Digital Innovations 10185 Skip Dr. Motorized AutoMax Scratch Repair System
by Digital Innovations
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Digital Innovations 10185 Skip Dr. Motorized AutoMax Scratch Repair System
Customer Review: JUNK! returned it and bought a Maxell DSR-1 instead
Summary: 1 Stars
I researched disk cleaners and repair thoroughly and compared 3 units head to head -- Skip Dr., Aleratec and Maxell DSR-1. Aleratec, and Skip Dr in particular, were total junk by comparison. Skip Dr. is poorly constructed and they don't have a combo unit so you need to buy a repair unit and a cleaning unit separately. The repair unit severely scratched my test disk, creating huge starburst type scratches from the center to the edges of the entire surface of the disk. Plus, their repair unit doesn't even buff. You have to do that manually with a cloth!! So I'm supposed to strain and waste my time buffing out all those pretty scratches their unit created with a cloth? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of an "automated" product?? And the buffing cloth was useless anyway cuz the scratches the unit created were far too deep. Not to mention, if you use this unit on a rental disk, the video store will probably charge you for mangling their disk. Their cleaning unit is equally a piece of junk. It's supposed to eject the disk after cleaning but it doesn't. The disk just keeps spinning and spinning forever. Both Skip Dr. units run on batteries, so be prepared to spend extra money on that too. And you know as batteries die down, the cleaning and repair units will be less and less effective, so you'll have to replace batteries often. Don't bother with Skip Dr. unless you want to destroy disks, waste time, waste money on batteries and waste space on 2 inadequate units. Buy a Maxell DSR-1 instead. See my review for the Maxell for more details on how it works.Customer Review: Works good -- if you understand what you're buying
Summary: 4 Stars
This device, and the handcranked version I had before it, works very well for repairing DVDs and CDs. In fact, it is the only repair product I've used that works well consistently. However, there are some caveats:
1. THIS IS NOT A CLEANER. It repairs scratched disks by sanding them down and polishing them. There are lots of cleaners out there (or for us rednecks, Windex and my t-shirt covered belly :-) I'm sure someone will write how horrified they are that I use Windex on DVDs.....If you use it to clean, you may be horrified by what you see, leading to #2....
2. It will leave semi-radial sanding marks on the disk. That's how it works. That's why you DON'T use it to clean disks, only repair. The sanding marks don't affect playback, but if they turn you off, you can use a lesser disk repairer like the motorized Memorex unit to buff them out.
3. Be sure you clean the disks after repairing. This will help reduce the sanding marks and remove any particles left from the repair process.
4. Contrary to the product description, it will NOT work on 3" disks. I tried to repair a GameCube disk once, and it destroyed the sanding wheel.
If you buy this unit understanding these limitations, I think you will be totally satisfied with the performance of this device and I can highly recommend this unit for its intended purpose.
David V
Customer Review: My SkipDR review
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought my first SkipDR about 10 years ago. That one was the cheaper hand-crank version and basically a cumbersome piece of crap. Since I didn't know of many other disc repair systems or kits at the time and it was pre-computer era for me, I decided to take a chance on the twice as expensive (about $25) motorized version. THAT one performed beautifully and lasted me 10 years even without replacing the "micro-frictional" wheel. The motorized version that I had then was hand held like a gun (yeah, yeah "weapon", I remember..."this is my weapon, this is my gun..."). I would spray the solution that came with it on the disc, put the disc on another detachable wheel which was inserted parallel to the floor, flip the switch on the handle with my thumb and let it go for about a minute, turn it off manually and pull out the disc. The one that I bought a few months ago cost just under $40 and is a lot more user- friendly. That one sits on a table in the living room, (looks nice actually) and all I do is spray the solution and insert the disc which automatically turns on the device and automatically ejects the disc upon completion. The version that I have is very compact and I swear works better than that $2000 space module that they use at the video store. We own around 30 DVD's and I have about 300 CDs and could not imagine not having my SkipDR.Customer Review: Best for $$, but performance leaves some room for improvement
Summary: 4 Stars
I found the Skip Dr. Motorized Automax Repair system very handy, and a pretty good value for the money. For the most part it fixed my 3-year-olds skipping and freezing DVD's. There were a couple DVD's which it could not repair, despite running them through multiple times. Those being a result of my daughter's careless handling of disks, and my carlessness of leaving them in reach. It cleans and buffs out small scratches easily, but will not do heavy repairs like the machines at the video stores. In fact, I know a manager at a local store, and their machine was able to fix the discs this machine did not. HOWEVER, I want to repeat it fixed 99% of all my glitches!! The problem I see is the flex wheel. It is rubber, and from first use, the seam on the sand paper started to separate. It did not and so far has not impacted the effectiveness of the unit, but I do see that I am going to have to buy a replacement wheel soon (after about 30 uses). I've used other types of clean/repair systems, mainly the ones you crank for yourself. This is a breeze compared to those, and I would certainly not shy away from reccomending this product. I would be nice if it came with a refil of fluid, an extra wheel, and a power adapter instead of costing about $20 total for the three of these items... but, nothing in this world is free! :-)Customer Review: Works very well, just understand the limits
Summary: 4 Stars
I picked up the automax skip dr. and have been very happy with it's performance. However, it has very real limitations, that I think may be leading to the bad reviews I have seen.
1) If there is a scratch on the label, your done for. Label side scratches destroy the data. Nothing can help there.
2) It will not remove the scratches completely. It polishes and cleans the surface enough. Scratches alone, don't usually cause skips, it's the dirt, oil and dust that gets trapped in scratches that causes a problem. Just cuz you can still see the scratches, doesn't mean it didn't work. It usually does
3) Bad disks need to go through twice! I have yet to find 3 runs to do better than 2, but a couple of bad disks needed to be run through twice to make playable.
4) Finally, don't skimp on the resurfacing fluid. The instructions say generous, and they mean generous!! If the disk isn't dripping one or two drops when you turn it vertical to put in the skip dr, it's not wet enough.
5) Buff those puppies real well. That is the manual step, and it sucks. But you really need to buff them clean.
After all that - the thing works great. I'm really perplexed at the number of bad reviews and can only guess that the unhappy people had really bad disks.