Re: "The Meaning of Life" Problems with the transfer?
Stan Brown
bad price I thought.
Imagine my surprise to see that, a year after the problem was know,
the bad transfer is STILL being sold. I googled a bit and found a
full discussion with the 800 number to call for the replacement:
800-433-4673.
More than a YEAR ago,on 19 Sept 2003 [sic], "Dr Planarian" wrote in
article
>http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=q0ammvsb2gbfrk1d2uajie13rr3osaa3mq%404ax.com&rnum=2
>I called the 800 number listed in the message and, to my astonishment,
>there was no labyrinthine voice mail system or anything. The phone
>was answered on the first ring by a friendly, personable actual human
>being, a rather nice girl who was pleasant to talk to and who laughed
>at my jokes and everything. I felt a little sorry for her because
>their company policy dictates that she read to me the entire text of
>the material I got from them already via email, wasting her time and
>mine, substituting a query about my home address and where I purchased
>the disc for the "please call 1-800..." part.
Amazingly, that matches my experience: still no voice-mail hell,
still a pleasant young-sounding woman who answered on about the
first ring, still the prepared script with the same release we've
all seen before, still the promise to send a prepaid mailer in about
two weeks.
(My current player actually shows no combing on the disc, but I
looked at the indicia in Douglas Bailer's article at
>http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1fobrq6htvwes.dlg%40snernce.com
and I definitely have the bad one. I thought it best to get a
replacement now, so that when I get a better player the disc will
still play on it.)
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Fortunately, I live in the United States of America, where we are
gradually coming to understand that nothing we do is ever our
fault, especially if it is really stupid. --Dave Barry
Meng
What is "combing"?
Video Flyer
"Stan Brown" <the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> Yesterday in Wal-mart I bought the above DVD set for $9.44, not a
> bad price I thought.
>
> Imagine my surprise to see that, a year after the problem was know,
> the bad transfer is STILL being sold. I googled a bit and found a
> full discussion with the 800 number to call for the replacement:
> 800-433-4673.
>
That IS pretty remarkable. I purchased my copy during one of BB's 2 for $20
sales about 4 months ago and it's definitely one of the corrected versions.
I mean, I hadn't noticed any problems and I just now checked it against the
information in that helpful thread the link for which you just supplied.
Neal
--
"If morons could fly, it'd be pitch black." - Anonymous
AAbrams0264
there.
Stan Brown
>Stan Brown <the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote in message
>news:<MPG.1bd4db159...@news.odyssey.net>...
>> Imagine my surprise to see that, a year after the problem was know,
>> the bad transfer is STILL being sold.
>That is what still stops me from buying it. Every time I see it, I'm
>tempted to buy it. But I have no idea how to tell if it's a
>"corrected" version or not (or even if there *is* a way to tell).
How ironic, then, that you snipped out the part of my article where
I gave that information.
The Intrinsically Flawed Mr. Hole
After a whole year the little thread I birthed is still alive, I tells
ya' I'm a proud Pappa!
.
Mr. Hole
"I got to see some incredible parts of the United States which I hadn't
seen before. Like Vermont, and Canada." - German born Gerhard Reinke on
"Jimmy Kimmel Live"
Incontinence 2005: Its not just for Grandma any more!
"You would make a destructive god, Mr. Hole, but as a human, you remain
pathetic and ineffectual." -- Heck
Douglas Bailey
> Maybe if you had posted the text instead of a link it would've
> been more noticable. From the thread you linked to:
>
>> The fixed discs [sent] from Universal have "V2" printed on the outside
>> edge of the disk after the copywright information.... The corrected
>> "V2" disc has smooth silkscreening, where the original disc and the
>> second pressing (faulty "V2") disc had raised/textured
>> silkscreening.... The original disc and the faulty "V2" both have files
>> dated 15 July 2003: the corrected "V2" disc has files dated 13 October
>> 2003.
>
> What's odd is that I have a disc that doesn't have "V2" printed on it, but
> does have the 10-13-2004 date for the files. Also, neither the 1st nor
> 2nd disc have raised/textured silkscreening. I bought it about 2 months
> ago.
You're sure it doesn't have the "V2"? It's extremely small print and easily
missed, IIRC.
Assuming you're correct, Universal might have just gone to a fourth
pressing. The third pressing (the one I ended up with) was done in an
*awful* hurry to replace the not-really-fixed second pressing, and it may
well have been a very short run - just enough discs, perhaps, to get to the
customers who'd already received faulty replacements.
Confusing, confusing. But thanks for the information: the details in my old
post were the best I had at the time, but obviously incomplete.
So as far as I'm aware, we've got:
First Pressing: Combs on many progressive players. No "V2" on disc after
copyright information. Files dated 15 July 2003. Raised/textured
silkscreening (?).
