I noticed at wally world the other day that they have a cleaning kit/disc for dvd players. Do dvd players need cleaning? or is this a waste of time and money? Also, if it is a good idea to use/clean this in the player, is it a good idea to use it on the computer as well? I have a lite-on 811s dvd player-recorder. thx
If you could only see some of the abused players and discs I've seen people use! Yes, there is a place for cleaning kits for these types of people. Otherwise, a player and disc should rarely have to be cleaned. I can't say never because dust will find a way eventually over the years. I've had some DVDs since 1997 that are still used and are still in prestine condition and dust free. Is it some kind of miracle? Not really, I just take care of them. I don't touch the media side surface, just the edges: simple. I carefully load and unload the disc: simple. If the disc isn't in the player, it's in its case: simple. If dust or anything else appears on the disc I grip the disc firmly and use canned air (no need to wipe since I don't have fingerprints and such to worry about. Of course (sorry) this all applies if just you handle the discs. If you have kids and other relatives that handle them or you loan your discs out then all bets are off. ;-) As for players, I haven't really used any cleaner discs in them that I can recall. If you can handle the discs like I mentioned above, then the player should perform better, longer too. If you every run into pixelation or some other unexplainable distortion while playing a disc then sure, a cleaning may be in order.
