SkipDr DVD & CD Manual Disc Repair System

by Digital Innovations

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 4 inches ; 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0015ACUKC
• Item model number: 1018300
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (159 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #1 in Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Audio & Video Accessories > Cleaning & Repair > Disc Repair Kits
  • #47 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > Television Accessories
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

The SkipDR Classic disc repair system is a manual device that can fix minor scratches to CDs and DVDs. It can repair up to 50 discs using a patented FlexiWheel, and resurfacing fluid to smooth the surface of damaged discs. As well as handling standard optical discs, the SkipDR Classic can also repair discs for: PlayStation 1 and 2; XBOX / XBOX 360, and the Nintendo Wii. The repair kit contains: a FlexiWheel, felt buffing square, rejuvenating fluid, and a special drying cloth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

195 of 198 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Helps!, July 27, 2009

By 

Paul R. Potts "Software Developer" (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SkipDr DVD & CD Manual Disc Repair System (Electronics)

I've used both the older version (with the green wheel) and the newer version (with the orange wheel) and they both have been very helpful with numerous discs. I'm a parent and I have friends who are parents. I've used it to make CDs and DVDs which had become almost unplayable work reasonably well again, avoiding the cost of replacing the disc.

It's important to understand what this thing does. Basically, you start with a CD or DVD with minor surface damage on the bottom side (which is where the laser hits it). The scratches have sharp edges, which cause the laser light to scatter, and you have read errors. This device will lightly sand down the plastic surface, evening it out, taking scratches out, and creating a radial pattern. Then you take the felt pad and buff out the pattern so it is less likely to cause light scattering. The result is a "scuffed up" disc that is covered with tiny scratches, but the original damage is sanded off. The laser can, for the most part, see right through these minor scratches and "hazing" since it focuses _below_ the surface.

So, the idea is to basically scratch out the scratches. How well it turns out is affected, in large part, by how diligent you are with the felt pad. Also, for the first stage, you _must_ use enough of the spray to keep the disc wet; if you let it run dry and keep cranking the abrasive wheel will produce deep radial scratches and it will be hard to buff them out; you may wind up doing more damage then the original damage you are trying to fix, and it will take you forever to try to get them out.

If the scratches or gouges are deep, you may have to run it through a few times. If they are very deep, it just won't work. If there is damage to the label side of a CD then it won't work; the data is destroyed. DVDs work slightly differently, so label-side damage may not be quite so critical.

Anyway, it works. For example, a recent DVD I fixed up had several unplayable sections, where the playback would skip ahead 30 minutes or more. It had some deep "dings" in it. I ran it through the process four or five times, to the point of diminishing returns, and it got a lot better, but it still has some short freezes and stuttering in the video playback. The "dings" are still slightly visible both to the naked eye and the laser. For less-damaged DVDs, the results will probably be better, but there's no guarantee you can make the disc read perfectly again. I recommend it, but it isn't magical. It's not a good substitute for keeping the DVDs away from the kids to begin with.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great if you have small Children!, February 15, 2010

By 

N. Coe (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SkipDr DVD & CD Manual Disc Repair System (Electronics)

I bought the battery operated one and the motor blew up after a month! Therefore I switched and bought this one. It is not hard to use and makes DVD's play again! Sometimes if they are pretty scratched up you have to run them twice. Otherwise, I love it and enjoy not having to buy the same DVD's more than once!

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow it worked!, January 4, 2009

By 

Bean "Bean" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SkipDr DVD & CD Manual Disc Repair System (Electronics)

I was able to fix my Wii Fit dvd that the kids scratched! We also fixed a ps2 game. I am so relieved.