, I did try something that worked on DVD's that were prone to skipping dvd-r'and +r'

It seemed to be heat related. I moved the players to ground level where the air is cooler and on one I placed a fan. Lo and behold, it worked. I believe that the heat generated by the player (especially home theatre - Panasonic in my case) warps the DVD's.

Worth a try.
 

Nickel Dance
Unregistered guest
Well I've invented it, but it appears no one cares.
 

#1 Stl.Cardinals fan
Unregistered guest
My xbox wont read xbox games even though the disc doesn't have any scratches on it.But it will read my cd's and dvd's.what do i do.
 

Christopher L
Unregistered guest
It's too bad electronics are made so cheaply. There really ought to be a standards council regulating that industry.
 

jwaldmann
Unregistered guest
Guys - how about we all go back to VHS tapes for movies - they always work and are cheaper - maybe if we don't buy either the dvd players or the discs or the movies - the manufacturers wil get the message
 

netminder
Unregistered guest
I have a similar problem with my Koss KD260-2. It started after playing a bad DVD of the movie "RAY". Now it has a horizontal hold problem even with no disk in the drive. Have taken it apart and cleaned the lens as well as the plastic ring mentioned by Nickel Dance. All with no luck. I am an IT technician so I have an idea what to look for, but cannot seem to find the cause. Player is about 2 yrs old. Might be time for a new one.
 

Anonymous
 
My plan is to rip all of my movies to xvid on a hard drive and play them that way. And then share them with all of my friends and countless millions on the internet. That's a *real* class action.

 

Chunk Monkey 2000
Unregistered guest
I've noticed that svcd and other ripped formats rarely skip. That should be a clue to the source of the problem right there.
 

maciam
Unregistered guest
Heres the deal...
The laser that reads the disc gets "tired" after a while and needs adjusting. Pretty much just stepping up the sesitivity. The adjustment is usually right around the laser and looks like a small plastic screw inside a small box. This works the same on cd players as well.....
 

maciam
Unregistered guest
Heres the deal...
The laser that reads the disc gets "tired" after a while and needs adjusting. Pretty much just stepping up the sesitivity. The adjustment is usually right around the laser and looks like a small plastic screw inside a small box. This works the same on cd players as well.....
 

seaglass
Unregistered guest
Can't believe this forum. It's a shame that so many people are having this problem. I'm going to try all these methods above. I feel like giving up on DVD and going back to good old reliable VHS. Grumble....
 

Ranx
Unregistered guest
I've had frustrating problem with my Compaq Presario 2701, with LG DVD-ROM, would read DVDs but not CD's. Fortunately for Compaq, that happened at the end of guarantee period, so they stalled long enough for me to loose temper and buy new drive, this time "famous" Toshiba SD-C2502! No real firmware upgrade for that one, and I have almost the same problem, and after a while it goes back to PIO mode, so I have to reinstall the Primary IDE! Damn them! After long and tiresome search I found a couple of nice forum posts, but this is the first one that really gave me an idea of how many people is frustrated like me, everywhere around the consumer world!!! Seems to me the real answer is money! Fast and plenty, for all the manufacturers and stockholders! That way there is no real testing of equipment filled with cheap use-and-throw-away components... that's the world we're living in. Sad but true.
Thank You for all the posts that opened my eyes and maybe will also help me to survive the "bright technological future" without nervous breakdown :-)
BTW: it looks like all of the above mentioned problems are responsible for poor DVD and CD reproduction. We're in deeeeep sh*t, ladies and gentleman!! :-)....but keep on fighting!!
 

New member
Username: Newcalamity2004

Post Number: 1
Registered: May-05
Nice to find this...I damn these DVDs...mine is LG DA-3530 Region2 (I unlocked the code to make e it play All regions -i have DVDs Region 1, 2,3, and 4 also some All regions), it was working like crazy flawless thing...and then all of a sudden it started to make endless loading then working again til it stopped playing all Region 2 DVDs - its original region- I reset it , but it still didn;t work, i cleaned it no use, i put it open air no use either...what i'm gonna do next is get to the Repair... i hope it will work...
The problem also that all the DVDs it doesn't play are ALL ORIGINAL. The copies (but still not Region 2 or 3) work fine...
I am giving up...
My last resort will be trying to FIX it...
I will tell you all if it works or not...
Keep on fightng....
 

Unregistered guest
My problem is that most original DVD's work fine on my player, but each copy I make seems to have the stalls and skips. Any Idea about the reason for that?
 

Unregistered guest
I bought a Phillips DVP530 on March,yesterday my daugther viewed a rent DVDand then she wanted to view another a it doesn't work, i checked the region is it was all region. Now the DVP takes much time to load any disk and said "No Disk"or loadand the skip to stop. What can I do? Anyone can tell me something.
 

