Philips DVP642 Problem - Need Advice

[bender_unit_22]

I almost went blind trying to sift thru all the 642 threads
sorry if this is something that has been gone over

the problem I'm having is with the player will start skipping while watching certain movies

it happens with cd dvdr and dvdrw
it happens with divx, xvid, and burnt dvds

the pic will freeze then skip forward a few sec, it plays fine for a bit then does it again

it did it again last night and I got so frustrated I stopped the movie

is it a media problem?
overheating?
encoding?
burn speed?

it only does it with certain ones
I had a divx that it started right from the begining burned on a cdr
so I converted it to an mpg burned it on a dvdrw and tried it again and it started it during the middle

sometimes if I rewind a bit it will ply better, but sometimes it will start up again

I read about overheating probs and did have some things on top of the player

it drives me nuts

the firmware version is 531

any help is much apreciated

[ybeard]

Does it skip with legit original DVD's? If not, I'd consider your media. If it does, pretty much would be the player.

[bender_unit_22]

has not done it with retail dvds

and sometimes the discs work

sometimes not

I've reburned the same video several times and it won't play right

it's weird

if it was the media then would it be hit or miss like that?
some work some don't?

[INFRATOM]

Ya, if it doesn't do it with commercial dvd's it is your media.
1- Buy good brand dvd's > e.g made in Japan (check www.nomorecoaster.com)
2- Do Not burn over the speed printed on dvd

[westlaw]

Are you using sticky labels, such as avery or stomper CD/DVD labels?

I have the same DVD player and I've found that sticky labels were causing my DVDs to skip or freeze. After removing the labels, the DVDs played perfectly.

BTW, I use only Taiyo Yuden media. Steer clear from cheap media.

[bender_unit_22]

Ya, if it doesn't do it with commercial dvd's it is your media.
1- Buy good brand dvd's > e.g made in Japan (check www.nomorecoaster.com)
2- Do Not burn over the speed printed on dvd

that link is dead

I always let the program pick the speed

I don't use any type of sticky labels

so it wouldn't be caused by anything else?

I'm using verbatim cdr and phillips dvdr

I always buy name brands

where can I get "Taiyo Yuden media"?


thanks

[westlaw]

I've had problems with Philips DVDR (Green and Black cake label) in the past. I purchased (4) 50K packs at Office Depot and ended up tossing them.

Have you tried other top-rated brands of DVDR

[bender_unit_22]

I usually get what is on sale but is also a name brand

what are the best brands to look for to avoid this problem?

I thought verbaitm cdrs were pretty good

[giannid]

I'm thinking it may have been partially due to overheating.

Also, your media could be wrong too on some files. When you burn something, you should tick the box to have it verify the data after burning to make sure there aren't any copying errors. You can do this with Nero.

Relatedly, I had my brother bring me a new Sony DVD burner, and in turn I gave my old LG DVD burner to my sister-in-law.

Now, I found that the Memorex 8x DVD-r's my brother also brought work great with the Sony burner. However I would say that it makes mistakes on about 80% of the cheaper DVD-r's (powerdisc) that I had bought earlier.

Now the LG burner usually has no problem with either the Memorex or the Powerdisc. My toshiba burner in my lap usually has no problem either. It's just the Sony DVD burner I have doesn't seem to like the cheap stuff.

You should verify for errros after burning, find out if certain DVD-r's give you problems, find out which ones work well, and buy those from now on.

You can buy high-quality 50-count spindles pretty cheap on the net from places like shopping.com or amazon.com.

[bender_unit_22]

I don't see the verify option in nero

I have nero 6

[jman98]

I recommending keeping your in as open an environment as you can. I have never used Philips DVD discs and I've never had your problem. I buy Verbatim discs pretty much exclusively (both -R and +R) and I've never had this problem. My player also has no heat issues as it has lots of free space around it in its current location.

[giannid]

Bender Unit,

If you use Nero Express there is a box to tick that says "Verify data on disc after burning". This appears right when you are about to click on "Burn" to start the burning process. Tick that box and after Nero finishes burning, it then reads the freshly burned disc and compares it to the original data to see if there are any copying errors.

[jmikeh]

I can tell you that in my experience with the 642 I have used all flavors of Memorex and TDK, cdrw, dvdr, dvdrw +,- with NO problems at all..

[Krispy Kritter]

If you are specifically having issues with avi/xvid files, try reading this: https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=272969

[brownstem]

I'd say it's almost certainly crappy media. Case in point: I burn 10 Xvid files onto a generic dvd-rw disc and pop it in for testing. Sometimes all of them show on the menu as fine, sometimes some have the red question mark next to them. Turn the player off and on and sometimes different files will show up with the red question mark, while the others are now playable. On the other hand, burn the same ten files onto a Taiyo Yuden dvd-r or dvd+r and every file spins up, properly recognized, EVERY time.

My advice: use TY or Verbatim (MCC) discs exclusively and burn at no higher than 4x and your Xvid/DivX files will play great on this machine (assuming you don't encode them wrong in the first place...).