I am a college student in IT that fixes computers, and, a lot of the time, a client will want me to reinstall a program from a nearly-mutilated disk. I needed something not only inexpensive -initially-, but with inexpensive upkeep and supplies. After a great deal of research, I stumbled upon the JFJ Easy Pro (I had been leaning toward a discgotech).
When I first bought the product and was waiting impatiently for its arrival, I read some more reviews on the JFJ machine. Apparently, there are two versions of the machine: one with a glass-like plastic top, and one with a lighter plastic. I called the company and asked them several questions:
1.) If I get the product with the top made of "lighter" plastic, can I get the new lid?
-- yes, but you have to send it off and spend about 50 dollars for the piece and labor.
2.) I have heard that, after thousands of repairs, the plastic cap that holds the disc while it spins will eventually strip on the metal screw...
-- no problem. The company will usually just send you one free of charge if that's all you need
Basically, whatever future parts you need, you can get a repair kit inexpensively...even after the warranty ends. That's something very important to me.
When you get it out of the box (mine was the new model with the better lid. I bought before Xmas 2008), you can tell it's a well-made product. This thing is built like a bomb shelter, no joke. And, unlike a previous poster suggested, there is no learning curve. The idea is to choose the least-drastic method for the disc at hand. For example, if it's a minor scratch, don't use the sand paper.
If you do use the coarse sand paper, you follow it with the fine, then the white and blue solutions in that order. You simply work your way down the grit level. It also includes a glossy instruction booklet. Better yet, there are vids on youtube (I'll also be posting). If you can work a microwave, you can work this machine. If you can screw this up, you shouldn't be allowed to leave your house without your helmet. That's really all I can say.
The only con is that it won't make hot cocoa for me when I come home from class, I guess. This really was a solid investment, and I hope you find my review insightful. JFJ Easy Pro Universal CD/DVD Repair Machine
I had been bringing my scratched CDs into a local shop to have them repair them for over a year. The owner was charging $1 a CD. He happens to have the same machine. At times I would get the CDs back and some would work great and some wouldn't. I hesitatingly bought my own to save the time and money of bringing each CD down to him to have them repaired. Boy, am I glad I did. I love this machine. It doesn't repair Gamecube or mini CD/DVDs, but it repairs all of my full size CD/DVDs. I've had some pretty deep scratches left over from the ex-girlfriends not putting the discs back into the cases. I've been repairing them to save me from buying them again. Sometimes it takes multiple times running it through to sand it down on the deep scratches, but they always come out working correctly. One disc I had to run through for 3 to 4 minutes of sanding just to remove the scratch, but it works great now. My daughter wanted to watch a movie last night that had been scratched and I hadn't repaired prior to last night. She was crying the entire time I was fixing it, but once it was put into the DVD player and worked great, she was as happy as can be!
The only thing that I would complain about the kit would be the fact that it should come with bigger bottles of the solutions. I find that I only use the #2 solution most of the time and will sometimes use the #1 solution if I want the disc to look brand new. I don't use the wipe pads or the spray solution because hot water and a micro-cloth has worked great up until now. I would highly recommend this item and would NOT bother buying most of the cheaper machines online.
One more thing, when repairing discs, try to have a few on-hand that need to be repaired, because you'll end up saving on the per-disc cost due to the price of the solutions.
I had been considering this repair machine for about a year but was put off by the high price and kept using my little memorex machine instead. Finally, I got fed up with the problems it had and decided to take the plunge when I saw it was on sale. If I knew then what I know now I would not have waited.
First thing, it is bulky and certainly not 'stylish' but it works tremendous. It comes ready to repair everything from minor scuffs to gouges. It tells you not to try a really damaged disk that would require sanding the gouge out until you have some experience, and honestly I haven't found any yet that needed that extreme repair.
I pulled some CD's and DVD's from my sons room that had lived on the floor for the past year at least. Scuffed, scratched, rolled over with a desk chair, you name it these disks had gone through it.
I ran them through the 2-step process - White compound first (2-1 minute cycles) - Blue compound last, and when they came out they were smooth and shiny like a brand new mirror. It was almost unbelievable.
I use it all the time now, especially on a lot of the Netflix disks that come in, but I seldom need to do more than 1 blue compound cycle on anything I get from them or that I find here at home.
This machine is not cheap, and quite frankly it is not pretty, but if you have any sort of DVD, CD, or Game collection you won't be sorry if you check the couch cushions to scrape together the money to buy this.
It's easy, fast, and works like a charm. Check out the youtube videos on this machine to see it in actual use. - Disc Cleaners - Cd Repair - Dvd Repair - Cd And Dvd Polisher'
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