Unregistered guest
As "stephen and all", I have the same problem with my SLV-D300P. VCR mode works perfectly, but when I use it on DVD mode, I see diagonal lines on the display. I tried it on another TV (RCA) yesterday, no more diagonal lines, but two (2) screens appear on the display with a black and white image. What can I do ? Can someone help me ?
 

lmuzik
Unregistered guest
i have a samsung dvd vcr combo player and when we watch a rented dvd, the dvd freezes in spots. It doesn't always freeze in the same spots.
I bought a laser cleaner and cleaned it twice it still freezes on rented dvds (i've even cleaned the dvds and they're not scratched all to hell). New dvds play with no problem. Anyone have any ideas?
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1168
Registered: Jul-04
Open it and clean the laser with a q-tip wet with alcohol, also clean the spindle the disc sits on with the same thing.
 

New member
Username: Dcloud

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jun-05
I have a RCA DVD player (slot-loading model) and a RCA TV. I've been plagued with strange skipping/freezing/stopping problems playing various DVDs since I bought the DVD player (about a year ago).

What is odd to me was that sometimes a DVD that would skip or freeze on my RCA player would play fine on another player. This led me to believe it was the DVD player, and so I used a lens cleaner and even had the DVD player itself cleaned. I cleaned the DVDs with water (and regardless what some posters here have said DO NOT use alcohol on your DVDs). Alcohol (any kind) is not good for the DVDs or your DVD players.

Cleaning only cleared up a few of the problem DVDs. It did not fix every one. I think Flicks is on to something when he wrote, "So my bonehead theory is that different DVDs might cause the laser to reflect off their surface differently."

DVDs are massed produced these days. Think about a new movie like National Treasure and how many DVDs they have to make. Also factor in the low grade quality of materials the manufacturer might use to cut costs and make more money. This is probably the best "theory" I have heard so far.

This seems to be a widespread problem effecting many people with a widerange of DVD players. I believe the quality of materials used to mass produce these DVDs is the culprit.
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1182
Registered: Jul-04
RCA is what's low grade, cheap junk.
 

New member
Username: Dcloud

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jun-05
Just in case the RCA unit was ruining the DVDs I went out today and bought a new DVD player; a Sony DVP-NS50P.

This is a really nice player and so my idea was to start going through all my DVDs and checking which ones have defects in their playing. I started tonight by watching Pirates of the Caribbean - a DVD I bought brand new which now has a spot where it stops playing. It stopped playing in the same spot on the new Sony, but I figure if my old RCA was somehow ruining my DVDs then that is what ruined this one.

I will continue going through my movies and seeing which ones have defects. I figure the cost of a new player is less than the cost of a player ruining my DVDs.
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1187
Registered: Jul-04
If it's damaging DVDs, you should be able to clearly see it. It can't damage the information, only the surface. If they need cleaned, go buy some Plexus from a motorcycle shop and use it with a soft cloth, works excellent for cleaning discs.
 

New member
Username: Dcloud

Post Number: 3
Registered: Jun-05
I already tried cleaning these DVDs and the problem doesn't go away (and in the case of Pirates and The Incredibles it just got worse). I cannot see any damage, but that doesn't mean anything. I bought these DVDs brand new and was able to watch them several times before they started acting up. So obviously the player did something to them.

I discovered something interesting about store bought DVDs on another website:

"The DVD plays fine until the half way point, after which time it suddenly starts to break up, often to the extent of the player refusing to play the disc further. This could be what is known as DVD rot or disc delamination. This only affects dual layered DVDs (which are gold-coloured on their data surfaces) and you can often see a characteristic "coffee stain" appearance on the data side of the disc. There is no remedy for this - the disc is ruined and will need to be replaced."

Note: Most commercial DVD movies you buy from stores are Dual Layer.

This may be the problem, but I thought it best to be safe than sorry and just bought a new player. I have read a lot of good reviews on the Sony DVP-NS50P and I'm quite satisfied with it (so far).
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1188
Registered: Jul-04
There is no such thing as DVD rot, that was a laserdisc problem, not a DVD problem. If you cleaned them and they got worse, then however you did it didn't work. I've rented and bought hundreds of DVDs, and seen only half a dozen or so with playback problems, the discs had deep circular scratches. Unless you can see extensive damage to the discs, it's not a disc problem. Either they need cleaned better, or you have a lousy player.
 

New member
Username: Dcloud

Post Number: 4
Registered: Jun-05
I think I've already established that I had a lousy player. That paragraph I quoted in my above post was from an article on DVDs, not laserdiscs.

What is odd is that the discs I have that are bad also play bad on other people's players, which is what led me to believe my RCA player was somehow ruining these discs. I have heard that does happen, although not too frequently.
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1194
Registered: Jul-04
Clean them with Plexus. The player can only physically damage the disc, it can't damage the info. Whoever is talking about DVD rot is clueless, it was a laserdisc problem, DVDs do not have that problem, burned or pressed.
 

