Digital Innovations SkipDr DVD and CD Motorized Disc Repair System

I started with the hand cranked version as it was cheaper and I was skeptical after reading all of the reviews. I figured if it could help even just 3-4 movies that would have otherwise needed to just be replaced then it was worth it, it worked great after I got the hang of how to use it and I deviated from the directions a little. I decided to invest in this one as we have a couple hundred, more or less, kids movies. This one is even better because I am hands free so it can keep going while I spray it to keep it wet. The wetter the better! Thats where I deviated from the directions, they say to "spray lightly then let it make 2 evolutions around then take it out and wipe then buff" I started by experimenting on a couple of disks that I knew were not fixable because the backs of the disks were scratched as bad as the front. I don't like how little spray they include but any spray made for cleaning eyeglasses (the kind thats safe for plastic lens') works just as well. If it gets even a little dry it will make the disk hazy with the sanding, if it's kept really wet it works great! I spray heavily before starting then keep spraying the top as it comes around to go down again. I do not wait for it to make 2 evolutions before spraying again, I usually let it go around 3-4x this way depending on how scratched it is. Then I clean and buff as it says and if it needs more I do it again. Whatever you do don't be frugal with the spray! Better to use more than needed than not enough. To finish up after everything I buff it with an extremely small amount of liquid wax. Only a drop on the cloth for the whole disk (That step isn't necessary, I just like it personally). I did go ahead and invest in a power cord as I have no interest in keeping up with batteries. They have them on amazon for $5-8 or so. Definitely worth picking up if you plan on using this a lot as I do. I moved the wheel and stuff from my other SkipDr to this one to save the new one for extra. No, this isn't something you can use if you want to be able to sell disks as it does leave faint markings but its great for personal use especially if you have kids that are just now getting old enough to understand proper disk care. I have improved everything I have used this on that was salvageable. Most of them run smooth all the way through now. A small number still skip or freeze in a place or 2 for a second or so then keep going. Those were the disks that used to either just get stuck and stay frozen or had to be jumped way ahead to keep them going before. So they are still greatly improved! Both of these things have already paid for themselves 2-3x over at this point! For us, for our kids movies, this was most definitely worth it! The wheels also last longer than they are said to last if you keep the disk really wet and take the wheel off and gently rinse it off every once in a while I have noticed. I have used it on 36 movies so far and am still using the wheel from the first hand cranked SkipDr on this model. I haven't used it on anything but the kids DVDs so I can't say how well it does for games or bluray or anything as those items have always been off limits to the kids handling so they are all in great condition. They do watch the DVDs in the bluray player though and it has no issues reading them.

This is one of the worst products I ever purchased. I have some DVDs that were giving me trouble during playback and I looked for something with reasonable user ratings just to fix these few discs. Since my DVDs are non-replaceable (I would have opted for that if I could), I wanted something automatic a.k.a. motorized so success would not be dependent on my elbow grease and patience.So long story short, I tried it on my first DVD as per the instructions and it did make a small improvement. After reading other peoples advise, I ran it for longer while keeping moist and it actually did make the first disc repaired usable.Okay, on to the next. This is where everything went wrong. I had it running in the machine for about 30 seconds when it jammed up.I turned it off and took out the disc. I turned it on without a disc and now the abrasive wheel was wobbling as it turned.I decided to give it another go with a DVD, and it started okay but quickly jammed up.Being moderately technically inclined I decided to open it up and see what's wrong.Turns out that some of the teeth on the gears driving the abrasive wheel were stripped.They are of course made of plastic but I expected a little more life out of them than one DVD repair session.Additional note: I bought the 9V 1A recommended power supply (by Amazon) and it wasn't ever able to turn the abrasive wheel with a DVD in the machine. My first successful repair was done with batteries. I measured the current required to turn the abrasive wheel and it showed 1.2A which is above the rating for this little wall wart.

This can work well if used as a half way point to fix DVDs with heavy scratches.I originally bought the manual version by mistake. It worked but was a pain to use.I have been going thru my large collection of DVDs and ended up with about 80 that were unreadable. This is a decades old collection so only a small part but I wanted to save them.First off it sucks that the did not include a simple transformer to power it up. It takes 6 AA batteries. I ordered a transformer at extra money to make it have more reliable power.Do not set it upstanding up like the other videos show, use it on the side so the DVD has the working side up so the spray does not run off the disk while it is working. If the scratches are bad let it keep running and give a few more sprays as it keeps turning.This will leave the disks in a rough state but the scratches will be removed. There is another step that will make them 99% fixed.Once you are done use an automotive paint polisher and car wax. It takes about 3 minutes per disk to completely polish them enough to be read. Clean the disk after and you are almost guaranteed to get a good disk.I have done this with about 30 DVDs so far and have only 2 that are still getting read errors. I still have the above numbers to go. I will retry the 2 that have failed.Yes that is more work than just using this tool alone but is it better than tossing the disks and having to buy them again?