Dreamcast Switching Games Question

[John845]

Kind of noobish to ask this, but I got a Dreamcast 2 weeks ago and I really love this system, and I don't want it to die on me. Anyways.

When playing a game, I usually turn on the system, wait till the menu pops up and then I open the Dreamcast hood and put the cd in. After that I close the hood, then the "Checking disc" thing goes by, then the game starts. Now, if I want to switch games, should I power down the system or just open up the hood while the game is running (which then goes straight back to the main menu). I'm asking this because I don't want to inadvertently fry my system somehow, or ruin the laser.

So basically, which is the safest method to switch games, and which will keep the laser in top shape.

[Whatupdoc?]

well the smarter of the two for any system would be to turn off the system first

[racketboy]

I usually just open the lid and wait for the disc to spin down. As long as the disc isn't spinning when you change discs, you should be fine.
I think that's actually safer than turning it on and off. I think powering on and off would cause more stress to the system.

[Pullmyfinger]

There was a thread for this and Saturn, somebody even scanned the manual, try digging for it

Edit:
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6842

[executioner]

The proper way is what racket said. This should be on a faq in the site.