New member
Username: Dcloud

Post Number: 5
Registered: Jun-05
I'm thinking of purchasing Restore-A-Disc by Disk Doctor. It's a little pricey, but if it can restore my damaged discs it would be worth it. I will check out the Plexus. Thanks for the tip.
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1195
Registered: Jul-04
Unless you can see extensive damage to the discs, there shouldn't be anything wrong with them. I've played rentals that were badly scratched that played fine. Those disc doctors scratch the hell out of discs, that should be a last resort. The Plexus is only about $8 a can at motorcycle shops, I'm still using the one I bought about a year ago. Never found anything better.
 

Mike_M57
Unregistered guest
Heated discs is the issue for most. I play DVDs in my two DVD players at home and in my laptop while traveling. As the laptop heats up the dvd heats up, then the movie freezes. If I eject the dvd and shut down for a few minutes and the restart and play the dvd from where I left off, it plays fine for a few minutes until the dvd heats up again.

The same thing happens in my home dvd player w/built-in amp. Works fine until I pump up the subwoofer and the amp heats up and heats the dvd. The movie freezes after about an hour. Again, cool both the player and disc for a few minutes and it plays just fine. I'm going to take the advice in this thread and get a separate DVD player and surround sound receiver. This heat issue is ridiculous.
 

DVDjockey
Unregistered guest
Cleaning... no
fans.... no
adjusting the "tired" laser.... no
Just make a copy, burn it slow (2.4x) and all will be fine
 

New member
Username: Poundcake

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jul-05
Apparently after reading all these posts, the best thing to do would be to buy a brand new DVD player-any brand(since they all use the cheapest parts possible = max. profits)AND get the longest EXTENDED WARRANTY. And when they screw up like they eventually will, box it up and bring it back.
Eventually this will save the consumer money and cost the manufacturers money(to give a replacement unit is not selling you a new unit-They lose money)So to cut their losses eventually Quality will go up...My problem is the same as others here. 4 month old panasonic 30 days past the 90 day warranty wont play the whole dvd without pixalating to the point of being unwatchable (usually about an hour into the movie)
Called Panasonic and they said I could pay to send it to them insured and they will let me know how much it will cost to fix my 4month old dvd player. JUNK, JUNK , JUNK model DVD-F87S Never even slightly warm to the touch, brand new clean dvd's that play fine in other dvd players..They Suck.. Gonna try a Onkyo DV-CP701 with a 3year warranty this time. Of all the user reveiws I have read this seems to be the most reliable although some have had problems with this too.We will see! Good luck all... Will Blue ray fix this? dought it ..We will all just be their beta testers....
 

New member
Username: Kar4876

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jul-05
I have a Panasonic DVD Home Theater Sound System that has the 5 disk DVD/CD changer model #SC-HT920. I have been very happy with it until about 3 months ago when it stopped "reading" any disk you put in the changer. It starts to read, and then flashes back and forth from the player screen to the blue TV screen. I have unplugged it overnite, and it only sometimes resets it, but when it does it only plays one movie and when you try to exchange to another one, back to square one, the flashing starts as it is NOT reading again.

I have taken the cover off, cleaned the lense, as well as bought a decent lense cleaning disk. Everything inside appears fine. Nothing seems to be hot, but I still tried the fan method anyway. I can see the laser beam and mechanism moving back and forth trying to read the disk, but still it does not work. After reading everyone elses reviews, it seems senseless to call Panasonic for them to hang up on me or have me box it up and ship it back to them for an estimate.

Is there any way I can hook one of our other 3 DVD players in the house (that all work fine with the same discs I have tried) into this receiver and still get the great sound & picture I had before it stopped reading? It works just fine with our Mitsubishi 60" TV and my Dell Jukebox for music, I'm just not sure how I would connect it, if at all even possible. My husband has now banned me buying any more electronics and is ready to throw this thing off the Skyway Bridge! Many thanks to everyone for all the info in this forum!!!
 

chris weekly
Unregistered guest
if everyone would read through this post i think all realize theres a big problem with dvds.i have never had 1 that ran perfect and i believe they are not meant to.when they 1st. came out they bragged you could play one with a small crack in it but now you cant play one with a fingerprint on it.my black sabbath record collection plays better than my dvd collection.hopefully tommorows innovation will be better.with time comes cheaper materials and craftmanship.
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1341
Registered: Jul-04
Stay away from cheap garbage players. You people pay $30 for a player and expect it to perform like an $80 player, it's not going to happen. I've got a 1999 Panasonic that always works fine and always has. I've got two 1 year old JVCs that plays flawlessly every time. Buy a better player next time.
 

