Trevor

http://scripts.affiliatefuture.com/AFClick.asp?affiliateID=33279&merchantID=1175&programmeID=3706&mediaID=0&tracking=forum&url=http://scripts.affiliatefuture.com/AFClick.asp?affiliateID=33279&merchantID=1175&programmeID=3706&mediaID=0&tracking=forum&url=http://www.deepdiscount.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=48356102&categoryId=65456

Hopefully the link works. The site's auto affiliate tag add doesn't work well sometimes.

kenbenobi

No, it doesn't work. I'll try to fix it...

http://search.deepdiscount.com/searc...nd&isort=score

kenbenobi

My link works, but I dare not edit the post again for fear it gets screwed up... Thanks for the post, Trevor. That's a pretty good deal... I wasn't planning on getting this, but for that price, hmmmmm...

kenbuzz

What about: This Tiny URL?

Nope, guess not. Wow, I really dig the Link Destroyer thingy they've got running here.... I absolutely don't mind the site getting theirs for referring buyers like me to associated sites, but it makes it really, really, REALLY hard for folks (like me) to share deals, even WITH affiliation enabled.

kenbenobi

I wonder if my link works because it doesn't have www in front of it. Maybe the affiliation scripting tool looks for that. Very interesting...

Ginwen

Your first link works for me.

Trevor

Thanks you two. I think i have my first link working again, tiny url seems to not be working.

Yeah, I wasn't planning on buying this, but I do have some fond memories of the show not entirely ruined by the horrible Will Smith movie. And for the price, and the only way to get the movies, I bit.

I just finished watching Twin Peaks last night, perhaps this will be the "light" fare to revive my brain.

moonraker

That's the lowest price this set has seen that I'm aware of. I bought this set from DeepDiscount about two months ago when they had it for approx $58. I'm currently about half-way through Season 1 now.

Trevor

I totally forgot to use live.com for an extra 4% off.

dmkb

I just about bought this until I started reading reviews of the packaging. I hear the sleeves are like the Murnau/Borzage box and the discs tend to get scratched whenever taking them in or out. I wanted the WWW movies, but think I'll stick to the season sets in case. Too bad, too, as this is a fabulous price.

That'sAllFolks

did MSRP drop on this? I thought it used to be around 120-130. The $58 at Christmas and through DD's 25% off sale last Nov made this seem like a decent deal, but not a steal. Now with "only" 45% off, I'll probably wait.

... maybe.

If it's worth it to you, order again, and make a quick call to DD.

Trevor

I've gotten to the point where bad packaging resulting in scratched discs doesn't bother me at all.

I will move them into some other sort of case to try to limit the scratching, but in actual practice, I've found that you can treat discs as frisbees and they'll play fine.

moonraker

My sentiments exactly! As long as the discs play, that's all I care about. I got this set about 2 months ago, and yes probably half the discs have minor scratches/scuffs on them. I've just finished watching the first four discs and all of them have played just fine. So its not a big deal to me.

But if you're the type who insists on having pretty discs, then this set probably will disappoint. But keep in mind that the two made-for-tv movies are only available through this set.

drmar35mm

I think this is true in almost all cases. Random scratches (like on most Netflix discs) don't gum up the works. But I find that if I play some of these on my older machine (an 8-year-old Toshiba) there can be trouble. And if the scratch or flaw manages to mar a continuous section of the track semi-circularly, then even my newish Sony machine will fail to make sense of it. I figure the error correction needs something to work with, and if it isn't there you're out of luck. Got a used TV series recently with such a scratch on Disc 1. A single episode will not appear, will not play, even on my Sony. (The only other time that happened with the Sony was when a disc simply refused to play. I checked it out and found a bug cocoon on the disc! Problem solved.)

bsmith

I wouldn't say it is about having pretty disks but just trying to ensure our investment holds up over time. It is hard to say right now what type of impact scuffs and scratches will have 30 years from now or that we will even care. I'll accept very minor abrasions and scratches on a new disk but anything more and I will send it back whether it could play now or not. After all it was purchased as new.

