DC + CD-Rs

Post by **lost_within** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:11 pm

the question everyone wants to know the answer to...

Where the hell did you find a BRAND NEW...DC?

Post by **Mozgus** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:04 pm

otaku wrote:well the theory is that CD-rs get accessed more often and will thus wear the system out sooner. That may be but I just bought my DC new so I should be good for at least several years if not 5-7 or more which is fine.

More often? What are you talking about? That makes no sense.

Post by **peace4myheart** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:29 pm

Someone told me that "playing CD-R's kills your laser" is just a myth. He said that not playing a system for a long time does more harm than CD-R's, kinda like not driving a car for a month and need to restart it. I agree that everything will eventually breakdown, especially ones with moving parts, but I am no expert so I don't really know.

Post by **lost_within** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:31 pm

Funny you say that...cuz a brand new freshly built engine can run hot and blow up just as simple as being "to new" and everything being so tight it doesnt flow up to normal par.

So if we use that myth...couldnt you open a brand new dreamcast and have it spin out of control?!

j/k j/k

Personally i think its just a myth and everything falls apart at some point. Enjoy it while you got it and play it hard!

Post by **GSZX1337** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:57 pm

lost_within wrote:the question everyone wants to know the answer to...

Where the hell did you find a BRAND NEW...DC?

eBay

Mozgus wrote:
otaku wrote:well the theory is that CD-rs get accessed more often and will thus wear the system out sooner. That may be but I just bought my DC new so I should be good for at least several years if not 5-7 or more which is fine.
More often? What are you talking about? That makes no sense.

I never understood the CD-R myth either. CDs are CDs.[/url]

Post by **D.D.D.** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:01 am

lost_within wrote:the question everyone wants to know the answer to...

Where the hell did you find a BRAND NEW...DC?

http://www.gamequestdirect.com/01008650000.html
I bought one there about 3 years ago for $50 but they've gone up since. Their local store was really nice too.

Post by **marurun** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:59 am

Well, one of the theories is that packing the data on a CDR ends up putting data in less useful places than when it was originally packed on GD, meaning the drive has to do more seeking to find what it's looking for. The problem with that theory is that while, yes, using a motor more will indeed hasten its demise in that certain belts and plastic cogs will get more wear, the drives are usually made to be pretty damn durable and last a long time anyway. The accumulated extra wear of CDRs, assuming there is any, is not likely to add up to much in the grand scheme of things.

If you are worried, find some motor-safe lubricant and make sure all the moving parts are properly greased. That'll probably get you back more life than you'll lose by far.

Post by **nateup2** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:14 am

The best way to avoid wear and tear of the gdrom drive is to switch to VHS.

God, catch up!

Post by **Pullmyfinger** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:43 pm

nateup2 wrote:The best way to avoid wear and tear of the gdrom drive is to switch to VHS.

God, catch up!

Also, you can back up your GD Roms directly to VHS without having to downsample stuff, the downside is you have to rewind if you lose and have to restart a level.

Post by **Zer** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:50 pm

Unless there's some factory making new Dreamcasts still, all Dreamcasts have to be what, 6 or 7 years old? Assuming most of them were used fairly often, then it's probably just aging if the GD-ROM drive dies on your DC. And if you're worried about the price of replacing the drive going up, buy a few DCs that have disgusting cases or broken controller ports. It'll cost you like maybe $5 or $10 each and you'll pretty much be set for life.