[Michlib-l] Summary of Recommendations for DVD Resurfacing Machines

Shawn Andary sandary at uproc.lib.mi.us
Tue Oct 8 10:35:25 EDT 2013


Good morning everyone,

Thank you so much to all of those on the Michlib-l listserv that
responded to my question about recommendations for DVD resurfacing
machines.  I will try to summarize what I learned in this message.

It seems that those of you with RTI machines really, really, REALLY
think that they are wonderful, and the overall feeling that I got was
that you "get what you pay for" and that the cost of the machines was
offset by all of the savings from being able to repair DVDs and put
them back into circulation instead of having to toss them out.
Additionally, some libraries offset this cost by purchasing a machine
together that can be shared, and another charged patrons $3.00 a disc
to repair personal DVDs at the library.

Models of RTI machines that I received testimonials about included the
RTI ECO-Master http://www.discchek.com/ecomaster.html , the RTI
ECO-Smart http://www.discchek.com/ecosmart.html, and the RTI ECO-Pro
http://www.ecopro.us.com/  2 libraries that responded are also using
the ECO-Junior, which has been replaced by the newer ECO-Smart model.

Some of the newer RTI machines come with the capability to repair
Blu-Ray discs in addition to DVDs, and customers with existing RTI
machines can have the machine upgraded to repair Blu-Rays (Orion Twp
did this).  Also, even if the machine isn't upgraded to repair Blu-Ray
discs, it can still clean them.

The only negative comment I received about having an RTI Disc Repair
machine was about having repairs done since the machines are heavy and
shipping can be expensive.  One library had a staff member actually
drive the machine to Lincolnwood, IL for repairs since that was
cheaper than shipping it.  Having said that, there were positive
comments about the quality of tech support that is provided over the
phone, and it sounds like supplies are shipped promptly.

One library that responded is outsourcing the disc repair process.  It
sounds like they have a regular schedule that they follow to send out
the discs and that they are out of circulation for awhile, but they
are satisfied with the fact that they are fixing the discs without the
initial expense and then ongoing maintenance of having a machine
in-house.

The Bay Mills Library ended up going with the JFJ Double Arm Disc
Repair Machine http://www.jfjdiscrepair.com/proddetail.php?prod=JFJDISC3
since they have a very small collection of DVDs and just felt that
they couldn't justify the expense of the RTI machines at this time.

They've tested it out and really like it so far.  It does two discs at
a time, doesn't use water, doesn't have any lines that need to be
flushed out, and only takes (at most) three minutes for the very worst
discs.  Also, it shipped to us the same day we ordered it and got here
in two days which we were very happy with.  It's easy to use, requires
no setup and seems to be well made.  We generally only have a few DVDs
or possibly one audio book set to fix per month, so it seems like
it'll be a perfect fit for us.

Thanks again to all of you that took the time to reply.

Shawn

-- 
********************************
Shawn Andary, ALS System Admin
UP Region of Library Cooperation
1615 Presque Isle Ave
Marquette, MI 49855
v (906)226-4675 Ext. 4
f (906)228-5627
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