Don't know what other forum to post this in.

Wondering if the Digital Innovations Skip Doctor is any good. Will it remove scratches on a Cd (or DVD) so that it looks new (or at least better). Doesit even work decently?

Also, do you need the motorized one or is the hand-cranked one any good?

Any suggestions / help would be appreciated.

DVD Talk is probably a better forum for this.

Howdy, TAF!

I'm TEK ("The Edit King" ) 'round here!

Pleased to meet you.

That's a great question and I also want to know what the story is with those.

I almost bought one, but at the last minute ended up putting it back on the shelf.

Come On, People!

What do you know about these things?



Tek!

I wouldn't recommend any of them. They are OK, sometimes. They may make some DVDs/CDs work, but they make the disc look ugly. Better off going to a store that has a $500+ resurfacing machine that can fix the disc for you.

One of my best friends owns one and swears by it. He says you can just use water and that the results are as good as can be exepcted. They don't look like new when cleaned, but he says they do look a whole lot better.

I have one and have used it on some CDs of mine that had been rendered unplayable. At least two or threee of them it completely saved. And one that was in very bad condition it was able to partially save (some tracks will work that used to not work, others still skip).

All in all, I was pleased with the investment; it's not like it was too expensive. And when you have CDs that are virtually unplayable what do you have to lose?

Haven't used it on any DVDs because I don't have any in that poor of shape.

please clarify?

I never had one of my discs come out that bad.

I concur with Marioxb's post. You may want to consider getting your scratched dvds resurfaced. I sent a couple of disks to be resurfaced since they were scratched in their keepcases when I bought them online, and they came back looking like new. If you plan on keeping these disks, especially if they are out of print or are collectibles, this may be your best option. Check the following links for more information:

http://www.laserblazer.com/discrepair.html

also here is another:

http://www.inetdvd.com/store/tmp_pr...003.asp?id=4899

That company can't be serious with those prices.

I can't recommend it. Personally, I regret the purchase. It has only 'fixed' one problem dvd that I have. It didn't work at all on the others I used it on.

It will fix a disk from skipping; tried it out on Scooby Doo (picked a disk I really, really didn't care about). But as others have mentioned it does make the disk surface look bad: it was covered with fine swirls that dull the look, and even make it look more scratched. If it is a disk you care about, I'd go with the professional resurfacer...

Here's a list of disc repair services: http://directory.google.com/Top/Shop.../Disc_Repair/.

So far the average price per disc is about $3.00.

I was also pondering the purchase of the Skip Doctor and glad I didn't from what's been said about the results. I just bought some used DVDs that are OOP and they are scratched to hell. It looks like someone scratched them up deliberately.

For $295.00 you can order your own disc-resurfacing machine: http://www.cdrepairman.com/machines.php

I've had no problems with mine. I've had a couple of PVDs from Blockbuster/Hollywood that skipped. Ran them through the Skip Doctor, and they played fine afterwards.

I don't use Skip Doctor, but I have salvaged several DVD's using one of those resurfacing creams. You squirt out a bit of the stuff onto the scratch and buff with a tissue. It's a bit of work on really scuffed titles, but I've saved just about every DVD or CD I've worked on. (A couple of data CD's were too scratched or corrupted to recover, but that may be due to their condition when they were burned.)

I've had SkipDoctor for more than a year now, and I think it works just fine. It is intended to remove scratches and it does just that. Every disc I have used it on works just fine. Yes, it doesn't leave the disc as shiny as it was, but the discs play as if they never had scratches.

I would recommend it. It's a handy item to have at home, especially if you buy lots of your discs from online retailers.

It works great on discs with shallow scratches or surface scuffs - deeper ones require more drastic measures such as toothpaste or other abrasive compounds and some elbow grease. Since I prefer to watch my discs rather than look at them, I am not concerned with what the disc looks like.

The only way I would pay that much to resurface a DVD would be an expensive disc such as a criterion, or a rare valuable disc where the appearance of the disc would affect the value. I only pay $6-7 on average for most of my discs, from Columbia House and pawn shops, so spending that much to resurface one would be crazy.

I assume the professional resurfacing machines actually fill in the scratches with some sort of acrylic resin, as opposed to the skip doctor and other buffers which actually remove the damaged layers. Removing too much material can make it difficult for the laser to focus - I tried to sell a friend my old copy of Gladiator which had been badly damaged and run through the DVD doctor quite a few times (over a dozen) and played fine on my player - his cheap Apex player wouldn't even boot the disc.

I have worked for two different companies that have sold them and my general take on it was that I would NOT recommend them. It isn't that they don't work -- it's the fact that most people don't use them properly and wind up causing more damage. While I worked rental I would use one in the store if we really needed to get the disc back into circulation ASAP (otherwise I'd send it off to corporate to have it done right). I also would not allow anyone else to use it.

As for "making to disc look bad" . . . think back to when you were a kid, well some of us anyway . . . remember Spirographs? (Gear/cog-like pieces of plastic that you placed a pen in and then swirled it around to make a hypnotic pattern.) That's what they end up looking like. It amazes me that players read through the milky swirly film that is left behind.

If someone can't figure out how to use it properly, they deserve what happens. It's not exactly rocket science - spray with water, turn the handle.

NCYankee, I was going to say the same thing. How are these people improperly using it? It's not that hard.

I am the Marketing Director at Digital Innovations and someone referred this post to me. I thought it would be best to use my real identity rather than lie.

The SkipDR works by removing a small layer from the protective surface of the disc. It works on most scratches, however, it will not repair gouges. Also, NOTHING will repair label-side damage if it reaches the reflective layer where the data is.

It really works, otherwise, I would not be working here!

Michael


You can find links to third-party reviews at:

http://www.digitalinnovations.com/news/index.html

Forgot one thing....

Regarding proper use, make sure you use the "resurfacing fluid" when resurfacing. BTW - this is purified and distilled water with a touch of isopropanol (for a preservative).

Finally, make sure to buff the disc with the felt square that comes with the unit.

I love mine....I had the original, "crank-by-hand" version, which was sweet, but your arm gets tired. I just upgraded (last month) to the motorized version, and it's definitely worth the extra 20 or so bux....quite simply, it is the best device of it's kind in this price range ($50 or so).

My experiences with them stem from working in a rental place. Generally, people would use them on thier rentals, then, when they didn't work, return them, and now we have a disc that doesn't work. I bought one just to see if it really caused all the damage that was present on the discs customers returned. I know I followed the directions to the LETTER, and my final result did not play in my player either. I just don't think they work well. The fact that they typically do not resurface to the edge causes many, many players to not even read the discs.

For 3 bucks, we have a pawn shop with a commercial re-surfacer. Much better investment.

r