We were intrigued by VenMilll's CD and DVD repair machines when we first saw them demonstrated at the CES Press Preview back in 2006. At that time, VenMill, a manufacturer of expensive professional quality disc repair machines, announced it would offer two machines to the general public - an entry-level machine (SkipAway) and a higher end semi-professional machine, the Elite 60, under consideration here.
Conceptually, I loved the idea of these disc cleaning and repair machines. Who hasn't experienced disappointment attempting to play the latest Netflix or Blockbuster arrival only to find that it skips half-way through due to the abuse of a previous renter? And kids aren't always the most careful disc-handlers but explaining that won't stop the tears when their favorite Diney flick fails to play past the opening menus due to a scratch right down the middle of the playing surface. VenMill to the rescue?
The Elite 60 differs from its smaller brother the SkipAway Pro (also reviewed) in more than just its larger size. The Elite 60 model offers smoother, quieter operation, a larger more detailed LCD readout, more advanced temperature sensors that allow more precise repair, and a quick 90-second repair cycle, vs. the SkipAway's 180-second repair. For particularly damaged discs, you can set the Elite 60 to a double or triple repair cycle which extends the repair time accordingly.
Because the Elite 60 cleans and repairs discs quicker and more efficiently than the SkipAway, the per-repair cost is also lower on the Elite model. According to VenMill, the per-disc repair cost of the Elite 60 is approximately 20 cents vs. the SkipAway Pro's 40 cents. Similarly a quick 15 second clean costs approximately 2 cents on the Elite 60 and 4 cents on the SkipAway.
After the issues we had with our first sample of the Skip-Away, VenMill sent us a replacement unit as well as an Elite 60 to try out. Happily the Elite 60 was a much more solid and reliable performer than our first sample of the Skip-Away Pro. No "no cart" error messages and no need to re-seat the cleaning cartridge after almost every repair. We'd insert a disc in the Elite 60 and the machine happily hummed through the cleaning or repair cycle without complaint. The larger LCD screen was useful for seeing how many repairs and cleanings had been logged and seeing how much time was left in the repair cycle. It also let us know when fluid was running low (time for a new cartridge).
Unfortunately, although it was quicker and smoother, the Elite 60 wasn't really any better at repairing discs than the SkipAway Pro. Discs that were not repairable on the SkipAway were also unrepairable on the Elite 60, even after multiple cycles. As with the SkipAway Pro, the Elite 60 was great at cleaning surface grime, fingerprints and smudges off CDs and DVDs, and good at repairing light to medium scratches. But deep scratches presented too large a challenge for the Elite 60 to deal with.
Although the Elite 60 improved the surface appearance and playability of all of the discs we repaired, it restored full playability to slightly fewer than half of the discs we tested overall. The damage on these discs ranged from a few light surface scratches to deep gouges. Again, lightly damaged discs fared better than discs with deep scratches. We even tried to repair one DVD from a library that looked like it had been chewed on by a dog, with multiple pinpoint inclusions on the surface (teeth marks?). Although it improved the appearance of the surface, the Elite 60 was not able to fully eliminate these gouges, even after five or six repair cycles, and playback of this DVD/chew toy was still problematic.
Final Thoughts
Although it's nice to have a disc cleaning and repair machine handy (particularly with small children in the house), $1299 for a machine that will be successful only 50% to 70% of the time at restoring full playability to scratched discs is a bit steep. For those who simply must have a repair machine around, my recommendation would be to go for the less expensive SkipAway Pro instead.
Where To Buy:
Product Specifications:
Manufacturer's Contact Information
VenMill Industries, Inc
660 Douglas Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569
866-864-0210 (Toll Free)
508-278-0091 (Local/International)
web site: www.VenMill.com
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