Help, 4 y/o DVD player "SHOT" ? (1 Viewer)

[Trace Downing]

I have a Panasonic DVDa-100 that I bought in '97. It was a good workhorse for a couple of years, 'til I upgraded to a 5 discer. The a-100 got moved to my bedroom. This evening, it froze on me.
I put a disc in, and it just froze on a picture about 1 minute into the movie. No amount of button pushing could get me to anywhere else. So I removed the disc, checked to see if any dirt/scratches were on it, nothing. The image was still frozen on the screen, even with the disc out. So, I put it back in, and it read "no disc". I tried another 2 discs, and it didn't detect either of those as well, just "no disc".

So, what happened? Laser burnt out? Is it worth fixing, or just buy a replacement? Anything like this happen to anyone else? 4 years seems like an awfuuly short lifespan for any piece of electronic equipment.

 

[Kevin P]

Optical pickup failures were a common occurrence on early Panasonic players. You were lucky to get 4 years out of yours, many only lasted a year or two (the A110 and A310 were notorious for this).
It'll likely be cheaper (and certainly less hassle) to buy a new player than trying to get it fixed.
KJP

 

[Steven Simon]

Trace,
If you replace your player, I highly reccomend the Panasonic RP-91..... Do you have a 16:9 display??
------------------
Thanks,
Steven R. Simon
HTF Administrator
Theater Pics Updated 6-11-2001
Send Email: [email protected]

 

[Trace Downing]

Yes.
Does the RP-91 have that feature that does the squeeze trick on non-16X9 material, so I can actually use these component cables I bought 2 years ago?

 

[Trace Downing]

OK Steve!
I just bought an RP91D-K (black) and am about to hook it up. Boy, a lot of threads about this player! It should be great! Thanks for the recommendation, I was thinking about a NUON player, but I think I'll be happier with this.
It wasn't even on the shelf at SoundTrack, they had the JVC prog player there, but considering the threads on the RP91, I just felt like going to the counter to ask. They had 7. They just never got around to putting one on display!
$700 minus 10% for XMas in July sale. So $630...only abut $100 more than my broken one costed 4 years ago, and it was a basic model.
So now my C-220 goes in the bedroom with the other hand-me-downs.
------------------
"EEEEW! This must be what evil tastes like!"