Second Pressing: Combs on many progressive players. "V2" on disc after
copyright information. Files dated 15 July 2003. Raised/textured
silkscreening (?).
Third Pressing: Does not comb on progressive players. "V2" on disc after
copyright information. Files dated 13 October 2003. Smooth silkscreening
(?).
Fourth Pressing: Does not comb on progressive players. No "V2" on disc
after copyright information. Files dated 13 October 2003. Smooth
silkscreening (?).
I'm flagging the silkscreening as questionable because this might well vary
within a pressing - if, for instance, discs are pressed at more than one
plant from the same masters. I don't think it's a reliable test. The file
dates are so far the only utterly reliable indicator: the 15 July versions
comb during playback, the 13 October versions don't.
I welcome any further information from other _MoL_ DVD owners...
doug
--
"I can't see the lines I used to think I could read between..."
--Brian Eno
Douglas Bailey
> Imagine my surprise to see that, a year after the problem was know, the
> Bailer's article at
> http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1fobrq6htvwes.dlg%40snernce.com
> and I definitely have the bad one.
I'm sorry to hear you got a bad copy, Stan, but pleased to hear that my
post was of use to you in making certain.
I hope you get your replacement disc as promptly as I got mine (except
without the "intervening not-really-fixed disc" stage).
doug
--
"...and maybe love is letting people be just what they want to be;
The door always must be left unlocked..."
--Howard Jones
Stan Brown
>Stan Brown wrote:
>> Imagine my surprise to see that, a year after the problem was know, the
>> bad transfer is STILL being sold....I looked at the indicia in Douglas
>> Bailer's article at
>> http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1fobrq6htvwes.dlg%40snernce.com
>> and I definitely have the bad one.
>
>I'm sorry to hear you got a bad copy, Stan, but pleased to hear that my
>post was of use to you in making certain.
Ain't google great? I remembered there had been a thread, and in a
few minutes I was able to find it.
>I hope you get your replacement disc as promptly as I got mine (except
>without the "intervening not-really-fixed disc" stage).
We'll see. It's not terribly urgent to me, since my present player
isn't progressive. I called Monday, and they said it would be two
weeks till I get the envelope.
What's amazing to me is that there's still a dedicated phone number
for this, more than a year later. I'd have thought they'd have done
a redirect by now to a more generic number where I'd have to press a
zillion buttons to get in.
Eric R.
> >That is what still stops me from buying it. Every time I see it, I'm
> >tempted to buy it. But I have no idea how to tell if it's a
> >"corrected" version or not (or even if there *is* a way to tell).
>
> How ironic, then, that you snipped out the part of my article where
> I gave that information.
You mean the link to the message that said "Unfortunately, the
not-really-corrected second pressing and the actually-corrected third
pressing are *both* labelled 'V2', so even that label doesn't
guarantee that you have a properly-flagged disc."
Or maybe I should ask the store to let me break the case open to "Feel
the silkscreen art."
-Eric
Jay G.
You'd have to crack open the case to check for the 'V2' label anyway. So
you could ask to open it under the pretense of looking for that.
Of course, my copy has neither the 'V2' nor the raised silkscreen, yet has
the correct file dates on the disc. So basically nothing short of checking
the disc on a DVD player or DVD-ROM will really confirm what disc you got.
-Jay
Eric R.
> After a whole year the little thread I birthed is still alive, I tells
> ya' I'm a proud Pappa!
I once had a thread stay alive for almost 2 years. But, then again,
the subject line was "Reply if you like puppies."
-Eric
Stan Brown
Oct 11 2004:
>Yesterday in Wal-mart I bought the above DVD set for $9.44, not a
>bad price I thought.
>
>Imagine my surprise to see that, a year after the problem was know,
>the bad transfer is STILL being sold. I googled a bit and found a
>full discussion with the 800 number to call for the replacement:
>800-433-4673.
>
>>http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1fobrq6htvwes.dlg%40snernce.com
>and I definitely have the bad one.
Bailey mentioned two things to look for: files dated 13 Oct 2003,
and flat silk screening with "V2" marked.
"Jay G." <J...@tmbg.org> wrote in alt.video.dvd:
>Of course, my copy has neither the 'V2' nor the raised silkscreen, yet has
>the correct file dates on the disc. So basically nothing short of checking
>the disc on a DVD player or DVD-ROM will really confirm what disc you got.
I can confirm this too. My disc doesn't say V2 and has raised silk
screening, but today at work I popped it in a co-worker's DVD drive
and the files are dates 13 Oct 2003, which means that it's the good
third pressing even though it looks exactly like the bad first
pressing!
(I got the mailer from Universal today, only a week after I phoned
for it. But I guess I won't send my disc in since it seems I already
have the updated copy.)
So where we now sit is that the only way to tell for sure is to look
at the file dates, unless you have a player that is known to show
the combing on the bad first or second pressing.