Can you really recover a scratched DVD or CD? Is it possible to take a pre-owned scratched game disc and recondition and use in your game system? There are several products that promise to repair your CDs, DVDs and game discs but do these products actually work or do they over-promise and under-deliver? The Geeks tried out two samples of Wipe Out! CD DVD Game Repair Kit.
As it turns out, fixing scratched DVDs and CDs is a science and not an urban legend! Scratched on the surfaces of optical discs are not digital issues but optical issues. As the laser in the CD or DVD player passes a scratch, the refraction due to the scratch causes the laser to mistrack and the disc is unable to play. On music CDs you hear a repeating glitch sound because the laser is stuck looking for the next digital bit while a DVD freezes or simply is unable to load.
Wipe Out! CD DVD Game Repair Kit claims to polish the scratch from your disc eliminating the refraction allowing the laser to re-read your digital information. According to the literature there are five steps to bringing your optical media back to life.
We tested both the Ultra solution (coming out soon) and the original formula on some created data and audio CDs as well as some scratched used game discs. The created data and audio CDs also were scratched with the edge of scissors until the CDs no longer would play or load in a computer. The used game discs were purchased from a used game store with scratches from previous owners included.
The new Ultra solution will be sold for $14.99 which includes a finer polish and more expensive grit. The bottle will repair about 40 discs or about 37 cents per optical disc. The original Wipe Out! CD DVD Game Repair Kits is sold at $9.99 or 25 cents per optical disc.
The documentation that comes with the repair kits has a five step process. The first step is to clean the CD with a non-abrasive cleaner or the cloth that comes in the kit. You must also check the CD to see if there is any light going through the foil wafer. If you see light, the disc cannot be repaired as the foil (where the data is stored) has been breached. Otherwise, you would move on to the next step which is to find the scratch. The third step is to shake the solution for a full 20 seconds before each application. Next you apply one or two drops to the optical surface and rub hard to wipe the scratch out of the disc. Finally, clean the disc thoroughly to remove all the Wipe Out! solution.
So, did the Wipe Out! solutions work for us? Yes!
The Geeks were impressed because the game discs loaded much quicker and actually played better. Also, the audio and data CDs were brought back to life and would load and play after using the product! We did find that one key to having the product work is really rubbing hard and the other key to the process is really cleaning the disc afterwards. One disc in particular took a couple cleanings of roughly two minutes each time to wipe the scratch out of the disc but it did finally work. Also, the repaired disc looked a little hazy from the micro-abrasive scratches in the area where we rubbed the solution on.
The Wipe Out! CD Repair Solution comes with a customer’s satisfaction guarantee to repair scratched or skipping discs or your money will be refunded for the product. You do not need this guarantee as the product works though.
You can get your hands on the product or learn more about the product here.
What’s Groovy: I can honestly say I did not believe the solutions would actually work especially with the
scratches I inflicted on the test discs, but Wipe Out! took care of the scratches and
restored the discs to a usable state.
What’s Sucky: The product requires elbow grease but any exercise is good right?
| Features | Performance | Quality | Value |
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| Provided the foil on your optical media has not been breached, Wipe Out! will be able to fix your scratched media. |
Wipe Out! bats 1000% by fixing all badly scratched optical media in our tests ranging from audio to data CDs and pre-owned game discs. |
The quality of a product like Wipe Out! relies on the ability of the product to work. Wipe Out! scores. |
Game discs sell for up to $60, CDs usually go for about $15, and DVDs run $20. If you can use the Wipe Out! solution and save just one disc, you come out ahead. |
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| Wipe Out! CD DVD Game Repair Kit works! | |||