Anyone know anything about Laptop DVD drives?

[HalosNTariff]

Hi everyone, I recently bought some DVD's to watch on my Laptop at Uni. I've been watching a variety of other DVD's on it just fine.

But this particular set does not work, I put a disc in and it won't even load, it spins in the disk drive making high whirring sounds but it never plays.

My laptop is an HP, a fairly new model, and as I said it plays all my other DVDs just fine.

So has anyone encountered this problem before and is there anyway to fix it?

 

[sqrage]

Try playing it with VLC Player.

 

[DDRtists]

Try playing it with VLC Player.

I also recommend VLC player.

 

[HalosNTariff]

Nope that doesn't work; it still doesn't load and makes the same whirring sounds.

Okay, I've just checked all 5 disks, and one of them (the last one) plays fine, but the first four won't play. I'll try on someone elses laptop later and if that doesn't work I'll just try leaving it for a couple of days.

 

[DDRtists]

These are legit DVD movies?

 

[HalosNTariff]

Yup, bought from Play.com, all the official stuff is there.

 

[Duwenbasden]

does the DVDs play in regular players? or desktop drives?

 

[eazyduzit]

Could it have something to do with the Region Codes?

 

[HalosNTariff]

The region should be right, I specifically bought the Region 2 copy, and one of the five discs does play properly.

I'm going to check if they work on a friends laptop later.

EDIT: I've just checked the DVDs on my friends laptop, which is exactly the same model as mine, and all 5 work perfectly.

So it must be a problem with my DVD drive which is somehow only affecting these discs...

I honestly have no clue as to even how this could occur.

 

[Tru_Power22]

I guess you need to shell out 20 bucks for a new DVD drive.

 

[HalosNTariff]

Well my somewhat computer-literate friend just came round and noticed that the DVDs don't have the plastic rim around the edge which other DVDs have, presumedly to save on production costs. So it looks like my DVD player laser can't move far enough back to read the start of the disc, and so can't play them.

I guess my other friends DVD drive is more robust than mine and so can read the disc.

 

[DDRtists]

I guess you need to shell out 20 bucks for a new DVD drive.

For a Laptop? Hardly.
They're a bit more than a desktop DVD drive.

 

[Slapshot136]

i cant even find desktop ones for $20 anymore, it seems like the price increased on those

and for laptop ones, you probably need to buy for your specific laptop so the color/shape matches

 

[HalosNTariff]

Probably around £30 I reckon (I don't know what that is in dollars...) but to be honest my DVD drive is actually pretty good it's just these discs.

 

[Slapshot136]

if it's only these dvd's you might just want to copy them over to readable DVD's then, as im not sure that a new dvd drive would fix it then

 

[HalosNTariff]

Yeah I think that's pretty much my only option.

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[sqrage]

Well my somewhat computer-literate friend just came round and noticed that the DVDs don't have the plastic rim around the edge which other DVDs have, presumedly to save on production costs. So it looks like my DVD player laser can't move far enough back to read the start of the disc, and so can't play them.

I guess my other friends DVD drive is more robust than mine and so can read the disc.

The disc that did work isn't the same as all the others? If it is then that shouldn't be the problem.

Upgrading the firmware for your drive might be helpful.

 

[HalosNTariff]

Yeah the disc that does play has a very small plastic rim, whereas all the other have none at all, so that's why it sometimes plays.

 

[Exfiltrate]

Warranty

If your laptop is less than 1 year old it should have warranty. I am surprised no one had thought to mention this. Send it in and HP should resolve the issue with a replacement or repair.

 

[Tru_Power22]

If your laptop is less than 1 year old it should have warranty. I am surprised no one had thought to mention this. Send it in and HP should resolve the issue with a replacement or repair.

Yeah, but it was an issue with the DVD, not the drive itself. So there is no need to send it in for warranty.