One thing I hate about DVDs....

[BTM]

This is one of the FEW advantages of VHS or DVDs....

Okay, imagine this, you're playing a movie you rented from Netflix (or bought used from half or whatever) and you're an hour into it, getted real intriqued, then suddenly, the picture crackles, and stops.  Then resumes.  Then stops again....

Frustrated you pop the tape out and, sure enough, there's some stratches on it.  Something they're barely noticeable, but still, they've causing trouble.  You clean the DVD, put it back in, and hope for the best, sometimes even then, no go.  

Maybe my memory's faultym but I've rented hundreds of VHSes back in the day, and usually if they were messed up and couldn't play, you could tell within a few minutes after putting them in (and sometimes even before that.)  While the occasional tape break or even a VHS gumming up a VCR wasn't unheard of, them seemed to happen a LOT less frequently than a stopped (or stopping) DVD.

In short, you gotta take REAL good care of those freaking things, I guess.

[The Burgomaster]

Hmmm . . . I VERY rarely (almost never) have trouble with DVDs.  I have nearly 2,000 DVDs in my colection, and I've probably had trouble with about 3 or 4 of them (which I promptly returned to the store and they gave me a replacement copy that worked perfectly).

[Mr_Vindictive]

I'm with Burgo.  Rarely do I have any problems playing DVDs, even ones that are quite scratched.  I've had many many less problems with them than VHS which seemed to always have some type of trouble.

Do you happen to be using a Sony DVD player by any chance?  For some reason, their players are MUCH more sensitive to scratches and such.  I've noticed that problem myself and had it confirmed from others that use Sony dvd players.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Skaboi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm with Burgo.  Rarely do I have any problems
> playing DVDs, even ones that are quite scratched.
> I've had many many less problems with them than
> VHS which seemed to always have some type of
> trouble.
>
> Do you happen to be using a Sony DVD player by any
> chance?  For some reason, their players are MUCH
> more sensitive to scratches and such.  I've
> noticed that problem myself and had it confirmed
> from others that use Sony dvd players.

I agree with Sony DVD players. I have one and it is very senstive.

[BTM]

Well, you're probably rich enough to buy them all brand new... :)

[BTM]

> Do you happen to be using a Sony DVD player by any
> chance?  For some reason, their players are MUCH
> more sensitive to scratches and such.  I've
> noticed that problem myself and had it confirmed
> from others that use Sony dvd players.

WHOA!  No way!  I AM using a Sony DVD player!  That's creepy...  I mean, I figure Sony would be better than name I wasn't too familiar with, so that's why I spent a little extra and bought it... Guess the jokes on me, huh?

(grumble, grumble)

[Mr_Vindictive]

Yeah, I'm usually the same way when it comes to electronics.  I normally throw down the extra cash to buy a company that I'm familair with and have faith in.  I don't actually use that approach when choosing a DVD player though.

I've found that the cheap "no-name" brand DVD players hold up a bit better than the expensive fancy ones.  I have a Phillips DVD player and a Pioneer DVD player, and yet neither seem to do as well as a $30.00 Apex DVD player that I've had since 2001.  The worst one I ever owned was a Sony, which happened to be their Playstation 2.  I say go for a cheaper player.  It might be better than the pricer models.

[Mofo Rising]

I've got a VHS copy of CHASING SLEEP which is perfectly watchable until a crucial scene near the very end, when it garbles all to hell.

I agree, it has a lot to do with the DVD player.  My Xbox will freeze at the drop of a hat, and even has problems recognizing the DVDs.  The DVD/VCR combo I have will play almost anything.  (To be fair, my Xbox used to sit in a room where people chain smoked cigarettes.  It's a little dirty.)

[Flangepart]

Professional DvDs, few problims. Used or DvD-R stuff, lots more problimatic.
Tried some DvDs from Horror Hosts, like Butch R. Cleaver or Mr. Lobo....sorry, but, tis true....and as i have a Toshiba, i'd have to blaim the DvDs.

[LilCerberus]

I got myself this JSI from Big Lot's a couple of weeks ago for about $40.
It's not quite as good as some of these DVD Roms I've been through, but then, this six year old motherboard's got a few gremlins in it.

Magnetic media was fine in it's day, but I've never seen a VHS Rom.

[The Burgomaster]

I have a Sony DVD player and I think it's great.  My first DVD player was a JVC and it was pretty good, but I think Sony is better.  I haven't really noticed any sensitivity problems.

[BTM]

> I've found that the cheap "no-name" brand DVD
> players hold up a bit better than the expensive
> fancy ones.  I have a Phillips DVD player and a
> Pioneer DVD player, and yet neither seem to do as
> well as a $30.00 Apex DVD player that I've had
> since 2001.  

Oh, man, the IRONY!  I remember when years back when freaking Wal-Mart had Apex DVD players at like $40.00 or something (I mean, REALLY cheap for the time), but I went got like hundred dollar Sony one instead.  The irony of this is sickening...

>The worst one I ever owned was a
> Sony, which happened to be their Playstation 2.  I
> say go for a cheaper player.  It might be better
> than the pricer models.

Well, it's not a PS2 but it is a Sony... and come to think of it, my parents have a Sony as well (five DVD changer) and they've had a lot of rented stuff from Netflix give them some probs...

Gonna have to do some more research, see if there's an "official" trend about that...

[ulthar]

We used to have an Apex, but our VCR died.  Rather than replace the VCR, we bought a Sansui DVD/VCR and gave the Apex to my wife's sister.

I had a LOT more problems with 'stalls' with the Apex, and we had some music CD's that it just would not play (or even recognize).

I've not had one single problem (yet, knock on wood) with ANY DVD, even those visibly scratched from Netflix, with the Sansui that a simple wiping off did not fix (a few have stopped in mid play, but in each case a simple wipe of the disk and we were good to go).  Those CD's that the Apex did not recognize?  The Sansui plays just fine, though we've gotten a dedicated Sony CD player and don't use it generally for listening to music CD's.

[Jim H]

Thing that I like about VHS was short of the tape breaking, you never got freezes, or macroblocking glitching.  It did suck when the tape got screwed up somehow and the sound was all bad though.

BTW, even if your Sony is more vulnerable to damaged media, it probably does have better quality output.  My Apex (which is hacked to be region free and can convert pal/ntsc - plays anything, essentially) is fine, but any more expensive player DOES look better.  My least favorite thing about it is how over sensitive it is to touch.  I've had two or three discs get caught between the tray when my slight touch sends the tray back inside before the disc is all the way in the tray.  One of several reasons I'd prefer a drive without a tray.