OMG this is ****ing sweet. I so want one. Check out the images of the discs they tested it on.
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March 28, 2006 - Just about everyone has had a favorite CD or DVD that got scratched and ruined. Music CDs, games, or DVDs, we've all amassed a collection of disc media, and left a fair number of damaged discs in our wake. Losing a $10 music CD sucks, a dead $20 DVD hurts, and a busted $60 game is tear-jerking. We've all seen the CD repair kits sold in consumer electronics stores, and in our experience they rarely manage to fix anything, and often add scratches of their own. For most, a skipping CD might as well be a dead CD.
This little guy...
When Disc Go Technologies offered to let us take a spin with their Disc-Go-Pod Plus, their $495 light-commercial disc-resurfacer, we were pretty stoked. Would such a machine succeed where gimmick hand-crank models had failed so miserably? The answer, in short, is yes. Over the course of our testing, we threw just about everything we could think of at the little pod, from CDs that had been kicking around on the floor of my car for months, to some Disney classics defaced by Peer's kids, a few screeners damaged in shipping, a GameCube copy of P.N.03 Matt had been using as a coaster, and a CD-R we attacked with scissors and a pen. None of our test disks were fully-functional in any drive in which we tested them, and the discs with the heaviest damage could not be recognized at all. What went in looking beyond repair came out functional and almost new looking.
The Disc-Go-Pod Plus looks and feels like a proper professional tool. A heavy duty motor spins the platter that discs rest upon, while two polishing pads work the damaged surface. Polishing compound is pumped from an externally mounted tank into the cleaning chamber where it helps in buffing before circulating back to the holding tank. In action, the Disc-Go-Pod Plus whirrs away, and in the small viewing window one can see the polish compound being sprayed upon the spinning disk.
The process of fixing a disc is simple. Fill the polish tank with the supplied polish, top up with water, insert disc, clamp down, and start. The Disc-Go-Pod Plus has settings for light, medium, and heavy damage. Pressing the Start button once begins a 5 minute light cycle, twice begins a 10 minute medium cycle. After the 10 minute cycle is complete a third press will add an additional 5 minutes for heavy damage. Once the disc comes out it is quite hot and wet from the polish compound. We blotted off the excess polish, gave it a little spray with the included finisher, and a rub down with the included soft-cloth.
The effects were quite impressive, as the photos show. Every one of the most heavily damaged CDs and DVDs that we tested, discs that weren't even recognized by players, returned to life. Those with smaller scratches were also fixed, and their stuttering removed. Even the GameCube disc came out perfectly buffed and working.
The machine generates quite a lot of heat and at times emitted some very high-pitched whirring noises and smelled a little like it was burning. This was not unexpected, and Disc Go Tech's rather friendly customer service assured us that it was not damaging our unit. The Disc-Go-Pod Plus has an internal temperature gauge and will shut itself down before breaking. We gave ours a rest after about ten consecutive five minute sessions, and it was cooled down and ready for action about twenty minutes later.
The only real hassle associated with the Disc-Go-Pod Plus is the fact that it must be cleaned thoroughly before it is stored or out of use overnight, since the polish compound has a lot of grit that can jam up the pump and tubes if allowed to settle. The process simply involves draining off the polishing compound that remains and flushing the system with water. Not too bad really.
Conclusion
For a light-commercial tool with a $495 price tag, solid results are to be expected. Fortunately, the Disc-Go-Pod Plus lived up to our expectations and exceeded them; brining truly trashed disks back to life. Though the price is high, if you've got more than 20 scratched DVDs, or just 10 broken games, the costs offset and make the Disc-Go-Pod Plus a viable option for consumers. Considering its performance, it might well be a handy item to have on hand.
IGN's Ratings for Disc-Go-Pod Plus
