Scratched discs - what do to?

Marakanetz, do you REALLY wonder how sealed CD's can cost $2-3 when sold on the street?

Chris,

I have had varying results with products such as Novus and Magners. May be worth checking into but I wouldn't have high hopes. I have a friend who (compared to me) is a whiz with this type of stuff and he "polished" some of my damaged discs with an abrasive compound. It worked ok but as I watched the process I realized there was a lot of room for error. I learned the hard way that taking care of my discs was something I really had to pay attention to cause I was starting to have too many discs that skipped or locked up simply because I was not taking care of them. I was leaving them loose on the jewel case (not locked down which lead to them scraping over the center "wheel" in the jewel case), lending them to friends (which I have just about banned) and worst of all using cd wallets for portable storage (not to point the finger but Case Logic should cut me a check for about $300 for the discs I've damaged in their wallets).

Today I do 2 things to protect my collection. (1) is I make high-speed copies of the discs I am most worried about damaging. From what I can tell I am not losing much (if anything) when burning the discs on my high speed burner (2) About 2 weeks ago I found a storage case that I really am very impressed with and you may want to check it out (it won't help the discs that are already scratched but could save you future headaches). If you go to www.slappa.com you'll see they have a new line of cases that are great for storing and protecting discs. I ordered a couple just to check them out and was very impressed with the quality to the point where I am going to migrate my entire collection over to these cases. They have a couple of nifty features that make them very good for home storage.
fyi--I don't work with these guys or have personal ties with them.

Good luck--this is not an easy problem to fix going "backwards"

SC

Ev,
Just come by St Mark's pl. in NYC and you won't wonder anymore.

But I DON'T wonder. Been living in the New York area all my life and presently live in NOLITA so I know it well.

Go to a used cd place like CDepot in College Park, MD and they will polish the cd for you on their very expensive polishing machine. It cost $1-2 per cd and it is the best polishing job I have ever seen. Most of the used cd stores that have been around for a while have them but you have to ask. Stores that rent alot of cd games may also have the polishing machines.

Good luck.