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X360 scratching discs... not a myth?

inpHilltr8r said:
discman02.jpg

The fact people forget about drive speed astounds me.

Here's a better example, take your PC DVD burner and put a CD in it and burn it at 24x speed. Now turn it sideways as it burns and let me know how that goes for you.
 

espionage

Member
on my second 360 (on my 4th now), it scratched discs. people seem to be saying "oh don't move it then when it's on, moran!" but we're talking about discs being scratched with the 360 simply sitting there on your entertainment center.

i was playing condemned and then heard all of this grinding coming from my 360 so i opened the tray and yeah nice little circular scratches all around my disc. I called up microsoft and told them i wanted to get my 360 repaired and have the disc drive replaced because it was scratching discs. the guy on the other end denied that it was even possible and would not take my 2 month old 360 for repairs. i ended up just replacing it with my replacement plan from gamestop.

but yeah, i'm actually quite curious to see how this case turned out simply because microsoft support denied it was even possible when my circular scratched disc clearly says otherwise.
 

tak

Member
Cynar said:
my brother in law had this happening with his 2nd 360 just before it died, hope they win that lawsuit
I'm guessing they wont. Microsoft provides warnings on the console and manual not to move the console well it is on (the thing the lawsuit is about, not the random scratches). There needs to be obvious neglect on Microsoft part for them to lose this lawsuit.

I don't know why people are surprised Microsoft is admitting there is a problem; they've already admitted there is a problem by providing warnings. In the end, I think this is just another example of how poorly the hardware of the 360 was designed.
 
I'm surprised this is such big news. I thought it was pretty common knowledge. My 2nd 360 refurb from MS sat dead still, properly ventilated, on a glass TV stand. Even this wasn't enough, as it completely killed my Gears of War disc, and scratched Oblivion into oblivion (I'm hilarious!). Seriously, it looked like someone scrubbed a brillo pad on my discs. Calling MS was useless, as they have a serious case of denial, so I just had them resurfaced at a GameCrazy. Luckily, I suppose, my 360 red ringed shortly after, so I got a console that didn't maim my discs.
 

Morts

Member
I figured any system could scratch a disc if you were unlucky. My roommate's PS2 scratched the hell out of my Futurama Season 4, disc 4. The last episode is unwatchable... (except on a PS3, for some reason).
 

J-Rzez

Member
I never experienced this personally, but one of my best friend's machine killed a few of his discs. Worst part was MS fought with him for weeks to get it fixed. Guy had some bad luck for sure, couple games killed, 3 dead consoles. I love the games on the system, but it's easily the most shoddily built system ever. Usually I'm a "day-one" buyer (or not too soon after) for new hardware, but I certainly won't buy their next system for a long time after launch regardless if they claim they made strides to make it more solid.
 
33agxi0.gif


i've had something like this since the early ps2 days. thankfully i've been lucky and haven't had to use it on any of my 360 games. i did have to use it on my brothers copy of cod3 tho.
 

IzzyF3

Member
My ps2 scratched my discs after 5 years of use. After that I got the ps2 slim, and that was that. The lesson? Stop going with the stupid disc drives. Instead of releasing a crapload of SKUs of the same flawed machine, maybe they can replace the drive.
 
infinityBCRT said:
Disc scratching is real... but only on the early models of the 360 where the laser didn't have the rubber protectors around them which would have prevented the laser contacting the disc, which causes a scratch. But even with those systems, you'd need to either have your 360 on an uneven surface, have it vertical, or move it while it is in use to have a scratch happen.

This is simply not true.

When I called about my scratched discs, Microsoft denied that this was even possible, but did actually take my Xbox in for repairs.
 

Raist

Banned
Several ongoing lawsuits charge that the Xbox 360 is defectively designed because tilting or swiveling the video game console can scratch game discs playing inside.

:lol

I'm not sure this is a great argument to start a lawsuit
 

soco

Member
it seems to me there's two different issues.

i don't think there was ever a doubt the 360 potentially scratch a disc if jolted or tilted while it's operational. of course microsoft knew this, they put the warning in the manual.

the other issue that's the 'myth' that's being spoken of was of the 360 scratching discs while being stationary. i'd be surprised if MS knew about this before the 360 launched. and i have little doubt this is true, but i think it's a much more limited case. you'd see reports here and there, but it was no where near the level of the RROD.
 
Raist said:
:lol

I'm not sure this is a great argument to start a lawsuit
Yeah I don't know why they're wasting time and money on this. How about the actual issue of it scratching discs while remaining perfectly still, horizontally placed in your entertainment center, and Microsoft refusing to admit the problem exists?

If I remember correctly Kassa managed to get some Microsoft person to admit this was a possibility. Indeed. 6:25

Paraphranslated said:
Regular use may result in scratches on the discs.
 
Angelus Errare said:
The fact people forget about drive speed astounds me.

Here's a better example, take your PC DVD burner and put a CD in it and burn it at 24x speed. Now turn it sideways as it burns and let me know how that goes for you.
Discmans manage it with ball springs. Internal drives have clamps, that should easily account for motion in the drive mounting. MS cheaped out on the clamp to get the price down, and this is the result.
 

tak

Member
m0dus said:
erm, when you trace the core of the issue to the fact that people are moving the console with the disc spinning after being plainly warned NOT to do so, I'd say it's actually just another example of how poorly some people's judgment can truly be. it has nothing to do with the hardware.
One aspect of a great design is designing a product that protects itself (in this case game DVDs) when misused, specially when its a common misuse.

