Sony DVP-S360 problem (1 Viewer)

[James_M]

I've owned this for about 5-6 months and it worked fine in the beginning, but now, its been having trouble reading discs. It doesn't matter what disc I put in, when I put a disc in, it just makes this reading sound (like *schhh...chhhh* *schhhhh...chhh* over and over) for a while and then it says no disc. Sometimes it gives me the c 13:00 message. All the discs I put in are scratchless, pristine.
I read in the manual that condensation sometimes forms on the sensors. The manual suggests leaving the player on for 30m. When I do that sometimes it does work but other times it doesn't. I've even had some instances where its reading the disc, i'm watching the movie (at least half an hour into it) and then without warning the image freezes, no audio, and the counter keeps ticking. Then, after fiddling with the forward/reverse button and turning it off, I power it off and up again, watch, and the same thing happens until the next couple times I power it up after it keeps freezing, it doesn't read the disc anymore.
Another time, I was just idle in the menu of a dvd and the player goes to the player background and can't read the disc anymore. I suspect its more than just the condensation. What do you guys think? But if it is, how can I guard against condensation? Can't I just wipe the sensor with like a cotton swap or something?

 

[James_M]

Anyone have an idea what a dvd repair person would tell me?

 

[Ken Seeber]

Yes, a repair person will tell you that your player needs to be fixed!

The display reading c 13:00 or whatever is an error code. A Sony service technician will know what it means. It's not going to be something as simple as a dirty lens or anything else you can fix yourself.
Because your player is still in warranty, just take it to a Sony Service Center. If I were you, I'd contact Sony's main phone number only to find where the closest center to you is. Then contact the center to arrange for how to get the player there. My experience is that the local folks are much easier to deal with. If it's reasonably close to you, I'd just take the player there in person and drop it off.
It's also been my experience that Sony is very fast. I had to have work done on a DVD player once and it took less than a week to get it back.

 

[Stacey_V]

James...
It may be that your Sony has lost the ability to read discs because of a calibration issue. Follow this link which tells you how to recalibrate. This may help to fix the problem.
Link Removed

 

[Ken Seeber]

Be aware that if you enter the service mode and attempt to calibrate the DVD player on your own, it will most certainly void your warranty. If you do so and the calibration doesn't help, you'll probably end up paying for any repair your player needs.
Your player is under warranty. Take it to a service center and get it fixed at Sony's expense.

 

[James_M]

Well, the warranty was only 90 days. So it already expired. How would they figure out I did it anyway? Anyway, I did recalibrated it and it still does the same thing. I guess i'll have to stick to the 30 min "warm up" method.

 

[Ted Lee]

well...since your warranty has already expired, there's a couple of things you could do (if you're feeling up to it).
1. open it up and take a look inside. check the laser and see if it looks dirty. if it does, i'd put it back together and use some cd-lens cleaning product. i WOULD NOT touch the lens in any way. REPEAT - DO NOT TOUCH THE LENS!
2. make sure everything else looks fine. ensure that the transport is closing all the way, that there's nothing obvious that you can see that could be causing the problems.
otherwise, (and i hate to say it) i guess you're going to have to bite the bullet and pay someone to repair it.
good luck...

 

[Ken Seeber]

Well, the warranty was only 90 days. So it already expired. How would they figure out I did it anyway? Anyway, I did recalibrated it and it still does the same thing. I guess i'll have to stick to the 30 min "warm up" method.

Actually your player has a one year warranty on parts, 90 days on labor, so at least part of your repair will be covered. If you need a new laser pick-up, the majority of your repair will be covered. At least it would have been had you not entered the service mode.
The player's memory holds a history of the player, including any use of the service menu (it can also tell how many hours the laser has been used, etc.). A service technician would see that the service menu had been accessed, but there would be no record of a warranty repair done to the player when they check its serial number.

 

[Rob Dawn]

James,
My 360 recently began having the exact same problems and finally gave up last night - no matter what disc (DVD or CD) I put in it, it just says "No Disc".

What did you end up doing to fix yours?
Or did you replace it?
Thanks for your help,
Rob

 

[Rob Dawn]

Bump up.

 

[Craig W]

I am curious about how much use your machines saw before the problems occurred. I have the same unit which was a replacement for the Sony DVPS3000 (still regret selling it, but it didn't do dts). The 3000 saw a lot of use back when DVD was a relatively new format, but the 360 has not had a lot of use. I have owned the 360 for about a year. I guess I spin a movie or two per week and a CD about once every month.

 

[Mark Tomlin]

I bought my 360 back in January/February so based on this thread it is inevitable I will be replacing this model in the next six moths or so. Thankfully, I only paid about $ 140 at Best Buy but it should last longer than a year or so. I'm suprised Sony would build something that is obviously a lemon. So far, mine has been working like a champ (knock on wood) but time to start researching progressive scan DVD players.
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[Rob Dawn]

I just checked my Netflix history and I've watched 92 DVDs of theirs since I bought the player 14 months ago. I've probably watched another 50 of my own movies and ones I've borrowed from coworkers. CDs are used a few times a month.
That's a pretty fair amount of use but I abuse my VCRs much worse (constantly taping and watching shows at a later time) than this and they usually last 3-5 years.
I've always had all Sony components & TVs, but I can't imagine ever buying another Sony DVD player! (Looks like Pioneer 343 to replace this piece of *&^%.)
Rob

 

[John Cavacas]

Ok, now I'm worried as well. Just a few days ago, I was checking audioreview.com and noticed some new reviews on this DVD player. So I check it out. Well turns out that a LOT of people are having this same exact problem. My player hasn't showed any problems.. yet. Hopefully it will stay that way. Then again, if it does start to act up, it could be the excuse I need to upgrade

 

[LawrenceZ]

I had a similar problem on my now 2 year old c550. Occasionally the player wouldn't read a disc and sometimes reported a c13:00 error. The way I got around it was playing an audio CD for a couple of seconds and then trying the DVD again. It always worked, I have no idea why. It's been a while since I've had to do that, at least six months, and I watch probably five or six movies a week on it so hopefully the problem has 'worked it self out'.

 

[Ken Seeber]

I've always had all Sony components & TVs, but I can't imagine ever buying another Sony DVD player! (Looks like Pioneer 343 to replace this piece of *&^%.)

Don't let one bad experience put you off of Sony DVD players altogether. If you think other companies don't occassionally have problems, you're mistaken.
One of the reasons I'm afraid to go with a brand other than Sony is the number of posts I see around here from people who have problems getting some discs to play. My Sony DVD player has played every disc I've put in it flawlessly, even DVDs that give some brands and models fits.

 

[GregoriusM]

Same with me. I've had my 360 for about a year, with an average of 3- - 4 movies a week, and it has not burped on ANY disks. None of the problem ones. Not one disk.
I have about 20 of my own DVD disks, so obviously the majority of the disks I've played have been rentals, with scratches, smudges, etc. I do, however, always clean any rentals that have smudges on them before putting them in my player.
And you always hear about the players that have problems. Compare that with the number of players that Sony has sold, and I don't think it is anything to worry about.
IMHO.
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.... "just me up on my pony on my boat".