aeagle

vibetv

Those stupid smaller progressive scan DVD players are trash! I would never buy one ever in my life. I have seen more of those things fly off the shelves and end up in the garbage soon after.

aeagle

They sure got me with those advertisements in the store. They said the DVD player is small, and it will do the job of a big bulky one. I didn't think they meant one that was build with inferior parts

stevezachtech

It's very disappointing to hear that the thinner models are unreliable... Most people fancy compact electronics nowadays.

tongyun

Yeah. It really seems like the manufacturers made them so that they would be disposable. Not much is made nowadays to really last a good long time. That how the companies' keep their sales up.

CptlA

From my experience, it's more dependent on the brand you buy rather than size of the unit. Think about how small the DVD drive is in your PC. Some of the slim line stuff is cheaply manufactured but when you're paying $20-$40 for a DVD player, are you really upset if it only lasts for 5 years?

andrew25

Yes, it is true that the new ones which are compact and have more enhancement features lack in longevity. I think it is the same trend continuing in all other electronic gadgets. I guess those good old days are gone.

siskailee

Yeah. Think are not that realiable now but you all still must remember that if you know how to take care of it, then everything's going to be fine.

tongyun

I have to wonder if placement also affects how long these things last. If you have something placed on top of it or have it in some place where there is poor air circulation, will it shorten the life of the unit?

divxhacker

it's all in the drive motor and lens array - many of the slimline players chop lots of parts out of the lens array (especially the optical mounts) and change the spindle motor for a cheaper, lighter wafer motor (the part that moves the disc is mounted on a magnet, which spins as the circuitboard-mounted electromagnets pulse.)

That wafer motor does not reach the proper speed quickly as there's no inertial mass, nor would it tolerate imbalance due to stickers on the disc- it would vibrate too much.

Another hidden factor could be the disc clamp, those springs don't hold the disc better than the clamp array, which prevent the disc from "floating" as it spins.

The lens array from the slimline ones don't use a proper laser, it's usually a chip LED, a chip optical pickup, both surface mounted on an etched ribbon cable, with a plastic mirror lens inside a single axis electromagnet. Glass mirror lenses have better durability, as the reflector part is a pure metal reflector. The only way a plastic can reflect as a mirror is through a chemical process, which can degrade as the plastic ages, and/or is exposed to other uncured plastics' fumes, during the manufacturing process.