Can slot-loading drives harm DVD's?

[stream]

Anybody have any evidence or arguments other than "I wouldn't think so" or "sure, maybe"? :)

I'm looking at the Pioneer DVD-305S.

Thanks.

-jesse

[CHAOS]

Well, i can't give you any scientific study, all i can say is i have never been fond of a cd or dvd loader the suck's your disc through a thin slot 8)

[bluntman72]

How about...

...if they did harm the disc then they would not have used them with in-dash car stereos.

[sammie]

Not common, but I have had 1 DVD and 2 CD's screwed up by them. With that said I've managed to drop a CD on a hard floor and managed to shut DVD in the tray ruining both of those. Now, that's over thousands of loadings, so neither is like an everyday occurence.

It is however a definite reason for backing them up!!!!!!!!!!!

[qpskfec]

In general, I think that the dvd's that I have made myself, +R/+RW, seem to scratch alot more eaiser than commercial dvds. Therefore, I would avoid a slot loader.

[Roundabout]

I would say it depends on the design of the loading mechanism. I can tell you that several years ago, Sony had an issue with the 10-disc car changers, due to the design of the loader. In this case, it had a motor that would pull a small tab on the cartridge, and as soon at the forward edge of a disc would come between the photocell and sensor, the loading rollers would begin to spin at approx. 200 RPM. When the CD would reach these rollers (made of rubber) they would tend to leave light scratches on the edges of the disc, with the cumulative effect of making them unreadable after dozens of loadings. Since the rollers were already spinning before the disc reached them, that is what caused damage. This was changed later, where the photocell was eliminated for a cheaper, better approach. Instead of a photocell, the player would begin to load when the disc pressed against the rollers, and the loading motor would generate "back emf" and trigger it to turn on. This is much better, as the rollers aren't spinning at high speed before the disc reaches them. I would assume that most modern DVD slot loaders would use a similar type of loading scheme, although I can't say that I have looked into this subject myself. If you can see visible marks on the outer edges of your discs, I'd say you have a problem. If you insert the DVD and it meets slight resistance before loading, then it's probably not going to be a problem. Or, if they use much slower loading RPM, so that the disc doesn't come in contact with high speed spinning rollers, that would also be fine. The only way to know for sure is to open one up and see if it has a photocell or not, if you want to go that far. :P

[garryheather]

Make sure the discs are clean when you come to load them, too - the rollers are usually firm but still slightly pliable, and if and debris from the disc gets pressed into the rollers you run a slight risk of either imprinting the disc and / or smearing the debris if it's soft like a squashed insect on a windscreen.

Also, don't eject a disc and then leave it in the slot - more than anything else you're asking to snap the disc off in the drive, but it's probably not a good idea to leave a disc "half loaded" if the player doesn't take the disc back in on its own after a period of time.

[stream]

Thanks guys.

-jesse

[RabidDog]

in dash slot loaders .. wtf? dont cdr makers say keep away from high heat (like in parked car) keep out of strong sunloght (like on the dashboard) keep disc in holder when not in use (cant do that at 77mph).
So everything that the cdr makers say not to do.. people do in their cars.
Still I suppose they will have been using backups ...??

[Poppa_Meth]

the CDs and DVDs in my house are near perfect condition after years of use. the CDs that I use in the car stereo show large amounts of fine scratches only after a few months of use. the slots tend to have a brush lined edge that is suppose to keep the disk cleaner but it accumulates dust and rubs it onto the CD everytime its loaded. I'm not fond of slot loaders.