No disc error on SVCD/VCD in Apex AD500WM but plays DVD?

[roadrunnr]

This is a 3 year old player that normally would play all 3 formats. I have read several places that the no disc error issues might be a result of bad focus/alignment on the laser, but would this mean that it would still be able to play a DVD? The DVD play is finicky also however--when the player is hot it will not accept a new DVD but it will play the one that it has already been reading. No luck whatsoever with VCD/SVCD now.

I tried the lens cleaning (after the fact, never did it before this problem) and it also wouldn't accept that disc. I heard it may not be a good idea to try a can of compressed air as it could damage some parts on the inside...but I don't know if that's the case. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

[redwudz]

I may be wrong on this, but I was under the impression that two different lasers were used, one for DVD and one for CD format. Anyhow, if your machine is three years old, try the air. Remember the lens is below the disk. If this doesn't help, it's cheap enough to replace it and the newer machine will usually have some new features.

[roadrunnr]

Thanks, I'll give that a try!