DVDs suck for rental.

Chris Keth · June 22, 2007

I hate rental DVDs. I just watched half of "Batman Begins." I have no clue how it continues because halfway into the movie, there were so many read errors I couldn't stand to keep going.

Don't rental places check for scratches when you return a disc? Are netflix DVDs usually pretty good about that? I'm sick of this happening.

Brad Grimmett · June 22, 2007

Don't rental places check for scratches when you return a disc? Are netflix DVDs usually pretty good about that? I'm sick of this happening.

Yes, Netflix is pretty good about it. There was a period a couple years ago when it seemed like every dvd was scratched from them, but they've fixed whatever problem they had and I haven't had a read error from one of their discs in a couple years. Plus, if you do have a problem you just report it and they send you another copy of the movie immediately.

I guess it's obvious I'm a big Netflix fan....

William A Chapman Jr · June 22, 2007

I agree with Brad, Netflix is a great company, and its a lot cheaper then rental stores.

Daniel Smith · June 22, 2007

At £10 to £15 a DVD, I would kind of hoped they would design a tougher DVD disc... maybe a tougher type specifically for rental.

Brad Grimmett · June 22, 2007

At £10 to £15 a DVD, I would kind of hoped they would design a tougher DVD disc... maybe a tougher type specifically for rental.

Actually, I believe Netflix may have done this. I know they use a more flexible material so that the dvd's will go through the auto-sorters that the post office uses. I'm not sure whether that helps with the scratching or not though...

Daniel Smith · June 22, 2007

Actually, I believe Netflix may have done this. I know they use a more flexible material so that the dvd's will go through the auto-sorters that the post office uses. I'm not sure whether that helps with the scratching or not though...

In all honesty I don't think it's the scratches that affect it so much, it's the top layer (the label side).

That's why the higher quality DVD discs have multiple layers, to make sure the top layer doesn't break so easily.

So I heard...

Maybe one day everything will be done through USB. You'll rent a USB keydrive instead.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Daniel Ashley-Smith

Hal Smith · June 22, 2007

In a pinch, spraying Pledge on the bottom surface and polishing the disk has been known to resurrect an otherwise unplayable DVD, CDROM, or CD. Pledge is an acrylic solution, not a wax, and very similar to the products sold to fill in small scratches on motorcycle visors, etc. It also works amazingly well on an old pair of eyeglasses.

Michael Collier · June 22, 2007

Netflix is great. The only disk I have had a read error on in the last year was seven samuri (surprised me, I thought since it doesn't get rented that much, it shouldn't be scratched) but its way less than with blockbuster.

But the best part is they don't edit their movies like blockbuster will, and they cary movies BB would never touch. Just try and rent 'this film not yet rated' at blockbuster.

Phil Rhodes · June 22, 2007

Hi,

I am just about old enough to remember the very first CD burners, which invariably required you to load the disc into a caddy before inserting it into the drive. Many radio stations still use caddy-loading CD players because they can be loaded very quickly. Since then, I've always felt that all of these optical disc formats should really have been done the same way, with a sliding-shutter caddy being part of the spec.

Personally I think they're surprisingly tough, but I've always been dismayed they didn't do it that way. It couldn't have cost much more than a standard Amaray case, surely?

Phil

Michael Collier · June 22, 2007

Well I think you overestimate manufacturing today. Keep in mind that some manufacturers have used chemicals known to be dangerous to save a few pennies per unit. I think we should be happy that all we have to worry about with CDs and DVDs is the occasional scratch, and not lead paint on the label that eventually causes althiemers or something like that.

But I remember those old CD burners...that was like in the early 90s. I was still in grade school, we had one computer with one and then a room full of apple IIe's.

Brad Grimmett · June 22, 2007

Hi,

I am just about old enough to remember the very first CD burners, which invariably required you to load the disc into a caddy before inserting it into the drive. Many radio stations still use caddy-loading CD players because they can be loaded very quickly.

Phil

I remember those from my very short stint in radio. They were great because you could stack them and never worry about scratching. And they did load very quickly.

I think now most radio stations are using a hard drive system. Heck, most of them run themselves without the need for a DJ. I know clear channel has buildings with like 10 stations on one floor and only one or two engineers to make sure everything runs smoothly. No DJ's or CD's needed.