I Will Never Buy Another Dvd Set From Universal (1 Viewer)

[RickER]

Yea, i know at some point they use glue in that DVD sandwich. On one of my Northern Exposure sets i had to return it because the glue had run out of the outer edge, and onto the playing surface. The outer rim was kind of lumpy and sticky. Since it came in a double Amery case i know it didn't come from the package. But i also notice they dont use that white inner ring like they did on older titles, like T2, or The Fog...i think. The only thing i know for FACT about the DVD-18s is they suck.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I stopped buying Universal titles on DVD-18 a long time ago due to this issue. I'm somewhat happy that more people are finding the problem now, so that maybe it will get more attention. I'm not happy that other people are having problems, but it's finally showing itself to be more than a minor problem as others have argued.

To date, I have passed on at least $500 worth of titles that I would have otherwise purchased, but apparently Universal doesn't care.

I've passed on:
Casino
All Abbott & Costello sets
The Monster Legacy Sets
The Bela Lugosi Set
Emergency Season 1
Munsters Season 1 & Season 2
...and I'll be passing on Hithcock S1, which I desperately want.

I'm sure there are others that have slipped my mind. I don't like DVD-18, but if they're going to release them, I'm OK with that as long as they have a decent quality control program.

As I have argued in countless threads, these titles may take me in excess of a year before I get through all of the contents, and what am I supposed to do when disc 4 or 5 has a problem? I'm screwed, that's what.

Well, I am a sucker no more!

 

[Dave Mack]

My experience EXACTLY, Eric! I have plenty of discs that I haven't watched all of yet. But with the track record of these, you're just asking for it.

I would LOVE to have all of the A+C sets but after being burned once...
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.."

d

 

[ElijahS]

Do what I do if you can't actually WATCH every disc - put them in the DVD player, and at the very least listen for any repeating lines or screwups in sound. That might at least take care of some problems.

 

[Katherine_K]

I don't like DVD18s, but I have never had a problem with them and thus they aren't themselves enough for me to boycott the studeo. I understand some sets have had music replacement, but none of the ones I've bought or wanted have.

In fact, Universal in my experiance (limted to the 10 sets I've bought from them) present the uncut episodes. Would I like them to improve? Yes. I wish they'd release series shot in widescreen in widescreen, though in the case of the shows I have bought this is still not a killer because I know the shows were composed for full frame. I wish they'd get some episode commentaries. I would have loved to hear Dick Wolf or someone similar talking about Life Choice, an episode NBC refused to run in reruns. Most of all though I wish Universal would release Law and Order at a faster clip. Eight months between releases of the mother show when they have ten unreleased seasons? Still no word on CI's second season even though that's all it needs to fill the gap?

 

[Brian Himes]

I am totally sick of Universal and there double sided discs. They just suck. I too, went through 3 Buck Rogers sets bofore I got one that would play correctly. I was totally sick of watching that Gary Coleman episode I could have screamed (and in every set that was where the problem occured). Thank God, my Quincy set has been problem free.

Now, to address the ticking timb bomb issue, that has also happened to me. When I first bought Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Epic Series, it played just fine. Every episode was glitch free. Two years or so later, I rewatched the pilot episode, and wham, it started freezing up in the middle of the episode. I finally just gave up and let the DVD player just skip to the next problem free chapter.

Universal isn't the only company that has had problems with these double sided discs. I went through three sets of V: The Complete Series before I finally got a set that would play. I wish Warner would reissue the set on sigle sided discs.

Universal really needs to stop this practice. I'm sick of going through set after set just to get one that works.

 

[John H Ross]

UH-OH. It's starting to happen as I feared. I, too, have this R1 Galactica set and I'm mightily worried about watching it again. I have a chance to get the R2 version at a discounted price right now so I might pick it up just in case.

As I've stated before, I really miss those "episode summary" screens and pre-episode teasers on the UK editions, but hey - beggers can't be choosers!

John

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

It's possible that these DVDs start delaminating when they're first pulled loose from those grip-of-death Digipak spindles. The bending of the discs could start the delamination process, and from then on, it was only a matter of time...

On the other hand, I've experienced skipping of the preview of the "Take the Celestra" episode on Galactica Disc 6, found a very small smudge on the disc, rubbed the smudge away, and the skipping was gone. Perhaps the propensity of these discs to become smudged has something to do with the problems, as well...

 

[Todd B]

I also experienced problems with the Columbo 3 disc (just 10 minutes from the end of the episode I was watching ).

I'm glad I ordered from Amazon. A quick phone call and a replacement is in the mail. I guess I'll have to run through every disc ASAP to make sure they all play correctly.

 

[Scott-S]

I notice a lot of people mentioning that we should quickly watch the entire sets when we first get them home.

I am sorry, but I am not Quality Control for Universal. It shouldn't have to be a gamble to buy their products.

One thing to think about with Amazon... They take back returns, but I wonder how many returned sets are re-shrink wrapped and re-sold? If they cant see anything wrong, they probably think there is nothing wrong, and restock it.

 

[TravisR]

There's no way that Amazon (or any 'big' company) would ever do that. They just send it back to Universal and get credit for the set so there's no reason in the world why they would risk the consequences of doing that.

 

[Jeff Willis]

I have also had a few problems with Uni sets but they hold the rights to many of my "want" series' so it's hard to give up on buying Uni's sets. I also buy almost exclusively from Amazon for the same reasons mentioned here. They accepted an "Earth 2" return after the 30-day time period had expired. As long as they (or other online retailers) accept returns for an exchange, regardless of the time period, that's enough for me to buy Uni's sets. However, I'd love it if another studio owned the rights to Uni's older series

 

[DanMel]

I always use a computer program to scan for errors on every new set I buy. A list comes up at the end stating if there were any errors detected. In this way using 2 DVD drives at the same time, I can go through an entire season checking for errors in a about an hours time and do not have to wait until several months down the road when I actually watch the show.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Sounds like a handy program. What's it called?

Chris

 

[DanMel]

There are many programs on the market but I use Nero that you can do a surface scan of the disk and also file test.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Oh, cool. A handy program, and I already have it. Thanks.

Chris

 

[Jeff Swindoll]

What kind of errors are found and do those errors actually translate into the freezing skipping problems that are currently being experienced?? When an error is found, do you then watch the disc and see if problems develop? Do all versions of Nero have this, mine is an older version but not sure which version/build.

Cheers.

 

[Todd B]

I'm also interested in this. My experience is that I may have skipping/freezing problems on one player but not another. Typically, the one player that does NOT have problems is my PC. Will a DVD scanner catch an error that would cause my DVD player to skip/freeze but not by PC?

I certainly hope this proves true. It would be an excellent way to ensure that season sets are good while there is still time to do something about it.

Todd

 

[GarySchrock]

Hmm, I haven't had a chance to throw my las vegas discs in the player, but I definitely have a bad feeling about the one disc. The third disc, the one side almost looks like it has a texture to it. Never seen that on any other discs, and I can't imagine that's a good sign.

 

[TravisR]

That's exactly the same thing that happened to my copy of Dragnet: Season One (the one problem I've had with a DVD-18). I'd watch the disc sooner rather than later.