One good example is how the hard drivers in newer laptops will shutdown when they sense the laptop is being dropped. The laptop is not meant to be dropped, but the designers knew it could possibly happen and planned for it.
 

Zeliard

Member
My original Xbox ended up scratching the shit out of my games after a few years. Haven't had that issue with the 360 (yet). I also feel fortunate to have a 360 that I bought in November 2006 and was manufactured in May of that year still working perfectly (though I know some still have working launch consoles).

Knock on wood.
 

2real4tv

Member
My Rockband 2 is not working and has circular scratches on my disc I am really getting fustrated with this machine. Iam going to see if I can install to harddrive but I only have a 20 giger :(
 

Barrage

Member
My 360 scratched my copy of NBA 2K9 three days after I bought it. It's a real problem, and along with RROD makes recommending the system as reliable frustrating.
 

WARNING

Banned
interestingly enough, the past 3 days i've had tons of problems with scratched discs.

i just rent shit from blockbuster and all of the games i've rented out the past few days have had circular scratches left in them much like those described in this thread. probly douchebags who think their console looks COOL on its side.
 

2real4tv

Member
I never move my 360 and it is in the horizontal position. By the way it is my 2nd 360 and the Arcade version with my swapped 20gig harddrive, did not have this problem with my first 360.
 

bj00rn_

Banned
360 since launch, 3 different systems (No RRODs either...), not a single scratch.

But then I:

- Never move them while they're on.
- Always keep them in horizontal position.
 

Yagharek

Member
bj00rn_ said:
360 since launch, 3 different systems (No RRODs either...), not a single scratch.

But then I:

- Never move them while they're on.
- Always keep them in horizontal position.

Really, those two 'pointers' should be common knowledge and anyone who needs reminding of them should not be allowed near even moderately expensive electronics.

The issue is with 360s that do scratch them without the assistance of user error. Dunno how common that is overall, but I know it has happened to at least 2 of my mates, both of whom are exceedingly careful with their consoles.
 
I've had my 360 scratch up my copy of Forza 2 after playing it once, for an hour or two. This is one disc out of probably close to 50. But hot damn was that disc scratched. I ended up Walmarting it for a free exchange.
 

2real4tv

Member
2real4tv said:
My Rockband 2 is not working and has circular scratches on my disc I am really getting fustrated with this machine. Iam going to see if I can install to harddrive but I only have a 20 giger :(


Now my COD4 and CODWaW have bitten the dust and don't read :(
 

sn00zer

Member
At I party I was at someone turned the console from a vertical to a horizontal position while a game was running, the console made a very neat circular gouge all the way aronund the disc making it unplayable
 

AwRy108

Member
I don't have the disc-scratching problem
because I won't buy a 360 until an official hardware revision--Microsoft's shitty hardware can go f*ck itself.
 

dojokun

Banned
If you re-orient the PS3 with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
If you re-orient the Wii with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
If you re-orient the PS2 with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
If you re-orient the original xBox with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
But if you re-orient the xBox 360 with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably scratched.

And somehow you're an idiot if you re-oriented your xBox 360 with a disc spinning in it? C'mon, people, it's called industry standards. Combine this with the fact that the xBox 360 is meant to be able to be stood on its side, and you've got extra reason to blame Microsoft instead of the consumer.
 
dojokun said:
If you re-orient the PS3 with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
If you re-orient the Wii with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
If you re-orient the PS2 with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
If you re-orient the original xBox with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably okay.
But if you re-orient the xBox 360 with a disc spinning in it, the disc is probably scratched.

And somehow you're an idiot if you re-oriented your xBox 360 with a disc spinning in it? C'mon, people, it's called industry standards. Combine this with the fact that the xBox 360 is meant to be able to be stood on its side, and you've got extra reason to blame Microsoft instead of the consumer.

I don't think you're correct about the original Xbox. I found with mine that the slightest bump would leave the exact kind of circular scratches people are complaining about with their 360s. I ended up having to get a few discs polished at a local DVD store to make them playable again.

Luckily I haven't had any problems like this with my 360.
 

Pancakes

hot, steaming, as melted butter slips into the cracks, drizzled with sticky sweet syrup OH GOD
A good friend of mine lost a couple of his games due to his 360 shaking just a little bit.

This is why I install most games to the hard drive (20GB). It takes a while to install but it prevents my games from getting utterly destroyed.
 
If your Xbox 360 scratches discs it is faulty. Get it replaced. This is not a problem with all Xbox 360's.

My original Xbox 360 I bought in 2006 scratched discs badly. I returned Gears of War and Dead Rising because they were scratched and I thought I just got a bad copy. Nope, it was the machine. Machine was returned the next day, and I never had a sratched disc since (50 games now).

of course that machine got RROD though LOL

I now own two 360's and neither sratches discs.
 

dojokun

Banned
Well my bad about the original xBox... I never had that problem with it. So I guess Microsoft screwed up with both their consoles then. My point still stands. Kinda hard to reasonably blame the consumer when you can move around the other companies' consoles without the same problem. (Not saying it never happened with other consoles, just not on a significant level like with the 360.)
 
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