Why are my DVD players dying after a year? (1 Viewer)

[DanielKellmii]

This is the second time this is happening to me. I use a DVD player for a year or two and then it starts to have problems: Getting more sensitive to bad disks, taking longer to switch layers, freezing up on me, having trouble reading a DVD at all, etc,,.... The DVD player I an using now is an Onkyo-301. I bought it for 89 dollars over a year ago. It was totally an impulse purchase. I have an Onkyo receiver and thought the remote compatibility would be nice. After the last DVD player died, I made sure that I had a lens cleaner from Radio Shack and a good surge protector. I have only used the lens cleaner once and that was after I started having problems. It didn't improve anything.
Does this happen to anybody else? Are there any brands out there that are known for there longevity?

 

[Leo Kerr]

Depends on the usage, I suppose.

If you really want longevity over everything else, take a look at the Pioneer DVD-V7400 industrial player. We've got some with over 23,000 hours on 'em...

They cost a bit more, and they're 480i only. But they do take RS-232 controls, and are fairly bulletproof.

Leo

 

[NickSo]

That sucks, maybe you just got some bum units... I'd think onkyo would have better longevity...

I have a toshiba that was manufactured in November 1998 still running. An Apex i had for like, 3 or 4 years just died on me a few weeks ago.

Are you running them for long periods of time? Ventilation problems on your rack? I hear the lens cleaners actually may do harm in scratching the laser or putting it out of alignment... beware of that...

 

[DanielKellmii]

I don't think I am ready to buy a commercial player yet. I can go through a lot of cheap-o players first. As for ventalation, my DVD player has a lot of space. Nothing sits above it and below it is the shelf. To the rear there 2 inches of clearance. The sides have an inch apiece.

 

[Shane Martin]

They don't make them like the used to. I've had some bad luck finding a good reliable player to replace my old Sony 530D.

Imho, alot of this has to do with the quality of player you are buying(cost wise). It seems that if you are paying $300 or less for one the crapshoot begins. That is my experience with players so far. I've returned several. :frowning:

 

[BrianWoerndle]

Sorry, but for $89 you get what you pay for, no matter who the manufacturer is. That is not saying that they shouldn't last, but it would be different if you were complaining about a $1k player dying.

 

[Dan Driscoll]

What is your enviroment like? I see you live in Florida, do you run your A/C all the time to keep the humidity down? Do you (or anyone else) smoke in the house? How about pets?

 

[Elinor]

Is this a smoking or non-smoking household?

 

[Howard_You]

Think of it as a great excuse to upgrade to the newest technology I had a pretty hard time convincing the wife I needed to shell out $400 for a new player when our 7 year old Sony DVP-670D still works flawlessly...

 

[Jack Briggs]

As noted, at $89 you get what you pay for. Onkyo did not, most likely, actually manufacture that deck; it was thrown together in some Chinese factory that also puts together other cheapo DVD players with major brand-name logos attached to them.

For any sort of reliability in a DVD player, expect to shell out at least $120 -- at least. Even then, except for top-of-the-line models from the major OEMs, DVD players must be run conservatively (no more than two movies in one sitting, for example, followed by a rest).

 

[DanielKellmii]

In order
Brian, ain't that the truth. But, it was one of those impulse purchases. I rarely do that and this is the reason why.

Dan- I love my A/C. I am good to it, and it is good to me. No pets, no smokers. Even guests smoke on the patio. The only exception is when there are hurricaines. :frowning:

Ellinor - No smoke.

Howard - You get the wife thing. At least yours allows you to spend $400 on a DVD player. If I did that I would be nagged to death and then I would buy another piece of jewlery. (My RPTV cost me about $5000, but the look on her face was worth it.)


Jack - What I really want is a Dennon 1900 or 2200 if my player dies today. Otherwise, just like the rest of us, I am waiting for a HD-DVD player.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Do you have the DVD player sitting directly on top of the receiver? That would do it.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[DanielKellmii]

Nope, just a piece of wood. It sits next to the receiver, it is about 3 inches from it. As my set-up has improved, I have started to use it a lot more. Especially when I got my new RPTV. (No surprises there.) BTW, I think the original selling price from Onkyo was about $200.

 

[Keith_R]

I'm still on my first DVD player, so far it's lasted me about 5 years.

 

[Adil M]

I recommend you wipe each dvd w/ a soft cloth. Then place it gently in the disc tray. Give it a sec to settle.

Next play your dvd, but do not play another one. Give it some time to breathe. This way your dvd stays in good health.

I also rec'd you do not let others touch your dvd player. Also, do not buy prepurchased players. It is difficult to start a relationship w/ so much added baggage.
Following these conditions you 2 will have a healthy and disease-free relationship for the natural lives of both entities.











PS Just being a(n) ...

 

[Leo Kerr]

What?!

What in a DVD player would require that sort of rest?

At ~14 watts, they're not generating a lot of heat.

Motors decay based on useage, not particularly duty-cycle.

Fundamentally, I doubt that the laser itself in a $59 player is any different than the ones in the industrial players, where, for example, yesterday and today we're putting 16 hours a day on all of our transports, with no breaks, and moderatly poor ventilation.

Leo

 

[Jerome Grate]

You do get what you pay for. I still use my very first DVD player Pioneer DV-414 (second generation). Back then it cost me 300 bucks with 4 free movies and it still runs like a champ. Using it in the den for the wife and kids as I have the Zenith 318 in the main theater. Hope the Zenith will last as long if not longer than the Pioneer. Even with the Pioneer I limited the play to 2 movies then rest.

 

[EricRWem]

I'm so tempted to use the term "built-in obsolescence" when I see threads like these...

 

[DanielKellmii]

Eric, that is one possibility, but we do that to ourselves anyways. Upgrade-itis is very common. Here is a little more of the story. I had a run of the mill Sony player that died at little over a year. Nothing unusual, it just stopped one day. Then, I bought a phillips player at BJs wholesale club for $119. Somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted a home theater system and that is when I went a bit nuts. I bought the system and a few days latter passed by the now dieing Onkyo DVD player. The phillips goes into the kids room and I get the supposedly better Onkyo DVD player.

My youngest decided to "feed" the Phillips player some loose change. That jammed the tray mechanism. So, I opened it up and removed all the change. I did not have high hopes. That was over a year ago and it is still working. The phillips is now 3 years old and doing fine, even in the kids room.

I think it must be me. :frowning:

 

[Tony Kwong]

I have used a Pioneer 7400! Works great! I installed one in a shopping mall promotional display. It's been running for 4 years non stop!!