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beware of buying "used" CDR players-recorders

Just a quick buyer beware concerning anyone thinking of purchasing a used CDR recorder. The laser, which burns the pits, does not have an infinate life. They last somewhere between 2,500 and 5,000 hours and can cost $300 to 500 to replace. Often times making it not worth the repair bill.
(Think in terms of the old analog recorders, although, lasers can wear out even quicker)

Since there is no hour counter, unlike many DAT machines, you never know how many hours are actually on the deck, therefore, you may be purchacing a deck with little life left in it. And, since the price of decks have come down over the last 3 years, unless you are getting a used one for almost free, it makes little sense to buy a "used" deck.
ramstl

Showing 2 responses by ramstl

ramstl OP
342 posts
 
Try www.am-dig.com tell them Ray sent you.
ramstl OP
342 posts
 
The odds are fairly great. FYI, many of the CDR's are purchased by individuals who are into collecting live concerts, which as more and more time passes bands allow you to do.

Anyway, these individuals have large collections that they have transfered their collections from cassette, reel to reel, Beta and DAT to CDR. Also, the trading community is expansive and it is not uncommon to regularly trade 25-50 or 100 CD's at a time, read each month.

If you do the math you can see that a trader can log anywhere from 600 to 2000 hour a year on a machine, therefore, quickly using up the life of the laser.

I would suggest that anyone thinking of buying a used deck should really know the person they are buying it from and feel they are being totally honest about how many hours have been burned. That way in the end you won't get burned.
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