Product Requirements:
Device:
Scratched up CDs, DVDs, and game discs

I have been buying CDs since 1985 or so, and I still have many of my earliest purchases. Over these years, I have routinely committed several of the highest forms of audio blasphemy, including the following:
 
1. Instead of keeping each disc safe inside its jewel case, I would generally discard the case and store the booklet with CD in various CD albums.
2. The CDs in these albums would then be subjected to extreme forms of torture - everything from exposure to Texas summer heat (which would often cause the plastic graphics on the CD to melt to the plastic sleeve of the CD album), to direct exposure to West Texas dust (which would cause some of the most hideously scratched discs imaginable).

Generally, if (or rather - when) a disc would reach the point where I could no longer listen to it without an unbearable amount of skipping (the kind that doesn't go away when you advance to the next song), I would reluctantly throw it away.

Of course I tried various products that came out over the years: sprays, wipes, creams, towelettes, you name it. While some were successful in removing the dust that might have accumulated while the CD album was bouncing around in its album inside my ranch truck, nothing ever really solved the problem of CDs that were scratched so badly that they would skip.

Nowadays, I have a thirteen year old daughter who has her own CD collection - and who has found her own new ways to commit atrocities against her CD collection.

When I was offered the chance to review the new SkipDoctor CD & DVD Motorized Repair Device by Digital Innovations, I was mildly intrigued yet not very optimistic that this product could do much more than the previous products I had tried. Granted, this product is motorized - so right away it offers a new twist that I haven't encountered before, but otherwise I was skeptical that the SkipDoctor would do enough repair work to justify its price tag.

When I got it, I immediately put it through its paces with one of my daughter's "uglier" CDs. This is Avril Lavigne...not too old, but already pretty gritty. I decided it was a great candidate for the SkipDoctor.

The first step in the process is to remove the black wheel on the side of the device. You then pop the CD into the clips and spray it down with the potion stowed in the top of the handle...

Next, you insert the wheel and disc into the slotted tray on the bottom of the device. It locks into place, and after attaching the power cord, you switch the thumb toggle to the "on" position...allowing the disc to be be slowly and loudly grinded by the revolving sandpaper wheel. After one complete revolution, you repeat the process.

After the grinding, comes the drying of the CD with the blue cloth that store in the bottom of the device's handle. Next, you buff with the smaller, coarser cloth. A final wipe of the blue cloth, and if the audio gods are smiling, you should have a grime and skip free CD.

How were my results? Well, the Avril CD was definitely cleaned - although it now reminded me of what happens to a black car the first time you wax it - there were what looked looked like angular "swirl marks." Popping it in my CD player was a satisfactory experience, it sounded great. But the thing is, this was not a CD that had ever skipped before; so while I had tested the cleaning capabilities of the device, I hadn't yet experienced the advertised "skip repair."

Therefore, it was time to bring out a true "skipping disc." This disc had not only fingerprints, unidentified grime, and surface scratches, it also had one pretty bad gouge that was causing the first song to hang. I followed the detailed directions on the User's Guide page, doing the extra buffing and grinding in the scratched area and repeating the process a couple times for good measure. After completing the process multiple times, my disk still skipped; I guess the scratch was just too deep. Unfortunately, this is the only disc I have right now that has the skipping problem, so I am not able to personally verify that the device will make a difference on anything other than the lightest surface scratches. According to the previously mentioned Users Guide, there will be a "Severe Scratch Kit" coming out in the future, so perhaps a later version will rescue this CD.

In the end, I think that this device is probably more suited for those that enjoy amazing their friends with gadgets in an over the top way: think Rick Moranis in Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

Price: $54.99

Pros:
Appears to clean dirty and smudged discs

Cons:
Expensive
Did not repair my skipping disc