Bang goes my DVD

[mikesimpson]

My MS Office disk which cost many hundreds of dollars split the second time I tried to remove it from the case. I took it back to the shop and they replaced it without question.

I never replace DVDs in the DVD cases they came in as some of the 'push-button' releases in the centre are very tight and I think that is where the splitting occurs. I prefer to use soft plastic sleeves.

My personal opinion is that if the supplier forces you to use the DVD each time the game is played, then by definition a reasonable life for the disk is the same as a reasonable life for the game, e.g. 6 years so far for MSTS.

[kreader]

Yes I accept what you say about the possible reason that the DVD broke but I have been using CD/DVD's for almost 20 years and how many have I broken? - none. So I would argue that, if it was handled normally and it split, it must have been an inherent fault in the DVD.
The company should replace it without any further discussion, they accept the broken DVD back and the purchaser is back where he started with a product that he can use again and no copyright has been threatened.
Let us know how you go on Matraw.

[UpsideDownBox]

Yes I accept what you say about the possible reason that the DVD broke but I have been using CD/DVD's for almost 20 years and how many have I broken? - none. So I would argue that, if it was handled normally and it split, it must have been an inherent fault in the DVD.
The company should replace it without any further discussion, they accept the broken DVD back and the purchaser is back where he started with a product that he can use again and no copyright has been threatened.
Let us know how you go on Matraw.

Um... you forgot the human factor. Though you personally have broken no discs for 20 years, my mother could be a serial disc breaker. She seems to ignore the push button in the centre and instead tries to pull at the sides of the disc. If I hadn't warned her and showed her how to do it properly, she could well have broken a few disc by now.

[jivebunny]

EA are selling their customers a DVD which they know full well will be inserted / ejected maybe 2, 4, 6, 10 times a day. For them to refuse / dispute a request for a replacement would be similar to Ford selling a car which wouldn't move unless the handbrake was firmly on, and then refusing to carry out the repairs. What's stupid is that there is absolutely no benefit to having the disc in the drive. The user experience becomes slower, the disc AND the drive get over-used, and the so-called "copy protection" does nothing of the sort as it's ridiculously easy to get around.

Microsoft saw the light with the first (and last) patch for MSTS which removed the need to have the CD in the drive. Auran took the same approach with the official TRS range. And so have most other software companies over the past five years. I don't think there's a single title in my collection which requires the disc to be in the drive, and it seems to me that EA are a bit behind the times. Surely if EA absolutely must play big brother then it would be much more user-friendly (and lucrative for them) to have a web-based authentication portal system such as Valve (of Half-Life fame) have got with STEAM. Laziness and contempt for the customer is what it amounts to really.

For the record, the UK version of TRS2006 (published by Just Trains) requires the DVD in the drive and Just Trains are more than happy to provide a replacement should the need arise. I haven't had to as yet but I'm assuming it's just a case of providing your registration code and / or the original DVD.

Hope your problem gets sorted

JB

[Easilyconfused]

EA are selling their customers a DVD which they know full well will be inserted / ejected maybe 2, 4, 6, 10 times a day. For them to refuse / dispute a request for a replacement would be similar to Ford selling a car which wouldn't move unless the handbrake was firmly on, and then refusing to carry out the repairs.

All the EA products we have require the CD / DVD to be in the drive as do the Codemasters titles.

When my EA CD went bad for The Sims I had no problem getting a new one shipped. Same with Microsoft when my Windows ME CD went bad. Both times I had to pay the media fee since they were well outside the warranty period.

Now I also have used the EA download service for The Sims 2 and that requires my PC to be connected to the internet (or at least have an internet connection available). Sure that works but remember the uproar about the IGA etc. with KRS where people were objecting to having to be connected to the internet ?

[UpsideDownBox]

... the disc AND the drive get over-used ...

I know I've harshly cut out this quote, but this irks me.

I have 1000s of CDs. To listen to them, I have to use them in a player. To then suggest the player gets "over-used" because I need to remove the CD and put them in the player everytime I want to listen, would be laughed at, if I used it as an excuse for a CD breaking.

The same could be said about DVDs, which require DVD players to display films, programmes, etc. on TVs.

The discs are made to last for years. I have CDs over 10 years old which have been listened to countless times and my parents have a CD player nearly 15 years old.

[ashgray]

The discs are made to last for years. I have CDs over 10 years old which have been listened to countless times and my parents have a CD player nearly 15 years old.

I'm an avid fan of both film and music and although I get grief from my partner every time I buy one now, my DVD collection currently stands at 800, whilst my CD collection (some of which were bought right back in the early days of CD in the mid-eighties) now totals well over 4,000.

Any idea how many have been damaged whilst putting them in and taking them out of the drawer in my CD player or laptop?

None at all. And I have had to return a disk because it was faulty on less than a dozen occasions.

CD and DVD players were designed to have disks inserted and extracted from them on a very regular basis. In my view, most problems are down to the way you handle them, a view supported by the fact that I take care of my disks and they're all in prisine condition (I don't loan them out), whereas plenty that I have borrowed from other people look like they've been used as dogbowls or car hub-caps.

Ashley

[AndiS]

One factor in this comparison might be the speed of rotation. It is much higher in the PC. Don't ask me for the number but on the drive it reads 16/48. Of course, I cannot say how this translated to mechanical stress on the disk, but the noise is quite impressive ...

Otherwise, I fully support the statement about differences in maintenance of disks.

