DVD damage writer?

Hey all,

I'm getting a brand new laptop soon, and its gonna be a relatively nice one so I just KNOW that I'm going to be extremely padantic with it to begin with. Now its got a slot load dvd drive so I don't want it damaged, and the reason I ask is because the dvd drive on my current setup seems to be stuffed.

It has trouble with dvd playback (vide/audio lag), and often auto-run on games cuts out. Now I will be playing alot of these games on my new laptop, but I was making sure that if indeed there is a problem, could this somehow be caused by a faulty dvd that could potentially do this to the laptop aswell? Is this a problem that can somehow manifest itself onto a dvd game and then corrupt the new dvd drive?

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I just need some clarification.
Cheers.

Also, what games are you trying to play??

Also, try to post your complete computer specs. Like what kind of processor you have, RAM, OS, Video card, etc.

Oh sorry, I don't currently have a laptop.
My pc is:
Intel P4 3.06ghz
2GB DDR2 Ram
GeForce 7600GS 256mb
WinXP Pro SP3

It plays games just fine, and the gfx drivers are all up-to-date.

The laptop I'm getting a a Studio XPS 16: http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-studio-xps-16?c=nz&cs=nzdhs1&l=en&s=dhs
The one on the left side of the page.

Oh sorry, I don't currently have a laptop.
My pc is:
Intel P4 3.06ghz
2GB DDR2 Ram
GeForce 7600GS 256mb
WinXP Pro SP3

It plays games just fine, and the gfx drivers are all up-to-date.

The laptop I'm getting a a Studio XPS 16: http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-studio-xps-16?c=nz&cs=nzdhs1&l=en&s=dhs
The one on the left side of the page.

foxNZ

Oh, okay, I understand...I think. So your just worried about the DVD drive breaking? I don't think this is someting to really worry about. As long as you don't use it as a cup holder or something foolish like that it should be fine. My laptop has never had any problems like that. And as for it getting corrupted, I've never heard of anything like that happening. Unless it is some sort of driver issue.

Also, may I ask why you are buying a Dell? Personally, I think that Dell and HP really rip people off with overpriced computers. Check out Newegg.com. You can find some good laptops there with comparable specs for half the price. Or at least $400 to $600 less. Thats just my opinion. Don't get me wrong, that Dell is an awesome computer, but you could spend less...just a suggestion.

I did alot of searching and that laptop was the best price for what it has to offer :P
Bare in mind, I actually live out of the United States, so the prices are very different haha. So theres NO possible way that any sort of dvd (whether it be faulty or corrupted or damged etc) can do any damage to a dvd drive at all?

Yes. You'll be fine using your DVDs in your future laptop. Just as long as they aren't damaged (read cracked). Radial cracks expanding outward from the center of the disk (like the spokes on a wheel) are a problem. In high speed drives they can cause disks to dramatically fail, which might damage your drive...although not always. I've run across two examples of this happening in the past decade (yes it's rare). If a disk "explodes" in the drive, you'd have to take the drive apart and remove all of the shattered pieces of the disk. Once you've cleaned it out and reassembled it, the drive might work, it might not. All in all it's better to replace cracked disks IMO.Sentinel672002

Oh, so as long as the disc isn't physically damaged (apart from a few minor scratches occasionally), there is no possible way for any sort of dvd drive damge at all?foxNZ