Personally, when it comes to these large sets with questionable packaging I prefer to purchase from Amazon. They send out a replacement right away and allow you 30 days to get them the damaged one. That way you can at least mix and match between the sets to get the best possible combination.

dmkb

Yeah, I wasn't talking about scratches depleting the aesthetic beauty of the disc (!) but playability. Placing them in other, safer cases is of course the best solution but most of the discs I'm talking about get scratched before the customer gets them. It isn't uncommon to open up a new DVD and find that the discs have already been gouged - some play, others don't. It's the latter ones that bug me.

bsmith

With me, if the damage is so minimal that there is really no question about it being playable now and in the future I will accept it. However, if I have any suspicion whether it might have issues playing at any time I will send it back for an immediate replacement since it is must harder to deal with later. As the paying customer, I don't feel it is my responsibility to have to watch something immediately to verify it's playability when it comes damaged. Hopefully, by the number of returns they get, the message will get through that fancy packaging is fine but only as long as the product is adequately protected.

Trevor

I'm knocking on wood right now, but I have opened multiple thousands of DVDs, some of them so scratched that they look like they were shipped in cases filled with sand and carried by kangaroos, and the discs play fine 99.99% of the time. I'm super lucky apparently, and should start playing the lottery.

bsmith

Trevor,

You are definitely ahead of the game if you have had time to watch through every disk you own to know they all play back fine, even with scratches. Or do you pay special attention to the scratched ones and make sure to watch them all straight through when received? Just testing that it plays is no guarantee since a imperfections can cause issues farther into the playback. I'm curious, what do you do if disk 5 in a season set has scratches to verify no issues in playback.

moonraker

BSmith-

Based on what you have written, my advice for you is to not purchase the WWW complete series set. I can confirm what the majority of reviews on Amazon have said: at least half of the discs, maybe more, have visible scratches, scuffs, marks on them. Even if you return the set, the replacement set is almost assured to be the same way. Even having both sets at the same time, I doubt you would be able to compile a merged set containing all scratch-free discs. It would probably take 3 or 4 sets to accomplish this -- just my opinion based on the condition of my set.

This doesn't bother me, because $58 (what I paid) for all 4 seasons plus the 2 tv movies, this was too good of a bargain for me to pass up. Plus my experience has been that in general (yes, there are always exceptions), even ugly looking discs tend to play just fine. Case in point: I just recently purchased Walt Disney's Cinderella from SecondSpin (i.e., a used disc). Must have been a rental I imagine, because it looks *really* bad. Much, much worse than any of my WWW discs. I was betting that it wouldn't play and I would need to return it. But... to my surprise, it ended up playing absolutely fine without a single glitch.

So I'm not going to lose sleep over my WWW set. I've been through the first 4 discs so far, without any problems. No way I can watch all 28 discs or so within 30 days. But like I said, I am not concerned. Since it sounds like you would be concerned, my recommendation for you is to not purchase the set.

Trevor

I know there are no guarantees until you watch every minute of every episode/feature on each disc. But my experience has always been that they play fine. I've had to gently clean a few discs from time to time.

If a disc turns out to be faulty years after I purchased it? I'll find a way to get/view a replacement. Either the manufacturer will help me, I'll rent it, one of you here will help me, etc; it will get done one way or the other.

I used to go thru every disc once I bought them, especially if they had scratches, but quickly abandoned that plan. One, they always worked fine. Two, it wasn't worth my time. But then, I buy a lot, so perhaps if I bought less it would be worth the trouble.

bsmith

Yes, for WWW I'm going to pass on the set for the individual seasons. I'm not as concerned about missing out on the movies. What I'm more interested in chancing from a set standpoint is MASH, if it comes around again in the next Amazon Gold box deals. WWW is only 4 seasons while MASH is around 11 seasons, so the overall savings is magnified that much more. Plus, being from Amazon I know I will have at least two sets if need be to try to make one better one based on any damaged disks.

I'm sure set design and production takes time, as well as feedback getting back to manufacturers. You would hope that maybe, just maybe, they are starting to realize the problems these designs have and will start coming out with enticing, while still protective designs in the furture for new show sets. One can hope at least.

bsmith

There is definitely a cost benefit in going with these sets over the individual season releases. Who knows, one of the reasons these sets may get discounted like they do is because of all the complaints in design and packaging. Thus, forcing them to put out these deals to push the merchandise out the door. As a result, it may be difficult trying to get a completely damage free product.

However, when it comes to smaller packaging of single seasons and individual movies I have no problem returning for a replacement. Sometimes I can see fault from the manufacturer, but other times it is just poor packaging by the vendor. In this area some strides can definitely be made. In this scenario, I guess I wonder why take the risk?

MindElec

maybe they will hold this price until their june sale for an addittional 25% off.

dmkb

If the past is any indication, they will likely raise prices right before the sale announcement (if they even have it this year).