DVDjockey
Unregistered guest
Mr Massey,
My player is a high end Zenith that was well over $100. If you truly read through these posts you would see that my player is not as good as some of the other high end devices some have. It is not a player issue, although some can handle the copy protection better than others. Removing the copy protection can make a $30 player preform like a dvd player should.
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1343
Registered: Jul-04
Zenith is LG, far from high end. Buy a better player next time. Copy protection has nothing to do with DVDs skipping.
 

DVDjockey
Unregistered guest
Why then does removing the protection and bunring to a DVDR correct the problem every time?
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1344
Registered: Jul-04
Obviously the player likes DVD-R discs better than pressed discs. While you may think you bought a high end player, you bought it from a low end company. Korean electronics aren't as good as Japanese, they never were, they probably never will be. I've used a minimum of half a dozen DVD players and half a dozen DVD recorders, I've never had any skipping problems, ever, but I don't buy Chinese or Korean electronics, they are inferior to Japanese, period. Again, buy a better player.
 

Kisa
Unregistered guest
This is infuriating. I bought a cheap new DVD player and experienced the same things all of you have for the first time. The older and more expensive DVD player I have works great. I'm going to take it back and buy a more expensive one. I can understand that the cheap players don't last as long, but they shouldn't have problems playing the actual DVDs. It seems that nothing works I'm so angry about this I feel like screaming.
 

Mak
Unregistered guest
There is actually a class action against Pioneer that says that their DVD Players are not compatible with the DVD Video standard, and that this is the reason why they can't play all DVD discs. www.pioneerdvdclassaction.com

 

kwasiada
Unregistered guest
Thanx peeps.
Man this is some frustrating piece of technology.
Move the dvd player to a cooler spot with decent air circulation.
Keep machine cool with an internal/external fan.
Clean the lens, and the rubber disc above it.
Adjust/tighten the laser.
Clean all media prior to playback.
Or, (according to D. Massey) sell your shirt and go into debt in order to satisfy the manufacturer with the most expensive player.
People either one of the above methods works 1st time or its VHS for me.
Peace
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1377
Registered: Jul-04
Yea, I sold my shirt to get the 2 players on e-bay for $20.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Urlacher

Post Number: 65
Registered: Apr-04
has anyone had a similar skipping problem with the new Oppo digital machine?
 

New member
Username: Makanmata

Post Number: 1
Registered: Aug-05
There is probably nothing wrong with these discs. This is a widespread problem within the DVD Player industry, and is caused by incompatabilities contained in the players with the DVD Video Specification. The incompatability causes freezing, skipping, lip synch issues, and all sorts of other problems. If the disc will play correctly in another machine, you know it is the machine, and not the disc.

There is currently a class action against Pioneer regarding this defect, and if you have one of their players, you should look at www.pioneerdvdclassaction.com

 

New member
Username: Poundcake

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jul-05
Well I have had problems with cyberhome,Panasonic,RCA and an occasional glitch with my Onkyo But My Pioneer DVR810H has worked perfectly since I bought 2 years ago, Seems to me manufacturers like Panasonic need a class action Lawsuit with the garbage they sell(now they want $70 to send me a reconditioned replacement for my unit that was on warranty).
Panasonic SUCKS and not just a little.
 

Gold Member
Username: Samijubal

Post Number: 1413
Registered: Jul-04
Since they went to DC brush spindle motors they do. I've got a 6 year old second generation Panasonic that still works fine. The 7 year old first generation Panasonic I sent my sister still works fine. Both have direct drive spindle motors. I wouldn't touch any player with a DC brush spindle motor, no matter how cheap it was.
 

Anonymous
 
DVD players are extremely fragile. I have a GO DVD-VCR combo player that worked great for 2 years until I moved it to movable cart. Now, some DVDs pause and skip. Cleaning the DVD laser-head is NOT a solution!!! Companies expect people to believe that they should purchase DVD laser-head cleaning disks the way they purchased VCR head-cleaning tapes, which did make sense.

The best thing to do with a DVD player is purchase an extended warranty. I purchased a 4 year extended warranty for $59.00 on a Toshiba 20" flat screen TV/DVD combo. When my DVD player quit working after 3 years, I used only the TV for the next year because I forgot how long my warranty was good for. Then I received a renewal notice for my extended warranty.

Two weeks before the extended warranty expired, I took the TV/DVD combo back to the store. After checking it out, they decided it was too costly to repair and gave me a new, current model, Toshiba 20" flat screen TV/DVD combo unit at no cost. And, yes, I purchased another 4 year extended warranty for $59.00.

With certain electonic equipment, it is only wise to purchase an extended warranty. I would never buy it for just a TV, or just a VCR, or just a regular computer, or a Microwave Oven, etc. However, with a DVD player, a Notebook computer, and certain other fragile electronic units, I would never purchase the item without a reasonable extended warranty that replaces the item if it fails.
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