DV88 - DVD playback died :(

[brendonw]

Had my Arcam DV88 for 4.5 years and have been very pleased with it.

In the last few months its had problems with playing some DVDs. It's lens has been cleaned on a regularish basis. Now today it refuses to play any DVDs at all. Audio CDs still play with no problems.

Now the dilemma is whether to get this repaired - not sure at what cost

OR

UPGRADE to a newer player (possibly Arcam again or a cheaper one and keep the DV88 for Audio playback)

Any advice anyone can give me pls ?

Thanks in advance

 

[niceguy235uk]

hmmm, well it depends on what the cost is to repair and what sort of money you want to spend on a replacement.

To be honest if you go for the cheaper replacement option, im sure you may not be happy with 'downgrading'.

Having said that, there are some very good players on the market for less than, say, a dv78.

If you go replacement, then home or shop demo is highly recommended.

 

[brendonw]

I've been advised that £50is to replace the laser + labour but the Arcam dealer concerned is unable to give me any more of an accurate quote. Spending anymore than £100 on a player worth maybe £250 tops second hand seems silly really.

As the player is 5 years old next year I was thinking that in terms of 'downgrading' that maybe as technology has improved in that time that the difference would not be that substantial.

Thinking of keeping the DV88 for CD audio playback and maybe getting one of the new Denon 1920s.

Obviously a shop demo would be a no-brainer tho'

 

[BetterDays]

It's very interesting - I have had the very same problem with my DV78 .... just only 7 months after I purchased it. I could read CD but i had the same error message when trying to load DVD - no DISC. Fortunately my Arcam was under warranty so I had it repaired for free. I am now a bit concerned this could re-occur in the future

 

[Matt Horne]

The drives are oem supplied dvd rom drives which are not built by arcam but bought in.. I have had 4 drives in the last five years with my dv88+ but the latest one has been going for about 2 years happily. They do seem to be the weakest link in these fine players.

If we could buy these drives easily other than the drive faceplate which arcam could supply I reckon its a 10 minute job to replace the whole drive (I had my machine open to see if it needed cleaning...)

Cheers

Matt

 

[Matt Horne]

Actually tonight I'll pop the lid again and take down the dvd-rom drive details and see if I source them on the web.....

Matt

 

[per-Sony-fied]

Laser lenses are prone to dirt build up so some thorough cleaning can often sort them out. A light dust or clean with a damp cloth often is not sufficient, even tho' it may look clean.

Better using a propriotry household floor cleaner with a soft cloth to avoid small scratches on it's surface. You generally can be fairly brutal with cleaning without damage (yes it pops up and down while cleaning). It is also a good idea to remove the signal cable from the lens if it is a connector attached type and reattach to remove any bad or slightly dirty connections.

I found this method worked hunky dory on a CD drive that would not reliably read CD's.

I pussy footed around on two attempts and then decided to try the above option after failure of the first 2. Working fine for over a year now.

 

[Crustyloafer]

Better using a propriotry household floor cleaner with a soft cloth to avoid small scratches on it's surface.

That is a very bad idea, you should only use isopropyl alcohol and a cotton bud to clean laser lenses otherwise you risk damaging the delicate surface. You may have been lucky so far but this is very poor advice to be giving to the general public, particularly owners of £1000+ machines.

 

[per-Sony-fied]

That is a very bad idea, you should only use isopropyl alcohol and a cotton bud to clean laser lenses otherwise you risk damaging the delicate surface. You may have been lucky so far but this is very poor advice to be giving to the general public, particularly owners of £1000+ machines.

I agree it is not the sort of advice I would normally give or expect people to use but I did emphasis the use of a soft cloth to avoid scratches. While they are small tiny objects I don't think they are as delicate as one makes out. Whether in a £1000 machine or a £30 PC CD drive the laser's are the same.

I only recommend this advice in the face of complete failure of previous cleaning methods.

 

[Matt Horne]

Just rang arcam... a new drive is £85 + vat (includes Uk delivery) and you can easily fit it yourself...

Cheers

Matt