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

[John H Ross]

Add me to the list of people that's p*d off with Universal. Problems with Knight Rider S1, The A-Team S2. So far Columbo S3 is behaving itself.

What worries me is the fact that even if these discs play okay now, they may be ticking bombs just waiting to go off and may not play properly in 3 or 4 years.

This puts into question ALL of Universal sets. The DVD-18 system. Hell the whole DVD glue thing. The fact that HD is supposed to contain MORE layers fills me with dread.

I'm slowly starting to explore R2 television boxes from Universal. I'm trying to find out if the old Universal logos are intact, etc.

Failing that, well I'll just save myself a whole lot of cash!

JR

 

[RickER]

Sometimes its not even an issue with playback. Gord, please ask Universal why i should buy NEW discs (that are always double sided) with finger prints, scratches, and glue all over the disc. I have had trouble with Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Columbo, 3 sets of Northern Exposure (and the price for Vol. 1 and 2 was rape!),and Adam 12, and thats just to name a few. If you see a glob of glue on the disc you can bet it wont work on any player. They just do sloppy work compared to most studios. They also act like they don't care.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Rick, I don't have an answer for that one; I've never experienced that on any of my sets. I guess that's more of a question for the replication facility, since no one at Universal would actually handle the discs.

Gord

 

[RickER]

Next week, Battlestar Galactica comes out. May the lords of Kobol watch over this set, and deliver it in safe hands. From what i hear it should be a good set, but lacking some of the extras from the mini series disc. I will buy it because it will have LABELS! Baby steps from Universal, but a start.

 

[Mike Selis]

I went through two copies of Knight Rider S1 until I got one that was good, and had the same problems with A-Team, and a few other DVDs. My computer DVD drives seem to be more tolerant with the DVDs, and the problem discs often are no longer problematic when played in a DVD drive. I have found that the most common issue with these double sided dual layer dvds is that they get fingerprints way too often, which is causing many of the problems. But there is also an issue with the production of the DVDs because this problem seems to only affect certain distributors.

 

[John H Ross]

Yes, scratches... scuffs... fingerprints... a common problem with both Universal AND Paramount. The only difference is that Paramount discs seems to play ok regardless of the surface mess.

OT: I've given up trying to get an un-scuffed copy of ST: Insurrection. Oh well...

Region "1" indeed...

 

[Mary_P]

I too am now wary of buying further titles from Universal. I won't say I'll "never" buy anything from them ever again because they'd turn around and release "Alias Smith & Jones" and I'd just have to go back on my word....

I haven’t had issues with the DVD-18s yet although on general principle I hate double-sided discs for the scuffing/scratching issues mentioned in other posts. My problem with Universal is their rush to release titles which results in them being released incorrectly.

“The schedule” has been blamed directly in the past year for the horrible music replacements in post-S1 “Quantum Leap” and “Northern Exposure” sets and more recently for the “House” widescreen/anamorphic mess. After being burned by QL S2, I’ve given up buying further sets of either QL or NX (both of which were in my top-ten most wanted), and won’t buy other Universal sets until they’ve been vetted by the fans. At least then I can decide whether the problem is serious enough for my particular usage to keep me from buying it. I did buy “House,” as it’s my favorite show of this past season and all my TVs are 4:3, but I will be one VERY unhappy camper if I wind up having to buy widescreen the next time I replace a TV, knowing that "House" won’t display correctly on it.

There’s a lot of stuff in the Universal vaults that I want and would buy in a heartbeat, but it pains me that I may have to take a pass on a lot of it if the problems with them are too serious. As it is, if there are multiple releases that I want coming out the same week, I’m much more likely to back-burner the Universal product in favor of a studio that by and large is taking the care to do it right or at least "putting right what once went wrong." (Wait.... I've heard that somewhere before....)

Mary
new to HTF, though I've been reading you guys for ages!

 

[Bryan^H]

I returned my Hammer Horror set yesterday, and since I was unable to get my money back,(even exchange only) I went to pick out a new set. When I got to the horror section, I noticed there were about 12 copies of the title to choose from. I felt like I was playing a game of Russian Roulette, but I grabbed a copy brought it home, and went to the trouble spot on Evil of Frankenstein. It played perfectly. I am happy I got a good set, but I am still very cautious when it comes to Universal. Kolchack the Nightstalker will be released in October, and normally I would pick it up on the release date, but I'm not going to. It saddens me to miss out on this awesome show, but until there is confirmation that all problems with dvd-18s are fixed, I'm not going near another Universal set.
Through this experience I learned one thing. The problem is definately on the discs, and not the player. If the dvd-18's only play on half of all dvd players, then they should be recalled, and the problem should be remedied.

