DVD player which plays damaged DVDs very well (1 Viewer)

[harana]

I am in the market for a DVD player. My collection of DVD movies is getting a bit old and a bit scratched up. So I need a player which plays most (all will be even better) damaged DVDs without freezing or other artifacts. My price rang is below $400. I have heard a lot of good talk about Apex machines ability to play damaged DVD but not sure about their quality of the video output.

I am not partial to any brand just looking for a unit which is most forgiving to all kind of damage to DVD disks. Best Regarrds.

 

[harana]

Guys,

I have not received any response yet. I had high hopes from this forum especially from the senior members to give a few good tips.
May be it was just due to the Thanksgiving holiday. So today I should get some good advice. Best regards,

Haseeb

 

[Brian Lawrence]

I just got a Panasonic RP-82 ($230) that seems to be working quite well on scratched up rental discs. Plus it may be the best dvd player available for under $400.

I also have an older APEX and it playes almost any damn thing I put in it, but the picture quality is not very good and I would probably avoid Apex.

 

[harana]

Brian,

I will look into a Panny RP-82 but most of my local stores like Goodguys and Circuitcity don't have it in stock.

I am a bit puzzled from the lack of comments on DVD players ability to handle damaged DVDs.

Is it due to the fact no one before me brought this issue up, or manufactures out there are not interested in making their equipment more fault tolerant so people keep on replacing their DVD disks and DVD players????

Any comments?

Haseeb

 

[JimmyK]

I've had good luck with Pioneer CD and DVD players handling scratched discs. Unfortunately, most reviews don't post such specs, so it's hard to know which players are better at this.

I saw an ad in the paper the other day for a DVD player at Radio Shack that advertised it will play scratched and warped DVDs. I don't remember the model though.

I would also suggest that you take your worst scratched DVD to the store with you and try out different players to see which handles it best.

JimmyK

 

[Jack Briggs]

This topic gets brought up across the boards, Haseeb. Some players read and play scratched discs better than others. Another question might be, Why are you letting your own discs become so scratched? Handle them with care. (I have thirty-five-year-old vinyl LPs that still look and sound as pristeen as they did upon purchase. And I never lend out my DVDs.)

 

[Reginald Trent]

The GoVideo DVD player made by SonicBlue and sold by Radioshack is advertisted as being able to play warped and damaged DVDs. I believe it is selling for around 68.00 after rebate.

 

[Tom Moran]

Maybe it is worth pointing out how it is that one DVD player might be better than another at playing damaged discs.

All optical disc players have a tolerance for what is called "block error rate" which is best translated into layman's terms as "how many errors can there be while still being a playable disc". Tolerance for block error rate is part of the CD and DVD specifications which means that any player that meets the DVD spec will have some tolerance for disc damage (I believe it is a imperfection no more than 2mm in size but I'm going from memory so I'm not positive) any anything beyond that is as they say, gravy.

If you are looking for player with a better ability to play damaged discs you are essentially looking for one with a higher block error rate tolerance. This is not normally a published spec but if you contact manufacturers via email you might be able to get this spec from them so you have an objective way of measuring which one is best suited to your needs. If they claim better performance they should be willing to tell you how much better, right?

It is also worth noting that new CD's and DVD's have to meet this same spec for errors and yes, discs do come off the production line with some errors so letting discs become scratched up only reduces the chances that any player will play them.


Tom

 

[KeithH]

Haseeb, although I can't speak for current models, you might want to check out DVD players by Onkyo. A couple of years ago, a salesman at a local shop did an interesting demo for me using a trashed copy of the Space Jam DVD. He played the disc in a Sony player first. To be blunt, this player choked on the disc. At first, the picture was very badly pixelated, and then it skipped randomly from chapter to chapter. Then, the player froze at one point of the disc, and I had had quite enough. The salesman then played the disc in the Onkyo player, and you would have thought the disc was brand new. The difference was amazing. I should note that the salesman played a relatively clean DVD in the Sony player to demonstrate that it was not a defective unit. This demo has always stuck with me. Ironically, I have a two-year-old Sony player that offers loads of features. It has never given me a problem, as I rarely rent DVDs, and I treat my DVD with extreme care.

