The low quality of Star Trek DVD:s

As has been mentioned in the thread, it's common for discs to go bad. This isn't a new phenomena - it goes all the way back to laser rot in the laserdisc days. Tons of bad Warner Home Video (WHV) discs because of the bad plant in the late 00s, certain Criterion Collection discs that go gold before crapping out, and on and on. Many times, it's the glue holding two layers of the disc together that goes bad, rendering the back half of the disc inaccessible - which is just what happened with the WHV discs. Compounding the issue is there's no telling how quickly it'll hit. Some of the bad discs went to shit right away, some of them in my collection are still playable... for now.

At least with Warner, their home video division responds pretty quickly to issues. I was able to get replacements for a Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy set I bought used from a brick & mortar reseller years after it was originally released.

 

Another option is to purchase your Trek as Digital Downloads from the likes of Google or Apple. Then you own it. For me personally , I have never had a digital purchase (purchase - not subscription via streaming) yanked from me in all of the 12 plus years that I have bought content digitally. And I have yet to find a single occurrence on the internet of anyone reporting Star Trek content that is purchased digitally being yanked away. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I haven't seen it for Trek shows .

And if its only certain episodes on DVD that do not work, you can buy single episodes for like 3 bucks each digitally. Not ideal of course but could be a cheaper option /easier doing this rather than re-buying entire DVD sets or trying to get replacement discs for a few episodes that do not work.

 

That doesn't mean that it won't ever happen though. It's been done on amazon a lot, which is why I don't buy digital stuff from them.

BTW - Lynx, check your PM box

 

Now that's the best example of a colonoscopy anyone could think of... But that means you're also advocating for a... colonctomy?

 

Or exposed to UV light. The VOY cases being clear allow light wavelengths to pass right on through. But that doesn't explain the other discs, sold and contained in proper lightproof black cases, going bad when they shouldn't... it could still be a bad batch made and distributed at the wrong time, technically speaking no manufacturing process is 100% cookie cutter perfect.

 

That's good to know regarding Warner! I might reach out to them regarding some of my Doctor Who DVDs that have gone bad and don't have a Blu-ray release on the horizon. (At least the ones that aren't discontinued; I'm probably SOL on those.)

 

Not disagreeing. The first time it happens to me is when I will stop. (At least for Tv shows)Hasn't happened yet. ( ITunes purchases)

 

I keep them into a cupboard in a storage room when there is dark.

I live in a country with warm summers and sometimes very cold winters but due too good ventilation and warming system the inside temperature is around 20C all the time.

As for iTunes or other streaming services, I have no intention to pay a monthly sum to companies whose programs are 99% crap and who might cancel my favorite series after a while and then only come up with stupid suggestions when I contact them.

It happened to me once. All of a sudden, there was a message about "we don't have this series anymore" or whatever. When i called them about it, the idiot I talked to adviced me that there was another good series which I could watch, which happened to be one of those series I hate and would never watch even if they paid me for it.

"But everybody loves that series" was the reply I got. "I don't like it, I hate it!" was my reply. Then I told them where they could stop their streaming services and where to go. And then I cancelled my subscrition to that service.

In that case, I rather look at other options.

I have a lot of hobbies when it comes besides watching certain series, music, sports, writing, reading, traveling and some computer games. Some sports games I mod myself with accurate line-ups and correct jerseys and such.

But I really find it comforting to watch my beloved TOS, TNG, DS9 and early VOY from time to time.

Therefore I find it disturbing that those DVDs cause me so much trouble.

I have CD-records from the early 90's and DVDs from 2006 which works perfect after all those years, including the first three seasons of VOY which I bought in 2006 and still works fine, even if I discovered a small glitch in the episode Tuvix this summer. However, it was just an one-second stop and then it played on as usual.

Its just the current problems with Paramount's products which really annoys me. They don't even have the dignity to reply to my questions and mid you, i've really trid to be so nice, and polite I can in those mails and letters, just pointing out the obvious problems and kindly asked them what they are going to do about it.

Amazon don't seem to be much better than any other company.

Here's the recent situation: Amazon in my country has a Voyager box to a rather decent price.
However, when I checked the reviews of this German-made box, there were a lot of complaints.

The package is awful. No doubt that discs get damaged in such packages. OK, I have two similar boxes with awful packages, one TNG and one DS9 which I use to "cannibalize" malfunction discs in older boxes I have so I don't have to open those horrible packages until I need to replace the older discs I have. That was also my plan for Voyager.

But in the reviews, there were also complaints about some episodes being unwatchable and on some discs the language option was malfunctioning. When you try to choose the English speaking option, you still got the German version.

My German is so-so. I can read and understand most of it and speak rather good if I had to. But I'm not gonna waste money on watching Voyager episodes overdubbed with German speech. I find over-dubbing totally awful.

It might be funny being abroad and watch some movie I've seen before overdubbed with, let's say Slovak speech. But it's not funny in the long run.

So for obvious reasons, I won't buy this one.

The option is to buy directly from the US. But then transport costs and customs taxes had to be paid by me too. OK, if I was 100% sure that the DVDs would last for a couple of years, it would be worth it but with the current products.........

It will probably end with me doing costly business and then have the same problem again in two years or so.

What really annoys me with Paramount is that they have no dignity and no honor. They continue to spit out those lousy products over and over again and cheat their customers. They should think about their reputation.

I once worked in the music business and had a conversation with a member from a rather famous rock band. That member told me that "we do care about our fans and those who buy our records because they are paying our wages".

Paramount should think about who are paying their wages too.

Not to mention that the fans and buyers of theit products should star to react too. Is it only me who actually criticize their shady business?

 

Quit buying bootlegs. Just pulled the TOS season two Blu-ray off the shelf that I bought in 2009. They work perfectly on my Xbox Series X.

 

Screwed up discs don't mean they're bootlegs! If you're going to use such a pathetic claim to defend your corporate master, then I suggest you take a long walk on a short pier.
20th century fox ripped people off on their release of "Space Above And Beyond", and when those people complained fox's response was
"YOU BOUGHT THEM, IT'S YOUR PROBLEM NOW"

 

Sigh. Everyone gets a bad disc every now and then, not everyone has an issue with seemingly every purchase they make. So, either knowingly or unknowingly, they’re getting bootlegs or they are incredibly sloppy with how they handle their discs.

One exception might be if they’re using an Xbox 360 vertically, which is known to chew up discs.

 

Understood, and thank you for not getting upset at the correction.

 

You need to learn the definition of trolling.

 

No. But money talks, not reputation.

 

I must tell you that I haven't bought any bootleg and I treat my discs with care.

 

Well, that should be a reason for people to react!

 

You might want to re-examine who you’re buying from. Seriously. Just because they sell them as being from Paramount, doesn’t mean they are.

Then, start checking equipment. A dirty laser or loose belt can lead to issues. Make sure the firmware is up to date.

 

Naturally the more you buy, the greater potential for problem-discs. Once in a while you just get a nasty TITLE. There was a Barbara Bouchet horror DVD called IN THE BELLY OF THE TARANTULA which I ordered two copies of...since both of them rattled my DVD player worse than the EXORCIST bed.

DVDs are best cleaned with outward motions rather than circular ones, with non-abrasive soft fabric. I avoid the plastic ''cleaners'' altogether.