 

[MattHR]

Welcome aboard, Mary! Female "HTF'ers " are a rare breed, so it's nice to hear from you.

(That's assuming your name correctly implies your gender!)

P.S.: I'd also like to see "Alias Smith & Jones" released on DVD.

 

[florence franks]

I have problems with Columbo's, Knight Rider and One episode of Dukes of Hazzard so far. I really wish they issued replacements at least for columbo :frowning:

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Bryan^H, there is no guarantee that the trouble spot on one disc will be the trouble spot on another if it is a manufacturing defect. Without playing through the whole set, you can't know for sure.

Welcome Mary. I'd be up for Alias Smith & Jones as well.

 

[RickER]

Hey Gord thanks for the reply. Glad you have not had the problem with Universal i have. But anymore this is what i look for on a Universal box. If it says Universal, double sided, dual layer, and made somewhere else. I can promise it will have issues. I know Universal doesn't touch the discs. But i think the workers don't wash hands after lunch when they hand collate the things. Or maybe they eat while working? Anyway i still blame Universal for picking the cheapest company they can to make the things.








Mild ethnic slur removed by moderator - Cees

 

[Tom_mkfty]

Are the Universal Monster sets double sided?

I am refering to the Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Invisible Man,
Mummy, and Creature set.

I plan to buy them.

Any other comments on these?

 

[MattHR]

I have all six sets. All, except Creature, contain one double-sided and one single-sided disc. Creature has two single-sided discs, since there are only three films in the series.

I have only watched a few of them, but have spot-checked all six sets. I haven't come across any problems...yet.

 

[John H Ross]

I just bought the R2 (Uk) edition of Knight Rider S2. Lovely set. 6 discs. Single sided. No teasers unfortunately but Universal logos intact. I'll start watching ASAP and will report back .

 

[Mary_P]

Thanks for the welcome, guys! Yes, this is not a "Boy named Sue" situation -- you've got the gender right. I guess I've been reading the threads more than the attributions so didn't really notice how heavily male the HTF group is -- not that there's anything wrong with that...! I've enjoyed reading your posts and all the good information contained therein.

Good to know that others are also interested in seeing a release of "Alias Smith & Jones." If you're interested in the show, you may want to know about a couple of things: the Westerns Channel is currently showing it and just started over with the first season this week. The prints are gorgeous and Westerns runs them uncut and commercial-free. I'd still love to get a commercially produced DVD set, but this will definitely hold me for now. And getting slightly back on-topic, I hope Universal doesn't mess it up too badly whenever they get around to releasing it....

Also, there's a new book out called "Alias Smith & Jones: The Story of Two Pretty Good Bad Men" by Sandra K. Sagala and JoAnne M. Bagwell. It's an incredibly detailed history of the show; the authors interviewed so many people who were directly connected with the show, folks like Ben Murphy and Roger Davis, Roy Huggins, Jo Swerling, Glen Larson, et al. I've only just started reading it, but so far I'm really enjoying it.

 

[jim_falconer]

My Adam 12 disc freezed up during 2 of the 26 shows. I was thinking of bringing it back, but I figure I might have worst luck with the next set...so I'll just live with it.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

I don't usually worry about buying DVD sets, but this fall I have big worries, as I have already ordered Season 1 of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Season 2 of The Munsters, Season 1 of Leave It To Beaver, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and The Best Of Abbott and Costello Vol. 4...ALL are Double-sided Universal releases. I'd say the odds of getting all those discs without any errors on them will be about 17 million to 1...Like winning the lottery.

 

[Glenn Curtis]

I have loads of Universal sets (Quantum Leap, Sliders, Law and Order, Murder She Wrote, Columbo, McMillan and Wife, McCloud etc).

Generally they have been OK but two recent ones Murder She Wrote disc 1 side B, the last episode just stops 3/4 way through. I tried it in a different machine and the only difference is that the DVD displayed an error before crashing out.

What is annoying is that as I am in the UK and have imported the discs, it is not worth the expense of returning them.

McCloud (can't remember which disc), the episode just stopped and pixelated and the eventually continued.

The only discs I have ever had a problem with have been Universal ones which is worrying.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

I suggest to everyone who orders these Universal sets to try and order them from amazon.com because they have a pretty liberal return policy. I once returned 5 separate boxes of the same set (I believe it was The Best Abbott & Costello volume 2) before finally getting a set that worked. They asked no questions. Maybe if they see enough people complaining for returns, they may report the problem to Universal who'll look into the disk manufacturing's quality control, and maybe the problem will eventually get fixed.