I also note a large variation in the clips at the centre, from very user-friendly to really annoying. The package EA chose is on the good end of the spectrum in my view, even my fingers can press these two knobs (or whatever) in.

Back to the original topic - any news from taking the DVD to the shop?

[bigvern]

THe RS DVD does seem to spin at quite high speed when the game is loading and periodically during use. It's a bit irksome that the Asset Editor requires the disk to be in the drive - you're unlikely to be using the AE unless you're going to port something over to the main sim.

One other factor in DVD-ROM wear and tear - if using a laptop you tend to push the disc over a spindle rather than just laying in the tray of a PC DVD drive so more scope for damage there.

The only DVD-ROM I actually had to replace was my GTA: San Andreas which gave sterling service but eventually the plastic around the hole started to fray and crack.

[matraw]

Many thanks to Peter and Matt for replacing my Railsim DVD so quickly, was getting withdrawal symptoms.

I am still worried about using it but there is no way round it at the moment if I am going to play the sim, and I am. Fingers crossed it copes better than the last one.

Is the advice right that I was given that its better to leave the DVD in the drive if I am going to use it quite a bit or should it be removed after each session? I know the CDs I have had for many years never cracked under the heavy use I subjected them to.

[AndiS]

Many thanks to Peter and Matt for replacing my Railsim DVD so quickly, was getting withdrawal symptoms.

Hehe, always good to by from a good source. Glad I bought there, too.

Is the advice right that I was given that its better to leave the DVD in the drive if I am going to use it quite a bit or should it be removed after each session? I know the CDs I have had for many years never cracked under the heavy use I subjected them to.

I myself weight the extra spinning during boot time against the saved insertion/removal in the case. Since the later is what stresses the whole, and both you and Vern mention the whole in the centre as the weak spot in a DVD/CD, the extra spinning seems less risky than extra insertion.

However, there is another report somewhere from someone who had his CD or DVD really disassemble while spinning in the drive. I do not know whether he had observed little cracks in the middle before, or whether there are also disks with cracks in other locations. For those, the extra spinning would be worse than the extra handling.

[petermakosch]

Microsoft saw the light with the first (and last) patch for MSTS which removed the need to have the CD in the drive.

Actually, I bought the simulator shortly after it was released. The original version 1.0 never needed the CD in the drive.

It is this old nutshell again though. You must remember why publishers make you insert the DVD to play the game. It is to discourage piracy. NOTE: they do not STOP piracy. This is why there are Key's to input throughout installation for most software. Apart from the individuality, they are simply there to DELAY THE RELASE OF PIRATED VERSIONS of the software.

I personally use the No-CD for Rail Simulator to stop this kind of thing happening, as with all my games. A good example is Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge. A few years ago, I was playing the game (with the CD) and BOOM - the cd shattered in the drive. I was lucky, just hours before I had copied the CD image and backed it up. However, as the Red Alert 2 game is so old, I suspect EA would not send me a new disc.

I have seen it said before that Microsoft don't really mind their software being pirated. They do a lot to hamper it happening though, with the 30-day activation, Windows Genuine Advantage and updates blah blah, but ultimatly, people using their software is a good thing for them. I am not saying they encourage it, they simply are not completly 100% against it, from what I gather. But then this is Microsoft who, together with Apple, encourage CD Audio users to "rip CD tracks" to their computers, which in many countries, is illegal. The RIAA and MPAA are doing their best to file law suits against people, but if the software I am using encourages me to rip the tracks from the CD, then surely they need to stop that first?! Although that is a little aside the topic, it is worth noting.

The question is, what is it on the DVD that Rail Simulator needs? I have been looking at the exe for the no CD version and comparing it with the exe from the installation to try and find the differences, for my own personal interest. The game runs fine without the DVD, so I am almost suprised to hear that it checks throughout the game that the DVD is still present. Many games check at first load but thats it.

I should think Kuju would be looking at a patch that lets (at least) the editors be used without the DVD and perhaps some point in the future the game to, but as it is still fairly new and even though there are pirated versions around, it will encourage many users to purchase the game from a store.

[JohnKendrick]

The RIAA and MPAA are doing their best to file law suits against people

No longer true. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5053658.stm

UK music fans no longer face the threat of prosecution for copying their own CDs on to PCs or MP3 players, as long as the songs are only for personal use.

Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, said consumers would only be penalised if they made duplicates of songs for other people..........

For the record I decided not to obtain RS while there is a requirement to have the DVD in the drive all the time to run the programme. It's a shame but that is unacceptable to me. Sorry Kuju/EA.

John

[COLTRANE]

The RIAA and MPAA are doing their best to file law suits against people

No longer true. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5053658.stm

UK music fans no longer face the threat of prosecution for copying their own CDs on to PCs or MP3 players, as long as the songs are only for personal use.

Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, said consumers would only be penalised if they made duplicates of songs for other people..........

For the record I decided not to obtain RS while there is a requirement to have the DVD in the drive all the time to run the programme. It's a shame but that is unacceptable to me. Sorry Kuju/EA.

John

I did buy Rail Simulator, and I to found it unacceptable to have the DVD in the drive all the time.
When I bought a new motherboard and reinstalled windows I never bothered to put RS back.
Thats not the only reason though, I just didn't like the game overall.
I think I'll wait till something better comes along.

[RSderek]

Everyone is welcome to their opinion, however My RS dvd has been in my drive since it was released last year and and has been in use for around 15 hours a day every day, and still going strong.

regards

Derek