Wal-Mart Recalls Overheating DVD Players

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is voluntarily recalling about 1.5 million Durabrand DVD players after the company said it received reports of the products overheating, leading to fires and property damage:

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Reply to
Sofa Slug
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Reply to
AZ Nomad

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Notice.

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They sold a fair few of what looks to be the same here in the UK via their ADSA subsidery, haven't heard if the recall applies here yet. Is the power supply built in?

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UK Model Durabrand DVD-1005

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Adrian C
Reply to
Adrian C

Wow... Durabrand... You'd never think _they'd_ make such an unreliable product.

Durabrand... I just can't believe it...

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Or Cyberhome.

Reply to
Meat Plow

Indeed. It's the only brand I trust for my home-automation needs.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Don't go knocking Cyberhome, their little DVD300 Progressive scan multiregion DVD player was AWESOME! $24 at Best Buy, nice metal case,

110-220vac, played everything...only problem was the PSU electrolytics gave up after 12 months, just replace them and no problem. I bought 5 of them, 4 still working after 3 years, One had a duff motor which I couldn't get hold of. Watch all my British DVD's and got one for my Mom in the UK so she can buy USA DVD's here at our nice low prices, Excellent!

JC

Reply to
Archon

US recalls don't seem to be applied to the UK. Had suspension failure on my BMW which was the subject of a recall in the US on the same version of my model to strengthen the component - and BMW UK initially denied all knowledge. Then prattled on about the US being different to the UK.

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*The most common name in the world is Mohammed *

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In many cases they are not. For example, the inspection of devices for saftey in the US is performed by a private agency the Underwriter's Laboratories. The UL actually tests samples of the product before issuing certification/

In the UK/EU the certification is by the "CE", which does no testing. You do your own and file an application for certfication. If you have done everything properly according to the paperwork, you are given the certificate.

In the US FCC testing, which only has to do with signal leakage, not saftey, is also performed by a government agency. Outside of the US, it is not tested by anyone AFAIK.

A common practice is to obtain certification with a prototype and then as soon as it is accepted remove "unecessary" components and substitute lower quality or cheaper ones for those that remain. The manufacturer never reports this to the agencies involved and no one does continous monitoring.

Geoff.

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Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
Reply to
Geoffrey S. Mendelson

That's fine on new products, but many vehicle recalls only happen after they've been in service for some time and a weakness has come apparent. In this case it was metal fatigue.

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*See no evil, Hear no evil, Date no evil.

    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I've owned 3 Cyberhome DVD players. Two failed just out of warranty. The third is a portable with 8" screen and after 5 years it is still going strong even after suffering normal wear and tear of being taken on vacations and camping trips.

The US government put Cyberhome out of business in the US for copyright infringement.

Reply to
Meat Plow

One of the problems with cheap electronics is that they're more likely to fail, then be thrown out, unrepaired. This contributes to the pile of electronic trash littering the world.

There is an obvious connection between the rapid technical advances that occur in consumer electronics (and to a lesser extent, photographic equipment) and the _need_ for cheap electronics. The more something costs, the less motivation consumers have to discard last year's product for this year's (often genuinely) improved model.

It would be better -- if only for the environment -- if we bought fewer and better-made products, even if they cost more. Towards the end of 1999, I bought my first DVD player, the discontinued Sony DVP-S7000, for half-price ($600). (It was the first commercial DVD player, I believe.)

It worked until several years ago, when it simply stopped, for no obvious reason. Instead of repairing it, I laid out $400 (special deal) for what was then the top-of-the-line Sony DVD player, which included multi-ch SACD playback.

Several days after getting the new DVD player, I checked the old one -- and it worked. It's still working, in my bedroom. I attribute this failure to what I _call_ "CMOS lockup", though whether that's the cause, I don't know. But I've seen it in other products, including TVs and PDAs. The device simply stops working (or behaves oddly), then comes back to life after sitting a while, especially after being unplugged or having its batteries removed.

Thoughts, anyone?

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Don't know about the DVD player lockup but the rest is reasonable.

My first DVD player was a Sony model of which I forget but was purchased in 2000. I gave it away in 2006 after purchasing my second DVD player, a Sony 5 disk carousel model. Both are still working. My third DVD player is a Sony DVP-NS501P which plays DVDR much better than the 5 disk unit. Also has YPbPr and S/PDIF out which I use.

I also have a Panasonic DVDR/RW/RAM recorder that has functioned flawlessly for 5 years recording two security cams from a duplexor on an 8 hour DVDRAM for 2 of those years 365 days a year. Then there is the LiteON stand alone DVDR All Write which I had to replace the mech after the laser failed. Used a PC LiteON DVDR drive, same mech fundamentally but able to record DVD-9.

Two of the three cheapo brands I bought failed within months.

Reply to
Meat Plow

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