Xbox 360 Disc Scratching Investigated, Tested

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Gryphyn

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I see a new accessory in the works: the Xbox 360 inertial dampener. Prevent those terrible disk scratches! Now in 17 different "kewl" patterns and colors.
 

CalifLove

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How do you loose several hundred dollars of games? If the damn thing keeps eating your disks, I'd imagine after the first 2 or three I'd give up on the boxand buy a new one or just say screw it all together!!!
 

dogma721

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Great, Microsoft has a disclaimer that says don't move the console while its on and there is a disc inside. Supercool. The fact still remains that the cd rom drive in the thing is a piece of garbage.

This doesn't happen on my Wii. I can tilt it, move it around etc. and not have any problems. Not to say that there aren't limits with that, but, you can move the thing without scratching your disc.

Sure, if i was single and it was conveniant to put my xbox into some sort of entertainment center where it would be off the floor and not likely to get bumped. But, unfortunately, if you have a family with small kids, the tv your wife lets you plug your xbox into doesn't really have any provisions for a protected enclosure for your xbox and hey, lets be honest, everybody forgets - or thinks - hey, i can plug this accessory in with it on, i'll just be careful, then next thing you know - whoops - there goes 60 bucks.

Its a video game. It should have some tolerance to "real world" conditions. Dogs, kids, etc. Not saying you should be able to drop kick it and shake it, but, there should be some forgiveness.
 

The Schnoz

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[citation][nom]gamerk316[/nom]Considering I lost several hundred dollars worth of games, i'd say this is perfectly relevent.[/citation]
You must be a total dueche! How do you scratch your discs while their in your system. It's simple, don't move the system while it's got a DVD running at 12X and their won't be any problems. I've been through 4 360's (2 red rings, one was stolen, currently using Elite) and have only encountered one scratched disc because my ex's little bro moved the system will playing COD2. Did a shop and swap at Costco (because they'll replace for any reson) and moved on with my life.
 

deathblooms2k1

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I have had my 360 for a while now and none of my games have any scratches at all. Then again I'm the type of person who takes the game out and puts it back in it's proper case when putting a new game in. I also have the console sitting horizontally. I don't understand though, even if I had it sitting vertically how are the scratches made? The tray doesn't seem to have anything jagged on it that could cause scratches. Do these people with these problems have dirt or something on the tray? I just can't figure out how a flat more or less frictionless tray can cause scratching.

My only complaint with the 360 is that it's loud. Then again it's no more loud than my PC with cheap Rom and stock coolers.
 

tayb

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[citation][nom]gamerk316[/nom]Considering I lost several hundred dollars worth of games, i'd say this is perfectly relevent.[/citation]

I'd say you are an idiot then. Scratch one game because you didn't explicitly read directions shame on Microsoft. Scratch a second disk shame on you. Scratch more than four discs (to achieve "several hundred dollars") you are a downright moron. I do believe you fall in the last category.

I bought the 360 the day it launched at midnight and have exactly zero scratched disks. I use what some call "common sense" and don't move a machine that is spinning a disk at a rapid rate. I use the same "common sense" to turn my car off when I fill up the gas tank.
 

geckoar

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I have had one game get scratched it was Perfect Dark Zero because my friend wanted to see how the 360 looked upright... so dont move your 360...
 

arson94

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Oh man, I have a launch 360 and I play Gears of War I every night for a couple of hours and have been doing so since the game came out. It has no scratches and my console sits upright. I don't know why so many other people are having these issues. I guess I would be pissed too though if it happened to me. I also don't use my 360 like a fuckin gaming laptop either so maybe that helps???
 

Zoonie

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"..it also works to detect an incoming T-Rex"
LOL, I had a laugh right there..

@all negative ppl - yak yak yak.. the news here was that BBC actually tested this, not that the 360 scratches the disc. I critisize Tom's alot aswell, but come on..
 

dogma721

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The tray doesn't seem to have anything jagged on it that could cause scratches. Do these people with these problems have dirt or something on the tray? I just can't figure out how a flat more or less frictionless tray can cause scratching.

The reason cd's get scratched is because there is no damping, the disc is free to move up and down at an angle, when that angle becomes sufficient it hits the head that is reading the cd rom. hence the perfectly circular pattern.

You can actually fix this by using some sticky backed foam. If you take the cd rom drive out and put 3 small pieces and place them as follows:

[]
[] []
o

the "o" is the head that reads the disc. The sticky pads prevent the disc from rocking back so far that it can actually contact the head.

So again, warning labels are great, but, if the fix is as simple as this - (this fix will certainly prevent discs from being scratched for incidental bumps, etc.) - then how come microsoft didn't foresee this and in stead of stating - ya, the scratches happen because there is no mechanism in place that keeps the disc from contacting the head, they instead put a warning out that just says categorically "don't ever move the xbox with it on and a disc in it". That seems like a cop out.
 

rexoverbey

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Toms has been bashing the 360 a lot lately for known errors and now this. C'mon I want to try this with other consoles and se how well they do. Lets also try moving the disc around in PCs and see if they scratch discs. I have never scratched a disc and I am guessing it's because I don't move my console around while the driving is spinning several thousand RPMs.
 

chibiwings

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Stop complaining.You love the system right? live with defects and just enjoy you're beloved console. while micro$oft laugh at the us
 

kato128

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[citation][nom]tayb[/nom]I'd say you are an idiot then. Scratch one game because you didn't explicitly read directions shame on Microsoft. Scratch a second disk shame on you. Scratch more than four discs (to achieve "several hundred dollars") you are a downright moron. I do believe you fall in the last category. I bought the 360 the day it launched at midnight and have exactly zero scratched disks. I use what some call "common sense" and don't move a machine that is spinning a disk at a rapid rate. I use the same "common sense" to turn my car off when I fill up the gas tank.[/citation]

Mate, I think the words you're looking for are "good sense" coz it sure as s**t ain't common.
 

demonhorde665

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[citation][nom]kato128[/nom]Mate, I think the words you're looking for are "good sense" coz it sure as s**t ain't common.[/citation]

i agree with tayb
it seems common sense enough to me. i'm sure every one remeber the original cd walkman ... thing was terrible it would skip any tiem you actually tried to jog with it. following this learned memory that dates back to the 80's one could quite commonly use common sense and assume you shoudl never move ANY kind of disc playing device around as the best case senario is your tgame would skip causign the machine to lock up and require a restart (since game data deosn't just stream off the disc like a music cd).

but then again teh world is full of idiots ,. its why mirrors are packed in boxes that say "do not lay flat",it's why paint buckets ahve alabel that says "this side up" , and why Mcdonald's coffee cups have to say " warning this sh-- is hot" because for some reason ther are a lot of morons out the that defy nature and seem to have no mental capacity when it comes to retaining common sense knowledge. these people are usually refered to as stupid, dumb, ignorant , moronic , or retarded.
 
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