 

[Luke_Y]

Keith, I had a similar demo of a Denon CD player once. The salesman put a fairly large piece of black electrical tape on the side of the CD that is read and stuck it in several players that choked on it. He then put it in the Denon player and it played flawlessly.
Anyway, I don't let my DVD collection get scratched up, but if you rent allot I can see why a player that handles bad discs is important. I get pulled into movies pretty deep. Don't like interruptions, and get extremely frustrated if a rental disc locks up, skips or just goes all to hell halfway through a movie. Ruins it for me!
Haseeb, I am afraid I can't tell you what player handles them well, as my older Panasonic frustrates me with rentals fairly often. :frowning:

 

[harana]

Wow! I got a whole bunch of feedback on this topic and appreciate it very much.

Yes, I must admit I have hard time saying no and when "friends" return my DVDs they are usually ruined. I am sure they play them like frisbees. May be I can muster up the courage to tell them NO from now on.

I will check out the recommended DVD players and will take a couple of my worst damaged DVDs with me to test.

I was just wondering why wouldn't manufacturers publish the spec called "Tolerance for block error rate" (ability to handle scratched and damaged DVDs) if most of the consumers push for it?

From the demos mentioned above it seems like this spec is not impossible to meet if they want to. How do you lobby for something like that? Does anyone know?

Best regards,

Haseeb

 

[Jack Briggs]

You'll learn just how many true friends you have when you finally start refusing their requests to borrow your discs. You're not a free lending library, Haseeb! You purchased those discs with your own hard-earned money, and so why should your "friends" get a free ride—and return your discs scratched and smudged? "Just say no." And good luck.

 

[KeithH]

Haseeb, you absolutely have to stop lending out DVDs to your friends. That's a considerable investment that they have wasted for you. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who have no respect for other people's belongings. Over the years, I have known a lot of people who leave CDs out of jewel cases on the floor or wherever. These people could not understand why I would not lend them my CDs. :rolleyes

 

[Reginald Trent]

I think the problem lies in who and how you lend your DVDs to, not simply in the lending of them. I'd suggest you mention and show the shiny side of the DVD as being free of fingerprints,scratches and blemishes. Tell them that is how IT MUST/SHOULD look upon its return. Inspect it in front of them upon its return, then it if looks bad you'll have visual confirmation and justification for not loaning them anymore DVDs.
It would be hard for them to argue about that, especially since you showed and warned them in advance.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Even my 9 yearn old daughter knows how to handle DVDs without damaging them. What I fail to understand is why some adults are such idiots that they cannot (or will not) figure it out. If you ask me people who mistreat DVDs ought to receive public lashings. lol just kidding.
PS: The RP82 and also most of the $500 plus Sony players are really good with damaged discs.
Sanjay

 

[Darko]

Actually, Sanjay, that lashing thing might be a good idea ,
In order to make this hobby a wee bit more affordable, I sometimes look at getting a previously viewed disc from the video store(esp kids movies). It amazes me how bad some of these discs look , I mean, what the h*ll were some of these people doing with these discs???. You wouldn't believe the condition of some discs, and thats only 1-2 weeks after release! I have 4 yr old DVD's that look immaculate.
>

 

[Ben Jordan]

I buy a lot of my DVDs and CDs from a local store called Manifest Discs & Tapes (www.manifestdisc.com), which has a lot of used stuff.
Amazingly enough, they have very high quality control, and every CD and DVD I've purchased there (dozens) have been scratch free, and look great! Only sometimes the cases are scratched. They even have a good selection of DVD-Audio, but no SACDs yet.

 

[Ken_VW]

Just for what it's worth, I just purchased a panasonic model# DVD CP67S. It was highly recomended by the salesman at HH Gregg for this very reason, playing DVD's well, even rented ones, etc.(I don't know how much he knows, but he knew more than I did as a necomber to HT)
I did find several very good reviews on the single drawer version of this unit.(DVD RP62S) I have only used it about 2 weeks so far, but I am pleased so far.
Oh yea, it is well under 200 dollars PLUS a 30.00 mail in rebate.
Note: HH Gregg will deal even more! They had their Onkyo system priced 50.00 less than Circuit City (their own in-store 50.00 rebate) plus they took additional off as well on the Onkyo and the Panasonic unit.

Ken

 

[harana]

Based on recommendations in this forum and my personal good opinion of Panny products in general I bought the Panasonic RP-82 DVD player last night. This was the last unit in a pile of RP-62 and many other Panasonic units at local Fry's store. I bought ($229 + tax) it without trying it because they have a 30 day return policy.

I have tried many of my scratched DVDs on it and Panny has played them without a hitch. I still need to check a few more DVDs on it before I declare it a "Scratch hardened" DVD player. May be we should have this scratch hardness rating as a part of all future DVD player tests????