The trials of renting DVDs

I like movies. No ... I love movies. There are few things I enjoy more than snuggling with my wife, munching a bowl of popcorn, watching a good movie.

But one thing I hate is having to fight the DVD to watch it. I'm sure many of you have had the same experience. You're in the middle of the flick, the plot's just getting good and ... bam! The image freezes on screen, maybe jumps a little bit, perhaps you can hear the player spinning trying to pick up the data again.

So you eject the DVD and sure enough the playable side is covered with scratches. Of course you try to blow on it, and wipe it gently with an appropriate cleaning cloth. But that doesn't help.

Then you try cleaning the lens on your player, but that won't do any good either.

So you take it back to the store and they have their little disc cleaning machines, and sometimes that helps. But more often than not you end up switching for another disc and an hour later you get to finish the movie.

Now, my favorite movie store is trying out these new covers that slip onto a DVD to protect the playable side. The only problem is that the cover makes the DVD too thick for my player so I end up having to take the cover off.

And if I have to take it off, I'm sure others will as well.

Perhaps it was all my imagination, but I seem to remember being able to rent DVDs without having to check for scratches before I left the store.

I also seem to remember when folks were responsible for the property of others. The rental companies should not have to spend money to combat a problem that a little common sense and courtesy would cure.

Here is a short list of DVD handling tips given by Jimmie Greer, owner of the Movie Barn. Handle DVDs by their edges. Put them in their case or in the player, don't set them down. When putting it in it's case, make sure to snap it securely. Otherwise, it may come loose inside the case. Clean only with an appropriate cloth. T-shirts do not make the grade. Clean discs wiping from the center and moving to the edge in a straight line, do not use a circular motion.

Greer finished by saying that there wouldn't be much of a problem if people would simply treat the DVDs as if they were their own property.