I have had my Panasonic DV-C302D for a year and a half and have never had problems playing CDs, whether CDRs or originals. Recently, I have tried playing both types of CDs, but the player is unable to read them. Currently, the machine has no trouble playing DVDs. Any ideas why this would be occurring and how I could solve it?
I have seen those "CD cleaners" at the store that are essentially CDs with little bristles on the bottom that are supposed to clean the dust off of the lens. Would this work? If not, what else?

As a side note, the same thing happened to an Aiwa component system of mine two years ago. I took it to the repair shop and they charged $30 to clean the lens. Unfortunately, the same thing has happened to the Aiwa system again. So, now I have two players that are unable to read CDs.

I would try cleaning the lens.

What is the best way to clean the lens?

Get a CD cleaner kit. I have a Discwasher one that does the job.

If the machine has no trouble playing DVDs, then my guess would be that the lens won't refocus or, if you have twin pickups, then the CD one has failed. If the lens was dirty, I would assume that neither DVDs nor CDs would play.

Or it could be the fact that your player doesn't exist. http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/wink.gif However, at audioreview, the Pioneer DV-C302D is exhibiting similar bad behavior for a few of the users, so I expect it is a player defect.

[This message has been edited by DigIt (edited January 24, 2001).]

Edited to add a smiley - thought I might have come off a little smarmy otherwise.

[This message has been edited by DigIt (edited January 24, 2001).]

My bad - my home player is a Pioneer and my portable DVD player is a Panasonic. Sorry.