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new imac slot...scratching media ---anybody else?

welders4mac

welders4mac

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 11, 2007
55
0
The Great White North
Well I have two new imac machines. And I have been trying to persuade myself that the scratches Ive been seeing on CD and DVDs are not a result of the new machines.....however they are.

I live in a very clean setting and cannot figure out how the foamy material at the entrance of the slot could be scratching the media.

perhaps its internal?....I am getting scratches from both machines

Anybody else?
 
YES!!!!!!!!!!

please read my post at the apple forums that has gone completely ignored?!

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1167366&tstart=0


<<<<<I am surprised no one else has chimed in on this. I played around with inserting and removing a disc over and over with an old useless disc. I need to say it again. If you are not careful to insert a disc at an exceedingly precise angle/straightness to the Aluminum cutout/opening for the slot loading superdrive, your disc will have a long line of scratches from the sharp, straight-edged, knife-like aluminum edges caused by the non-beveled cutout. I cannot believe this!

Is anyone else actually using the superdrive on their Aluminum iMac??

I did get my iMac very early in the release (early August), did apple fix this defect on the newer ones?

I sure wish someone else with a new iMac and an objective opinion would look at their Mac and post here. >>>
 
The slot....?

....

Oh! Dear boy! That's not the CD drive! That's where you attach the flux capacitor!
 
Good Gravy your right! :eek:

The opening is too narrow to be unprotected by a rubber or other compound fixture. The opening was certainly stamped or lasered out.

Apple should come up with a fix, I don't know about the states but in Canada there are laws about selling things that are not suited for their intended purposes....such as a cd/dvd reader/writer which scratches the c**p out of said cd's or dvd's

not good at all!!!!

doug_in_albq feel free to cross post with link to original
 
this thread needs some new life.

Anyone own an alum. iMac?
Use your DVD drive?
Look at your discs lately?
Felt the aluminum edges around the dvd drive?
Comments?
 
The edges are rather sharp. But I've burnt quite a few disks in there with no problem and no scratches - and where the mac is, I can't actually see the slot and have to poke around to get the disks in.
 
I will have to watch this on mine (just delivered a couple of days ago)

Would it be possible to use some sort of teflon tape on the edges of the drive opening?
 
At first I thought the same, but I did not scratch any disc yet. Discs are so 1999...
 
I'm regularly reusing the same DVD+RWs between my DVD recorder and my Alu iMac. Furthermore, the iMac isn't my main display, so I also have to poke around and reach up, to insert the disk.

I've just checked the two disks I've been using about two months, and they both look fine.
 
Yup. I thought I was just crazy, but my new 24" AL iMac scratched the crap out of my Creative Suite 3 installation disc. I now have to contact Adobe for a replacement.
 
uhh

i must say that it only occured to me as i read this to feel the disk drive opening. i've been shoving my disks into the drive without looking (with the drive at the side of the monitor, how else?) but i just checked all my cds and their perfectly fine.. hmm...
 
I think it's only happening if you insert a disc at an odd angle. It happening to me once. So the solution is just to watch what you're doing.
 
I've been using mine quite a bit and have been making it a point to examine each disc as it ejects to look for scratches. I haven't found any. I've been backing up my music and photo collection in anticipation of doing the Leopard install as well, so that means a few blank dvd's inserted. No scratches.

What I've been doing is this. I'm careful to make sure that I insert the disc at a slight angle so that the sharp edge of the slot is going to touch the top of the disc, not the bottom or writing side of the disc. That way any possible scratching of the disc is going to be harmless.

Works for me.
 
I don't use mine, I use a Lacie external. I don't like slotted drives and I don't like reading or burning CD's or DVD's in something that could toast bread.
 
cheeseadiddle said:
I'm careful to make sure that I insert the disc at a slight angle so that the sharp edge of the slot is going to touch the top of the disc, not the bottom or writing side of the disc.
Click to expand...
That's good advice -- for burnable media -- but it's not such a good idea for mass-produced media such as music CDs. The label-side of a music CD is more fragile than the playing side. There's only a thin coat of lacquer between the printed label and the actual "data bits" stamped into the top surface of the plastic.

Scratches in the top surface permanently destroy data and frequently cause loss of tracking -- making the CD unplayable. Scratches on the clear playing surface do not damage the data -- so, they can often be polished-out (or ripped/duplicated successfully with a different player).

LK
 
I haven't experienced this yet, and I doubt I will. I'm purposefully careful when inserting and removing discs from the imac.

I think it's just a matter of some people being more careless than others and not trying to be gentle with their discs.
 
Leon Kowalski said:
That's good advice -- for burnable media -- but it's not such a good idea for mass-produced media such as music CDs. The label-side of a music CD is more fragile than the playing side. There's only a thin coat of lacquer between the printed label and the actual "data bits" stamped into the top surface of the plastic.

Scratches in the top surface permanently destroy data and frequently cause loss of tracking -- making the CD unplayable. Scratches on the clear playing surface do not damage the data -- so, they can often be polished-out (or ripped/duplicated successfully with a different player).

LK
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
 
Sorry to revive this thread but this issue happens to me too. Unless I insert or remove the disc perfectly straight from the drive, the disc gets scratched and the data is ruined.

I just got my iMac earlier this month and Apple obviously hasn't fixed the problem. I will be picking up an external drive today.

PS, my first post here. Great forum!
 
I'm inserting an RV dvd:D. Just to test it, I looked at it before, now im going to eject it...

...No scratches, now with the label tilted towards me...

...No extra scratches, now with the label tilted against me...

...Err, not really, but do a little over tilted so that it scratches the aluminum, well, i just gave it away, it scratches the disc!! so much for my RV, im gonna see if it still plays. But the scratches arent that big, so as someone has said before, stick the cd or dvd in carefully, not tilted. So its not a problem from Apple, its just the way you insert your disc.

FYI, the scratches arent big, and i tilted it at a huge angle, not sure about the people above :eek:

dynamicv said:
No scratches here either. I think it's possibly a PICNIC issue.
Click to expand...

What's a "PICNIC issue??"
 
I solved this problem on my imac by taking the imac off the colored mount that it comes with. Just make sure that the whole imac is at a 90 degree angle. Problem solved.
 
Just make sure the disks are going in straight. I know if they're even on a slight angle you can scratch them on the edges. Just be careful.
 
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