Dell E1505 DVD Drive Skipping

Has anyone else had problems with their DVD drive skipping from the slightest movement?

Here's my deal. I just bought a "scratch and dent" E1505 from Dell Outlet. It It arrived yesterday, and I made sure everything was running, including playing a DVD. Note: I cannot find a scratch or dent anywhere on the thing...it looks brand new.

Today my fiance took it on a train trip, and she has called me saying that she tried playing 2 DVDs (both of which work fine at home, the first was the one I tested last night) and that they keep skipping. She tried it while the train was moving, AS WELL as when it was stopped in the station. So, even the slight vibration of the train engine was enough to make it skip. She tried using it on a table in the dining car, on her lap, and on the small tray using the padded case to dampen the vibration.

This seems like an indication the drive may have been damaged, but I wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences before I call Dell (I need to wait a couple days until she is back anyway).

Anyone have any insight? I REALLY like the machine so far, except for this annoyance.

 

I've never personally used one on a train, I have used it quite a bit in a moving car with no problems, no problems on a rough plane ride either, is just during dvd playback?, you should get her to try playing an audio disc, read some data, maybe even try and install something from a disc to see if the problem is present then too, dvd playback can be finicky, what player are you using?

 

I will have her try a CD (if she has one) and find out what happens.

Using the Media Center's DVD player

Thanks for your help!

 

So...she does not have a CD with her, but now with the train stopped and totally powered down (the train I mean) it won't do anything except make clicking noises. I think I have a call to Dell this afternoon.

 

tehy should be able to just replace the drive

 

So...interestingly enough I did not have to replace the drive...

As it turns out, tech support was able to adjust some of the software that filters noise and static out of the signal, and suddenly it worked perfectly. Basically, what he said was the filter was over-doing it so much it was cutting out about half of the signal. Since he made the changes, I've been able to shake the laptop (not trying to kill it) and it plays just fine.

Just posting this here in case anyone else has a similar problem...it might well pertain to other brands as well as I can only assume they all have similar processes.

 

glad you got it sorted out