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It's not just you. One reason I cancelled my account with them, aside from the fact that I wasn't watching enough movies to justify the DVD price, was because I got sick of bad discs. If I go back, it will just be a streaming membership.
Are you in a densely populated or urban area? I am, and I wonder if the amount of handling has to do with it.
The type of player makes a huge difference. If you are using a cheapie, you will have problems. A "progressive scan" player costing $150 or more is much more likely to play properly. It is pretty easy to see if a disk will play or not. Sometimes I have to remove a glob or buff a small area, but normally Netflix plays great. Facets, OTOH, has some SERIOUS problems from time to time.
The type of player makes a huge difference. If you are using a cheapie, you will have problems. A "progressive scan" player costing $150 or more is much more likely to play properly. It is pretty easy to see if a disk will play or not. Sometimes I have to remove a glob or buff a small area, but normally Netflix plays great. Facets, OTOH, has some SERIOUS problems from time to time.
Maybe, but I have a good set-up that definitely cost much more than what you've noted, I've never had a problem playing discs I own, and I have received discs from Netflix with more scratches than a camp kid with poison ivy.
I'd chalk this up to both quality of DVD's being scratched up and to the quality of the DVD player (rather, the laser inside the player and its tolerance for errors). I would definitely suggest cleaning the DVD with a microfiber cloth before inserting it into your player -- that should help with some of the playback issues.
On a related note, blu-rays are much more resilient when it comes to handling wear & tear (read: less prone to scratches that impair playback). I know it's extra money each month, but if you have a nice TV and a blu-ray player, it would totally be worth it to immerse yourself with the richer audio and visual experience that blu-ray offers.
One other thought - if you don't clean DVDs that have dirt on them, you can get that dirt transferred onto the laser lens, making DVDs that would otherwise play unplayable. There are DVD lens "cleaners" that are DVDs with itty bitty brushes on them that will clean off dust and some dirt. If you have ever seen a tone arm on a record player pick up dust and heard the sound quality go mushy, you understand the problem.
The data is all the way through the disc so scratches themselves unless all the way through usually wont stop it from playing, it is the dirt that builds up in the scratches so cleaning the disc, as others have mentioned, should fix a lot of the issues.
I have actually been shocked at the nearly zero amount of disc I have gotten from them that are jacked up.
Another thing to note is that it could be the distribution center your disc come from. Maybe they dont do as well as others as handling the disc. Because I have always heard positive things about this regarding Netflix from people.
I had alot of trouble with Netflix videos, on a Sony blue ray player. I also had trouble streamng them on line . Either they would skip, stop, or make me mad. Ultimately cancelled Netflix, since I just never used it much.
I have for the last 2 years ordered old movies from the '30s and '40s, as well as newer titles--also, documentaries and PBS ones (I would think not too many people choose those)--and I've never had a problem with them playing even on an inexpensive DVD player. My account is serviced by the Montgomery AL shipping facility.
no its not just you, i have problems with netflix too.. i dont get the dvds mailed to me though. i go on netflix and watch movies thru the site and i can tell u that theres a problem with the player. the movies skip or they pause or they dont play at all. what i hate the most about netflix is that the movies sound and picture are never really in sync. i have to keep rebuffering to make it work and its just a headache. i usually end up not watching the movie or show because it just pisses me off that much/
its not my comp as it does it on my app too. i called up netflix and all they can say is that they are working on these issues and thank u for bringing it to their attention. the customer service rep. told me that this has been an ongoing problem. goodluck and i hope they fix this problem soon.
I've only had a problem with one disc over the last several years. It might depend on the genre. Stoner comedies and action movies are always beat to hell. Romance and drama tend to be in decent shape.
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Never had a problem
